Six Elements Every Historical Fiction Story Should Have by Kate Bristow – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 20, 2023 By 3 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate Bristow 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.

Six Elements Every Historical Fiction Story Should Have
I love reading historical fiction because if written well the story will not only immerse you in another time and place but also inspire you to do a little research for yourself to learn more about the events depicted. Because of ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel, I started exploring Tudor England and the shadowy history of Thomas Cromwell. ‘Lonesome Dove’ by Larry McMurty sent me off on a journey to the Old West. While the historical fiction author needs to focus on many of the same elements as any writer, they need to work a little harder to ensure that the reader finds the story credible.

1. Setting

As in any story, setting is critical in putting the reader into the heart of the novel from the beginning. In historical fiction, the writer must ensure that the location is described in a way that makes sense in the time period. London today looks very different from London in 1823 despite the fact that many of the buildings from two hundred years ago are still standing.

2. Characters

Often in historical fiction, the cast of characters will be based on a mix of real and fictional people. A good novelist will create living breathing creatures that dress appropriately for the time period and behave in the right way. Women for example lived under very different societal norms in years gone by. My heroine Elena was not encouraged to be educated to the same degree as her male counterparts, nor expected to want a job outside the home.

3. Dialogue

As with the descriptions of characters and their traits, dialogue needs careful research in historical fiction. Characters cannot come out with modern expressions or use language that would be considered inappropriate in that time period. Words can change their meaning over time: ‘awful’ used to mean ‘worthy of awe’ whereas today it simple means something or someone terrible. In my novel, I also had to think about Italians and the fact that they tend to be more formal when addressing elders or people they don’t know very well. At the same time, you want to make sure that the modern reader isn’t struggling to read and understand the text.

4. Plot

The plot is the sequence of events that happen in the story, each of which causes the next thing to happen. In historic fiction, the plot is sometimes drawn from an event that actually took place at some point in the past. But the fiction writer has the ability to add imagined elements to the story and to alter the timeline. My book is based on real life events but I simplified certain aspects in order to give the story a dramatic arc.

5. Conflict

A good story always contains a conflict of some description and historical fiction should be no different. But even when a novel is based on an extreme example of a conflict—in my case, World War 2—it is still critical that the main conflict is at a very personal level. My heroine Elena believes art is worth saving in a time of war: my hero Luca thinks that more energy should be spent worrying about whether there is enough food to eat.

6. World building

World building—the ability of a writer to create a credible fictional world—is of particular importance in historical fiction. The reader has to embrace the world that is being described and understand why the story needed to take place at exactly that time and place. Are the characters behaving in a believable way given the time period? How are the events taking place in the wider world affecting the people in the story? What kind of relationships and conflicts would you expect to see in this particular moment in time? Authenticity is so important. If the reader senses something out of place, they begin to subconsciously doubt the entire premise of the novel. Attention to detail is a must if the world being built by the novelist is to appear plausible to the reader.

I hope you enjoy my historical fiction novel ‘Saving Madonna’ and the glimpse it gives of the lives of ordinary Italians during the war.

Is a painting worth dying for?

Inspired by real events, an unforgettable story of love, courage and sacrifice to save a country’s heritage.

Italy 1943. As the Allies bomb Milan, Elena Marchetti reluctantly gives up her coveted job as an art curator in the city to return to her family farm near Urbino. She takes up a new role assisting Pasquale Rotondi, the Superintendent of Arts in the region, in protecting works of art from all over Italy that have been hidden in the relative safety of the countryside.

At a family celebration, Elena reunites with Luca, a close childhood friend. A shattering event instigated by the occupying Germans deepens their relationship, and they start planning a life together. When rumors surface that Italy’s art is being stolen by the German occupiers, Pasquale hatches an audacious plan to rescue the priceless paintings in his possession. Elena and Luca are forced to make an impossible decision: will they embark on a dangerous mission to save Italy’s cultural heritage?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Marco looked beyond his home to a small wood that stretched out from the rear of the property down to the narrow white road snaking through the valley toward the distant hilltop town of Peglio. His home was called Ca’Boschetto (House of the Copse) because of these trees, and Marco knew it would soon be time for his father and uncle to gather their friends and bloodhounds for the annual truffle hunt. Their small wood was known far and wide as a fruitful location for the illusive and highly sought-after fungi, and the truffle hunt was one of the highlights of the season.

Beyond the wood, a patchwork of fields that had been parched brown after the harvest in the heat of August was beginning to turn into shades of green from recent rain. Marco spotted a couple of deer making the most of the fresh grass. Something else caught his eye as it glinted in the distance. Marco lifted his hands to his brow to deflect the glare of the autumnal sun. Whatever was flashing in the sunlight was moving toward their farm. The ox-drawn carts that often made this journey on the back road couldn’t move that quickly. He squinted. Something was not right.

“Luca! Luca! I can see a car coming. Look at the road!”

His older brother turned away from the flock and walked over to where Marco was standing. Luca stared at the distant vehicle for a minute and his face darkened. “Marco, Gianni, run down to the house and tell Papà that there might be Germans coming. Move!”

About the Author: Kate Bristow was born in London. She fell in love with reading when she got her first library card at the age of four. Her first attempt at writing and publishing for a wide audience was a local newspaper typed laboriously at home on her mother’s typewriter while at primary (elementary) school in north London. It is surely a loss to cutting-edge journalism that only one issue was ever produced. Kate divides her time between her small-but-perfectly-formed modern home in Los Angeles and her five-hundred-year-old farmhouse just outside Sassocorvaro in Italy.

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The Unbred by Oscar Valdez – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 15, 2023 By 5 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Oscar Valdez 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.

Entrepreneurship is considered one of the most ancient professions in human history. So, why then, is entrepreneurship so difficult to break into for minorities? What are the social and economical roadblocks and what can you do to tear them down and make a mark for yourself as a true corporate misfit?

As a managing partner of seven separate multi-million-dollar businesses operating in twenty-three States, I’ve discovered there’s no single formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur – but there are certain rules, especially for minorities, that must be abided by to avoid operational blunders. Any book can tell you it all comes down to planning and having the right mindset, but these gross oversimplifications are precisely why many fail to grasp the true keys to success.

Throughout these nine chapters you’ll learn all aspects of the minority entrepreneur’s journey, from starting a venture to ensuring its success. You’ll break down the balance between structure and flexibility necessary to grow and flourish as a minority entrepreneur. You’ll decode the complexities of the rules and uncover what obstacles stand before you – and how to rise above them, steadfast and unbred.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Entrepreneurship is considered one of the most ancient professions in human history. The first thing man did to survive was find a way to fulfill his daily necessities. Those necessities varied from one individual to another. There was always something someone had that someone else desired or wanted—hence, trading was invented, and eventually, entrepreneurship became one of the most decorated professions with the potential of providing the sort of lifestyle people wanted.

Over the years, entrepreneurial methodologies have evolved, and as we step into the twenty-first century, entrepreneurship has become much more technologically oriented, allowing for more sophistication. This profession is something that’s been debated for years in terms of how to become a successful entrepreneur and what are the do’s and don’ts.

Being a successful entrepreneur is widely considered a privilege and something hard to achieve. But most business analysts fail to realize that, for a certain portion of the population, it isn’t easy, despite following every rule in the book. In modern times, where socialization has become the key aspect of entrepreneurship, there are people for whom this profession and the laws governing it haven’t been very kind. In most countries, people belonging to minority groups aren’t presented with equal opportunities compared to those in the majority.

For a minority entrepreneur, like someone who comes from Mexico or Guatemala, or any other Spanish country, the banking systems are very different in terms of providing ease of doing business and aiding them with sufficient capital to start their venture. They’re not as complying as you would expect them to be, and thus, minorities don’t get loans easily from American banks.

Why? Primarily because immigrants don’t have United States credit histories that prove to the banks that they can pay back the loans they’re requesting. There’s also the additional barrier of the cultural differences between countries, with many not offering financing at all, so the system of such loans can be easily overwhelming for new minority business owners in America.

This often leads to businesses of minority entrepreneurs starting with hard-earned and long-saved personal funds instead. And after a while without sufficient capital to sustain their company, under-capitalization becomes the reason for businesses closing. So, when a Latino business owner opens their business, typically it’s because they’ve saved the money themselves throughout their life, doing whatever they did. They use that to fund their venture, but their businesses often crumble due to initial failures because they don’t have a backup investment to keep their company afloat.

About the Author:Born in Guatemala and raised in Los Angeles, Oscar dreamed of becoming a successful business owner. To become a successful entrepreneur seemed unattainable and a far-out dream. Oscar worked his way up the corporate ladder of successful companies gaining several awards along the way. He started several businesses only to witness those businesses fail.

At the age of 43, Oscar suffered multiple health scares, causing him to retire. With newfound time on his hands, he joined childhood friends to start a business venture. His past business failures were a lesson in finding a successful entrepreneurial path. This new venture resulted in a multi-million-dollar conglomerate, which continues to grow every year.

Oscar still lives in Los Angeles with his family and in his spare time he works towards helping the less fortunate through philanthropy and education.

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What Does It Take to Make a Sci-Fi Author? by A.M. Griffin – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 15, 2023 By 4 Comments

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

Hey Party People!

For those who don’t know me, I’m A.M. Griffin, avid reader cosplaying as a sci-fi author. I’m taking over Long and Short Reviews to introduce myself. While I’ve written in multiple genres, sci-fi is my first love. I’ve always been curious about space, aliens and life on different planets. As a young girl, I wrote many short sci-fi stories. Or should I say that I “started” many sci-fi shorts (I don’t think I finished any) (this is a no-judgement zone lol). I published my first sci-fi novel in 2012 and haven’t looked back since. That series, Loving Dangerously, will forever hold a special place in my heart and the first in the series, Dangerously Mine, will forever by my favorite book as it’s the first that I’ve finished to completion.

So, what does it take to make a sci-fi author?

Sci-Fi Author Ingredients:

1 cup Introvert
3 cups Weird
6 cups Overactive Imagination

Mix all the ingredients together and season to taste with a pinch of snark, feisty, sleepiness and addiction to doom scrolling through social media. The bake time would depend on the specific individual.

The Hunter. As the new Game Warden, Xrez Ym’ihla brings patrons from across the galaxy to track prey in a game built to enslave the weak and mate the strong. The business is a long running family legacy and Xrez is determined to succeed as his father had before him. He hadn’t meant to let one human occupy his thoughts, mind, and body.

His lies may come back to haunt him, but if he reveals the truth, he’ll ruin his chance to capture the heart of the one he wants.

The Prey. Esme Valdez had her entire life planned from an early age. As a chemist, her life was average and mundane, just the way she liked it. Until the impossible happened. Never did she imagine being abducted by aliens and forced to participate in a survival of the fittest game called The Hunt. If she survives and makes it to the end, she’ll be freed. If not, she’ll be forced to mate the one who captures her.

Esme is determined to win at all costs, even if it means putting her trust in a sexy alien who taunts her in the most delectable way.

Their love was built on betrayal. Can she trust him with her heart and life?

Enjoy an Excerpt

“Property,” she said, finally finishing her sentence. She didn’t recognize anything. Not a God. Damn. Thing. “We aren’t on my property.” Her voice didn’t sound right on her ears.

“So you didn’t kidnap me and give me this fancy new BDSM collar?” He tugged on something about two inches wide and silver around his neck

Esme fumbled at her neck, finding a collar of her own. It felt like metal, not thick, but seemed sturdy and cold on her skin. Her fingers trembled as she followed around the circumference. There wasn’t a way to unhook it. Her breathing picked up. Her chest heaved.

This was wrong. So very wrong.

The man shrugged. “I mean, if you’re into BDSM, I won’t judge you. But as I said, I’m through with all the weird shit.”

Esme clenched her fists in frustration. Tears welled in her eyes. Her heart felt like it was one beat away from exploding. “Hey, nitwit, this isn’t just about you. I think we’re all in the same boat here. I woke up probably the same time you did and just assumed I was home, because,” a hysterical chuckle left her mouth, “where else would I be on a friggin’ Friday night?”

“Hate to break it to you, but it’s Sunday night. I just played Comerica Park in Detroit.”

Esme frowned and shook her head. “No, I’m positive. The last thing I remember is coming home from work and thinking about binging on Netflix. It’s what I do every Friday night.”

He snorted. “Well, that’s sad.”

“Hey! We all can’t play at Comerica Park.” She exhaled loudly. “What is that anyway and why are you dressed like an over the top rock star?”

She’d heard of Detroit, even visited once when she’d lived in the United States to attend college. Her mom had a distant cousin who’d live near the United States and Canada border, and she’d spent a Christmas with them instead of flying all the way home to Mexico.

The rockstar guy brushed off his pants and straightened his clothes. “It’s called ‘stage presence,’ baby.”

“Oh, my God. Can you guys keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep,” came a tired voice from a shadowy corner.

Rockstar guy held up his hand and pulled each finger down slowly.

New guy scrambled to his feet. He was a lot bigger than rock star guy and bigger than most men she knew. He had on army fatigues, military boots, and dog tags hanging from his thick neck. He scowled. “Wait. Where the hell am I?”

Rockstar guy smirked and dropped his hands. “And there it is.”

About the Author: A. M. Griffin is a mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.

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If I’d Never Heard of Me, Would I Read My Book? by Ross Victory – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 14, 2023 By 6 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ross Victory 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.

If I’d Never Heard of Me, Would I Read My Book?

Yes, I would read my books. The biography of Ross Victory paints a portrait of an artist whose works are not merely products of imagination but also powerful extensions of his life’s narrative. The loss of his father and brother, pivotal moments in his life, fuel his creative expressions, which would resonate with anyone who has faced personal tragedies and is seeking solace or understanding through storytelling.

Ross’s literary works, like his award-winning memoir “Views from the Cockpit,” offer an intimate look at family and loss, which universally touch readers. His background as an English teacher imbues his writing with clarity and subsequent educational value that enriches the reader’s experience. Additionally, his engagement with themes of intersectionality and family in his YA horror series “Grandpa’s Cabin” shows a range and depth that promise a compelling read across genres. Also, Ross invests time and effort in his cover art with evocative images like planes crashing in the distance, a boy emerging from an egg, and an evil grandfather character rising from the ground. The colors are always bright, and the covers make you think.

Moreover, Victory appears to be a multidimensional character of the author—his music while confronting contemporary issues like racial injustice and mental health. His advocacy for the Bi+/LGBTQ communities and against elder abuse adds layers of social relevance to his works.

This artist does not shy away from the complexities of the human experience but instead embraces them, weaving them into his art. Your curiosity would be piqued by the promise of engaging narratives and the transformative power of Ross Victory’s words as they reflect a journey through hardship toward advocacy and empowerment.

At eighty-four years old, widower and award-winning geneticist Bernie Crenshaw has reached the end of his life. Bernie gifts his only grandson, eighteen-year-old Inglewood high school senior Nova, his multimillion-dollar property located in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills.

Years after Bernie’s death, Nova hosts a wild twenty-first birthday party weekend filled with alcohol, music, and OnlyFans web cameras. After a handful of eerie encounters in the surrounding Los Angeles forest, Nova’s friends allege that his grandpa’s cabin is the burial ground for people who disappeared during their childhood.

The birthday weekend shifts from celebration to terror as the friends piece together that the man Nova knew as “Popsi” matches the profile of one of the most notorious wanted criminals in Los Angeles-“L.A. Love Hunter.”

Will Nova preserve the Crenshaw family’s sadistic legacy, or will he choose the rare and valuable gift of friendship?

Enjoy an excerpt

Nova did not understand why first grade had ended early. Dozens of armed security guards descended on the elementary school with their guns drawn. The events of the day, which started with learning to tell time on a silly- framed clock and identifying vowels in sentences, had become disjointed puzzles in Nova’s six-year-old mind, a mind easily distracted by dogs’ tails and why his father shaves his face, but his mother shaves her underarms. Today, his bite-sized body would experience panic, and his mind would be introduced to a modern emotion: terror.

Mr. Woodrow, a frumpy man, only thirty-five but looked sixty, paced the classroom, which was decorated in circus-themed letters and talking numbers. His face was pale and fear-stricken as he explained today’s events to the officers, who observed him with deep suspicion.

“Sir, six-year-old kids don’t just run away from chocolate chip cookies and story time. We need you to breathe and tell us the last time you saw the twins.”

Two chairs, which had been occupied before the recess bell, were now empty. A class of twenty bright-eyed first graders was now eighteen. No one knew where the twins had gone.

After hours of waiting, the class was escorted to the pickup lot, where Nova found his mother, Stella, standing next to their black Range Rover and anxiously biting her left thumbnail down its nail plate.

“Oh, my God!” Stella burst out as she hugged Nova’s frail body tightly. She kissed Nova’s head repeatedly. “Are you okay? You must be so scared.” Nova stood motionless and confused by his mother’s panic.

About the Author: Ross Victory is an award-winning author and singer/songwriter from Southern California. After the loss of his father and brother, Ross dove into self-discovery, reigniting his childhood passion for creative writing and music production, launching an independent writing career. Victory has dedicated his life to empowering his community while entertaining listeners and readers. Victory provides a multi-format creative experience in Urban Adult Contemporary music and literature, with a focus on creative non-fiction and thematic novellas. Topics include: adventure, family, religion and philosophy, and identity.

Victory is best known for his father-son memoir, “Views from the Cockpit,” and multimedia production brand, “Books & Bangers.”

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Once Upon a Christmas Castle by Virginia Barlow – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 13, 2023 By 3 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Virginia Barlow will be awarding a free copy of Gamble of Hearts to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Lady Rosalind Chatham journeys with her family to Weston Castle to wed an ancient earl on Christmas day. Yearning for true love, she falls for the duke, her stepfather’s cousin, while preparing for her nuptials.

Lady Rosalind entrances the Duke of Weston. Concerned for her future with the tempestuous earl, he can’t afford to get involved. The fines and scandal will be too great for a man of his wealth and power.

When the truth comes to light, and he almost loses her forever, he finds he cannot afford to give less than his whole heart.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Careful not to make a sound, she sat on the window ledge and slipped her feet out the window. Turning to face the interior of the room, she inched her hips over the window ledge. She slipped on the ice, frozen to the brick outside the window, and slid down faster than she intended, cringing when the silk of her day gown ripped.

Panic gripped her like a cinched corset. She did not fear falling. No. The fine sheen of terror covering her brow appeared out of fear she might wake the earl.

Catching the edge of the brick where she lay against it halfway between her bosom and her waist, she sucked in a deep breath, conscious she must present a sight with her skirts bunched up and wedged between her and the window ledge. Her white pantalets and silk-stockinged legs dangled as she maneuvered her hands so she could drop to the ground. Thank the gods no one wandered the flower gardens beneath her to see her unladylike display.

Her prayer of gratitude stopped dead, and she received the shock of her life when a large pair of hands caught her about the waist!

She froze in terror, not daring to breathe.

“Lady Rosalind, how unexpected of you to drop by like this.” The duke’s deep voice laughed at her as he held her still.

She swallowed her cry of surprise and choked. God, what Cousin Lucius must be thinking about her right now.

About the Author:I have always loved reading romance novels. I used to sneak into my mom’s room as a young girl and read them while she was gone. As I grew older, my reading and tastes expanded to sci-fi, dystopian, paranormal, and fantasy.

I considered becoming an author in my late twenties but as a busy mother with toddlers, I didn’t have the time nor the energy.

Later, in my fifties, I decided to give it a try and have enjoyed every moment of it since. I recently signed my fourteenth contract and am doing my happy dance as I type this. My husband of forty-one years is my greatest support as are all my kids. Most of them are grown and carving out lives for themselves. They are the beat of my heart and with every grandchild, the rhythm gets stronger. I enjoy every moment of my life.

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Carrie Can Fly Too by Ashley and Breanna Bolliger – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 13, 2023 By 1 Comment

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ashley and Breanna Bolliger will be awarding a $10 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.

Carrie Can Fly Too is an optimistic and inspiring rhyme for the entire family. It affirms that being different shall never prevent us from achieving our lifelong dreams. All we need is a little confidence and our imagination can suddenly become a remarkable reality.

About the Authors

Ashley and Breanna Bolliger are identical twin sisters born and raised in Canada. Growing up, they have always cherished creating new projects together. Their passion for writing flourished when they launched a wellness blog called Twinlife. Through the creation, they hoped their personal wellness experiences would propose positive change, motivating young adults to develop their own wellness routines to support personal mental health needs.

Ashley and Breanna created “Carrie Can Fly Too” to continually raise mental health awareness, targeting younger audiences. Self-confidence is an attribute that is often not taught, yet it is a motivating factor which drives many towards achieving personal goals. Self-confidence is also fostered when the world is a more accepting place, and everyone has the opportunity to embrace their unique differences. This is Ashley and Breanna’s first children’s book publication, and they wish to continue writing and illustrating books in the future.

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Dragon Song by Shirley McCoy – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 10, 2023 By 9 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a randomly drawn winner a $10 Amazon/BN GC.Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Dragons rule the world. Princess Morgan Talbot of Esterhaven knows one rules her. Rownar, the most powerful dragon of all, forced a magical bond with her at a tender age. He intends to corrupt her soul, then consume her body. Now of age, Morgan knows she must take back her life and defeat Rownar, and all his kind. Connor O’Malley is the greatest dragon slayer alive. He spends one memorable night with Morgan, never thinking to see her again. Until he does. He is deeply shaken to learn the woman he fell for is a princess and determined to conquer Rownar herself. When Connor offers to train her, Morgan reluctantly accepts. Now an epic battle will begin, for a princess’s life, her soul, her kingdom, and the world.

Enjoy an Excerpt

As they cautiously navigated through the hoard, Morgan detected a slight glow in her peripheral vision. It flared up, then subsided. As they stepped forward, she discerned it again, and this time she whipped around quickly enough to see a small magical symbol etched in the floor behind them light up, then dim.

“Oh no,” she murmured.

“What’s wrong?” Connor demanded in a sharp tone.

She paced further and showed him. “I think if Meglos doesn’t already know we are here, he will soon.”

As if on cue, deep within the cave, the sound of an almighty clang of metal meeting metal filled their ears. Then came a roar, the kind which could only be made by a dragon.

Morgan knew her eyes must be wide as saucers, but she couldn’t seem to help it or move at all, in fact. Horror rooted her to the spot, unable even to speak, much less move.

Connor was not so afflicted. “Run!”

When she didn’t twitch so much as an eyelash, he yelled, “Run, Morgan!”

The volume of his words, his manner, and most of all, the use of her name, snapped her out of her panicked shock at last. She went from utter stillness to moving faster than she ever had in her life.

The dragon, shrieking and breathing fire all the while, flew after them.

About the Author:Shirley McCoy grew up in Baton Rouge, LA and started writing at an early age. Always talkative, when she was eleven she began to put her thoughts on paper, writing stories inspired by some of her favorite writers, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Madeline L’Engle. As she grew older, she developed a love of romance and in 2009 she decided to try her hand at paranormal romance. The result was The Smoke and the Flame and its sequel, The Wind and the Fire. The Smoke and the Flame is the first novel she has ever completed, although she has written several unpublished screenplays.

Shirley graduated from Nicholls State University where she majored in History and minored in English. Since graduating (she doesn’t like to think about how long ago that was) she has worked at some of the best libraries in the Baton Rouge area. She makes her home there and enjoys spending time with family members that live in town as well as with those that live out of town. She also loves seeing movies, reading, and going to the park with her niece in her free time.

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Outsider by Monica Buchanan – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 9, 2023 By 2 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Monica Buchanan will be awarding a $10 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.

Monica Buchanan grew up in Jamaica. She revisits her lived experiences of abuse and neglect in early childhood and her younger adult years. Buchanan takes the reader on a palatable path that allows for reflection on one’s own life. She writes about her survival journey, while looking through descriptive lens, she carefully details how exposure to early childhood abuse and neglect within her family helped form patterns, influenced choices, and shaped decisions in her adulthood.

By chronicling familial stories, the roles of parents, siblings, and community, she employs a story-telling and meaning-making approach, that is both painful and entertaining. Even though as a young child I was told I was the problem, I knew intuitively that I did not cause all my problems. I now know that what happened to me within the context of familial (and other) relationships had a name–emotional abuse and neglect.

Growing up I wished there were more people and resources that could help me make sense of my life as I struggled with low self-esteem, insecurities, felt lost, craved attention, and an overall sense of not belonging–I felt like an outsider and desperately wanted to be on the inside.

Buchanan reaffirms that: childhood experiences of abuse and neglect does not mean one has a commutable life sentence of pain and suffering. It does not matter where you are on your healing journey, you can set that stuff aside and reclaim your life. This book is for anyone who grew up in a toxic, abusive, and unhealthy home environment where they felt like they did not belong within the family unit. It is also a book about making changes, forgiveness, and letting go.

 

Enjoy an Excerpt

Emotional Abuse and Neglect
Experience has taught us that we have only one enduring
weapon in our struggle against mental illness: the emotional
discovery and emotional acceptance of the truth in the
individual and unique history of our childhood.
Alice Miller

 

Impact of Early Childhood Emotional Abuse and Neglect

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I do not know when or where I first heard this saying, but these days my life is lemons. Not the ripe, luscious, bright yellow lemons we often notice in the grocery store from afar, but sour, bitter, bad tasting ones—a whole lot of them—and there is no sugar to sweeten the lemonade I am making, so I just must swallow the bad tasting, intolerable concoction. I took the childhood garbage I ingested into adulthood. When and where did I learn to swallow this stuff and keep it down? I did not learn it as an adult; I learnt this behavior as a small, innocent, and unsuspecting child.

For many of us, the traumas and dramas of our early childhood experiences have turned us into survivors. MerriamWebster says a survivor is “A person who continues to live after an accident, illness, war, etc.” A more specific definition is “Someone who can keep living or succeeding despite a lot of problems.” The second definition certainly applies to me (and most other survivors of childhood abuse and neglect). Those earlier events have altered our psychological and emotional state in adulthood. We grow up to be adult-children who are not fully “alive” but rather, we endure an existence where we appear to be living a full life but are just getting by; we are surviving.

About the Author:

MONICA BUCHANAN has a PhD in psychology, as well as a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies. Buchanan is semi-retired, after a long and rewarding career in counseling, psychotherapy, and coaching, she now follows her passion and live a purposeful lifestyle. She continues to be enthusiastic and committed to development of strength-based community resources for adults and youths from marginalized and under-served communities, thus she remains an active volunteer. She focuses on mindfulness and relaxation and loves to read, write, garden, and take long meditative walks.

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Writing the First Chapter by Emma Dakin – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 9, 2023 By 5 Comments

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

Writing the First Chapter

It’s hard to entice the reader into the book without overloading them with information. I have so much information: back stories, clues that are important, a description of the setting that can set the mood. It all seems important, and it is. But if I unload that information as if I’m giving directions to the reader, they will close the book. Occasionally, I’m lucky and think of a way to start my story that begins with action and weaves setting, character and clues into that action. Usually, I write out all the information before the action starts. Pages of “information”. Then, I cut and paste those preliminary pages into a different file, and start over at the point where the action begins and proceed from there.

The first line needs to engage the reader. I’m fond of Dick Francis’s first lines: “You are a spoilt bad-tempered bastard,” my sister said, and jolted me into a course I nearly died of. (Flying Finish) and “I stood on the outside of disaster, looking in.” (In the Frame.)

I enjoy those first lines and even enjoy my own first lines: “I had expected my hostess at the tea party to be boring. I hadn’t expected her to be dead.” (Hazards in Hampshire).

A line like that puts you into the center of action immediately. It also tells you a little about the setting. While Claire is observing the body and considering what she should do, she can reveal to the reader who she is, where she is, and what problems she has at the moment. This is more effective and more interesting that telling the reader that Claire has just moved to this English village and doesn’t know the villagers well, that she is in her forties, has inherited money, but works as a tour guide. The readers will learn all that as they follow her immediate problems with a dead body.

Every first chapter doesn’t have to start with a body, although that will certainly grab the reader’s attention. If the story starts more quietly with only a minor problem, you need to move quickly into a major one, or at least, one that is major to your protagonist.

Crime in Cornwall starts: “The walls were shaking again. The noise level from the neighbor’s back garden rose like the roar of a football crowd and had reached that stage of raucous shouts mixed with wild music that made sleep impossible.”

The first paragraph establishes where the protagonist lives and her personal circumstances. It places her in an English village and highlights the problem with her neighbors. The body appears at the top of the third page.

While it is important to know the back story of your characters and the clues that the reader needs, it is not necessary to put them all into the first page. Trust yourself to sprinkle them in as you go. Readers are intelligent. They will pick up what they need to know.

Claire Barclay and her band of tourists are full of enthusiasm for her trip to Sussex and Kent, the beautiful southeastern part of England. A tragic death of a young man the son of the guest house manager sends Claire into comforting mode and makes it more difficult for her provide a bright and care-free holiday. Laura was not surprised at her son’s death as he had been a drug user and she expected he had taken contaminated drugs, a common fate. But the police lab said otherwise. He was murdered. Claire’s fiancé, Detective Inspector Mark Evans, investigates, so Claire is involved and privy to much information. Too much. In spite of her busy life with demanding guests, she discovers the motive for the murder and finds herself in danger.

A fun tour of Sussex with the extra treat for mystery lovers as Emma Dakin ties places to favorite books. —Rhys Bowen (NYT bestselling author of the
Molly Murphy and Royal Spyness series

If you are looking for a cozy crime novel that evokes a wonderful sense of place – look no further. Emma Dakin skilfully weaves a new mystery into a fascinating and informative tour of Southern England featuring heroine and literary tour guide, Claire Barclay, and a host of interesting characters.
—Julie Wassmer, Author of The Whitstable Pearl Mysteries

This engaging story will appeal to traditional mystery-lovers who like their murders set against the authentic backdrop of quaint English villages.
—Clara Benson, USA Today bestselling author of the Angela Marchmont Mysteries

Enjoy an Excerpt

Approaching the small town of Rye, I marked the route to Canterbury and the road to Hastings where I’d take my guests later in the week, I didn’t know this area well but had done two quick reconnaissance trips earlier. Jacqueline Winspear set her books near here in the war years. Her descriptions had given me a sense of familiarity with the green land around me, but the miles of delta before the sea surprised me. Rother Manor, our guest hotel, was large, but not, I was sure, large enough to have ever been a manor house. The name was probably applied to the house recently to attract tourists. The common meaning of ‘manor’ was a large house on a huge estate, but sometimes it just meant a large house. Mark told me that his colleagues sometimes called their police district their manor. I ruminated on the application of the word. I tended to do that. I’d not brought guests here before, but it looked ideal, sufficiently old to satisfy the North American appetite for a romantic setting but not so old it was decrepit. Laura Wright, the manager, had seemed organized and experienced.

I loved trying out new guest hotels and the whole experience of taking a tour to the sites of mystery novels. The tourists shared my itch for mysteries and were usually interested in what I offered. I’d had a career as a teacher of English to executives in many parts of the world. I enjoyed it as I was fascinated by linguistics and the way people use language. Now at forty-eight, I had achieved stability with a reliable partner, my own house and tour business and a legacy from my much-missed step-father. I should be able to feel comfortable, not always expecting a disaster. I admonished myself. This time the tour will go smoothly. This is a beautiful house; you will enjoy it here.

Rother Manor House was a three-storey rambling Victorian and was as close to a gracious house as was possible at the edge of Rye. The grounds were beautiful. Laura’s son, Reece Martin, looked after them she’d told me. He was in his late twenties and committed to creating beauty. The owners of the guest house were glad to hire him, Laura had told me, as staff was hard to find. It was unusual to see so much land around a house of this age in a town but it made a picturesque setting for my visitors. Across the street and well below it lay the cricket grounds, still green in the July heat. Beyond the grounds, the salt marsh stretched to the sea. The tourists would love this view.

I pulled my eyes away from the vista and turned into the car park, a graveled area to the left of the entrance. After unloading my small suitcase, knapsack and briefcase from the van, I climbed a few steps to the front door. It was unlocked. I entered into a long hallway and saw a side table with an open guest book and a prominent bell. I called for Laura but there was no answer. I hit the bell. No one came. I hadn’t told her the exact time I’d be here. She was likely nearby. I wandered into the lounge which was off the hallway. A small table held two cups and saucers, sugar and a milk jug and a plate of cake. My guests weren’t arriving until tomorrow. She could have others guests tonight, but I hoped that cake was for me. I dropped my luggage on a chair in the lounge and walked down the hallway to the rear of the house. There was no one in the kitchen. I pushed through the back door and stepped into the garden. The minute I opened the door I heard the keening of a woman in distress, a soft, desperate cry that rose in the air and hung there. There was anguish in every tone. The hairs on my forearms rose and I stood frozen for a moment.

The wail receded, then rose again. It came from the area at the back of the property. I walked towards a shed. I moved cautiously to the open door and peered in.

Laura was sitting on the floor beside a young man who lay still. His skin on his arms was pale, deadly pale. His head was turned so I just saw his dark hair. He was muscular, wearing a black T-shirt, denim jeans, black trainers. At first, I thought he’d fallen or had a seizure of some sort. Then I saw the Prenoxade kit open and the syringe on the floor nearby. Prenoxade, naloxone, the life-saving remedy for drug poisoning. Tour guides carried it; police carried it; teachers had it handy and, apparently, so did mothers.

About the Author: Emma Dakin writes a series of mysteries set in Britain. Her protagonist is a tour guide who takes different characters in each book to the sites of mystery novels in the countryside. She appreciates the elegant, people and humor of each area. But in that idyllic country, Claire stumbles on murder. Author Emma Dakin has five books so far in this series with the latest release September 12th 2023. An historical mystery set in Vancouver in 1886 is due out soon. She won a prestigious 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Community History Award for her non-fiction account of life in the 60s.

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If I’d Never Heard of Me, Would I Read My Book? by Robyn Singer – Guest Post and Giveaway

November 7, 2023 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess fish Promotions. Robyn Singer 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.

If I’d Never Heard of Me, Would I Read My Book?

A question like this is a tough one, especially as I don’t read nearly as many novels nowadays as I did when I was younger. I’m sure many of us in our 20s and 30s can recall speeding through a book in a day or two when we were kids, but now needing a week or month to finish one. Let’s say that I’m a passionate reader with no professional connection to my publisher, Cinnabar Moth, and The Order of the Banshee happened to come across my dash as a
recommendation.

Based on the gorgeous cover, my attention would immediately be drawn. I almost exclusively read books with female protagonists, the framing makes it seem like there’s a deep emotional connection between the two women on the cover, the shattered sword between them is a dynamic visual, and the women’s contrasting red and bluish-black hair, combined with their depressed facial expressions, would make me think of my favorite tv show in recent years,
Arcane. Looking at the description of the book, my attention would be further captured. The tagline hinting at this being a story set after “Happily Ever After” would sound right up my alley.

The first paragraph of the summary establishing that the women on the cover are married and that this is a space opera with found family, and a thief as the main protagonist would almost certainly seal the deal for me, but it would also make me question if this book was a sequel.

Sure enough, after a quick Google search and most likely a cup of coffee, I’d find that The Order of the Banshee is a sequel to last year’s, The Sunrisers. I might ask the person who put the book on my dash if The Order of the Banshee could be read on its own, but even when they said, “Yes”, I’d still probably want to read The Sunrisers first, so I could see how the series
leads, “professional thief and amateur noodle critic” Yael Pavnick and former military captain, Molina Langstone, first got together. Lesbian childhood friends to enemies to lovers would be impossible for me to pass up.

I wrote these books to be everything I want in stories, with the series protagonist, Yael, being specifically designed to be everything little me would have wanted in a hero. Yes, I would absolutely read both The Order of the Banshee and its predecessor, The Sunrisers, even if I’d never heard of me. I suppose it wasn’t such a difficult question after all.

It’s been five years since Yael and Molina reunited. Yael is one of the richest and most infamous thieves in the universe and a member of the Order of the Banshee. She is rising through the ranks of the elite organization with her wife and her ride-or-die best friends, Aarif and P’Ken, at her side, and she’s even running her own school for thieves. Molina, former captain in the universe’s premiere peacekeeping organization, the Sunrisers, is happily married to Yael and tells herself that’s enough.

Their seemingly perfect lives are interrupted when they receive news of the death of Molina’s father. When Molina returns home for his funeral, she reunites with her former friend and now enemy: Kaybell, the emperor of the Cykebian Empire. Kaybell, eager to mend the relationship, informs Molina that her father was murdered and offers to help Molina find those responsible and bring them to justice.

While Molina and Kaybell hunt the people responsible for her father’s death, Yael is hunted by an invincible assassin – one with a terrible secret. These two seemingly unrelated events are more connected than Yael or Molina could possibly imagine.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Yael was never peaceful in her sleep. Sometimes it was adorable, as she’d blurt out lines from her ridiculous dreams and punch and kick the air. Other times it was annoying as Hell, as she’d sleepwalk, go to the fridge, and stuff food in my mouth. And usually it was weird food she and Aarif liked that I wouldn’t normally touch. But sometimes, it wasn’t adorable or annoying. Sometimes it was scary.

“Ahh!” Yael shrieked, shaking her knees. “Ahhh!”

“Yael, baby, wake up,” I said, getting on top of her and resting my hands on her face. “Wake up!”

Yael’s eyes jolted open and she tried to throw me off her. That had happened a few times before, but I’d learned how to grab onto her so I stayed in place. As Yael panted, she wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me like one of the stuffed animals she’d had as a kid.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s okay. You’re home. You aren’t back there.”

Yael’s warm breath continued to blow against my ear. “It hurts. It shouldn’t, but it does. Every other week…I’m on the Noriker. And every time I close my eyes, I see that bitch.” Yael roared, slamming her fists down on the bed, shaking the entire room. “I could have killed her. Instead, she’s the fucking emperor.”

About the Author: Robyn Singer is a lifelong New Yorker, and since she was a kid playing with her action figures, all she’s wanted to do is tell stories. She went to SUNY Purchase to get a degree in Playwriting & Screenwriting with a minor in Film and has produced several comic books, but she’s always had her eye on becoming a published novelist.

As an Autistic, bisexual trans woman, diversity and inclusion in stories are vitally important to her, and she seeks to represent as many groups as possible in her work. While she wants to show characters of marginalized groups experiencing joy, she also draws inspiration from real-world problems which bother her.

The Sunrisers (Cinnabar Moth Publishing, November 2022) is her debut novel. Order of the Banshee is book in the The Ricochet Trilogy. Robyn was the author in residence for quester 1 of 20222 for Cinnabar Moth Literary Collections. She writes novels and short stories of all genres and for all ages, and she continues to produce comic books. Her ongoing series, Final Gamble, began publication by Band of Bards in 2022.

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