Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 102

Blog Tour: THE TRAVELLING CITY by Adrienne Miller

 

The Travelling City

by Adrienne Miller

 

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GENRE: Fantasy

 

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BLURB:

After a hundred years of watching humans make baddecisions, anyone would be sick of their job as peacekeeper.

 

Reihan, a seaver created to deal with humans wholose control over their manifestation abilities, is no exception.

 

Worse still, virtually all humans in the TravellingCity can manifest.

 

That is, shape reality according to their more orless well-formed and often poorly thought-out designs.

 

That alone would be enough to keep her busy, butthen there are people like Phillippe.

 

Phillippe, who drenched himself in the city’scollective subconscious to strengthen his inborn powers.

 

Even though he shouldn’t be, he seems fine, crownedas the new star escort in the Brothel of Transformative Curiosities.

 

But Reihan has seen this story play out before. AndPhillippe is far too charming, far too kind, and far too inconsolable for herto simply look away.

 

The Travelling City is a dark fantasy mystery packedwith romance and even more existential dread; set in a whimsical, bizarre andever-changing world.

 

 

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ExcerptTwo:

 

“Why would you say that to me?”

 

Phillippe’s voice was still shrill, but it assumed a layerof calm that Reihan found unusual. His eyes fixated on her, almost as if he wasintrigued by the callousness lurking behind her words.

 

“Because I didn’t cause this, Phillippe. Because I wascreated to solve a problem that you humans could so easily avoid if not foryour petulant greed and insistence on breaking every rule, no matter howwell-meaning.”

 

“We had no choice”, Phillippe replied, still with thateerily resigned tone of his.

 

“I don’t believe that. All you people can manifest at leastto a degree. You’ll never truly go hungry, and you’ll never truly go cold.Hells, if you get sick, you can make yourselves healthy, and when you get old,you can make yourselves young, at least for a little while. Everything else isa choice.”

 

“You don’t know – you wouldn’t understand.”

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Adrienne Miller writes in the genre of Dark Fantasy; combiningbeautiful aesthetics with existential dread. Her stories feature complexromances, found family dynamics, and storylines centred on world mysteries.

 

She has grown up with both classic and new Fantasy, from MichaelMoorcok's Eternal Hero series, Michael's Scott's "Thraxas" magicaldetective romps, to quiet and heart-felt Science-Fantasy by Becky Chambers.

 

The Travelling City is inspired by her love for the imaginativeworlds of old-school role-playing games like Planescape Torment and theintricate character work of urban fantasy authors like Holly Black.

 

Website: https://adriennemillerauth.wixsite.com/adrienne-miller-book

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adr_miller

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrienne_miller_author/

 

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrienne_miller_author

 

 

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Travelling-City-Book-ebook/dp/B0BYZW93FS/ 

 

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-City-Book-ebook/dp/B0BYZW93FS/r

 

 

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GIVEAWAY 

Adrienne Miller will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawnwinner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: THE BABYSITTER’S CLUB: DAWN AND THE IMPOSSIBLE THREE by Gale Galligan

Introducing the new member of theBSC: Dawn. 

The graphics in this book werenice, but some of the text was too small to read. This one takes a while to getgoing. It doesn’t get better until Dawn gets to the impossible three. These 3kids are still contending with their parent’s divorce and Dawn was doingeverything she could to help them through it. There were some funny scenes hereand there. And the true test of friendship and babysitting was always there.

A good read!

 

Rating:4 stars

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 12 by Jordie Bellaire

We got Night of the Living Deadhere? And who was that other blonde chick if it wasn’t Buffy? Oh, that wasAnya! This was another one I didn’t get. Not a good read.

 

Rating:2 stars

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 14 by Jordie Bellaire

Nothing happens here. I couldn’tread the text and I couldn’t decipher the story with the pictures. What a badone!

 

Rating:1 star

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 13 by Jordie Bellaire

The origin of Kendra. It was kindof boring. Couldn’t read most of the text. Couldn’t really tell what was goingon, but it had some cool, dynamic graphics, especially the falling off thepage. But, as an overall read, not very good.

 

Rating:2 stars

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 15 by Jordie Bellaire

Buffy is awkwardly nervous aroundRobin Wood, whom she’s on a first date with. A date at the botanical gardens,where the ivy gets testy. Cool action scenes! Love the fights! Looks like Buffyand Kendra are at odds here. Cool!

 

Rating:4 stars

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 17 by Jordie Bellaire

Boring Wesley is in this one.Couldn’t read most of the text. Who was the purple guy talking to him? Couldn’treally tell what was going on in this one. No action, except for the very lastscene, which was the highlight of the whole thing.

 

Rating:2 stars

Review: BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Issue 16 by Jordie Bellaire

Kendra blamesBuffy for Rose’s demon attack and Xander setting into his demonic ways. Buffyis not falling for any of his tricks. A cool fire scene in this. A good one!

 

Rating:4 stars

Blog Tour: GIBBOUS MOON by Katie Groom

 

Gibbous Moon

by Katie Groom

 

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GENRE: ParanormalThriller/Romance

 

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BLURB: Werewolfand professor of literature Hugh spent nearly 200 years to find his soulmate,Zoie, but others betrayed him, working with rivals to take her away in only aninstant. Revenge was swift and unsatisfying. More people need to pay for whatwas stolen from Hugh.

 

Zoie’s death had been orchestrated by powerfulbeings in the supernatural world. Exacting revenge will require precision andplanning.

 

Biding his time before acting, Hugh reverts to thepatterns that finding true love had disrupted. Walking through life in a fog,he does his best to appear as if he is moving forward, though nothing feels thesame.

 

As Hugh tries to start the next chapter in his lifewith Rosalie, he is haunted by the memory of Zoie. The literature professorcringes every time he’s reminded that Rosalie doesn’t like to read, but hetells himself that opposites should attract. That Rosalie can patch the holeleft in his heart when Zoie died. His revenge will take time, and wallowing ingrief won’t help.

 

Just as Hugh is still focused on revenge, hisenemies are still plotting to harm Hugh further. It’s dangerous to oppose abereaved werewolf, but even werewolves can be hurt.

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

Zoie quicklyflew down closer, taking in everything that was going on around her. Hugh had adeath grip on her body, and a terrified crowd of hotel employees had gathered inthe lobby. One of them was on the phone—undoubtedly calling for emergency help.Not only was it obvious to Zoie that she was dead, but Hugh had literallycrashed through a wall of glass to get to her. One police car was not going tocover this.

 

Stevie andHugh’s best friend Cade were trying to convince Hugh to leave. They tried toplea from every angle—any excuse to get him to comply. “No!” Zoie cried. “Don’tleave me.” She couldn’t imagine that Hugh would even consider leaving herthere.

 

“You need to leaveher, and you need to go,” Cayden stated as they knelt down in front of Hugh. Theirface was so full of genuine concern. It became obvious to Zoie that this wasthe best choice.

 

Zoie placed herfeet on the pool deck and walked over to Hugh—despite everything going on, shenoticed that her shoes didn’t make that strange squelching sound that theyshould have. So her guess was right, then; she was dead.

 

Hugh ignoredCade’s pleas, but Zoie inched closer and put her hand on his shoulder. Shelied, “It’s okay, Hugh. Go.” It was in his best interest and in the bestinterest of their world for Hugh to leave.

 

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Topic:What was the hardest part about writing this story?

 

The most difficult thing about writing Gibbous Moon? That’s easy: Imposter Syndrome.

 

Look, I definitely know that I am not the best writer in the world. So what I’m about to write, please,don’t take it as I’m arrogant. I just have a strong feeling that I’m not the worst writer to ever grace the page, either.

 

But sometimes, I just can’t convince myself of that. Sometimes, I feel like all of my ideas are awful, and there were times during the writing phase of Gibbous Moon that I felt that way.

 

I wondered if the choices I was making in the story would alienate my readers. I make some bold choices in Gibbous Moon, and they could be consideredcontroversial. For example, I have added a polyamorous relationship in the mix, and that’s nottypical for romance. I was worried that my readers would dislike this, however, it felt right for the story and the characters.

 

Second guessing choices like this had me re-writing the story many times, and not trusting my instincts about the charactersand the world that I created andlove so much was fueling that imposter syndrome.

 

It had gotten to the point that as I was writing I heard that when I did finish the book, turning it in would be a mistake. I worried that the publisher was going to hate it and ask me to rewrite the entire thing. That was my biggest fear, to behonest. That I could deliver on Fixed Moon,but Gibbous Moon would be a big,disappointing failure.

 

Still, I pushed through. I read a quote from another writer that said that first drafts were meantto be just that — the first draft. They aren’t meant to be pretty.Just to get the story out there. So that’s what I did. I wrote an ugly first draft by trusting my instincts. I did some editing, and I ended up being pretty proud of it.

 

As it turns out, the publisher loved it, and everything had gone pretty smoothly with the processfrom there on out. I just needed to push the Imposter Syndrome out of my mind and just go with it, and I’m glad I did. I like the story that endedup on the page, and I hope that my readers do too.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Katie Groom grew up in rural Pennsylvania, where shereceived her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from PITT and hermaster’s in Employment and Labor Relations from Indiana University ofPennsylvania. In 2016, she decided to move to Alabama in order to avoid as muchsnow as possible (and to advance her career in Human Resources).

 

When she isn’t working, Katie enjoys reading,writing, jokingly critiquing movies and TV, and campaigning that the plural ofmoose should be meese. She also loves to take in live music (especially Hanson)and traveling, with the goal of reaching each of the continents. Katie’sfavorite pastime, however, is spending time with her beloved Shih tzu, Delta.

 

https://cinnabarmoth.com/katie-groom/

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Katie-Groom/author/B0B5YM1QGG

https://www.amazon.com/Gibbous-Moon-Katie-Groom/dp/195397189X

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22116587.Katie_Groom

 

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GIVEAWAY:

Katie Groom will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawnwinner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: IF THE SUN SPARES US by Brenda Marie Smith

 

IF THE SUN SPARES US

by Brenda Marie Smith

 

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GENRE:  Post-apocalyptic thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

 

Twoyears ago, a solar pulse destroyed modern life. Bea Crenshaw organized herstarving, suburban neighbors into a farming community. But now Bea’s gone, andher grandchildren must carry her legacy forward.

 

Inthe post-apocalyptic pressure cooker of Austin, Texas, 19-year-old Keno and hisyounger cousins struggle to ensure their community’s survival even as they’reforced to relocate to safer grounds. Northern Lights that don’t belong this farsouth grow increasingly intense, making Keno fear what harm the sun will causenext.

 

Evenworse, a marauding militia called the Raiders is closing in, led by a derangedwoman who preys on teenage boys. Despite Keno’s debilitating flashbacks from afirefight, he and his wife have a new baby to protect. Though Bea is dead, herspirit desperately searches for ways to shield her grandkids. When Raiderstarget two neighborhood members, the only hope lies in the community’sstrength, Keno’s ingenuity, and the family’s fierce love for one another.

 

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Excerpt One:

 

In the nextsecond, thick neon bands of green light shoot into the sky like they’re spewingstraight out of the earth at the horizon, the aurora pulsing and soaringhundreds of feet into the air toward the stratosphere. This is nothing like thetame Northern Lights we’ve had off and on over the past year, but crazy-brightand thick and enormous. None of it belongs in Texas. I stare at the lights,getting dizzy from their movement and intensity.

 

The guys out onthe street whistle and shout… I close my eyes to get my bearings.

 

Residualstreaks of light burn my eyeballs and flash across my eyelids, then mutate intothe recurring, overly-vivid memories I can’t shake: flaming, screaming boys,falling fiery trees, bursting Molotov cocktails, strafing assault rifles—a handslaps across my mouth and covers my nose, and Richie’s behind me, yanking me tothe ground, hissing, “Shhh! Shhh! Don’t scream.”

 

“The End ofDays is upon us, and we’ve got work to do!” shouts the woman from the street.“Head back north.” The feet start tramping around. “Jonesie, north’s the otherway.”

 

Richie’s pressingso hard on my mouth and nose he’s gonna suffocate me. My tears run over hishand. Flaming bodies still flash before my eyes while green lights burn in thesky overhead…

 

I grab his handto yank it off, but he presses harder. I panic. Dude’s gonna kill me.

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

BRENDA MARIE SMITH is attracted to stories where everydaycharacters transcend their limitations to find their inner heroism. She livedoff the grid for years in a farming collective where her sons were delivered bymidwives. A lifelong community activist, Brenda has managed student co-ophousing, produced concerts, and raised a small herd of boys. She and herhusband live in Kyle, Texas. They have more grown kids and grandkids than theycan count.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Website: https://brendamariesmith.com

Blog: https://brendamariesmith.tumblr.com 

Twitter: @bsmithnovelist

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJlLSnORIyoaygvZ1j49ZKw 

 

Buy Links for the Braving the Light Series:

IF DARKNESS TAKES US (Book One): https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Takes-Brenda-Marie-Smith-ebook/dp/B07WK9BQHN?ref_=ast_author_mpb

For IF THE LIGHT ESCAPES (Book Two): https://www.amazon.com/If-Light-Escapes-Braving-Novel-ebook/dp/B09CMZZRKZ?ref_=ast_author_dp  

IF THE SUN SPARES US (Book Three): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGTHY55H/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

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GIVEAWAY 

Theauthor will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner viaRafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway