A Reservoir Man by L.J. Ambrosio – Q&A and Giveaway

February 3, 2023 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. L.J. Ambrosio will be awarding a signed copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on a tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. See our review here.

What would I tell a new author?

Listen to yourself and get advice creatively, learn formatting, and understand the industry you are entering.

The hardest part about writing is

Spelling, run on sentences, the physical appearance, clothes, and haircuts of my characters. I don’t want them to look like someone I know unless I want them to…

Important Elements

Get a great cover design; don’t get too heady getting a title or silly; stay away from sexual implications in title design. Don’t let people read your book until you are finished, but you should have one person that you can trust that you can share with. You must get an editor – don’t be cheap; spend money here. If you are self-publishing know the field and know how to advertise. Release the book to critics before the public by three months. Reviews are important; get them. They are very important as is their posting on Goodreads and Amazon. Be a gentleperson; don’t be pushy and be humble. Do tours, blitzes, and interviews – anything to get your novel out there. Believe in yourself; you are the artist. Sex is important, but it doesn’t make it your novel. Your story is, and the relationship of your characters with life and themselves.

A Reservoir Man, critics have hailed this explosive and timely work as “a must-read coming-of-age story of 2022.” Twists and turns further pull the reader in to Michael’s action-packed tale, with powerful themes, from betrayal and family to secrets and identity. “Be sure not to blink because you just might miss a pivotal moment in Michael’s rousing, larger-than-life story.” — R.C. Gibson, Indiestoday.com. “This book is a dream, a gamble, a utopia, even.” — Kalyan Panja, Bookmarkks.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Michael had now become, after these last six months, a little more world weary and worse for the wear. Sitting on his bench, entering his last year at college. Michael still had not found his soul or his truth. His emphasis on sex was unfulfilling and empty. He wandered in the shadowy corners, the lightless streets, leading to a dead end and the darkness of an empty truck. Loneliness had become a fixture of Michael’s being. He longed for a few hours to be with Carol, Claire, or Raphael.

One day, while sitting on the bench, Michael heard in the distance Otis Reading’s “The Dock of The Bay” playing on a portable radio. The music came closer and closer and then quickly turned to the Four Tops’ “Reach Out (I’ll be There).”

Picking up his head, Michael saw this extremely attractive ethnic guy standing right above him. Michael said ‘hello,’ and the young man answered.

“My name is Nick. Do you dance?”

Michael said, “Sort of, but I do not have much of a chance to go dancing.”

“You want to go tonight?” Nick asked with a smile, and he started to sing “Baby I Need Your Loving” by the Four Tops.

Michael became a little concerned about the message of the song, so he suggested that they might talk over coffee before they venture out dancing. Michael decided to cut his next two classes and have coffee.

They spent hours talking about their lives. Nick was older than Michael by nine years. Nick said he had to prepare for graduation as did Michael. He was in the school for Education and would be graduating that year.

He was first generation Greek from Cyprus and spoke fluent Greek. His family lived in Harlem on 137th Street off Broadway. He had siblings, a brother and sister. Michael was taken by him. He made him laugh and feel amazingly comfortable. Nick invited Michael to dinner Saturday night. His mother would make Doimadakia, Humus, Tzataki and Moussaka. Michael agreed to go.

Nick’s parents were great. His mother was shy, his father a little less. They spoke with a broken accent, which Michael loved. They had a great dinner and talked a lot. Michael learned a lot about Cyprus.

Nick said after dinner, “Dancing, right?”

About the Author: Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career. He taught at 7 universities in the United States.

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Film Blue by Patricia Leavy – Spotlight and Giveaway

December 7, 2022 By 3 Comments

This is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Reminiscent of Sex and the City meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Patricia Leavy’s Film Blue is a captivating and inspiring story about the pursuit of dreams and what it truly means to live a “big” life.

A couple of years after finishing college, Tash Daniels has put her love of filmmaking on the back burner. She’s working retail, club-hopping, and scraping by to pay the rent. Usually attracted to the wrong guy, she’s at a loss when she finally falls for the right one. Sexy deejay Aidan is living his life authentically as an artist and encourages her to do the same. Will she open her heart? Will she bet on herself and her dreams? Is a girl with a dream truly on her own in the world? Tash’s friends are along for the journey: Jason Woo, lighthearted model on the rise; Penelope Waters, earnest graduate student with a secret no one suspects; Lu K, fiercely independent hot-girl deejay; and Monroe Preston, the glamorous wife of a Hollywood studio head. Frequently bathed in the glow of the silver screen, the characters show us how the arts can reignite the light within, pushing us to confront our fears so we can choose how to live in the present. Film Blue is a novel about following our passions, the hidden side of our dreams, the power of art, what it means to truly live a “big” life, and finding the people to go with us on our journey. A tribute to 1980s pop culture set against the backdrop of contemporary New York and Los Angeles, Film Blue celebrates how the art we experience and make can shape our stories, frame by frame.

Enjoy an Excerpt

After grabbing a hand basket and making a beeline to the freezer for some ice cream, she started searching for the items on Penelope’s list. As she fumbled for the note, mumbling, “Ah, where is that stupid thing?” she heard a voice say, “Maybe you’d have better luck if you shut your eyes and put your hand in.”

“Huh?” she queried, looking up at the six-foot-tall guy standing before her, dressed from head to toe in black. He had bleached blonde spiky hair, high cheekbones, a strong jawline, and a piercing through his right eyebrow that she thought was simultaneously cool and disgusting.

“You know, sometimes if you’re looking too hard, you can’t find anything.”

“Uh, yeah,” she said, staring into his evergreen eyes. Oh my God, he’s seriously hot.

“Here, tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll shut my eyes and stick my hand in for you.”

Raising her eyebrows, she said, “How stupid do you think I am? Maybe I should just go outside and scream, ‘Somebody rob me!’”

He laughed. “Fair enough, but you try it.”

Tash smirked and stuck her hand into her bag without looking. “Uh huh, here it is!” she exclaimed as she pulled out the small, crumpled paper. “That’s uncanny.”

“Sometimes you just have to concentrate less, you know? What’s so important, anyway?”

“Oh, it’s just my roommate’s grocery list. She’s pretty uptight so I can’t screw it up. You wouldn’t believe the things she writes, like ‘two organic red apples and flax seed powder,’ whatever the hell that is. Anyway, I should probably get back to shopping.”

He smiled and waved his arm, to indicate she could pass by. With only a few aisles in the small store, Tash bumped into him again in the produce section.

“Should I even ask what that’s about?” she remarked while giggling, looking at the twenty or more coconuts in his basket.

“Oh, these are for a party I’m deejaying for a couple of friends over at NYU.”

“They’re serving whole coconuts?” she asked, mystified.

He laughed. “People try to get them open. It’s like a drinking game kind of thing. It’s pretty funny.”

“Gotcha. Do you go to NYU?”

“No, I went to school in Chicago and moved to New York after I graduated. I’m a professional deejay. I’m just doing this party as a favor.”

“So, what kinds of clubs do you spin at?” she asked.

“Uh, well, tomorrow I’ll be spinning at the Forever 21 store in Times Square.”

She smiled. “Well, do you get a discount at least?”

He laughed. “Didn’t think to ask for that. So, what’s your name?”

“Natashya, but my friends call me Tash.”

“I’m Aidan. Do you live around here?”

“Just a block away. I share a place with two roommates.”

“Pretty awesome area, good for you.”

“Yeah, well we’re in like the only non-restored building in the neighborhood. Don’t get me wrong, I love living here and it’s pretty close to my work, but we’re not in one of the swanky buildings with a marble entrance. It’s more like splintery wood floors and a scary old-fashioned elevator that makes me want to take the stairs.”

He smiled. “What’s your work?”

“I work at a couple of stores in SoHo.”

“For the discount, right?” he joked.

She laughed. “Well, nice to meet you but I’ve gotta finish up and get going.”

“Sure, me too. Maybe I’ll see you around. If you’re not busy, stop by Forever 21 tomorrow.”

“I have to work.”

“Well, can I maybe get your number?” he asked.

“Why don’t you give me yours instead?”

“Sure, that’s cool.” He put his coconut-filled basket on the ground and held out his hand. “Give me your phone and I’ll put it in.”

“You don’t want me to have to search my bag again. Here,” she said, handing him the note with Penelope’s grocery list. “Do you have a pen?”

He smiled and pulled a red crayon out of his pocket. “Don’t ask,” he said as he wrote his number on the little paper. “Here,” he said handing it to her. “See ya.”

“See ya,” she replied.

When she casually glanced around the store a few minutes later, he was gone. She brought her basket to the checkout. The cashier asked, “Did you find everything you needed?”

“Yeah, yeah I did.”

About the Author: Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a bestselling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She has published over forty books, earning commercial and critical success in both fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. Patricia has received dozens of accolades for her books. Recently, her romance collection Celestial Bodies: The Tess Lee and Jack Miller Novels (https://www.amazon.com/Celestial-Bodies-Tess-Miller-Novels/dp/1737862417) was the 2022 Firebird Awards first-place winner for Romance. The book also received 2022 International Impact Book Awards for Women’s Fiction and Romance, a 2022 NYC Big Book Award for Distinguished Favorite Anthology, and a 2022 Literary Titan Gold Book Award for Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” She lives in Maine with her husband, daughter (when she’s not away at college), and her dog. Patricia loves writing, reading, watching films, and traveling.

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My Dead True Love by Kim Pierce – Q&A and Giveaway

December 6, 2022 By 7 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?

Clairvoyance. I’d like to be able to peer into the next dimension.

What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

That my degree is in experimental psychology. Otherwise known as rat-running.

When writing descriptions of your hero/ine, what feature do you start with?

Their physical presence – as if I were at a party introducing them to you, which of course means we must look into their eyes. Then I’d also describe any outstanding or unusual physical characteristics: her long delicate fingers, his sad comb-over, a disarming smile.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m the plotter. I want to know, broadly speaking, where I’m going and hope to end up. My domestic partner, on the other hand, is pure pantser (or plunger, as we say). He sits down at the keyboard and a story comes out.

Did you learn anything from writing this book? If so, what?

Fiction-writing and non-fiction require different skill sets. Don’t assume if you’re good at one you will necessarily be good at the other.

When a newspaper reporter’s fiancé dies abruptly, she questions how he could just cease to be.

Dogged by unbidden thoughts, odd coincidences and unexplained phenomena, Ann Stewart becomes obsessed with finding out what really happens after we die and whether her beloved Gregory is still out there. She finds her answer, which takes her and a close-knit coterie of women to the edge of the cosmos—and the core of their own hearts.

Based on a true story.

Enjoy an Excerpt

“It was definitely Gregory,” Connie declared, forcing herself to return to the vision. “As clear as if he were standing next to me. Smiling.”

“If you saw him”—and I still wasn’t believing—“did he see you? Did he see me?”

It made no sense, but I had to know more.

“I don’t know. I tried to un-see him. I really did,” she said, turning to me, something akin to terror twisting her face. “This ‘seeing’ is a part of me that triggers so much shame—and reactivates the trauma. Like shell shock.” Red mottling crept up Connie’s neck and onto her cheeks.

She saw him. The words slid off my brain as if she were speaking in tongues. What did that mean?

“Could it have been your imagination?” I offered wanly, not wanting that to be the case.

“Yes, I suppose it could.”

Neither of us believed it.

I waited.

“What would it mean for you to ‘see’ him?” I pressed.

Tell me. Even if it makes no sense.

“That there’s something wrong with me,” came her acrid reply. “Deeply, terribly wrong. At least that’s what my father would say. And a lot of other people who make judgments about what I can do.” She slammed the car into park a little too aggressively.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” I said, getting out of the car.

Connie shut down.

“I need to go home for a while,” she said.

Tell. Me. More.

About the Author: Kim Pierce is a former Dallas Morning News writer and editor who completed the Writer’s Path fiction program at Southern Methodist University. My Dead True Love is her first novel, inspired by events surrounding the death of her fiancé in 1998. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her partner and three cats.

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The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 22, 2022 By 10 Comments

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

Move over Susan B. Anthony. There’s an unsung woman asking for the vote 224 years before you. In 1638-1648 Margaret Brent, fighting for justice became a voice in court for others, educated and Indian princess, built a fort and saved pre-colonial Maryland from destruction. The American Bar Association each year honors select women attorneys, such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor with their Margaret Brent Award.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The Wells girl covered her eyes with both hands. Margaret, ignoring the buzzing of flies and the damp heat of the morning sun, worked to untangle the girl’s words in her mind.

“If the river doesn’t take me, then I shall have my baby alone and will have to live with Master Cole, and I shall never see my dear Tom again.” With that, she burst into tears.

“You do not look like you are about to have a baby. Why do you say your time is up?”

“Master Cole brought me here four years ago. He said after I had worked for him for four years, I wouldn’t owe him a tad more, and now he says I can’t leave, and so I might as well marry him. Lady Brent. I worked hard from early morning until after dark every day, and my time is up. Even the devil would say this isn’t right.” She sniffed and looked away.

Margaret set her jaw. “Heaven help us if other masters here in Maryland treat their servants in this manner.”

“There’s nothing I can do.” She bit her lip. “I thought maybe the next time you talked with Governor Calvert you might say something on my behalf, and I pray my request is not one of cheekiness.”

“Mary.” Margaret called sharply across to the soap making group. “Would you please come here?”

When Mary finished saying something, she trotted over to the garden. “Hello, Carrie. Are you not feeling well—your face seems flushed?”

“So, you are acquainted with Carrie Wells?” Margaret studied her sister, slipped the basket from Carrie, and moved it into Mary’s hands. “She brought these for us and herbs to scent your soap.”

“Sometimes on Sundays after church Carrie walks with me in the woods and shows me barks, roots, and herbs that heal.” She glanced at the basket. “Why, these are lovely.” She glanced at the young woman, then put her hand on Carrie’s arm. “Are you still having trouble with Jacob Cole?”

“Jacob Cole is about to have troubles with her. Has Giles returned from Kent for Assembly today? Will both our brothers be at the meeting?” Margaret’s frogs roiled inside her.

How dare these men take advantage of their servants?

“I saw him and Fulke along with some other men heading to Lewger’s home earlier.”

“Come, Carrie Wells. We shall also attend Assembly.”

“But—Margaret,” Mary grabbed her arm. “Certainly, women would not be allowed—”

Margaret shrugged Mary away, snatched Carrie Wells by her hand, and stomped off down the path.

“Sister,” Mary called after her, “you must take off that filthy apron. You’re covered in soil.”

Margaret jerked it untied and slung it. “There is a difference between God’s soil and men’s dirt. Carrie Wells and I are about to sort this very thing out with all those fine gentlemen of Assembly.”

About the Author Charlene Bell Dietz writes science and historical-suspense, award-winning mystery novels and short stories. Her award-winning short stories have been published in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2016 Anthology and SouthWest Writers 2019 Anthology. The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage. The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 frenetic Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. Both these novels were named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, and each won the coveted Kirkus Starred Review. Her latest novel, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut, gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her current work in progress, a biographical historical novel, starts in England in 1638 and ends in precolonial Maryland. Charlene, a retired educator, traveled the United States as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin Publishers after a career of teaching little ones, older ones, and college graduates. Surrounded by forests and meadows, she currently lives in the foothills of the mountains in central NM several miles from the small village of Torreon. Charlene is the current president of Croak & Dagger, New Mexico Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She belongs to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and SouthWest Writers.

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The Muse by Iris March – Guest Blog and Giveaway

October 11, 2022 By 3 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Iris March 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.

The Muse

Hello! It’s an honor to be featured on Long and Short Reviews! Thank you so much for having me! Today, let’s talk about the muse.

My most recent novel, The Story That Made Us Stronger, was released in late September, just a few weeks ago. It’s the story of Connor, a nurse training for a half marathon who becomes obsessed with a tiny, abandoned building on his regular running route. He shares his obsession with one of his patients in the stem cell replacement ward. That patient and other people in his life help him research the building and encourage his half marathon training.

This book was the first one I wrote and the first time I felt the tug of the so-called novel writing muse. I’ve since authored a second book (although it was published first) and have more writing projects on the horizon. I have always wanted to write a book, always knew I had at least one in me. I was an English (and Biology) major and have always done a lot of writing for my career. But I never thought I could write so much and stay committed to one storyline and set of characters to complete a full novel.

But the muse struck me and hasn’t left me since.

That first inspiration was in the form of dealing with the anxiety of my sister having cancer with being pregnant with twins. I needed more than just journaling to work through the worry. And so I started writing about Connor and wrote my sister’s story within his. Her character is that encouraging stem cell replacement patient. I found that I could in fact write so much that it was an entire book’s wroth of a story, could commit to a set of characters. It was the characters that kept me going. I had to figure out how to get them to the end of the book: make the discoveries about the building, run the half marathon, finish the stem cell replacement therapy. It was my sister’s story and I had to finish it. I carved out time to write and really just felt obsessed with the story and the people in it as I wrote.

A new set of characters and a setting kept coming to me while I ran on my own regular running route. When I set out to write another book, the muse remained with me. This time, I found that keeping a log of how many words I wrote daily helped me stay committed. And I was equally obsessed. But the story didn’t do what I wanted. The characters kept reacting a bit differently than I thought they would when I put them in situations. That kept me wondering what would happen. It was like I was reading the story half the time, not writing it.

So I consider my muse to be the characters in my books. I feel committed to them and finding out what happens. In both my novels, I knew how they would end but I needed my characters to get there. I couldn’t leave them hanging!

Learn more about me and my books at my website.

An abandoned building. A motivated runner. A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer survivor.

Connor Jackson has been training for a half marathon for the past six weeks. Katie Brandt has been training to beat cancer for the past 50. When Connor discovers an intriguing secret in a tiny, abandoned building on his running route, Katie finds that the mystery is what she needs to help her get through her three-week stem cell replacement procedure. Together, Conner and Katie must find the strength to achieve their personal goals and, in the meantime, expose the many past lives that the tiny building led.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The Runner
Connor Jackson

I’d run past it probably a thousand times.

An especially windy thunderstorm had covered my regular paved running trail with slippery leaves, twigs, and a few larger limbs on a late August afternoon. As I was running the trail, avoiding the more slippery sections, a door that I’d never noticed before was ever-so-slightly crooked, leaving it ajar. Mind you, I was running when I caught this dark shadow next to the door in the corner of my eye, and I almost tripped. Instead of hitting the ground, I sidestepped and took that moment to stop, pretend to tie my shoe and adjust my socks, and push my sweaty brown hair out of my eyes. I refused to be one of those guys with a man bun, but maybe I just needed to get a new haircut.

As I was messing with my shoes, I looked up at the building. It was small, probably only ten feet long by ten feet wide, a red-brick structure with a huge pole an inch away from it that was taller and thicker than any nearby telephone poles. At the tip of the pole was a piece of metal, strapped on and reaching even farther into the sky. There was a rusted chain-link fence around the building, with a few small trees and weeds within it. You could tell at one point that green plastic had been wrapped around the links, but it was long gone. The building was about fifty feet away from the trail, with plenty of trees between it and me, including a huge tulip poplar that I often noticed while running, and a bunch of maples. Breaking up the brick on the west side of the building, facing up the trail, was a wooden door with no window, adorned only by a worn doorknob. And now the hinges seemed to have broken a bit, the wood warped and pulling away from the frame about half an inch.

I was kneeling and staring for too long. A woman wearing blue sunglasses and walking a dog that looked like Lassie gave me a bit of a sideways look. I adjusted my shorts and stood up to continue running, with a lot more on my mind.

About the Author:Iris March grew up the oldest of three sisters whose names all began with the same letter. Her sisters are still her best friends. March works in the sustainability field and also writes cozy mysteries in the Succulent Sleuth Series. She lives in Ohio with her husband, young son, and three cats.

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A Particle of You by Cendrine Marrouat and David Ellis – Spotlight and Giveaway

September 26, 2022 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cendrine Marrouat and David Ellis will be awarding an ePub copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In this new collection from well-established authors Cendrine Marrouat and David Ellis, enjoy a series of love poems delicately crafted to stimulate emotional and endearing aspects of our deep connections with each other.

Cendrine and David have selected poems for this volume that perfectly capture feelings and nuances relating to romantic notions. They explore how love can fundamentally shape and change you, how it can feed your innermost muses/desires and ultimately how it can define you as a person, if you fully embrace it with every fibre of your being.

Love need not be scary or complicated. This collection shows us that even the simplest of intimate gestures can mean more to us when speaking from the heart and soul.

 

Enjoy an Excerpt

Loving You

Loving you is easy.
Your heart beats like
The midnight breeze,
Caressing the strings of my essence.

Loving you is easy.
Your smile tenderly
Invites reveries,
Exposing the chords of my mind.

Loving you is easy.
Your voice is like
Music to my inner ear,
And honey to my soul.

Loving you means completeness.
You answer the questions
Of my inner interactions.
You bless the seasons
Of my secret divinity.
God sent you to enlighten
The epiphany of my pen,
So that I can describe beauty
In words and thoughts,
And open the door to invisible realities.

Loving you makes me aware
Of my purpose in life.

Loving you brings me peace.

Loving you…

Loving you…

Is easy.

 

About the AuthorsCendrine Marrouat is a poet, photographer, author, and creator of literary forms. She has released more than 40 books, including Tree Reflections (2022), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Songs in Our Paths: Haiku & Photography (2020-2021), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018). 

Cendrine’s work has appeared in many publications. She is the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, Vardhaku, and Reminigram.

David Ellis is a poet, multi-genre writer/author and co-creator of literary forms, with a fondness for found poetry. 

He has released several poetry collections including Life, Sex & Death (which won an Inspirational Poetry Award), Soul Music the Colour of Magic, Lemons, Vinegar & Unvarnished Truths, See A Dream Within (based on the entire collected poetic works of Edgar Allan Poe), along with a Fifty Shades of Grey parody 50 Shapes of Cakes.

Think of him like a thriller novel – fast paced, relentless and impossible to put down!

Cendrine and David are the founders of Auroras & Blossoms, a platform dedicated to positive and inspirational creativity. Its flagship publication, the PoArtMo Anthology has given a voice to artists ages 13 and over from around the world for the last three years.

Cendrine and David have co-authored many books together, including Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography (2021) and Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020). They have also created several poetry forms: the Kindku, the Pareiku, and the Hemingku.

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Go with the Flow by Rob Roy O’Keefe – Guest Blog and Giveaway

September 23, 2022 By 4 Comments

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Rob Roy O’Keefe, who is celebrating the recent release of Small Stones. Leave a comment or ask the author a question for a chance to win a copy of the book.

Go with the flow

One of the more common challenges that authors are asked about concerns writer’s block. That’s not the topic for today, however. What I find more interesting is the opposite state, something known in psychological circles as “flow.”

Here’s a somewhat clinical definition: flow refers to a state of mind which brings together cognitive, physiological and affective aspects. Flow is characterized by high levels of engagement or immersion in the particular activity you’re involved in. It’s sometimes discussed in context with sports, when it is usually referred to as being “in the zone.”

Whether I’m engaged in short format writing, like this article, or long format writing, it’s not unusual for me to experience this state of flow. The good part about it is that ideas seem to come out of nowhere, not just while writing, but when I’m involved in other activities like taking a long walk, working in the yard, or taking a really long walk so I don’t have to work in the yard. They’re usually the kind of ideas that feel like I’ve caught lightning in a bottle. I want to write them down immediately. They don’t always work out, but there’s a good chance they do.
I can attribute the development of some of the more interesting character traits in my book, Small Stories, A Perfectly Absurd Novel, to being in this state. Early on, I had decided to write one of the characters, Walt, as someone with a lot of anxieties, but I wanted him to express those in more unusual ways. The solution? When he’s anxious, he sneezes. By itself that might not seem all that unique, but Walt sneezes in languages that he doesn’t speak – Mandarin, Swedish, Farsi, and a host of others.

The downside is that when I’m in this state, I’m much more internally focused, which comes off as seeming distant or aloof to other people. It’s nothing intentional, it’s just hard to shut it off. Keep that in mind the next time someone doesn’t seem to be paying attention to what you’re saying. Sure, maybe they’re just being rude, or maybe they’re working on the next great novel.

Here’s an excerpt from my current novel, Small Stories, A Perfectly Absurd Novel

“First question,” announced Wanda. “Who are you and why are you running for Town Council? We’ll start with you, Mr. Small.”

“Wait!” Sasha interjected, catching everyone off guard.

“What’s wrong, Sasha?” Wanda asked.

“I just wanted to say this is very exciting!” Sasha exclaimed, keeping with tradition.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” Wanda acknowledged. “Okay, Duncan –”

“Wait!” Sasha was obviously still excited.

“What is it now. Sasha?” Wanda inquired, hoping to get back to the task at hand.

“I hope I win! No, I hope Duncan wins! Maybe we can all win!” Sasha was gushing enthusiasm, kind of like the verbal equivalent of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful geyser, dependable and dramatic.

Duncan decided to move on with the debate. “As you know, I’m Duncan Small, and –”

“Ha!” interrupted Walt.

“What do you mean ‘ha’?” asked Duncan.

“You’re using a classic Post Hoc fallacy,” Walt announced.

“I am? I don’t even know what that is.”

“You’re putting forth a premise that you are Duncan Small simply because you say you are,” Walt almost explained.

“But I am who I say I am,” Duncan asserted.

“We need proof.”

“Everyone here knows who I am!” Duncan countered, borrowing an exclamation mark from Sasha.

“Now you’ve simply inserted an Appeal to Authority fallacy. Ad verecundium,” Walt finished in Latin.

“Stop showing off,” Wanda pleaded with her brother. She then offered some background. “Walt was the top student in his Logical Fallacies class at Welcome Wagon University.”

Sasha jumped in. “I know all about fallacies! We learned about them in CIA training – Obfuscation 101! I’d tell you more, but I’m only allowed to describe it in misleading terms!”

Engaging in a debate seemed to profoundly change Walt. Suddenly he was calm, credible, and commanding. As for Sasha, in some way Duncan couldn’t quite grasp, she was making sense.

Duncan’s brain felt like it was under assault. While it tried to sort through all the layers of improbability just encountered, his mouth stepped in. “Huh? Welcome Wagon University??” was the best it could manage.

“Grata illustratio, receperint mundi,” Walt recited proudly. “‘Welcome enlightenment, welcome the world.’ Our class motto.”

Duncan’s brain hit reset and after a brief pause, came back online. “I think I need a break.”

A little tale of trial and error. Okay, mostly error.

Duncan and Maya Small have just moved to an out-of-the-way town filled with odd characters, quirky customs, and a power-obsessed local official who one day hopes to be declared emperor. Duncan is sharp enough to know something needs to change, and delusional enough to believe he’s the one to make it happen. The only thing standing in his way are feral ponies, radical seniors, common sense, and Duncan’s inability to do anything without a list.

Small Stories: A Perfectly Absurd Novel, is a tale of power, bake sales, manipulation, the Welcome Wagon, and diabolical forces at work in the shadows (mostly because they can’t afford to pay the light bill), although the Smalls soon discover nothing is at it seems. One thing is certain, however – there’s something funny going on.

About the Author:Rob Roy O’Keefe was raised in the Antarctic by a colony of emperor penguins, which explains both his love of fish and his intense anxiety when in the company of sea lions. At the age of 12 he left to go on walkabout, but upon learning that Australia was over 3,000 miles away, he took the more expedient route from Cape Melville, Antarctica to South America’s Cape Horn.

He wandered north through the Andes, accumulated an abundance of practical knowledge, such as how to convince a hungry condor that you are not carrion. He eventually stumbled upon the hut of an Incan shaman who took him on as an apprentice. After a decade of immersion into the mysteries of the unseen world, Rob departed, fully prepared for his eventual success in the fields of talking, commuting, and sitting behind a desk.

Today, Rob resides in New England’s Merrimack Valley, where he lives in a tree house made of Good Humor popsicle sticks held together by the discarded dreams of retired sailors.

Buy the book at Amazon.

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Mainstream Fiction, Other

Home to Clare Harbor Box Set by Jacie Middlemann – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 8, 2022 By 10 Comments

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

They started out as strangers…but didn’t stay that way for long…

A devoted granddaughter willing to do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. Strangers who meet during the worst of conditions and become friends in the midst of chaos. Unexpected romance under the most unlikely circumstances. A puzzling mystery with its roots in historical events that took place centuries ago. And a storm that hides an ominous purpose that could change all their lives forever.

Sara knows before she walks into her grandparent’s home that her grandmother’s greatest fear will never be the storm or the threat it poses but instead the unknown that lays just beyond her front door. She knows too its cause and grieves that there is nothing she can do to change it.

Throughout the years of his career John has covered numerous battlefields including those that are a result of nature’s unyielding tempest. He fears this might be the worst one yet.

Mel didn’t expect to spend more than a few days in the large house where they’d taken refuge. She figured the storm would pass by and then they’d be off to their next assignment. The last thing she expected was David Payne.

Despite the fact that Lance was the bane of her teenage years, Tish knows that without the help of her father’s assistant, that the trip to North Carolina likely would have been a lot more challenging than it was. She’d been unequivocally terrified but his presence gave her strength she didn’t realize she had. She wasn’t certain how she felt about that…or him…or that he no longer irritated her the way he used to.

When Gary arrived at his family’s home in the mountains of North Carolina, he’s relieved that Sara and her grandparents along with their elderly friends are already there. But he is unable to take an easy breath until Tish finally arrives with Lance…and is not at all surprised at what he hears from Lance about their trip and the potential dangers they’d just barely been able to avoid.

He’s determined to do everything he can to keep their location safe…and unknown. Their knowledge, skills, and ingenuity are their greatest defense. For a time they would have to depend on themselves…it hadn’t take long to discover that the storm was never their greatest threat…but what is could change all their lives for the immediate future…or longer.

If you enjoy uplifting and heartfelt women’s fiction, young and older heroes and heroines filled with courage and compassion as they share joys and triumphs, and united they face and overcome tremendous challenges and tragedy, this book is for you.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Sara looked into her grandmother’s eyes. Because she knew what to look for, she saw past the forced cheeriness to the fear. In that moment she knew that no amount of pushing was going to do anything other than make her dig in her heels.

“Actually, I think I’m going to sit down here with you and your cohorts and play some bridge,” she said as she pulled out the only empty chair around the table.

“But…” Mel began then quieted when she saw the look she was getting from John. She looked over towards the table again, saw the worry in all of the faces around the table except the woman who’d just sat down in their midst.

“I forget exactly how this one goes. Someone explain the rules to me again,” Sara said cheerfully. She hated card games and everyone around the table knew it including her grandparents.

But she also knew that the fear her grandmother felt was overwhelming and very real for the woman who’d been all things to her. There was only one possible way she knew of that could possibly push her into doing something that otherwise terrified her.

“Now, Sara, don’t you think you should be getting on,” her grandmother said softly. “You know all the mountain roads and I’m certain many of them are still open.”

“I’m sure they are but I’d much rather sit this out with all of you. I can’t remember the last time I played cards. Deal me in.”

Maisie let out a long sigh. “I just want to grab a few things before we go.”

About the Author:Jacie Middlemann lives in Texas with her husband and a couple of cats who believe they rule…and sometimes they do.

When she’s not watching classic sitcoms or working on a needlework project for one of her kids, she loves to read women’s fiction and sometimes a good mystery suspense.

Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

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An Imaginary Affair by Diana Raab – Spotlight and Giveaway

August 5, 2022 By 1 Comment

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Diana Raab will be awarding a $20 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.

An Imaginary Affair is a collection of sensitive and sensuous poems for poets and non-poets who appreciate the challenges and intricacies of being human.

The poems touch on key human elements, such as love, desire, passion, memory, loss, and gratitude. The poet celebrates the joys, and pains inherent to a woman’s heart, while honoring the wisdoms and tones of Neruda’s poetry. Some of the epistolary poems are directed to Neruda in response to his riveting poems.

“In this intimate collection of poems, Diana Raab pays tribute to the sensual physicality of Pablo Neruda’s work and to her own real and invented lives. With unvarnished honesty, An Imaginary Affair celebrates a woman’s heart and mind through a handful of odes, epistolary poems, and the idea that memory and anticipation can sustain and nourish us; even drinking a glowing hot toddy is transformed into a meditation on how an ordinary act can awaken desire. Her unvarnished honesty gives equal attention to matters of mortality, where loss is lyrically considered (“…will you run from me / when trains sleep at their stations”), and also explored in the spirit of open curiosity (“How long does it take / for a pine casket to disintegrate / in this caving land…). These poems remind us that to be alive is to try and balance joy and lament, and how through this effort we more deeply inhabit the world and ourselves.” –Emma Trelles, author of Tropicalia and Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara

Enjoy an Excerpt

My Heart Broke Loose with the Wind

My Heart Broke Loose With the Wind

On the pages of a Khalil Gibran journal

my voice was freed—the wind squalled

through my brain beaten

down by words, abusive.

Such liberation possessed me wholly.

His revelation bloomed,

so unlike my mother’s mutterings

as she drifted in and out of madness.

My lines, at ten, engendered

many other poems holding and healing

me—once so deeply shattered.

Those words now yearning for the divine

just like the prophet Khalil Gibran.

About the Author:

Diana Raab is an award-winning, memoirist, poet, blogger, inspirational speaker, and workshop facilitator. As the author of nine books of nonfiction and poetry, Raab teaches workshops on writing for healing and transformation, inspiring others to use creativity for healing and self-discoveries. Her 2 latest books are WRITING FOR BLISS: A SEVEN-STEP PLAN FOR TELLING YOUR STORY AND TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE and WRITING FOR BLISS: A COMPANION JOURNAL, available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Publisher’s Weekly says this about WRITING FOR BLISS: “This thoughtful and detailed primer…targets pretty much anyone interested in writing a memoir.”

Raab has written over 1000 articles and poems including her contributions to Psychology Today, Thrive Global, Wisdom Daily and many others. She has taught at UCLA Extension, the Santa Barbara’s Writer’s Conference, 1440 Multiversity, Hugo House and others.

Her chapbook, An Imaginary Affair: Poems Whispered to Neruda is written in response to his work.

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As an author, what scares me the most? by Abby Wynne – Guest Blog and Giveaway

July 25, 2022 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Abby Wynne will be awarding a International – €50 off any of the digital products on the author’s website www.abbysonlineacademy.com to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

As an author, what scares me the most?

The blank page is something I’m used to, I worked as a scriptwriter for an education company. I would have a structure and a framework to write to, and a word count, and I’d usually be able to come up with something by the end of the day. So it’s not a blank page that I’m scared of.

Finishing something maybe is a little more frightening. Wondering if I said all the things, if I gave credit enough to each character. But the way that I write, the book practically writes itself and I only include whatever is important to keep the story moving along. When it’s finished, it’s finished, so I’m not afraid of that after all.

Now that I’ve written book 3 of The Inner Compass Trilogy, I don’t know what I’m going to write next. That excites me rather than scares me, because the space it provides, for me, is pure potential. It could be anything – stepping into one of the characters and writing a side story, a book on healing emotional eating, or one to teach people how to raise their energetic vibration. These are all things that are lurking around the corner. So it isn’t this that scares me the most.

People not liking my books. Well, people haven’t liked my healing methods, or my other books, so instead of being upset about it, I believe that those people just aren’t my people. Maybe they’re just not ready for the way that I think. Or maybe, my philosophy of ‘do your inner work means actually show up and do the work’ simply doesn’t suit everyone. Of course it doesn’t! Otherwise everyone would be doing it.

So what scares me the most? I guess selling the book, to you, to the world. Having to do a blog tour like this, to say what’s so great about what I am offering, to get bookshops to stock it, and someone to represent me and sell it to a wider audience. It’s not that I’m scared of doing interviews, I just don’t enjoy trying to convince someone to buy one of my books. If the book appeals to you, then please go buy it, and if you like it, buy one for your friends, leave me a great review, that sells the book for me! Because yes, that’s what I dislike the most. But I don’t think I’m really scared of anything. Universe – please don’t test me on that!

Thanks for reading!

When Marissa’s fiancé leaves her unexpectedly, she is left trying to put the broken pieces of her life back together again. The magical years of her childhood are now lost or long forgotten and, trapped in a downward spiral of worry and anxiety, nothing seems to be bringing the magic back any time soon.

Training to become a therapist, Marissa discovers an unforeseen talent for helping others and, for a while at least, she puts her own needs and concerns to one side. An unexpected windfall prompts a spontaneous trip to Peru, and an encounter while she is there triggers an astonishing series of events. Shaken but excited, Marissa embarks on a wonderful journey of revelation and adventure – after which, her life will never be the same again.

Marissa’s story is your story, is my story, is everybody’s story: we each must find our own true path through life, our one true way.

Abby Wynne, author and Shamanic Psychotherapist, brings all her wisdom to bear on Marissa’s amazing tale of discovery and healing. A catalyst for people’s healing processes, Abby is a problem solver, a creative artist, an alchemist, a healer, a mother, a daughter, a lover of life – and it shows in this, her first novel.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Marissa felt a huge wave of something come over her – was it excitement? Anxiety? She didn’t know what it was, only that she was relieved she was sitting down. She looked at her burrito and chips and suddenly didn’t want them anymore. She sipped her drink until the feeling passed. She wiped her forehead, yes there were drops of sweat there. What is wrong with me? It’s a gift, it’s money, I get to choose what to do with it. Calm down.

Marissa came back to her desk, still a little shaky, and discovered a brochure for Peru had been shoved under her keyboard. As she pulled it out she saw the colours and the mountains and her heart leapt as if she had discovered contraband. She held her hands out in front of her and saw that they were shaking. What is this about? She felt hopeless, whatever this was, she needed to surrender to it. She shoved the brochure quickly into the top drawer of her desk and sat down, catching her breath and bringing her focus back to the moment. She woke up her computer and there was an email in her inbox from Sarah with just three words in the subject line: Come with me. She deleted the email immediately and, still shaking, slowly opened up her spreadsheet.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Her stomach was nauseous. As she looked at the numbers she started to feel a little more settled, the shaking subsided, then another email popped in from Sarah. ‘Well?’ it said. Jeezuz it’s as if she knows what’s going on inside me. But I have money now, I actually could go… How much money did he give me? Marissa opened a tab on her web browser and logged into her bank account, not really knowing what to expect. There was a deposit of €8,000 with a note ‘from Uncle Louis – first instalment’. Suddenly, a wave of calmness swept over her and something inside solidified. That’s enough to pay off my loan and cover my college fees, with some left over. I really could go to Peru with Sarah.

The texture of this thought felt very different from the ungrounded, anxious thinking she had been doing the past few days. I could ask Michelle from the upstairs flat to mind Tobermory for me. Half term is coming up, so I’d not miss too much college. This would be a great adventure and it would also be educational – What am I afraid of? I’ve got the money.

She emailed Sarah back: ‘When are you going and how much will this cost me?’

Like magic, Sarah was there at her desk with a big beaming smile.
‘Are you serious?’

Marissa nodded her head as the butterflies flew in droves in her stomach against the calmness, it felt like she had swallowed one of those majestic mountains.

‘Look. At. Me.’ said Sarah. ‘Are you serious?’

Marissa turned to Sarah and looked her in the eye. ‘Yes. Yes, I am serious.’ Marissa was suddenly calmer than she had been for a whole week.

About the Author

Abby Wynne is the bestselling author of the “One Day at a Time Diary”, “How to Be Well” and “Energy Healing made Easy.” The Inner Compass Trilogy is her first novel, weaving her knowledge of shamanism, psychotherapy and energy healing into an exciting, fast-paced story which spans across many dimensions. Abby’s based in Ireland and lives with her husband, 4 children, a dog and a cat! Abby offers many ways to feel supported while you are on your path of healing; her mission is to empower people by teaching them how to heal themselves.

Website | Abby’s Online Academy | Healing for Healers Podcast | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

You can buy The Inner Compass Trilogy on all good online bookstores.

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