Cecily Wolfe's Blog: The Start of Something New - Posts Tagged "blog-tour"

Happy Monday!

A new week, and a new opportunity to find great books to read! Some of you know that I am a young adult librarian as well as an author, and one of the book award lists I find very helpful when searching for stories to share with my teen readers is the In the Margins award. My book That Night was considered last year, but did not make the list. It was an honor just to be on their radar!

They are starting a blog tour soon featuring books that made the top ten lists as well as those they recommend for young readers 'in the margins' - in custody/foster care, in poverty, or part of a marginalized population, as well as adults who work with them, like teachers, librarians, and counselors/social workers. Be sure to keep an eye out here on my blog as well as these sites for more details, including readings and interviews.

You can find more details about the In the Margins award here: https://inthemarginssite.wordpress.com/

I discovered some of my favorite authors, like P.D. Workman, from this list.

The Beacon House Writers are ten teen writers who are members of a community-based organization in the Edgewood Terrace community of NE Washington, DC. The mission of the organization is to lift as many children as possible up and out of their often difficult circumstances. Shout Mouse Press collaborates with Beacon House giving agency to the teen writers’ voice. In 2017 ten authors worked together to finish a 2-year collaboration with Shout Mouse Press resulting in The Day Tajon Got Shot, which went on to gain national attention and win Top Fiction credentials for In the Margins 2018 Award List. Three of those ten authors (T’Asia, Temil, and Rose) are featured in a mush anticipated interview below as part of our April book blog tour.



Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Rose: I am 16 years old. I attend Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, MD. I like to play basketball. When I’m not writing, I’m reading.



T’Asia: I’m currently a freshman at Banneker High School in Washington, DC. In my free time I usuallyhang with friends & go places. Sometimes when I don’t do that I draw. I also cheer.



Temil: I am 16 years old. I attend Dunbar HS in Washington, DC. When I’m not writing I tend to hang out with my friends. I also work with a program called Reach Incorporated after school. At Reach I tutor young kids on their reading comprehension skills.



Were you into writing before you started on the Tajon project”? What were some of your earliest memories of writing that you enjoyed?

T’Asia: I used to write poems in my free time or write about my life but I never thought of writing a book.

Temil: Yes, before I wrote this book I wrote another one with Shout Mouse called Trinitoga: Stories of Life in a Roughed-Up Tough-Love No-Good Hood. It’s a novel about a neighborhood we made up in DC and the people who live there. Before I started writing with Shout Mouse I wasn’t really interested in writing. But I did enjoy and still do enjoy writing essays for school.

When you started on the Tajon Got Shot project, can you share with us what you did to come up with the idea?
Temil: I used things that were happening in the world. When we started writing there was a lot of news about police brutality involving black young men so we wanted to voice our opinion about it.

Can you tell us about some of your challenges in writing Tajon?

T’Asia: Some challenges I had to deal with was being in somebody else’s shoes & figuring out how the story will flow.

Temil: Some challenges I had was determining what happens next due to the fact that I had to be mindful of others’ opinions.

How did you determine the storyline? What was your process? Did you have to make an outline or are do you just write?

Rose: My process was to think about what and how I wanted my character to be. I got into the head of the cop and how I wanted the cop to think. We didn’t use an outline. We just wrote our ideas down and brainstormed with the group. Everybody had to be on the same page.

Temil: I really just wrote what I wanted to happen each day. We didn’t make outlines, we just had conversations amongst each other about what we wanted to happen next.

Characters? Which characters voice were you? What did you have to do to prepare for writing the character (s) you represented. What about the process made it the hardest? What about it did you enjoy? Is anything or anyone in your book based on real-life experiences or purely all imagination?

Rose: I wrote the character Pete the Cop. I had to think how a cop would feel if it was a real situation. We looked at some articles about cops in real life who were in this situation and that helped me come up with my ideas. I enjoyed seeing both sides of the story. But it was hard to put my words together. I don’t have a problem with cops in my own life, so I don’t see them as the enemy. But I don’t think that they should just go around shooting people, especially when they are innocent.

T’Asia: I was the character Ashley, the cop’s daughter. I prepared for this by basically watching my surroundings & trying to fill her shoes. The fact that she is white made it hard for me to understand her. Also my dad is not a cop so I don’t know how to feel in that situation. I enjoyed seeing how the whole story played out. One particular part related to me. I have a deeper connection with my dad than my mom & I just used how I would react in that situation.

Temil: I was the voice of Tajon. In order to prepare for writing about this character I had to put myself in the shoes of a person living a hard and rough lifestyle. I had to show how it feels to be a young black teenage boy in society during that time. I used experiences about things I knew about police brutality with young black men.

Genre? Is the genre for Tajon, your favorite? Why? Why not? Is there another genre do you more? Why or why not?

Rose: I enjoyed writing fiction because you get to imagine the story. You’re not restricted by any specific facts. This is the only book I’ve written, and I don’t really write in other genres.

T’Asia: Fiction is my favorite because it makes you think beyond the real world. You get to use your imagination. It makes you think outside the box to understand what’s happening in the story.

Temil: Yes this genre is my favorite because it interests me to write about things like this. With fiction you can just say what you want to happen. Anything is possible.

What else have you worked on since Tajon was published?

Rose: This is my first book, but I plan to write more. It would be another book for teenagers, probably about high school life.

T’Asia: Right now I just work on my poetry about my life but I don’t share it with anyone. It’s just for me. It helps me express my feelings. I used to keep my anger inside, but writing has helped me get through a lot of things.

Temil: Last summer I worked on another book with Shout Mouse and Reach Incorporated called Spanky the Pup: All Dogs Must Go. It’s a children’s book, for younger kids. It was inspired by thinking about kids in the foster care system, how they don’t always feel wanted.

Can you share with us a book you’ve read that has made an impact and why? What book did you last read? What book are you currently reading?

Rose: I really liked the book Things Fall Apart. It really kept my attention and made me want to read more by that author.

T’Asia: A book I read that made an impact on me is Lord of the Flies. It made me think more deeply about government and things that happen in the real world. Right now we’re reading Romeo and Juliet in school.

If you had to go back and do it all over, is there anything that you think you’dchange pertaining to the story?

Rose: I would love to write from another perspective, especially Tajon’s mother. I’d like to see how mothers would feel in this situation. It would be so hard on them that their child is shot. No mother should have to go through that.

T’Asia:I still feel like Tajon should not have died. The fact that he died meant that the conflict ended, and there was no real solution. Nobody found out the truth, because only he could have told the truth. Maybe that could have led to Pete being convicted. It’s like in real life. There’s no real solution, people don’t find out what actually happened, because the people who are shot so often die. They don’t get to tell their story.

Temil: Personally I would change the fact that Tajon dies. I want to see what would happen to him if he lived.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) of the Tajon storyline and why?

Rose: My favorite part is writing about Pete, especially the scene when he goes to the hospital. In real life cops would feel sad to see the person they shot.

T’Asia:I liked the part where Kayla rioted. She stood up for what she believed in. It was also really powerfully written.

Temil: My favorite chapter was about Bobby the drug dealer because it showed why the character did what he did.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Rose: The best compliment I’ve heard is that we have made a big impact on our readers. When we give readings, the audience really enjoys it, and they give us good feedback. It’s good to see that the young kids read our books. I think they think of us as role models.

T’Asia: It’s not exactly criticism, but sometimes we had to delete scenes that we’d written and that was hard because I felt like some of that was really good. But it contradicted with what others had written, so it couldn’t be included.

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Rose: My advice is to be yourself and think outside of the box.

T’Asia:Always believe in what you write. Stick to what you believe in. As you keep writing, think about how it could help others. Always have a message.

Temil: While you’re writing, become another person. Moreso, get out your comfort zone and become what you are designed to write about. Make sure you involve different perspectives that can be part of your story.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Rose: I would like to say thanks for supporting us and our book.

Tamil: Writing this book has made a big impact on me because it shows you what others have to go through just to get through life. It shows you that just because someone is doing something bad may not actually make them a bad person. They may have gone through things in life that you didn’t, but you should try to understand.

Thank you so much for the giving of your time.

Magnolia Porter has spent the entirety of her twenty-four years satisfying her mother’s guilt. She was the good girl to her trouble making brother, Lucian – the one left behind to hold her mother together after he died. She is an invisible girl in a small town carrying the burden of her family’s loss and pain. Maggie was nobody trying desperately to be somebody.

Cotton MacKenna is the one with the temper. Of the five MacKenna boys, he’s the one most likely to throw the first punch. Never mind all those fights were a decade ago, all in an attempt to save a sweet girl from her bullying older brother. Now, Cotton has grown up, with his own photography business, yet as the fourth in the line of MacKennas, he would only ever be known for his past. Time for a change.

Maggie and Cotton are more than the labels placed on them, put there by their families, the town, and themselves.

A meddling best friend. Bluegrass jams. Small town gossiping. Love, loss, and family ties. Learning how to be who you are outside of who you were told to be. With humor and plenty of romance, of course.

Purchase Links –
http://mybook.to/guiltsparrow, https://amzn.to/2tUTgJw



Author Bio

Jess B Moore is a writer of love stories. When she’s not writing, she’s busy mothering her talented and stubborn children, reading obscene numbers of books, and knitting scarves she’ll likely never finish.

Jess lives in small town North Carolina with her bluegrass obsessed family. She takes too many pictures of her cat, thinking the Internet loves him as much as she does. She is a firm believer of swapping stories over coffee or wine, and that there should always be dark chocolate involved.



The Guilt of a Sparrow is her debut novel combining her interests in family, music, and small towns into a thoughtful tale of growing up and falling in love. Her second book, Fierce Grace, follows similar themes in a whole new way, and will be available later in 2018.

Please leave a review to tell other readers what you thought. Reviews are everything for writers!

Social Media Links –
Website: https://jessbmoore.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorjessb
Twitter: http://twitter.com/authorjessb
Instagram: http://instagram.com/authorjessb

Here Comes the Best Man

Being the best man is a lot to live up to …

When troubled army veteran and musician Josh Robertson returns home to Nashville to be the best man at his younger brother Chad’s wedding he’s just sure that he’s going to mess it all up somehow.

But when it becomes clear that the wedding might not be going to plan, it’s up to Josh and fellow guest Louise Giles to make sure that Chad and his wife-to-be Maggie get their perfect day.

Can Josh be the best man his brother needs? And is there somebody else who is beginning to realise that Josh could be her ‘best man’ too?

Purchase Links
Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DCDQK6...
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DCDQK6T/...



Author Bio –
Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her new home in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she's visited or lived on her extensive travels. After more than three decades of marriage to her American husband she's a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after. Over the last twelve years she’s published over 20 novels and several short stories for women’s magazines. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Romance Writers of America and the Music City Romance Writers.

Social Media Links –
www.angelabritnellromance.com
www.facebook.com/angelabritnell
www.twitter.com/angelabritnell
https://www.instagram.com/angelagolle...
 

Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab



Barnabas Tew, a detective in Victorian London, is having a hard time making a name for himself, probably because most of his clients end up dead before he can solve their cases. His luck is about to change, though, for better or worse: Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, notices him and calls him to the Egyptian underworld. A terrible kidnapping has occurred; one that promises to put an end to the status quo and could perhaps even put an end to the entire world. It is up to Barnabas (along with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) to discover the culprit and set things to right. Can he turn his luck around and solve the most important case of his life?

Purchase Link - mybook.to/Barnabas



Author Bio – Columbkill Noonan lives in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where she teaches yoga and Anatomy and Physiology. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first novel, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab” by Crooked Cat Books, was released in 2017, and her latest work, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Nine Worlds”, is set to be released in September 2018.

In her spare time, Columbkill enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, aerial yoga, and riding her rescue horse, Mittens. To learn more about Columbkill please feel free to visit her website (www.columbkill.weebly.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNoonan) or on Twitter (@ColumbkillNoon1).

Social Media Links – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNo...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/columbkillnoon1?l...

The Invisible Case

A shocking death turns a homecoming into a nightmare.

It's Easter 1970 in the seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, and for one family the first Easter of a new decade brings a shocking tragedy. Amateur sleuth and professional librarian, Janie Juke, is settling into motherhood and looking forward to spending time with her family. When her Aunt Jessica is due back from Rome after nine years travelling around Europe, she arrives back in town with a new Italian friend, Luigi, and the whole family soon get embroiled in a tangle of mystery and suspicion, with death and passion at the heart of the story.

As time runs out on Luigi as prime suspect for murder, Janie has to use all of her powers of deduction in the footsteps of her hero, Hercule Poirot, to uncover the facts. Why did Luigi come to Tamarisk Bay? What is the truth about his family?
As Luigi's story unfolds, tragedy seems to haunt the past, present and unless Janie acts fast, possibly what is yet to come.
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Case...
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invisible-Ca...
Author Bio –
Isabella Muir is the author of Janie Juke series of crime mysteries - all set in Sussex.



'The Tapestry Bag' is the first in the series, followed by ‘Lost Property’. Now - 'The Invisible Case' - the latest in the series is available for pre-order from Amazon.

The 'Janie Juke mysteries' are set in Sussex in the sixties and seventies and feature a young librarian with a passion for Agatha Christie. All that Janie has learned from her hero, Hercule Poirot, she is able to put into action as she sets off to solve a series of crimes and mysteries.

Isabella has also published 'Ivory Vellum' - a collection of short stories.



She has been surrounded by books her whole life and – after working for twenty years as a technical editor and having successfully completed her MA in Professional Writing - she was inspired to focus on fiction writing.
Aside from books, Isabella has a love of all things caravan-like. She has spent many winters caravanning in Europe and now, together with her husband, she runs a small caravan site in Sussex. They are ably assisted by their much-loved Scottie, Hamish.

Social Media Links –
TWITTER @SussexMysteries
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/isabel.muir.96
WEBSITE: www.isabellamuir.com
 
Giveaway – Win a signed copy of The Invisible Case (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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I have tapped into my Italian roots for Janie Juke’s newest mystery and have enjoyed immersing myself in happy memories of Italy, as well as benefiting from first-hand research, courtesy of my Italian relations.

Having an Italian mother, as well as cousins who live in Rome, I’ve been lucky to have the chance for loads of trips to that beautiful country. I think I was about four years old when I first visited and since then not many years pass when I don’t make at least a flying visit.

In the first chapter of The Invisible Case we find Janie’s Aunt Jessica travelling from Rome to return to her home town of Tamarisk Bay after nine years exploring Europe. As I wrote the opening scenes I was there with Jessica on that long train journey from Rome. When my brothers and sisters first did the journey as little ones we sat in an ordinary seated compartment. It was only later that we moved upmarket to couchettes and were able to stretch out.

In The Invisible Case Jessica and her travelling companion, Luigi, enjoy their breakfast in the dining car. But as children we had all the excitement of a picnic breakfast on our laps! It makes me smile now to think about how we downed our cornflakes with evaporated milk, as though it was a meal fit for royalty! Fortunately, most of our trips were made as a family, which meant we filled a compartment, so no danger of annoying other passengers with our endless games of I-spy.
On our return journeys we spent hours munching our way through the abundance of fruit that kind aunts and uncles donated to us for our travels. On one occasion I remember an uncle arriving at Rome station to say goodbye and handing over a suitcase full of grapes!

During our holidays my dad took us on long walks around Rome and, even though my aunt lived quite a way from the station, dad insisted we had to start all our walks from Roma Termini, which is the setting for the opening chapter of The Invisible Case…
‘Each of the thirty-two platforms at Roma Termini buzzed with comings and goings. Friends laughing as they ran along the platform, arm in arm. A husband hugging his wife before waving her off with a loud ‘Ti amo’. It was an orchestra of sound; trolley wheels that needed oiling, loud conversation, even music, all combining to make it difficult to pick out the tannoy announcement that the Paris train was preparing to leave.’

One of my favourite places in Italy is the pretty port of Anzio. Anzio lies just about an hour away from Rome and is a favoured resort for Italian holidaymakers. There is a gentle buzz about the place, with wonderful fish restaurants all along the port and bars on every street corner. In The Invisible Case we learn about Anzio, not only as the present-day home town of Luigi, but also as the location for a key part of the plot, when the story looks back at the war-torn Anzio of 1944.

This third book in the Sussex Crime series isn’t the only one where Italians feature. In Lost Property we meet Rosetta Summer, who runs the Summer Guest House on the seafront in Tamarisk Bay. In The Invisible Case we meet her again when Luigi goes to stay with her. She is a charismatic Italian, with a talent for putting on the most wonderful Italian feasts.

Writing about those feasts reminded me of all the wonderful Italian meals I have had, courtesy of aunts and uncles. You know you are in Italy when you reach the end of a four-hour feast and you think you will burst if you even look at one more thing, and a kindly aunt says: ‘You must have some fruit, after all, it’s only water’!

Janie’s Aunt Jessica has had a wonderful time during those nine years travelling around Europe, she loved every minute – especially her time in Italy. Do you get the sense I may just bit a touch envious?!

Only time will tell how and when my beloved Italy will pop again in my stories – if you want to keep tabs, then visit my website at: www.isabellamuir.com or follow me on Twitter @SussexMysteries or visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMuir...

The Kithseeker
France, 1680

Liara's defense of the Wizard Nagarath has rendered Anisthe incantate--bereft of magick--but even this cannot guarantee her safety. Because the death of her father-in-magick would seal the girl's fate, necessity demands she and her wizard maintain a watchful eye on the war mage, while protecting her from his dark designs.

Anisthe has embarked on a journey across Europe, aided by his half-fey manservant with an agenda all his own. They search for a legendary mirror that contains the world's most powerful magick. Although the stuff of fairytales, the possibility of its existence compels Nagarath and Liara to seek the artifact themselves. Both know that should Anisthe lay claim to that power, Liara would be at his mercy and not even Nagarath could save her.

Thus, the pair find themselves at Versailles, surrounded by agents who ferret out magick users and destroy them. Uncertain who is friend and who is foe, with their rival on their heels, they must discover the mirror before Anisthe releases its evil, or worse, it lays claim to Liara's magick and brings doom upon them all.



My review here on Goodreads and Amazon: Fantastic new installment in this unique series! If you love this time period (17th century France) and you're looking for a fantasy/adventure, this series is definitely for you. Finely crafted characters with great relationship development, a compelling storyline, and something new around every corner, The Kithseeker is even more fascinating than its predecessor. This isn't just for teens - it has definite crossover appeal for adults as well.

Purchase Links
https://smile.amazon.com/Kithseeker-B...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kithseeker-B...



Author Bio –
M. K. Wiseman has degrees in animation/video and library science – both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today, her office is a clutter of storyboards and half-catalogued collections of too, too many books. (But, really, is there such a thing as too many books?) When she’s not mucking about with stories, she’s off playing brač or lying in a hammock in the backyard of her Cedarburg home that she shares with her endlessly patient husband.

Social Media Links –
https://twitter.com/FaublesFables
https://www.facebook.com/FaublesFables/
https://www.instagram.com/faublesfables/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
http://mkwisemanauthor.com
 

OWSCyCon is an international, online book convention that is free to attend and features over 100 authors! Join the fun to meet new authors, snag up some great book deals, and participate in multiple online book events.

Event Website: http://owscycon.ourwriteside.com

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/57480...
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Enjoy this sneak peek of some of the featured romance authors who will be at the OWS Cyber Book Convention from May 17 - 19!
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Christen Stovall
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Christen is an avid reader who enjoys going on adventures whenever she can. Her love of fantasy started at an early age with fairytales and The Hobbit. She lives in Kansas in the home she shared with her late husband, Dustin, and their two dogs, Cora and Sophie. She first discovered a love of storytelling on the stage. In her late teens she began writing, a hobby that helped her through her husband’s death.



Tracy A. Ball
❤️❤️❤️
Novelist, Reviewer, Content Editor, Blogger, T-shirt Wearer, and Professional Snacker; Tracy A. Ball is a native Baltimorean and a veteran West Virginian whose family is blended from three cultures. She has opened her home to foster children, drug addicts, AIDS victims and anyone who needed an assist. She knows people who have committed murder and people who have dined with the Pope.

Which is why she writes sweet stories about tough love…and takes naps.

VIsit Jennifer Wilck tomorrow for Day 3 of the OWSCyon 2019 Romance Blog Tour!