Monday 25 December 2017

Rock the Holidays with a Free Cookbook: The ABCDs of Cooking with Writers…

The holidays are upon us heralding parties, celebrations, and family gatherings. If you love to cook, then have I got a gift for you! Cue a holiday-inspired cookbook written by the following thirteen busy authors, of various ages and genres: Carol BrowneHL CarpenterSara DanielDominique EastwickLeigh Goff, C.D. HershVonnie Hughes, Alicia JosephEmma LaneSharon LedwithAnne MontgomeryChris Pavesic, and Sloane TaylorThese wonderful writers have created recipes that will make your life easy and simple when it comes time to prepare tantalizing appetizers, tasty beverages, mouth-watering cookies, and decadent desserts.

The ABCDs of Cooking with Writers is your go-to recipe book for entertaining over the holiday seasons, hosting events, or celebrating that special day. Compiled by Sloane Taylor—a gourmet cook in her own right—and designed by mother-daughter duo HL Carpenter, the included recipes have been tested and approved of by the most finicky family members.

Oh, and did I mention that it is FREE?  

So why not have your cake and eat it too? Yes, pun intended. You’ve got nothing to lose, and time to gain when you download The ABCDs of Cooking with Writers. There’s a recipe for every holiday, celebration, or event in your life. Give yourself a gift this holiday season with a cookbook from thirteen writers who share their favorite recipes and tips to help relieve the stress in your busy life.

Head over to my Website which features all the major on-line store links to download for FREE or click on the Cookbook Cover featured on my blog’s sidebar to nab your copy! Cheers and wishing you and your loved ones all the best this holiday season! Be safe and Bon Appetit! 

Monday 18 December 2017

Be a Champion for the Underdog or Cat…

Everyone is emotionally touched by an animal at some point in their lives. For me, having a dog in the house since the day I was born forever cemented canines in my heart, and later in my early twenties I got my first cat—a calico who lived to be twenty. In Lost and Found, the first book in Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls series, the main character, Meagan Walsh is forced to do community service hours in the local animal shelter. I, myself have worked in an animal shelter, so this story is near and dear to my heart. For those of you thinking about expanding your family to include a furry friend (especially during the holidays), here are some things I’ve observed in my short stint as an animal care attendant…

Overbreeding and interbreeding have caused so many genetic defects in dogs and cats that the ‘art’ of breeding has gotten to the point today that some breeders are obsessed by the conformation of their breeding stock while ignoring their personalities. Now certainly not all breeders are bad and not all purebred pets are defective. But the fact is that the common mutt is likely to live a longer, healthier life. Let’s hear it for the underdog…and cat! Some of the best pets can be saved from certain death and obtained rather inexpensively from a local animal shelter.

Now, before you head over to the closest animal shelter, there are a couple of precautions about adopting a shelter pet. First, you never know the background of the animal. Was it abused? Was it well nourished? For young animals these are important questions because the social behavior of dogs and cats depends on how they were treated as youngsters. Major aberrations in the socialization of a young animal may affect it for life no matter what you do to correct the problems. Severe, early malnutrition can cause physical problems for the life of a pet.

For those considering adopting an older pet from a shelter, a key question is, “Why was the pet discarded?” I’ve heard many excuses from people dropping off pets with the most common being financial, to moving to an apartment, and my least favorite—I didn’t realize the work involved in owning a dog. Um, really? Many pets are brought to a shelter because of behavioral issues, though that’s not what they tell the shelter personnel, so they make up some other excuse. The good news is that many ‘behavioral’ problems are due to the pet owner and not the pet.

Another concern when adopting a pet from a shelter is the health of the animal. Many pets at the shelter have not been raised in favorable conditions. The shelter staff do their best to get every animal vaccinated and their needs taken care of promptly upon arrival. The most common mistake people make when adopting a pet is that they feel sorry for a sickly animal. As pitiful as the sickly, runt of the litter may look, I wouldn’t recommend it for a pet unless you have unlimited financial and emotional resources. And believe me, I’ve seen some wonderful Good Samaritans with these resources adopt just to give that sick animal a good, loving home for the rest of its life.

It’s so important to do your research when shopping around for a pet, and make sure you have the time, energy, and necessary funds to invest in the animal for as long as it lives. If you’re thinking about getting a dog or cat to add to your family, then I urge you to adopt a pet from your local animal shelter. You’ll not only help an animal in need, you’ll receive something we ALL need—unconditional love.

Monday 11 December 2017

Audio Book Review: Starter Zone; The Revelation Chronicles, Book 1 by Chris Pavesic…

I thought it would be fun to offer you something completely different: a review of Starter Zone, the first book of Chris Pavesic’s new YA/LitRPG series, The Revelation Chronicles. So what is LitRPG genre, you ask? Chris explained to me that it was Role Playing Game books. Wow, who knew there was such a thing? I’m not normally a video gamer, but that didn’t stop me from entering Pavesic’s dystopian world and playing along with her characters. What a treat to listen to the audio version of this fantastical series! The narrator, Natalie Heng, does a wonderful job throughout the story, bringing Pavesic’s characters to life through her whimsical, strong voice.

So what’s my take on this role-playing fantasy-dystopian story of two sisters fighting to survive in a watered down version of the world? This is what I posted on Amazon and Goodreads…

 A 4 Star Fast-Paced Fantasy from the Get-go

From the very beginning, Chris Pavesic reels you into the dystopian world she created, and it’s not pretty. Humans have decided to seek immortality by inscribing the human mind onto a single drop of water. Add a government takeover into the mix, and things go from bad to worse. This is not the fountain of youth type world humans were striving for, but more like a watered-down nightmare, especially for sixteen-year-old Cami, and her younger sister, Alby.

Fighting for their lives in an apocalyptic world, the sisters dodge vicious gangs and the dangerous inscribed rains before getting caught by an organization who plans on selling them into slavery to be part of the realms, a game-like reality created for the wealthy. Pavesic pulls you through the challenges her characters must face in order to move up on the role-playing chain. Wonderful world building and filled with twists, even if you’re not a gamer, you’ll love the journey this story takes you on! Narrator, Natalie Heng does an awesome job with all the character’s voices, as she leads you through this magical, dystopian tale. Game on!

About the Book:

When hydrologists inscribe the consciousness of a human mind onto a single drop of water, a Revelation sweeps the land. The wealthy race to upload their minds into self-contained virtual realities nicknamed Aquariums. In these containers people achieve every hope, dream, and desire. But governments wage war for control of the technology. Terrorist attacks cause massive destruction. The Aquariums fail.  Inscribed human minds leech into the water cycle, wreaking havoc.

Street gangs rule the cities in the three years since the fall of civilization. Sixteen-year-old Cami and her younger sister Alby struggle to survive. Every drop of untreated water puts their lives in peril. Caught and imprisoned by soldiers who plan to sell them into slavery, Cami will do anything to escape and rescue her sister. Even if it means leaving the real word for a life in the realms, a new game-like reality created by the hydrologists for the chosen few.

But life in the realms isn’t as simple as it seems. Magic, combat, gear scores, quests, and dungeons are all puzzles to be solved as the sisters navigate their new surroundings. And they encounter more dangerous enemies than any they faced in the real world.

Time to play the game.

Purchase Links:

Audible Audiobook:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Chris Pavesic lives in the Midwestern United States and loves Kona coffee and all types of speculative fiction. Between writing projects, Chris can most often be found reading, gaming, gardening, working on an endless list of DIY household projects, or hanging out with friends. She blogs on https://chrispavesic.com/and Tweets @chrispavesic  Find Chris and her books on Goodreads.

Monday 4 December 2017

Cottage Country Cuisine...

When we lived in cottage country, we’d visit the local bakery in Baysville, a small, tourist town five minutes south of us. The smell of fresh baking does something to a body. Sometimes it takes you back to when life was simpler. Today, cottage and camping life have changed. Cell phones are getting better reception, and seeing satellite dishes on cottage roofs has become the norm. But sometimes it’s nice to just unplug, and let nature stir your soul.

In my new series, Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, I uproot a troubled teen with a complicated life—he or she also possesses a psychic ability—and place them in the serene setting of Fairy Falls. These kids then have to deal with the fact that they’re different, and try to fit in, which as you can imagine isn’t that easy. Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expect the unexpected.

The following moist and spicy recipe is geared to enjoy with coffee on the dock, snacks around the card table, or a hot cup of tea in a hammock. With a prep time of 15 minutes, and cook time of 50 minutes, this pumpkin bread actually tastes even better the day after it is baked, and the smell of it coming out of the oven may take you back to your favorite tourist bakery shop while vacationing with your family.

Lakeside Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
⅔ cup water
3 cups white sugar
3½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground ginger

PREHEAT oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

IN a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended.

WHISK together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

BAKE about 50 minutes. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

So while those loaves are baking, and filling your kitchen with the most amazing smells, why not relax on the couch, and visit the small, tourist town of Fairy Falls, starting with Lost and Found, Book #1 of Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls? Just don’t forget the bug spray.

Monday 27 November 2017

What To Do With Those Holiday Leftovers by HL Carpenter...

Some days we like to prepare delicious, artistically-plated meals fit for royal company, like the meals served in our cozy mystery A Cause for Murder.

And some days we look in the refrigerator and find half-empty jars of gravy, dollops of extra veggies, bits of cheese, and slices of cooked chicken or turkey. On those days, we eat – and enjoy – leftover leftovers. To get your imagination working on your own version of Leftover Leftover Delight, here's a quick and easy recipe that recently graced the Carpenter Country table.

Leftover Leftover Delight
½ package cooked lima beans
¼ carton feta cheese
 ¾ jar chicken or turkey gravy
1 cup leftover cooked chicken or turkey
2 cups crushed potato chips

PREHEAT oven 350° F.

PLACE all ingredients except chips in an 8x8 pan. Mix well. 

COVER with chips.

BAKE until warmed through, about 30 minutes, or use your toaster oven on days when you don't want to heat up the house.

The best feature of this recipe is the variations – you can add any veggie, substitute cream soup for the gravy, use beef or pork instead of chicken or turkey, and crush corn chips for the topping instead of potato chips. So go crazy with those leftovers! Especially over the holidays!

And while you're waiting for your Leftover Leftovers to heat up, enjoy an excerpt from our cozy mystery, A Cause for Murder.

Septuagenarian sleuth Emma Twiggs thinks her neighbor’s death was an accident – until her friend Arnie says he suspects murder.

Arnie is convinced he knows the killer’s identity. He wants Emma to prove it.

Is Arnie right? And is he right in his belief that Emma’s best friend is the killer’s next target? As Emma navigates madcap mayhem, multiple mysteries, and murderous motives, she discovers more than one person is hiding deadly secrets.

The question is, who has a cause for murder?

EXCERPT

It wasn’t the food. Happy Haven Retirement Community’s chef prepared delicious, artistically plated roast beef and mashed potatoes every Sunday evening.

Emma Twiggs set down her fork. No, the food wasn’t the problem.

It wasn’t the chatter or the whispers in the dining room, or the sidelong glances of other Happy Haven residents. Happy Haven was a hotbed of gossip and rumors. Being the topic du jour was familiar territory.

It certainly wasn’t her dinner companion. Arnie Bracken was always charming, kind, and intelligent, no matter what her best friend Olli thought.

No, food, chatter, and Arnie, combined or singular, were not the cause of her uneasiness.

The problem –

"I know what you’re thinking, Em," Arnie said.

"Do you?" She picked up a glass of lemon-spritzed water and tried to swallow past the tightness in her throat. She could only hope he had no idea of what she was thinking.

"Sure." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "You’re wondering how someone as fit as Jo accidentally drowned in the swimming pool." Emma froze. Her fingers tightened on the glass. The chatter in the room faded into muted background noise. She had deliberately not been thinking about Jo. She would not think about Jo. How did Arnie know she'd been thinking about Jo?

"I’ll tell you how," he said. "Jo was murdered, and Cahan murdered her."

"I am not thinking about – Murdered?" The lump in her throat expanded to the size of the Brussels sprouts on her plate. "By Todd?"

"Murdered. By Cahan. And we need to prove he did the deed."

"Arnie." Emma set the glass on the table and uncurled her fingers from it. She coughed to clear the non-existent Brussels sprout from her throat. "The paramedics told us Jo’s death was accidental. An accidental drowning."

"Yeah, I know all the euphemisms they used."

Emma did too. The headline in Harmony Notes, the local daily, had read TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT HAPPY HAVEN. Unfortunate was the word murmured most frequently at the funeral service, followed closely by regrettable.

She said, "Harmony’s police department and the district medical examiner agreed with the paramedics."

"They’re wrong."

A trickle of condensation wept down the side of the glass and puddled into a teardrop on the table. All the words used to describe Jo’s death were wrong. Wrong and inadequate. Words were inadequate now too.

Because this was the problem she had been avoiding.

Her role in Jo’s death.

Florida-based mother/daughter author duo HL Carpenter write sweet, clean fiction that is suitable for everyone in your family. The Carpenters write from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories, is unreal but not untrue. When they’re not writing, they enjoy exploring the Land of What-If and practicing the fine art of Curiosity. Visit their website to enjoy gift reads and excerpts and to find out what’s happening in Carpenter Country.

Stay connected on Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+, and their Amazon Author Page.

Tuesday 21 November 2017

YA Book Tour and Guest Post: The Mystery on Lost Lagoon; A Nikki Landry Swamp Legend by Rita Monette...


FIRST PAGES by Rita Monette...

How important are the opening pages of your novel? VERY important.

First of all, you must keep in mind that busy agents and publishers will usually judge your writing and your book by the first few pages, and oftentimes by page one!

Also, readers, who might be grabbed by your title, tag line, and your cover blurb, still will judge whether they want to continue to read on by the first chapter, or even the first page. So you’d better work really hard at getting it right.

How do you do that? you might ask. Well here are some well worn tips to accomplish that.

Prologue or no prologue…that’s a good question.

Although there are quite a few great books on the market that use prologues to introduce their novel, many experts agree, that a good rule of thumb is to leave it off.

Instead of telling the reader your character’s background and motivations, use your writing skills to weave that information in, letting your reader figure it out.

I’ve been told most readers don’t bother to read prologues anyway. I know I don’t like them. I usually want to jump right into reading the story. So just jump right in writing it. But where DO we start?

Tension is the key.

Every movie-goer knows that the first scene of a film usually begins with a huge car crash, guns blaring, or a murder, then jumps back to why on earth all this went on. Many books begin this way also. But wild action isn’t always the key. Most times it’s tension.

On page one, feed the reader some intriguing questions they will surely want the answers to. What is your character doing, saying, observing, or thinking that makes the reader want to know what’s going to happen next, or what the character plans to do about the situation at hand?

The Character.

The reader will want to know something about your main character. What is he about? What does he want? Is he relatable or liked enough for them to want to know more and to invest the next few hours of their time in. What is he doing in that first scene that tells us something about his personality, his ambitions, his goals? First impressions count.

The Setting.

Give the reader an idea of the setting on that first page also. Where is your character? Is the time period important? What is the season? Is it hot, cold? Don’t let the reader have to figure that out as he reads along.

The Hook.

This seems like a lot to cram into a first page, but you want to draw the reader in from the very start. It’s called the “hook.”

Sometimes it takes many re-writes to get those elements in effectively.

Feedback.

Get an honest opinion from a person or persons…typically not your mother or spouse. Join a critique group or a group like Critique Circle.

About The Mystery on Lost Lagoon:



Legend has it… if you go onto Lost Lagoon, you never return.

Nikki Landry and her friends are off on a quest to track down the prehistoric-looking bird that’s been flying around a nearby swamp island. However, their plans get sidetracked when they meet a stranger in their small town who seems to have some secrets to hide.

The sleuthing group soon learns of a legend about a hidden lagoon. Is it all connected? Before they can find out, they are kidnapped by a mysterious scientist on a mission of his own.

Is there any truth to the legend that says if you go onto Lost Lagoon, you will never return? Is the eerie whirlpool that sits waiting to suck you in really a passage to another world?

Join Nikki, her friends, and one neurotic parrot, as they discover the truth behind the Mystery on Lost Lagoon.

Follow the Book Tour:
https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/11/schedule-mystery-on-lost-lagoon-nikki.html

Book Details:

Age Level: 6-12
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing; 1 edition
Publication Date: November 17, 2017
ASIN: B076TVWSZ7

Purchase from Amazon

Purchase from Mirror World Publishing

Read an Excerpt:

The August air was steamier than a pot of boiled crawfish. Tiny bugs danced like fairies on the gumbo-colored bayou. Cypress trees on a nearby swamp island dipped their moss-draped branches into the still water, trying to stay cool. I had been sitting in my new tree house for days, trying to catch a cool breeze and pondering on how to turn a plain old fort into an official club house, when I decided what it needed most of all was furniture. My friend Spikes had come over to help me build some. He was pretty good with tools.

“I saw that strange bird again.” Spikes stood beside me with a hammer in his hand.

“What bird?” I asked, busy with trying to arrange some old boards in the shape of a table, just before they collapsed into a heap. “Drats!” I folded my arms in front of me.

“You have to lay them on the floor, Tomboy,” he said. “We need to nail them together first.”

“So you have to build it upside down?” I wiped the sweat off my brow with the back of my hand.

Spikes’ real name was Spencer Sikes, but I’d never heard nobody call him that ’cept for his grandpa. He was twelve years old, a whole year and a half older than me. I couldn’t imagine being almost a teenager. Me and him argued a lot, but we always stayed friends. He told me once he only liked me ’cause I wasn’t like other girls, and could climb trees, and didn’t mind getting dirty. He sometimes called me Tomboy instead of my real name, Nikki.

He grinned, showing his broken front tooth. “Yeah.”

“We need some nails.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of bent nails. “I was over at my grandpa’s yesterday. We took a boat ride out to Flat Lake, and I saw it flying around Pelican Pass, see.”

“Saw what?”

“The bird.” He sounded annoyed. “You know, the one that makes that screeching sound. The same one we saw over in Mossy Swamp.” He sat on the floor and began straightening the nails by laying ’em on their sides and tapping ’em with his hammer.

We had gone out to Mossy Swamp back in June trying to find out about a legendary monster, when we saw a big bird swoop down and make a horrible noise. Spikes had been bringing it up ever since...and I had been trying real hard to ignore him.

“Oh yeah.” I twirled the hair at the end of my braid. “The one you said looked like a dinosaur or something.”

“A pterodactyl,” he added. “Actually, the real name is pterosaur, see, which is a species of flying reptiles. So technically it isn’t a bird at all.”

“Why do you read all that stuff?” I sat on my bare heels across from him.

“It’s just interesting.” He squinted at me like it should be something I should be curious about.

Spikes was not very good at school work, and barely passed his classes, but he loved to read when it was something that caught his interest. In fact, he could become pretty darned obsessed on a subject he liked, usually ghosts or pirates. Seemed his new obsession was prehistoric creatures.

“So, what about it?” I asked, stacking my boards to the side. “I ain’t caring about no reptile-looking bird, unless it was to come after me or my dog.”

“I watched it fly in and out of the pass near Rabbit Island. I think it must have a nest near there,” he said, still banging on his nails. “And actually…according to a book I got from the library…their average wing span can get a little over twenty feet.”

“How big is twenty feet?” I asked, still not much caring as long as it stayed in the swamp where it belonged.

He looked around, then pointed. “Oh, longer than your houseboat, there.”

I poked out my lips. “You’re telling a fib, Buzzard. It wasn’t that big at all.”

“Well, it might just be a young one,” he said, “and you know what that means?”

I didn’t answer. He could go on and on forever, like he had something caught in his craw.

Buzzard was a nickname I gave him on my first day at Morgan City Elementary. He looked just like one sitting up on that great big branch of the coolest tree in the school yard. It was our first argument, on account of I had already claimed that branch for my own lunch spot. He learned real quick that I wasn’t the type to give things up that easy, and since nary one of us like to be called names, we only did it to annoy each other. Sometimes we could go for days using each other’s rightful names.

“That means its mama might be lurking around out there in that swamp, see.” His eyes got real big, like he actually wanted it to be so.

I gazed at him sideways. “Spikes you do know those things are extinct, don’t you? Miss Allgood taught us all about the dinosaurs last year. She said they’ve been gone since the Ice Age. That means it got too cold for ’em to survive. So there.”

“Well, I ain’t saying it is prehistoric or anything.” He nailed the boards together. “I just said it looks like one.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it’s probably just a big pelican anyway. Hey, can we stand the table up yet?”

“Not yet. We need braces on these legs so it won’t fall down. Go over to Nana’s shed and get me a couple smaller boards while I straighten some more nails out.”

Meet the Author:

Behind Every Legend Lies the Truth!



Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and draw. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. The Mystery on Lost Lagoon is the fourth book in her Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series, which is based on her childhood. Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Connect with Rita:

Website: 
http://ritamonette.blogspot.ca/

Publisher Website: 
http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com



Monday 20 November 2017

YA New Release, Book Sale, and Giveaway: The Student and the Slave by Annie Douglass Lima...

Take a look at this exciting new young adult action and adventure novel, The Student and the Slave, now available for purchase! This is the third book in the Krillonian Chronicles, after The Collar and the Cavvarach and The Gladiator and the Guard

The series is set in an alternate world that is very much like our own, with just a few major differences.  One is that slavery is legal there.  Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil.  It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge.  Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades.  You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

The Collar and the Cavvarach by Annie Douglass Lima
First, a Little Information about Books 1 and 2: 


Book 1: The Collar and the Cavvarach

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?


Click here to read chapter 1 of The Collar and the Cavvarach.
Click here to read about life in the Krillonian Empire, where the series is set.


The Gladiator and the Guard by Annie Douglass LimaBook 2: The Gladiator and the Guard

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?


Click here to read about life in the arena where Bensin and other gladiators are forced to live and train.

And now, The Student and the Slave, with another awesome cover by the talented Jack Lin!


Book 3: The Student and the Slave

Is this what freedom is supposed to be like? Desperate to provide for himself and his sister Ellie, Bensin searches fruitlessly for work like all the other former slaves in Tarnestra. He needs the money for an even more important purpose, though: to rescue Coach Steene, who sacrificed himself for Bensin’s freedom. When members of two rival street gangs express interest in Bensin’s martial arts skills, he realizes he may have a chance to save his father figure after all … at a cost.

Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones … and live with the consequences?


Click here to order The Student and the Slave from Amazon for $2.99 a discounted price of just 99 cents through November 31st!


About the Author:
Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since her childhood, and to date has published fifteen books (three YA action and adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, six anthologies of her students’ poetry, and a Bible verse coloring and activity book). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.


Connect with the Author Online:
Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com
Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads
Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn
Google+: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus


Now, enter to win an Amazon gift card or a free digital copy of the first two books in the series!




Thursday 16 November 2017

YA Book Release: Skavenger’s Hunt by Mike Rich…

You know those feel-good movies… the ones about unlikely friendships, classic sports moments, maybe a tear-jerking scene or two? Well, those are the kind of screenplays Mike Rich has had the great fortune to write. Best known for Finding Forrester (Sean Connery’s character was named after Mike’s high school English teacher), The Rookie, Radio, Secretariat and Cars 3, Mike wrote those stories because they’re ones he loves himself, and they’re the reason he decided to write Skavenger’s Hunt, his first book which publishes from Inkshares on November 14, 2017.

This middle-grade/young adult crossover is a stunning adventure back in time. From Mississippi riverboats to the streets of old Paris, Skavenger’s Hunt is a riveting tale rich with historical detail and fantastic appearances by real-life characters such as Mark Twain and Gustave Eiffel. It’s packed with colorful, charismatic historical figures and landmarks from more than a century ago; all part of an adventurous time-travel origin story surrounding the first, and greatest, scavenger hunt ever held.

Skavenger’s Hunt poses the questions: What if there was a magical origin story behind the scavenger hunts we all took part in as kids? What if there was one man, more than a hundred years ago, who held the first, greatest, most elaborate hunt ever? And what if that man’s name, Hunter S. Skavenger, was the reason—lost-to-history—for calling these hunts what we do today? Better yet… what if this greatest of hunts was never solved, but all the clues remained?

About the Book:

A stunning adventure back in time, from Mississippi riverboats to the streets of old Paris.

Skavenger’s Hunt is the story of 12-year-old Henry Babbitt; a good-hearted, intelligent kid still reeling from the sudden loss of his beloved father—a man who promised his son that one day they would sail somewhere, climb mountains, take part in great adventures.
Adventures that never were, unfortunately, after Henry’s father died in a car accident at West 96th and Riverside in New York. Adventures that Henry’s mother, Eloise, understandably tried to shield her only child from even thinking about anymore.
But when Henry’s eccentric grandfather, on a snowy Christmas Eve night, tells him the legend of the mysterious Skavenger and the lost clues the old man himself tried to find—it sets into motion a late-night enchanting moment that places Henry—and Henry alone—back in the year 1885. Back at the precise moment and location where the greatest of hunts was about to begin.
The adventures that never were…become the adventure Henry and his late father could never have dreamed of taking.
Henry knows the key to getting back home rests with Skavenger himself, and that the only way to meet the enigmatic puzzler is by winning the hunt that stumped thousands a century-and-a-half earlier. He teams up with a rag-tag trio of 19th century youngsters, each determined to solve the unsolvable for their own reasons. Ernie, orphaned when his parents were murdered in New York’s notorious Five Points. Mattie, a whip-smart girl able to match wits with the most brilliant of hunters. And Jack, who has the street smarts to know there’s something untold about Henry.
The elaborate hunt begins in New York’s Central Park, but doesn’t stay there for long. Those clever enough to solve the first clues journey throughout the still young United States, while others gamble on crossing the Atlantic Ocean for Europe. Iconic, historic locations await them – as does a cast of literary heroes, inventive geniuses and business legends. But also awaiting them is Skavenger’s lethal rival: the menacing Hiram Doubt and his malevolent Dark Men. Not only must Henry and Company solve every clue in the great contest—they’ll have to stay ahead of Doubt and his agents of danger to do it.
Praise for Skavenger’s Hunt:

"With Skavenger's Hunt, Mike Rich has adeptly tapped into the best of children's literature. His book takes us on a journey that both fascinates and surprises us and is filled with characters who are curious and generous and, at times, very funny. The world that Henry Babbitt discovers is every bit as mind-blowing as the world that Lucy Pevensie enters when she first walks through the wardrobe. I can't wait to read it again!" —Mark Johnson, producer of The Lion, Witch and the WardrobeBreaking Bad, and Rain Man

"A mix of magic and history that takes the reader on an utterly engrossing adventure! Skavenger's Hunt is an edge-of-your-seat gem that’ll keep you turning pages from start to finish. An impressive debut novel." —The Wibberleys, writers of National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets

"Mike Rich is, very simply, one of my favorite writers. Any time you sit down to read a script of his you know that you will laugh, think and be moved. He has the rare ability to create emotion without schmaltz." —John Lee Hancock, writer and director of The Blind Side

"Mike Rich writes stories with so much heart they almost explode. There's the work you know, like Secretariat, but also work on countless films you love that don't bear his name. Skavenger's Hunt is no exception." —Brian Koppelman, writer of Ocean's 13 and creator of Showtime's Billions

Meet the Author:
 
Mike Rich is a screenwriter best known for films like The RookieRadio, and Secretariat. His first movie was Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery, for which he won the Nicholl Fellowship. Skavenger's Hunt is his first book.


Monday 13 November 2017

YA Book Tour: The Wandering God by Joshua Pantalleresco...


Greater Worlds than These

Following the events of Stormdancer, The Watcher receives a vision in a dream of a city in turmoil. The dream haunts him, as does the voice that insistently repeats, 'Help me,' night after night. Leaving the safety of the tower of scientists behind, the Watcher and his friends embark on their final journey to locate the source of the message and come face to face with their most difficult obstacle yet: doubt.
Though they trust the Watcher, Kristen and the others can't help but fear that the voice in his head is driving him mad and leading them all to their deaths. Even the Watcher is afraid. He knows that listening to this voice risks everything he has obtained up until this point, but he can't help but continue to follow it, driven forward by curiosity and an  instinctive need.

Beyond volcanoes, rock people, and deserts of nothing but crystal, lies the City at the End of the World. And there, the Wandering God awaits...


Tags: Young Adult, Poetry, Epic, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dragons

Kindle version of the book is 161 pgs. long.

More info can be found on Amazon

Follow the book tour:

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/11/schedule-wandering-god-watcher-book-3.html

Praise for The Wandering God:

“I can say with no hyperbole that The Watcher by Joshua Pantalleresco is, truly, an epic epic.” ~Dirk Manning, author of Tales of Mr. Rhee and Nightmare World

"Joshua Pantalleresco paints a stunning and vivid world through poetry and takes the reader on an adventure that is well worth a read." ~Christine Steendam, award-winning author of the Ocean series and Foremost chronicles

Read an Exclusive Excerpt:

this is a dream
I remember lying down, closing my eyes
reuniting with them all again
my family

now I'm here
looking up at a magical structure
pointing straight to the heavens
lots of little structures stand alongside it
all pointing up
flying chariots shaped like birds
soar in the air

the scene shifts
grounded chariots march with the birds in the sky
rolling boxes point their cannons toward the chariots
and fire
people look around in fear and awe

they fight and fight
spewing more fire from the tips of their guns
the chariots stay still in the air
defying us
no matter how much we fight them
we cannot hurt them

a blinding light shatters the sky
the chariots, structures, and boxes are devoured inside it
I hear a thousand screams of terror

and then all is still

the heaven-pointing structures tilt sideways
the boxes, chariots, and metal birds all forsaken
not one breeze blows by
there is only desolation

everything changes
I see myself atop the watchtower
looking into the horizon

wondering just what is out there

Purchase Links:

Amazon CA

Meet the Author and the Illustrator of The Wandering God:

Author:



Joshua Pantalleresco writes stuff...and podcasts too. He writes poetry, prose, comics and other mediums as well as hosts his own podcast show Just Joshing available on Itunes. He lives in his own head most of the time, and likes ice cream and baileys.

The Wandering God is his third book through Mirror World Publishing. He lives in Calgary. His webpage is http://jpantalleresco.wordpress.com and his twitter is @jpantalleresco.

Illustrator:



Florence Chan is an illustrator, designer and 3D modeller from Calgary, Alberta, now living in Toronto, Canada. She is the illustrator of Marilyn Marsh Noll's 'Jonathan and the Magical Broomstick' and Joshua Pantalleresco's 'The Watcher' and ‘Stormdancer’ and has contributed to Jason Mehmel's comic anthology 'Fight Comics' as well as Damian Willcox's 'Dorkboy: 1995-2015 Two Dorkades and Counting'.

Her work can be found at www.florencechan.ca

Connect with Joshua:

Amazon US: 
Author Website: