C.A. Milson's Blog, page 173
October 9, 2017
10 Things You Didn’t Know About …
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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Monsterland
By Michael Okon
10. I came up with idea of Monsterland while watching an 80s & 90s movie marathon one weekend with my son.
9. I called my brother immediately and told him I want to write a story about a theme park with zombies. He told me no, the theme park has to have werewolves, vampires AND zombies. I started beating out the story that night.
8. It took me a little over three weeks to complete Monsterland.
7. I self-published Monsterland in 2015 and it became a best-seller on Amazon.
6. Within two years of self-publishing, I got a literary agent, an entertainment attorney, a film agent, a publicist, a two-book publishing deal, and film interest from a well-known producer.
5. Monsterland went from being an indie book in 2015 to the number one pre-ordered book in Teen & Young Adult Zombie Fiction on Amazon in 2017.
4. My brother designed the cover with an artist.
3. There are two massive twists at the end of the book that most readers never see coming.
2. Monsterland 2 is completed and comes out May 26, 2018.
1. I have eight Monsterland books planned.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: #pumpupyourbook, Michael Okon, Monsterland, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
VBT – Monsterland
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About the Author
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Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling is his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.
Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.
His latest book is Monsterland.
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WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
About the Book
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Title: MONSTERLAND
Author: Michael Okon
Publisher: Wordfire Press
Pages: 232
Genre: Monsters
BOOK BLURB:
Welcome to Monsterland—the scariest place on Earth.
The last couple years of high school have not been fun for Wyatt Baldwin. His parents divorce, then his dad mysteriously dies. He’s not exactly comfortable with his new stepfather, Carter White, either. An on-going debate with his best friends Howard Drucker and Melvin over which monster is superior has gotten stale. He’d much rather spend his days with beautiful and popular Jade. However, she’s dating the brash high-school quarterback Nolan, and Wyatt thinks he doesn’t stand a chance.
But everything changes when Wyatt and his friends are invited to attend the grand opening of Monsterland, a groundbreaking theme park where guests can rock out with vampires at Vampire Village, be chased by actual werewolves on the Werewolf River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville.
With real werewolves, vampires and zombies as the main attractions, what could possibly go wrong?
ORDER YOUR COPY:
Amazon
Book Excerpt
What did these strangers want? Billy fought the urge to scream.
This is our home. Humans don’t belong in the swamp.
The moon continued to rise, the familiar agony beginning in his chest. A full moon, a dangerous moon, Billy fought the demons churning within his body, feeling the pain of metamorphosis.
He curled inward, hunching his shoulders, the curse of his nature making his spine pull until his tendons and muscles tore from their human positions to transform into something wicked.
A howl erupted from his throat, followed by another, and then another. Grabbing handfuls of dirt, he tried to fight the awful change, but, as the sun set, the moon took control of his life, and the unnatural force tore through his unwilling body.
Reason fled; his heart raced. Falling on his hands and knees, Billy let loose a keening cry as his face elongated, his body changing into a canine, fangs filling his mouth. He raced in a circle in a demented dance, knowing his fellow pack members did the same thing.
Slowing, he regulated his labored breathing, forcing the icy calmness he needed to keep some semblance of reason. He peered through the dense brush. Lights from the search party bobbed in the distance. The odor, the stench of humanity, filled the clearing. The enemy had arrived.
GIVEAWAY!
Michael Okon is giving away 2 autographed copies of MONSTERLAND!
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Terms & Conditions:
By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive a copy.
This giveaway ends midnight December 29.
Winner will be contacted via email on December 30.
Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
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Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: #IAmMichaelOkon, #pumpupyourbook, Michael Okon, Monsterland, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
VBT – THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
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THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
by Allyson Charles
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GENRE: Small Town Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED . . .
Allison Stuart has always been the odd-woman-out of her family. She wears her jeans a little too tight, colors her hair a little too blonde, and instead of going into medicine and law like her sisters, she runs a diner. She’s also the only single sibling left. And while she won’t change her style, and her meatloaf is to die for, thank you very much, she wouldn’t mind her share of wedded bliss. So she makes an early New Year’s resolution: No more meaningless flings.
Drop-dead sexy Luke Hamilton is everything Allison has sworn off. His only serious relationship has been with his five-star restaurant, Le Cygne Noir, in Chicago. When he’s threatened by a lawsuit, Luke decides to hide out in Pineville, Michigan, until the statute of limitations runs out. The small town is filled with Christmas charm, but he can’t imagine living there. Heating things up with the hottie who owns the local diner would make his exile bearable—if he can convince her to give up her ridiculous resolution . . .
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EXCERPT
She laid a hand on his arm and squeezed. “Both my sisters are married to nice, dependable men, and I have two nieces. That’s what I want. No matter how much my hormones want to take you up to my bed and have their way with you, that’s not going to get me to my dream.”
“Nice. Dependable.” He shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. “It doesn’t sound like you want a husband. It sounds like you want a pet dog.”
She took a step back and ran her hands down her dress, smoothing out the creases. “There’s nothing wrong with dependable.”
“It’s boring.”
“Reliable.”
Raising his hand, he picked up a lock of her hair and twisted it around his finger. “That’s just a synonym for dependable, not an argument.”
“This isn’t something you can argue with me about. It’s my decision.” She took a step away before turning back. “I’ll show you to your room. And I really am sorry I threw myself at you like that, gave you the wrong message. It won’t happen again, hot shot,” she said with a wink, her good humor restored.
Luke picked up his bags and trudged after her up the stairs. She bounced back as quickly as her curls did, and a tiny kernel of resentment blossomed in Luke’s gut. He didn’t want her to be heartbroken, but a token display of dejection wouldn’t go amiss. Luke was man enough to admit that the fact that he was never going to have Allison Stuart caused an ache behind his breastbone.
And just for a moment, he thought about what it would take to be the kind of man Allison wanted.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
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Allyson Charles lives in Northern California. She’s the author of the “Pineville Romance” series, small-town, contemporary romances published by Lyrical Press. A former attorney, she happily ditched those suits and now works in her pajamas writing about men’s briefs instead of legal briefs. When she’s not writing, she’s probably engaged in one of her favorite hobbies: napping, eating, or martial arts (That last one almost makes up for the first two, right?). One of Allyson’s greatest disappointments is living in a state that doesn’t have any Cracker Barrels in it.
Sign up for Allyson’s newsletter at www.allysoncharles.com/newsletter
You can find her at www.allysoncharles.com, on Twitter @1allysoncharles, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorAllysonCharles.
Buy links for THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=9781601836090
IBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-christmas-wedding-swap/id1209823636?mt=11
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-christmas-wedding-swap
Google: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781601836090&c=books
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:
$25 Amazon/BN GC
Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: @1allysoncharles, Allyson Charles, Goddess Fish Promotions, THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
October 8, 2017
Interview With ….
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Youtube
Hi Caridad. Thanks for being my guest today. Tell us about you as a person.
I am a Type AAA personality which means I am always going, going, going. If I am not at my day job or writing, I am helping my daughter with her surf and skate shop, mentoring other writers at Liberty States Fiction Writers, or just hanging out on the beach (Okay, I do have to stop sometime! LOL). I’d love to be a full-time writer and maybe have a bed and breakfast where I could whip up amazing meals and help other writers improve their craft.
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If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
That is a tough one! I think it would have to be Queen Elizabeth. I got hooked watching The Crown and the Queen is someone who has lived through some fascinating times and has such a unique and seemingly archaic role in a very modern world. I would love to know how her vision has changed from when she first ascended to the throne to now and how she’s dealt with being a woman in such a high position of power.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
ONE SUMMER NIGHT, first book in the At the Shore series, is a Romeo and Juliet meets a marriage of convenience tale. Yes, it sounds complicated and it is because the hero, Owen Pierce, is trying to do everything he can to make the heroine, Maggie Sinclair, love him, but to do so he has to defy his father who is intent on holding a decades old grudge against the heroine’s father. As you can imagine, lies build upon lies shakily until it all comes crashing down and Owen has to prove to Maggie that his love for her was true. I loved writing the complex emotions in both of the characters as well as the supporting cast of Maggie’s best friends and Owen’s younger brother (the hero of #2 in the series).
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What is your writing process?
I write a lot on the train during my commute to and from NYC for my day job. On the weekends I put in a solid stretch of 3 or so hours. During winters I do that indoors while watching the TV, but my favorite time is in the spring and summer when I can go out on my little balcony and write with the sound of the nearby ocean.
Tell us about your main character.
I had just finished writing a dark paranormal novel when this character popped into my head and just wouldn’t leave me alone. She was spunky, determined and fun and I knew she needed special story that would inspire people not to give up on their dreams. That heroine was Maggie and when she brought along her friends, I just knew I had to write her story.
If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
I would love to have someone like Nina Dobrev or Victoria Justice. I think they both look the way I imagined Maggie Sinclair. Cool and elegant. Beautiful.
What are you working on next?
I am currently working on #3 in the At the Shore series. #2 – WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER – will be out in late spring 2018 and #3 will be out in late summer 2018. I am hoping to write more stories set in Sea Kiss with some of the men and women you meet in #3. I also will be rel-releasing some of my earlier contemporary romances and working on new stories in The Calling is Reborn Vampire Novel Series.
What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Social media is about being social. I think people get turned off by having a constant cycle of “buy me buy me” all the time. You need to engage people, make them laugh, share yourself and not just the book. Another thing to remember is, You’re the brand. The book is just a product. Your brand is what’s most important.
What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
That’s a tough one. I’d have to say Lois Winston’s latest release – Scrapbook of Murder. I love Lois’s dry humor and the way she mixes up crafts in her cozy mysteries.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
I wish that I could say that I did, but I don’t. But I try try try to improve what talents I have, whether it’s writing, cooking or doing crafts.
You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
I think the power of speed since I could rush from place-to-place to help people and do more things in less time.
List 5 things on your bucket list:
Sip wine in Tuscany.
Stand on the Great Wall of China
Orbit the Earth in the Space Station
Sing Do-Re-Mi while skipping through the streets of Salzburg
Visit where my family lived in Cuba
Where can readers find you on the web?
Readers can connect with me at www.caridad.com. You can also find me on:
Twitter at https://twitter.com/caridadpineiro
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Caridad.Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caridadpineiro
Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/caridadpineiro/
Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/Caridad_Pineiro
If you want to receive my newsletter with exclusive content just for subscribers and special giveaways, please visit http://bit.ly/2cbxlYw to sign up.
Any final thoughts?
Thank you so so much for sharing my new release and taking the time to interview me!
YW 
VBT – One Summer Night
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About the Author
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Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with pork roll and the Jersey Shore, but still can’t get the hang of tomato pies. When Caridad isn’t taking long strolls along the boardwalk to maintain her sanity and burn off that pork roll, she’s also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million books sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country.
Want to receive Caridad’s newsletter with exclusive content just for subscribers and special giveaways?
Just visit http://bit.ly/2cbxlYw to sign up.
Caridad values your privacy and will not share your e-mail or personal information.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | GOODREADS
About the Book
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Title: ONE SUMMER NIGHT
Author: Caridad Pineiro
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Romance
BOOK BLURB:
An offer that’s impossible to accept . . .
Maggie Sinclair has tried everything to save her family’s business, including mortgaging their beloved beach house on the Jersey Shore. But now, she’s out of options.
The Sinclair and Pierce families have been neighbors and enemies for almost thirty years. That hasn’t stopped Owen Pierce from crushing on Maggie, and he’s determined to invest in her success. Now he has to convince her that he’s more than just trouble with a capital T…
Watch the Trailer at YouTube!
ORDER YOUR COPY:
Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | B&N | iBooks
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Book Excerpt:
Tracy Parker was in love with being in love.
That worried her best friend and maid of honor Maggie Sinclair more than she cared to admit.
In the middle of the temporary dance floor, Tracy waltzed with her new husband in a satin-and-lace designer gown, gleaming with seed pearls and twinkling sequins. But the sparkle dimmed in comparison to the dreamy glow in Tracy’s eyes.
The sounds of wedding music competed with the gentle rustle of seagrasses in the dunes and the crash of the waves down on the beach. The fragrance from centerpiece flowers and bouquets battled with the kiss of fresh sea air.
Connie and Emma, Tracy’s two other best friends and members of the bridal party, were standing beside Maggie on the edge of the dance floor that had been set up on the great lawn of Maggie’s family’s beachfront mansion on the Jersey Shore. Huddled together, Maggie and her friends watched the happy couple do a final whirl.
“She’s got it so bad,” Maggie said, eyeing Connie and Emma with concern past the rim of her rapidly disappearing glass of champagne.
“Do you think that this time he really is The One?” Connie asked.
“Doubt it,” Emma replied without hesitation.
As the DJ requested that other couples join the happy newlyweds, Maggie and her friends returned to the bridal party dais set out on the patio. Grabbing another glass of champagne, Maggie craned her neck around the gigantic centerpiece piled with an almost obscene mound of white roses, ice-blue hydrangea, lisianthus, sheer tulle, and twinkling fairy lights and examined the assorted guests mingling around the great lawn and down by the boardwalk leading to the beach.
She recognized Tracy’s family from their various meetings over the years, as well as some of Tracy’s sorority sisters, like Toni Van Houten, who in the six years since graduation had managed to pop out a trio of boys who now circled her like sharks around a swimmer. Although the wedding invite had indicated No Children, Toni had done as she pleased. Since Tracy had not wanted a scene at her dream beachfront wedding, Emma, who was doing double duty as the wedding planner for the event, had scrambled to find space for the children at the dinner tables.
“Is that Toni ‘I’ll never ruin my body with babies’ Toni?” Connie asked, a perplexed look on her features. At Maggie’s nod, Connie’s eyes widened in surprise, and she said, “She looks…happy.”
A cynical laugh erupted from Emma. “She looks crazed.”
Maggie couldn’t argue with either of their assessments. But as put-upon as their old acquaintance seemed, the indulgent smile she gave her youngest child was positively radiant.
Maggie skipped her gaze across the gathering to take note of all the other married folk. It was easy enough to pick them out from her vantage point on the dais where she and her friends sat on display like days’ old cakes in the bakery. They were the last three unmarried women in an extended circle of business and college acquaintances.
“How many times do you suppose we’ve been bridesmaids now?” Maggie wondered aloud. She finished off her glass and motioned for the waiter to bring another.
“Jointly or severally?” asked Connie, ever the lawyer.
“Way too many,” replied Emma, who, for a wedding planner, was the most ardent disbeliever in the possibility of happily ever afters.
Maggie hadn’t given marriage a first thought, much less a second, in a very long time. She’d had too many things going on in her life. Not that there hadn’t been a few memorable moments, most of which revolved around the absolutely worst man for her: Owen Pierce.
But for years now, she’d been dealing with her family’s business and its money problems, which had spilled over into her personal finances. As she gazed at the beauty of the manicured grounds and then back toward her family’s summer home, it occurred to her that this might be the last time she hosted a celebration like this here. She had mortgaged the property that she had inherited to funnel money into the family’s struggling retail store division.
Unfortunately, thanks to her father’s stubborn refusal to make changes to help the business, she spent way too much time at work, which left little time for romance. Not to mention that none of her casual dates had piqued her interest in that direction. Looking down from her perch, however, and seeing the happiness on so many faces suddenly had her reconsidering the merits of married life.
“Always a bridesmaid and never a bride,” she muttered, surprising herself with the hint of wistfulness in her tone.
“That’s because the three of us are all too busy working to search for Prince Charming,” Connie said, her defense as swift and impassioned as if she were arguing a case in court.
“Who even believes in that fairy-tale crap?” Emma’s gaze grew distracted, and she rose from her chair. “Excuse me for a moment. Carlo needs to see me about something.”
Emma rushed off to the side of the dance floor, where her caterer extraordinaire, Carlo Teixeira, raked a hand through his thick brown hair in clear frustration. He wore a pristine white chef’s jacket and pants that enhanced his dark good looks.
Emma laid a hand on Carlo’s forearm and leaned close to speak to him, apparently trying to resolve a problem.
“She doesn’t believe in fairy tales, but her Prince Charming is standing right in front of her,” Connie said with a sad shake of her head.
Maggie took another sip of her champagne and viewed the interaction between Carlo and Emma. Definitely major sparkage going on, she thought.
“You’re totally right,” she said with an assertive nod.
Connie smiled like the proverbial cat, her exotic green-gold eyes gleaming with mischief. “That’s why you hired me to represent your company as soon as I finished law school. Nothing gets past me.”
“Really? So what else do you think you’ve seen tonight?”
Raising her glass, her friend gestured toward the right of the mansion’s great lawn where some of the fraternity brothers from their alma mater had gathered. One of the men slowly turned to sneak a peek at them.
“Owen has been watching you all night long,” Connie said with a shrewd smile.
“Totally impossible, and you of all people should know it. Owen Pierce has absolutely no interest in me.”
She set her glass on the table to hide the nervous tremble of her hand as her gaze connected with his for the briefest of moments. Even that fleeting link was enough to raise her core temperature a few degrees. But what woman wouldn’t respond like that?
In his designer tuxedo, Owen was the epitome of male perfection—raven-black hair, a sexy gleam in his charcoal-gray eyes, broad shoulders, and not an ounce of fat on him, which made her recall seeing him in much, much less on a hot summer night on Sea Kiss Beach. She had been staying in the quaint seaside town on the Jersey Shore with her grandmother that summer, much as she had all her life. As they also had for so many years, the Pierce boys had been residing next door for the entire season.
The two beachfront mansions had been built side by side decades earlier, before the start of the Pierce and Sinclair rift. The cost of waterfront real estate had escalated so drastically since their construction that neither family was willing to sell their beloved home to put some distance between the warring clans.
Well, make that the warring fathers, because as far as Maggie was concerned, she had no beef with Owen. They had played together down on the beach as kids. She couldn’t count the many sand castles they’d built or the time they’d spent out in the surf.
But after her mother had died, things had changed, and the carefree spirit of those halcyon days had disappeared. The Pierce boys had stopped coming down to the Shore for the next few years, and combined with the loss of her mom, it had created an emptiness inside her that hadn’t really gone away.
By the time the Pierce brothers returned years later, the feud had gotten worse, and Owen and Jonathan had been instructed to stay away. But an ill-timed and half-drunk kiss with Owen on a moonlit summer night had proved that staying away was impossible. It had also helped the emptiness recede for a bit. Since then, fate had seemed to toss them together time and time again in both their business and personal lives, keeping alive her fascination with him. She felt not quite so alone when he was around, not that she should get used to that.
Owen Pierce had left her once before when she’d needed his friendship the most: right after her mother’s death. His on-again, off-again presence in her life proved that she couldn’t count on him.
Owen stood next to his younger brother, Jonathan, who couldn’t be more different. While Owen was clean-cut and corporate, Jonathan had the scruffy hipster look going on. It was appealing in its own way, but not to her.
“Trust me, Maggie. Your families might be at war, but Owen would clearly love to sleep with the enemy,” Connie said.
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “More reason to avoid him. You know I’m not the kind to sleep around.”
Emma returned, color riding high on her cheeks, but not in a good way.
“Something wrong?” Maggie asked.
Emma kneeled between the two of them and whispered, “It seems the groom had a bit too much to drink and Tracy caught him being hands-on with an old flame.”
“Not Amy? Tracy always lost it if she spotted him with Amy,” Maggie whispered.
“Definitely Amy. Now Tracy is refusing to come out and cut the cake. I have to say, this takes the cake, literally. Married a few hours, and already there’s trouble.”
“Ever the hopeful romantic, Em,” she kidded.
“If you think you can do better, why don’t the two of you come help me talk Tracy off the ledge?”
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Book Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9dhRJwhabg
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: #CaridadPineiro, #pumpupyourbook, Caridad Pineiro, Contemporary Romance, One Summer Night, Pump Up Your Book, PUYB
Cover Reveal – DEVIL’S GAMBLE
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DEVIL’S GAMBLE
by Michele Arris
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GENRE: Steamy Contemporary
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BLURB
Sienna Keller saw how men used her mother, and from an early age she swore she’d never allow it to happen to her. So when she meets smooth-talking billionaire Gavin Crane, who uses his connections to help her art career, she resolves to keep things strictly professional—no matter how gorgeous he is.
Gavin might be the son of the head of the Kavanagh organized crime family, but he wants no part of that life. It’s important to him to prove to Sienna that he’s a good guy. But when she winds up in the hospital with a gunshot wound, he is driven to exact revenge. His father agrees to provide security to watch over her as well as find the man who shot her, but at a cost—Gavin must come back into the family business.
As Sienna begins to let her guard down around Gavin, seeing the kind, caring man he’s always wanted her to see, his secrets begin to pile up. Has she done the one thing she vowed never to do—trusted her heart to the wrong man?
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
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Award winning author, Michele Arris, writes steamy contemporary romance.
Michele is always plotting out her characters’ next move. Even when she’s not seated in front of her laptop writing about strong-willed, professional heroines and the complex heroes who strive to have them, she’s plotting scenes in her head.
“I love to write story where my characters are guaranteed their Happily Ever After.”
In her spare time, Michele enjoys reading all types of romance genres. She loves paranormal romance as well as historical romances, enjoys watching period classics (Little Dorrit, The Buccaneers, and Persuasion to name a few), actually looks forward to working out, is a holistic enthusiast/vitamin junkie, and spending time with family and friends – simply enjoying life.
LINKS
WEBSITE: www.michelearris.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Michele-Arris-Author
TWITTER: @ArrisMichele
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2yGFpaA
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2fRe25X
iBooks: http://apple.co/2xBfv8a
BAM: http://bit.ly/2wWspeG
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2xKIM1Z
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2frfTxG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:
$20 Amazon/BN GC
Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filed under: Cover Reveal, Guest Authors Tagged: @ArrisMichele, DEVIL'S GAMBLE, Goddess Fish Promotions, Michele Arris, Rafflecopter giveaway
October 7, 2017
Street Team – Naga City
The Street Teamers of ASJ Publishing were out in force today around Naga City, Philippines, and what a response to the day.
2,000 flyers handed out today to book lovers!
Keep watch as our team will be out and about next Saturday around Naga City!
Filed under: Business Promos Tagged: ASJ Publishing, Book Publisher, Naga City, Philippines, Publisher, Street Team
October 5, 2017
VBT – Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity
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About the Book
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Title: Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity
Author: LeNae Goolsby
Genre: Nonfiction (Body, Mind & Soul)
Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity provides an experiential journey where mental and emotional vibrations rise and conscious awareness expands. Personal power is reclaimed and peace restored with each chapter and each sweet serenity tip.
Author Bio
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LeNae Goolsby is the Founder/Owner of www.LeNaeGoolsby.com, the host of Empowered Living with LeNae which is syndicated on 50 global networks, as well as the Practice Administrator/Director of New Business Development for www.YourInfiniteHealth.com
In addition to running these successful ventures, LeNae is a wife, mother, artist, writer, oracle of the pragmatic persuasion, calm cultivator and energy healer.
LeNae received her certificate from the Duke University Integrative Medicine Center Leadership Development Program in February 2017, and her law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2010. And somewhere between Tulane and Duke she completed her universal law-centric coaching studies and honed her intuitive abilities.
LeNae is also an expert and writer for www.YourTango.com. She is the author of Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity, and is on the cusp of releasing “Empowered Medicine – Harnessing the Infinite Laws of the Universe for Optimized Health,” which she co-wrote with her husband. She is also working on her next book, Seven Sundays to Money Manifesting Mastery.
Links
Website: www.LeNaeGoolsby.com
Where to Purchase: https://books.pronoun.com/seven-sundays-to-sweet-inner-serenity/
Book Except
…you beautiful infinite being in a fabulous body, are the designer of your life, the chooser of your destiny. If you feel otherwise, it is only because you have been giving your power away subconsciously, consciously, or more likely, both.
So, here’s a myth-buster for you. Free will, in the Divine/Creator/Life Force/Universe sense of the words, is actually not conditional. You are absolutely free to create the experience of your choice, whether it be gloom, doom, guilt, shame, drama trauma, or all Ode to Eeyore, the master of self-pity.
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For a long time I forgot how to daydream. My overactive imagination was replaced with just trying to survive the uncomfortable home life I experienced as a teenager, and then as a single mother at the age of nineteen. During my early twenties, it felt as if those who were positioned to be my biggest support resources, were instead those who attempted the hardest to manipulate, control, and oppress me—oftentimes using my daughter as their weapon of choice.
I was simply trying to hold down a job and make the rent. Daydreaming was a luxury I did not believe I could afford back then. The fact of the matter is, however, if I had spent a little more time imagining…
RAINBOWS ARE ROUND
By LeNae Goolsby
“When you change the way you look at things,
the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer
“It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”
– Adept to Neo from The Matrix
These quotes sounded cool but meant very little to me. Until one day, I happened across a picture of a rainbow that had been taken by someone who had a larger perspective than I did.
The rainbow was perfectly round. Until that moment it never occurred me that rainbows could be round. All I had ever seen were arcs, or glimpses of colors peeking through the clouds.
When I saw this picture, all of a sudden it made perfect sense that a rainbows are round, or at least can be round, and that it had been my limited perspective that kept me from seeing the whole picture.
Consider traffic jams.
We’re sitting in traffic, running late for wherever it is we are supposed to be, at whatever time it was we were supposed to be there. All we care about in the jam is how utterly inconvenient and annoying it is to be stuck in between these cars, and contemplating the risk and reward of flying by everyone on the shoulder (I know you’ve thought about it).
Here is another perfect example of us getting caught up in our own limited perspective. I mean, we can’t see ahead to know what the reason for the delay is – is it construction, an accident, did someone have a heart attack at the wheel?
Or, are we stuck here because if we were going any faster we would have been the one t-boned by a random drug induced drive. We don’t know, we probably won’t ever know. And that’s okay.
The point here is to realize that often times when we react, when we make fraction-reaction decisions, we do so based upon the information we have in the moment. Sometimes we do not always have all of the information. Sometimes our perspective is limited. In fact, much of the time we are operating out of a limited perspective.
Personal Case Study:
When my husband’s community oncology medical practice was in significant debt and I did not have the money to pay the bills on time, I would literally drive myself into a mascara running, anxiety ridden, panic attack induced ball of frenzy and stress – because somehow that was going to solve everything (not).
Then one bill paying Tuesday, I sat down and mentally went through the worse case scenario of not being able to pay the lenders and the vendors what they were due, when they were due. And then I kept asking myself, “Okay, what is wore than that? And worse than that?
My envisioning exercise ended up at having to file business bankruptcy and losing the office building as being the potentially worse thing I could think of. So, then what?
Well, we would lose the stuff and that would suck, but we still had the ability to work, to make an income and life would move forward…without a bunch of debt, actaully.
Once I was able to realize that life will go on after the worse case scenario, I was able to respond to what was effectively a temporary cash-flow crunch, pay who I could when I could and just keep moving forward in faith (faith – there’s that word again).
Once I was able to release my persistent worse case scenario what-ifs I was able to respond from the space of calm because I was able to shift my perspective.
It took about a year, but cash flow did increase, and now profits are high enough to not only pay the bills with ease, but we are now actually in a period of amazing growth and expansion – never even came close to having file bankruptcy, btw.
Okay, so now you know that chances are whatever is showing up in your reality is only showing up as a portion of whole, right? We have but glimpses of puzzle pieces at varying moments.
For the rest of the week, whenever something shows up that is stressful, annoying, makes your shoulders tense up and your blood pressure rise, bite your lip (a/k/a catch yourself BEFORE you go into fraction-reaction mode), take a deep breath in, hold to the count of a slow 4 and release to a count of a slow 4, and ask yourself the following questions:
• “How does even this serve my highest good?”
• What might be happening here that I am not seeing in this moment?
• If I imagine myself taking a higher perspective of this issue, what is really going on here?
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LeNae Goolsby is the author of Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity – How to cultivate the calm even in the midst of the crazy chaos, the co-author of the soon to be released, “Empowered Medicine – Harnessing the infinite laws of the universe for optimized health.” She is also the Founder/Owner of http://www.LeNaeGoolsby.com, where she offers intuitive empowerment life coach and pragmatic oracle services, as well as the Practice Administrator/Director of New Business Development for Infinite Health Integrative Medicine Center in Louisiana.
LeNae received her certificate from the Duke University Integrative Medicine Center Leadership Development Program in February 2017, and her law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2010. And somewhere between Tulane and Duke she completed her universal laws-centric life coaching studies and honed her intuitive abilities.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Enchanted book promotions, LeNae Goolsby, Seven Sundays to Sweet Inner Serenity
October 4, 2017
VBT – SAVING NARY
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Saving Nary
by Carol DeMent
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GENRE: Fictional
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BLURB:
A Finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Saving Nary explores the losses, loyalties and secrets held within families broken by war and genocide. This compelling novel presents a palette of unique characters who struggle to make sense of the events that led them to America, even as they ponder the bewildering culture and lifestyle of their new homeland.
Refugee Khath Sophal lost everything when the Khmer Rouge swept into power in Cambodia: his livelihood gone, his family dead or missing; his sanity barely intact from the brutality he has been forced to witness.
Now resettled in the Pacific Northwest, Khath treads a narrow path between the horrors of his past and the uncertainties of the present. His nights are filled with twisted dreams of torture and death. By day he must guard constantly against the flashbacks triggered by the simple acts of daily living, made strange in a culture he does not understand.
Then Khath meets Nary, a mysterious and troubled Cambodian girl whose presence is both an aching reminder of the daughters he has lost, and living proof that his girls, too, could still be alive. Nary’s mother Phally, however, is another matter. A terrible suspicion grows in Khath’s mind that Phally is not who or what she claims to be. A split develops in the community between those who believe Phally and those who believe Khath. And those, it seems, who don’t really care who is right but just want to stir up trouble for their own personal gain.
Khath’s search for the truth leads him to the brink of the brutality he so despises in the Khmer Rouge. His struggle to wrest a confession from Phally ultimately forces him to face his own past and unravel the mystery of his missing daughters.
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BOOK EXCERPT
As the sun rose, Khath sat cross-legged in a lotus position in the small Buddhist temple nestled below Khao I Dang Mountain. The barbed wire perimeter fence separated the mountain from the refugee camp, but the mountain lent its power to the area nonetheless. Pra Chhay and two other monks chanted the Heart Sutra, a prayer of enlightenment, the rhythmic drone rising and falling in a soothing and familiar hum as the scent of incense hung heavily in the hot, humid air. About thirty refugees sat on the straw mats covering the wooden floor of the bamboo temple. The lips of many were moving as they softly chanted along with the monks.
Khath’s lips remained still, his heart empty. If asked, he would not disavow the teachings. He believed the teachings, yet the words of the Buddha had lost the power to move or to comfort him. He felt somehow distant from the teachings, as though they controlled behavior on a different world from the one he inhabited. It was a very lonely feeling.
The monks chanted on, a background hum that began to irritate Khath. He might as well be listening to the drone of mosquitoes as he toiled on the dikes under the watchful eyes of the Khmer Rouge, their guns aimed and ready, afraid to brush the insects away from his face lest he be beaten for not putting full attention into his work.
Observing the others in the temple, Khath envied them their faith. Pra Chhay often said there were two levels of Buddhism, one being the simple devotions taught to uneducated villagers; the other consisting of the higher practices and theories studied by the scholar monks.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
Carol DeMent worked in the field of South East Asian refugee resettlement for seven years, and completed master’s level research into international refugee resettlement policy. She lived for two years in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer and has traveled extensively in South East Asia. Her first novel, Saving Nary, was a Finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Nary-Carol-DeMent/dp/1522982906 https://www.amazon.com/Carol-DeMent/e/B01CRJ1EVA
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15089080.Carol_DeMent
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
Carol DeMent will be awarding $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Tell us about you as a person.
For the last ten or so years, my vacations are spent on a bike! I sign on to multiday trips with tour companies that cart your luggage from one place to the next, and you spend all day riding through beautiful places, then get up and do it again the next day. I have toured in Nepal, Canada, Vietnam, Cambodia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Germany. Next up is the East coast of the US. It’s simply the very best way (in my opinion) to see a new area.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
I would choose to hang out with Michele Obama, because she is smart, strong, and fun-loving. I think we would talk and talk and talk about history, politics, culture, movies, music, feminism and the environment. We would do this while enjoying some activity outside on a beautiful day and then finish the day by cooking a meal together and then eating it.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
Saving Nary tells the story of a Cambodian refugee trying to find his daughters who were taken from him by the Khmer Rouge. The story is set in Thailand and the US, and illuminates the emotional and practical challenges of refugees trying to start a new life while their old life is still unresolved.
What is your writing process?
I think for days about a scene before I sit down to write it. I work out entire conversations between characters, visualize the setting, the mood, what people are wearing, and how the action will flow. As I mull it over, the pressure to write builds inside of me, so when I actually sit down at the computer, the scene sort of pours out of me.
Tell us about your main character:
My main character, Khath Sophal, is a man in his late 30’s who was severely traumatized by the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. He is troubled by flashbacks and nightmares, and struggles to adjust to life in the United States. His burning desire is to find his daughters, and though he has no real reason to believe they survived Cambodia’s civil war, he is convinced that they have and cannot rest until he finds them. He is a kind man, a good man, who is nearly pushed to the breaking point by the events happening around him.
If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
When I visualize what Khath looks like, the actor who comes to mind is Jackie Chan, though Mr. Chan’s facial features are Chinese, rather than Cambodian. But as far as body type – compact, wiry, strong – Jackie Chan is definitely the one I would choose. Khath has a sort of wariness about him at all times, a watchfulness common to persons suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, and think Jackie Chan could portray that well. I am not familiar with any Cambodian actors other than the late Dith Pran.
What are you working on next?
I am working on a book set in Montana in the late 1800s to early 1900s that will explore the tensions arising from influx of Chinese immigrants to the US at that time. The story is told through the eyes of a young woman being exposed to this new culture at a time when her own family is undergoing tremendous turmoil and change. I like to write multicultural stories that examine the frayed edges where two cultures meet. I am also working on some memoirs about my years in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer.
What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Start early and keep a steady outflow of PR activities going. Hire professional help – it takes time and contacts that most writers haven’t had a chance to develop since most of us are writing in addition to having a day job. A good professional will open a lot of doors for you.
What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
Plum Wine, by Angela Davis-Gardner. It’s about an English teacher in Japan who receives a bequest of memoirs from a woman who survived the bombing of Hiroshima.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Well, I am an acupuncturist so that is still a profession that many people find interesting and unusual. And I have been told that I am a very good listener. All my life, people have confided in me about their secrets and troubles. It’s not something I do consciously, but it’s a constant theme in my life.
You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
I would love to be able to fly. The views would be spectacular and one could cover a lot of ground getting from place to place easily and safely.
List 5 things on your bucket list:
Go to Africa on a bike trip
Go to Ireland on a bike trip
Visit the new Black History Museum in Washington DC
Become fluent in German and Thai
Learn to make awesome chili
Where can readers find you on the web?
www.caroldement.com
Any final thoughts?
Thank you for letting me share some bits about myself and my writing! Readers, let me know what you think about Saving Nary!
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Carol DeMent, Goddess Fish Promotions, SAVING NARY
Book Trailer Blitz – The Magus
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Book Trailer
About the Book
Title: The Magus (A Chronicle of Rebirth)
Authors: J.M. Fletcher and J.P. Fletcher
Genre: Fantasy Romance
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Everyone had heard of the Magus of Danthamore, a powerful, dangerous, and ruthless man. Nelina, who was sold on the slaver’s block by her unscrupulous uncle, now finds herself as a slave of the Magus. Finding that he is more than what he appears to be, Nelina follows her heart as the irresistible and handsome Magus leads her into a world she had never dreamed existed.
Ru’ark who had become known as the Magus of Danthamore, used the power he wielded with little regard for the people beyond his homeland of Aghadine and the Waste. Finally, after years of diligently searching he has found the perfect vessel he needs -the voluptuous, flaxen haired Nelina. But, when the time comes, will he be able to sacrifice his own feelings, or instead betray his own people?
Author Bios
Jill Marie Fletcher was born in 1973 in Chicago, IL and grew up in Dolton, IL. James Fletcher was born in 1976 in East Machias, Maine. He grew up in Whiting, on Downeast Maine’s rugged coast. In 2006, James and Jill Fletcher were married. Together, they live in rural Maine with their two children and three dogs while working on their books.
Links
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072511ZWY
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B072511ZWY
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072511ZWY
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B072511ZWY
Website: http://www.chronicleofrebirth.com/
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Enchanted book promotions, Fantasy Romance, J.M. Fletcher, J.P. Fletcher, The Magus
