Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 132

Review: LUNARBABOON: THE DAILY LIFE OF PARENTHOOD by Christopher Grady

This book is a charming andhumorous illustration of parenthood. Parents that didn’t want to fight in frontof the kids would still do it via text. Ha, ha! A dad that would much ratherspend some time alone than be with the wife and kid. Too funny and true! Kidsliterally recording everything you say. It’s a very Bizarro world. Ha, ha!

The B/W sketches were simple witha Ziggy-like quality. I like stuff that you don’t have to think too much on. Ofcourse, I didn’t always get them, but they were still fun to look at.

Some good comics here.

 

Rating:4 stars

Blog Tour: HOW TO BURY YOUR DOG by Eva Silverfine

How to Bury Your Dog

by Eva Silverfine

 

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GENRE:   Literary/Upmarket fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

Lizzyhas largely retreated from the world: she tends her adopted strays and goes towork, but she has forsaken lifelong pastimes and declines invitations from oldfriends. On the day she buries Happy, the abandoned basset hound she adoptedyears before, she learns a real estate developer is threatening the heart ofher rural community—a tranquil pond and a relict stand of hemlocks. For Lizzythis is a magical place, hidden from the modern world.

Coaxed by an old friend to join a group fighting the development, Lizzy isreluctant—she wants to avoid both hope and him. But she realizes she can nolonger keep the outside world at bay. As the battle over the developmentunfolds, Lizzy opens herself to two young neighbors who share her love of thenatural environment—an awkward sixteen-year-old and an inquisitiveten-year-old. And as Happy’s elements return to the earth, buried memories findtheir way to the surface in increasingly curious ways.

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

Lizzy had wandered toward the pond herself that morningafter a restless night. Her mind had been full of the day’s trip, which overallhad been predictable and therefore frustrating. She took her usual routethrough the woods to the bluff. A bird called relentlessly—she recognized itssong, but she couldn’t remember its name, even though Wes had told her so manytimes. She had never tried very hard to remember because its name was notimportant to her. She didn’t need to name the bird to be reassured by its call,to be reassured by knowing it was there and living the life it was supposed tolive, to be reassured there was a world much bigger than herself. It was inknowing there was a world bigger than her own life that she typically foundcomfort, but this morning she was experiencing the other side: that she was toosmall to affect the course of events unfolding in her own backyard.

 

As Lizzy approached the bluff, she saw the sourwoods were inflower—racemes of dainty white urns were calling in the honeybees. She walkedto the edge of the bluff and looked over the hemlocks standing firm on theirperilous slope.

 

Even if she hadn’t known the hemlocks were relicts ofanother era, the bluff had always seemed an ancient place, a magical place,hidden from the modern world. An earthy scent emanated from the ground— humusand moss overlain with the sweet aromatic sheath of shed hemlock needles andbranchlets. She loved the hemlocks—their form, their scent, their flat, darkgreen leaves.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Fromliving above her parents’ hardware store in Brooklyn, New York, to living amile down a gravel road in semi-rural Texas with her husband, sons, and thelocal wildlife, Eva Silverfine has explored a variety of urban to rurallandscapes. On that journey, she earned two degrees in the environmentalsciences, worked in an entomological research lab, and eventually retooled as acopyeditor. She freelances for several academic presses and writes personalnarrative and fiction in the in-between spaces. Her short fiction has appearedin a variety of online journals; she has published a collection of essays, ElasticWalls: From Brooklyn to Texas and Points in Between; and her novels, Howto Bury Your Dog and Ephemeral Wings, have been published by BlackRose Writing. Find her at www.evasilverfine.com and on Facebook, Instagram,and Twitter.

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100034819616151

https://www.instagram.com/evasilverfine/

https://twitter.com/EvaSilverfine

https://www.amazon.com/How-Bury-Your-Dog-Silverfine/dp/1684338212/

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GIVEAWAY :

Eva Silverfine will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnesand Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour : SERVANT by Patrick R. Field

 

Servant

by Patrick R. Field

 

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GENRE: Paranormal Fantasy

 

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BLURB:

 

Not long after their move into Blackstone, married couple Mitchand Buck begin to witness strange sightings of shadowy figures, physicalmanifestations and inexplicable events taking place in the former Sheppardfamily estate nestled in the Northern Poconos of Pennsylvania. Through séances,they learn from the spirit of Jedidiah Sheppard that he has not been able tocross over into the afterlife because the truth behind his sudden disappearancein 1965 has never been solved. During this journey, Mitch and Buck and aneccentric psychic, Gladys Munch aka Madame Fortunesta, encounter interferencefrom the spirit of a Lenape medicine man, Mesingwe Medeu, who protectsJedidiah’s spirit. Mitch and Buck eventually realize that they must findJedidiah’s remains and let the authorities discover through modern detectivework the evidence needed to try and convict the murderer. But is it too latefor Jedidiah’s spirit to find eternal peace?

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

“The spirit led us to this area of the cellar by blinkingthe lights, making them dimmer and then brighter. When we asked if he wouldlike to be called a spirit, the intensity of the blinking increased, brighterand faster. We thought it was because he liked it, but then the blinkingstopped and the intensity of the light grew until the bulbs started to burst,and as you can see, there is shattered glass on the floor,” I explain as wewalk across the broken glass, the crinkling sounds underfoot. “Sorry about theglass. I have been a little freaked out to sweep up.”

 

“Where did you find the album?”

 

“Over here. It fell off this shelf of the bookcase, whereyou can see the imprint in the dust.”

 

Gladys places her hand on the spot where the album once layand closes her eyes. Suddenly, she opens them, and a surprised, distressedexpression comes over her face, the first time I haven’t seen a hint of a smileall morning.

 

“I would like to leave here now,” she states in a fearfultone.

 

“Sure, is something—”

 

“Now, Mitch! We need to leave now!”

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Aftertwenty-five years in higher education, Patrick Field traded in teaching andtextbooks to pursue his passion of writing spine-chilling fiction. Holding aPh.D. in Anatomical Sciences and Neuroscience, his experience informs hiswriting, a unique blend of scientific knowledge with supernatural storytelling.

 

Hisnon-scientific writing career began with Prince Patrick, a memoir of his precociouschildhood that he wrote for his mother as she battled pancreatic cancer. Thisprocess was not only healing but helpful in stirring his creativity and markedthe moment he was bitten by the writing bug.

 

An avid fan ofAnne Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, and Joe Hill, Patrick’s subsequent novels wereinspired by his favorite authors. His first fiction novel, The Malevolent, andhis two latest novels, The Bedfordshire Warlock (release date in early 2024)and Servant were written throughout the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

His latestnovel Servant was inspired by the supernatural events that happened to theauthor, his husband, and friends that have stayed in their home in northeasternPennsylvania. Taking a page from his teaching philosophy that those who teachmust never cease to learn, Patrick found himself hungry to discover all hecould about the area's diverse cultures, including the Anthracite coal miningcommunity and the indigenous tribe of the Lenape.

 

Patrick’swriting process is a mix between walking meditation and meticulous research.His novels form while he walks alone with his dogs, imagining plot lines andcharacters. Once he’s home, he quickly types notes on his computer beforefleshing them out later. Research is a considerable part of his process- thescientist in him abhors “alternative facts.” When he encounters an idea or ahistorical thread unfamiliar to him, he researches all he can about it. Whilehe writes about a world where the supernatural realm is prominent, the realworld is always based on facts.

 

When developingcharacters, he usually has an idea of the destination he wants for eachcharacter but the journey to get there is often written by the character andthe environment. Of all the characters he’s written, Gladys Munch in Servant ishis favorite, as she’s an amalgam of delightful, humorous “mature” ladies inhis life and physically inspired by British actresses Margaret Rutherford andAngela Lansbury.

 

In addition towriting, Patrick appears on the stage of his community theater and sings in thechorus of a local opera company each summer. He enjoys spending time with hishusband, Matthew, and their dogs and exploring new destinations around theworld, especially those that have a supernatural history. Haunted buildings andstructures associated with the occult fascinate Patrick. His idea of a perfectday: drinking pints of Guinness draught with friends and family overscintillating and humorous conversation.

 

 

 

Website: www.patrickfieldauthor.com

 

Instagram:patrickfieldauthor

 

Facebook:actoranatomist

 

Links forpurchasing Servant

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Servant-Patrick-R-Field/dp/1509248765/ref=sr_1_1 

 

Barnes andNoble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/servant-patrick-r-field/1143071600

 

Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Servant-Paperback-9781509248766/2686843043

 

 

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GIVEAWAY 

Patrick R. Field will be awarding a $10Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: HOLD ON TIGHT by Jerry Harwood

HOLD ON TIGHT

by Jerry Harwood

 

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GENRE:  Sweet Romance

 

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BLURB:

 

Whenevent planner Megan Rouche's boyfriend lands a job in Atlanta, he proposes. Butshe chooses to stay in her small Tennessee town to care for her grandmother.There she kindles a new relationship. However, all is in jeopardy when Frankreturns on behalf of his Atlanta company with big plans to develop a newfactory in Bakewell and marry Megan.

 

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Excerpt One:

 

As Meganslammed the driver-side door, she realized only too late the end of her long,flowing scarf remained inside. She felt her shoulders and neck revolt againstthe rest of her body. The color-coded, highlighted, and well-organized weddingbinder did not have the same attachment to the car door as her scarf. It wentforward, scattering over the parking lot. The wedding schedule, names of familymembers and important friends, the order for the toasts, and the marriagecertificate took flight.

 

Megan reachedout in an attempt to pull the folder and the last ten seconds of her life backin. As she did, gravity won out. She hit her back against the car door andslumped to the ground. Frantically, she unwrapped the knitted noose from herneck. As she stood, the wind caught the loose papers. At first, they wereaflutter near her feet. Then the wind, perhaps realizing how it might continueto torment her, sent a stronger gust.

 

Megan eyed theenvelope with the marriage certificate. It was tenuously holding its flightpattern over a puddle. She lurched forward, far from gracefully, toward theenvelope. Her fingers touched the edge before the wind chose to take it a bitfarther down the pea gravel parking lot. The marriage certificate danced overthe neighboring spaces before landing against the sidewalk’s curb. From there,it caught an upward draft straight into the holly bushes with the receptionsong list.

 

Megan removedthe scarf and moved toward the holly bush. She heard the snap of her leftshoe’s heel. Her reward was a skinned knee and another trip to the gravel lot.Her new circular-frame eyeglasses decided they would abandon ship and bounced afew feet away. Megan sat on her bottom, feeling the ground’s moisture creep upher skirt. She raised her hands before patting the ground around her. A delugeof tears threatened to explode from her eyes as she strained to keep them atbay.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Jerry Harwood was born in Ooltewah, TN. His mother was anelementary school teacher and he spent his afternoons reading books in herclassroom or the nearby public library. He currently is a writer, which makessense based on the fact you are reading this here. He has experimented withother occupations: camp director, program director at a counseling center,college professor and middle school teacher. Jerry has backpacked Europe,taught in a Ukrainian University, worked in Rwanda after the genocide, is afirst responder, sort-of remodeled a VW Thing, and has a love for Cherry CokeZero that is only surpassed by his love for his wife, six children, and grandson.He is chairs the Writer’s Track at ConNooga, and actively participates in theChattanooga Writer's Guild where he previously served as a board member.

 

Feel free to share your thoughts on the book with Jerry atJerryHarwoodBooks@gmail.com or visit his website at www.jerryharwood.com. Hecan also be found on The Zon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0863YPCD7

 

Buy the book at: https://www.amazon.com/Hold-Tight-Jerry-Harwood-ebook/dp/B0BM7ZMSLF?ref_=ast_author_dp

 

 

 

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GIVEAWAY 

The author will be giving away a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: GILLESPIE FIELD GROOVE by Corey Lynn Fayman

Mystery

Date Published: March 15, 2023

 

 

An obscure rock'n'roll roadie dies under mysterious circumstances. His prized Jimi Hendrix guitar has gone missing. Can Rolly Waters save his new client from the ruthless collectors looking for it?

When nurse and fledgling pilot Lucinda Rhodes hires guitar-playing private detective Rolly Waters to track down a Stratocaster guitar owned by her deceased father, Rolly is thrilled to take on her case, especially when he learns the guitar’s original owner may have been Jimi Hendrix. But Gerry Rhodes’s reckless personal history leads to more questions than Rolly and Lucinda have bargained for, as an aging rock’n’roll impresario, his trophy wife, a Russian gangster and the FBI get involved. When a forty-year-old shooting accident reveals a surprising connection to a pop star’s hit record, Rolly sees darker forces at work. And his and Lucinda’s lives hang in the balance.

 

Gillespie Field Groove is the fifth book in the Rolly Waters mystery series

Review: In chapter 1, it seemed that wewere transporting back to the past in memories of the old Woodstock days. Theold was taking one last stroll down memory lane before taking his final breath.  

Days later, his daughter, Lucy,requests the assistance of P.I. Rolly to help find an old guitar that mighthave belonged to Jimi Hendrix. Was it true that anything he might’ve touchedwould’ve been worth a lot of money? But that wasn’t the most interesting part.The interesting part was that the police thought the old man might’ve beenmurdered. Now, it had my attention. You’d think that, at this point, Rollywould dig right into the murder. Instead, he goes trolling around old musicshops looking for that missing guitar. The character was clearly familiar withthe music industry, which was rather fascinating, but, to me, it wasn’t themain focus. I wanted to get into the murder right away.

The narrative was nice and simplewith some witty commentary. To be honest, the mystery of the missing guitar wasrather appealing but not overly enticing to me. I’m not really a fan of Hendrixor really any of the old music from the time. This would definitely be a goodread for those music buffs.

Fairly nice read.

Rating:3 stars

About the Author

Corey Lynn Fayman has made a career of avoiding the sunlight in his hometown of San Diego, California, where he’s done hard time as a keyboard player for local bands, a sound designer for the world-famous Old Globe Theatre, and an interactive designer for organizations both corporate and sundry. Armed with a B.A. in Creative Writing from UCLA and an M.A. in Educational Technology from SDSU, he’s also taught technology and design courses at various colleges and universities in Southern California.

Fayman's adventures working for the infamous Internet startup MP3.com led him to conceive the character of Rolly Waters, the guitar-playing detective first featured in the San Diego Book Awards nominated mystery, Black’s Beach Shuffle. Unduly encouraged by this early success, he set about writing a second Rolly Waters Mystery, Border Field Blues, winner of the Genre Award at the 2013 Hollywood Book Festival. Desert City Diva, the third novel in the series, was a bronze award winner in Foreword Reviews 2015 Indiefab Book of the Year Awards. The latest in the series, Ballast Point Breakdown, was awarded the best-in-show Geisel Award at the 2021 San Diego Book Awards.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Blog Tour: IMAGINARY FRIENDS by Chad Musick

Imaginary Friends

by Chad Musick

 

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GENRE:   YA Magical Realism

 

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BLURB:

 

If the delivery had been a demonic bowlingalley or a mermaid’s grotto, Ivy would have sent it away. She has standards,after all. But she can’t refuse a magical Library, especially when they’ve goneto the trouble of including a wheelchair ramp. They say that on the Internetnobody knows you’re a dog, but somebody knows fourteen-year-old Ivy is anorphan, that she sells her paper-writing services to lazy college students, andthat her imaginary friends are unhappy being stuck in the mural on the wall ofher Alaskan home.

Himitsu refuses the Library, becoming angry enoughto attack the delivery people with his bamboo sword. They won’t tempt him withbooks, any more than his mother has been able to tempt him into leaving theirapartment during the past two years. He has all he needs: video games, onlineforums, and his virtual girlfriend Moe. Well, almost all. His dad’s death hasleft a hole in him, which is why when he receives text messages saying theLibrary can bring back the dead, he changes his mind. Moe tries to warn himabout the danger, but what does she know, anyway?

Now, having been lured into the Library and havingfoolishly brought their imaginary friends with them, Ivy and Himitsu find thosefriends are trapped. The teens have a choice: fulfill the Librarian’s odd andpainful demands in hopes of rescuing their friends or go back alone to theirsmall, boring lives, knowing they’ve failed the only ones who really believe inthem.

 

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Excerpt One:

All giraffes are named Janice, excepting a few heretics. Theold guard, being traditionalists, are the most militant in asserting that thisis the necessary state of affairs.

 

The Janice of our story, however, is not one of the oldguard. He’s too young to be a veteran of the Nehming War, and to him theconsequent Sophie massacre is something that happened to distant Frenchrelatives. Because of this, he is sometimes known to intimate that his namemight, in fact, be Chanda.

Despite this obvious breach in social graces, hedoesn’t consider himself to be a deviant. In fact, he thinks of himself asquite normal. Janice is anything but normal. For one thing, he’s a giraffe. Wemustn’t neglect this observation. Giraffes are not normal. But let us leavethat aside for a moment and pretend they are.

Humans, not being monstrositiesexcept in aggregate, naturally regard involuntary baldness among the males asan unsightly defect. Bald men are likely to be regarded as degenerates. Some ofthem even become history teachers. Among boy giraffes, however, baldness of theossicles—those little sticky-uppy bits on their heads—is a mark of honor gainedby battering at other giraffes.

 

To his enduring shame, the tops of Janice’s ossicles arecovered in thick, feathery hair. Not because he is cowardly (though he is) butbecause Janice has never met another giraffe. In fact, he’s never encountered athird dimension at all, being stuck in perpetual twilight in the paper junglepasted to the wall of Ivy’s otherwise crappy little house.

 

 

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What drivesthe characters in your story and why?

The twomain characters in Imaginary Friends are Ivy and Himitsu. They are verydifferent. Ivy is living on her own in Alaska and selling term papers tocollege students while trying to stay off the radar of social services. Whenshe receives the delivery of the magical library, and they include a wheelchairramp, she is immediately intrigued. Ivy’s world is very small, and her onlyfriends are animals in a mural painted on her living room wall. She enters thelibrary out of curiosity and at the urging of her imaginary friends who want toescape the mural. Ivy never imagined that they would be trapped inside thelibrary. Once Ivy’s friends are trapped, she is motivated to free them. Ivylost her parents in a car accident and cannot bear to lose anyone else.

When wemeet Himitsu, it is several years after the suicide of his father, and he isliving with his grandmother. Himitsu is a shut-in whose only friend is an AIcalled Moe. The first time they try to deliver the library doors, Himitsurefuses them thinking that they are a ploy of his grandmother to get him to dosomething other than hang out with Moe. Later that day, he receives a messagethat the doors leading to the magical library can bring back the dead. Moe is skeptical and warns Himitsu not to go, but he enters the library anyway.He is desperate to see his father again. Once inside the library, he discoversthat they cannot bring his father back and that Moe is trapped inside. Himitsu,like Ivy, wants to save his only friend. 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

ChadMusick grew up in Utah, California, Washington, Texas, and (most of all)Alaska. He fell in love in California and then moved with his family to Japan,where he’s found happiness. He earned a PhD in Mathematical Science but lovesart and science equally.

Despitea tendency for electronic devices to burst into flame after Chad handles them,he persists in working in various technical and technology-related roles.

Chadmakes no secret of being epileptic, autistic, and arthritic, facts that informhow he approaches both science and the arts.

 

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Friends-Chad-Musick/dp/1953971733/

 

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GIVEAWAY :

Chad Musick will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnesand Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: SHATTERED by Cassie Swindon

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cassie Swindon will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Darkness is gnawing at my soul. The shadows swallow me a little more each day. But someone needs to destroy Elana Elidi. And I may be the only one who can. There’s a spell to stop her from destroying the remaining Ordulls. But it requires a sacrifice from my true love. The problem is—who does my heart belong to—Jadox or Isaac?

Read an Excerpt

Terrified of making any sudden movements, I crossed the room at a snail’s pace. Kyra patted the floor beside her without taking those obsidian eyes off me. Haunting, unnatural eyes.

Another shudder threatened to rip through me, but I held it back, using all my energy not to spook her. One wrong move might push the thing possessing her to lash out. As a child, I had heard Gemm tell a story about spirits, but it was only supposed to be a fairytale.

I gulped down what felt like a pile of stones and carefully sat beside her. The healing spell was at the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t want to scare her. Instead, I silently chanted Terra angakok. Terra angakok, again and again, praying to the Divinity above that it would save her from whatever monster bewitched her body. It didn’t work. Kyra stared at me like an empty shell.

My heart rammed chaotically against my chest. I needed help. Reinforcements. Where was fuckin’ Nilson when we actually needed him? Maybe if I distracted her, it’d break the stupor. Terror seized my soul, and I didn’t move a single muscle. What the Flames was I supposed to do? If I touched her, would she snap out of the trance? Had someone cursed her? Why were her eyes the color of death? Sweat dripped down my back, and time ceased to exist.

“Hallie wants me to buy a puppy.” She stroked my dog’s head again and again. The sweetness of her voice had an actual scent; it was like ice cream dipped in poison and spider webs.

“Kyra, Hallie died. She’s not here anymore. I think we should go to bed and —"

“No!” she bellowed. “I don’t have to go to sleep. I don’t have to choose one of you! I don’t have to save anyone.”

I clenched my fists into balls by my side, then released them. Clenched. Released. There was a fundamental wrongness in the air. Gemm had never taught me how to deal with dark Magik as a child. This wasn’t something I had ever trained for. It was time for a new approach.

“Kyra, it’s okay. I think you’re sleepwalking,” I pleaded, hearing the uncertainty in my voice.

She laughed, but the sound was foreign to my ears, veiled in jagged, harsh edges. “No, I’m awake, right, Hallie?”

If I knocked her unconscious and carried her inside, maybe Narelle or Caspian would have a solution. Or we could call Gemm. But there was no chance I’d leave her here alone to search for them.

“What if I die soon?” Kyra asked, her tone sweeter a scrumptious pie.

“What?”

Her gaze latched onto all my fears. That fraudulent smile returned, slithering up her face and claiming it. I had to stop this. Whatever controlled Kyra was taking another piece of her with every passing moment.

About the Author: Cassie Swindon isn’t only an Indie author of six fiction books, but she has also tackled a stranger for a pair of Michael Phelps’ personal goggles, cried when the Cubs won the World Series and chose where to move cross-country by the flip of a coin. If you’d like to learn more about how her cat caused a flood in her house, or maybe to buy a book or two of hers, then check out the social media accounts below.

Email
Website
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Blog Tour: THE NOT SO TRUE ADVENTURES OF BRANDON, JOSH, AND ADAM by Barry Fellinger

The Not so True Adventures of Brandon,Josh, and Adam

by Barry Fellinger

 

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GENRE: Children's Fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

Eleven-year-old cousins Brandon and Josh return homesafely at the end of their Almost True Adventure, only to discover that theircousin Adam has been captured by the very same aliens from the IntergalacticCouncil on Obedience to Parents they just escaped from!

 

Now the boys must figure out how to get back intospace, rescue Adam, and return home safely again!

 

It's a Not So True Adventure full of action,surprises, old friends, new enemies, frenemies, and what's that about doublestroubles?

 

A hilarious and once-in-a-while serious story ofpast, present, and future antics, based on some of the three cousins' escapadesin real life!

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

I Wish I WouldHave Just Eaten My Dinner OR ADAM MEETS THE COUNCIL

 

 

Twelve-year-oldAdam was mad. He was very mad. He was in a cage with bars and not happy aboutit at all. With every bit of his 120-pound might and five feet two height, hegripped the bars and tried twisting them loose until his hands hurt. No use.They would not budge.

 

 Adam was not sure how he ended up in the cage.Last thing he remembered, he had been horribly angry at his mother, stompingaway from the supper table and up the stairs towards his room. Next thing heknew, he woke up in this dark place. Only when his eyes became accustomed tothe darkness could he tell he was in some kind of jail. Still, he refused tobelieve it.

 

At first, hethought he was dreaming. He tried to wake up by pinching the skin on his arm.That hurt! Next, he shook his head back and forth, his curly brown hair wavingaround until it fell over his eyes, and he felt dizzy. Nope, that didn’t workeither because he was already very much awake. Then he thought his two olderbrothers might be playing a trick on him. He yelled as loudly as possible,“Danny! Ken! Is this one of your dumb jokes? It’s not funny!”

 

No one came.

 

Next, he triedwalking away but found he ran right into the bars and bumped his forehead.Ouch! He rattled the bars again. Nothing changed. This was not a nightmare. Itwas not a trick. It really was a cage. Adam was getting nervous and his handsfelt clammy. He could feel the sweat on his forehead. He sat down and tried tothink. His mind started racing with all kinds of crazy thoughts. Was this someweird punishment for leaving the dinner table? Where was he anyway? Was hebeing pranked? Maybe he was on one of those TV shows where a friend or familymember plays a prank that is filmed on an unsuspecting victim. He wouldn’t putthat past his brothers or his cousins, Brandon and Josh. He concluded he had toslow down and think things out and not jump to conclusions about what hadhappened to him.

 

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Review: Waking up in a cage was verystrange to Adam. How did he get there? Was this a dream? Apparently, he was tomeet before the council. What council? What was going on here?

The Intergalactic Council onObedience to Parents (ICOP) was in session.

The narrative was nice n’ easy,but it was rather slow as it was often a big too descriptive. At first, wedon’t even know what these creatures of ICOP were talking about. A lot of thetrivial nonsense took up more time than it should’ve. Was Adam a pup? Was hedog food or what? I mean, we still don’t know how Adam even got there.

Things get a little clear inchapter 2 when the cousins back on Earth reveal that Adam was taken by aliensto their planet—the very same planet that they themselves escaped from. Okay,but still, that leaves a lot more questions unanswered. At times, the prose wasa little odd. For instance:

“There’s the going-up-the-stairsboys; let’s call them Brandon #1 and Josh #1. And there’s thecoming-down-the-stairs boys, Brandon #2 and Josh #2. The going-up-the-stairspair acted quickly. Josh #1 put his hand over Brandon #2’s mouth, and Brandon#1 did the same to Josh #2, motioning for them to come up to Brandon’s room.”

When did the boys split? Why werethey four of them?

The whole thing was long and slow.The black-and-white illustrations were a good distraction and a refreshingchange of pace.

The story was certainly zany withwild scenarios and antics. It was quite imaginative, I’ll give it that. But itjust wasn’t that easy to follow. It would’ve been nice to have an explanationto all this. It just felt that we got dropped somewhere in the middle of thestory without any background info.

A fairly nice read. Good forsci-fi kids that like crazy, out-of-this-world stories.

 

Rating:3 stars

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Barry M. Fellinger resides in St. Thomas, Ontario, with his wifeBeth, and currently works as a director in health care and also teachesleadership courses and seminars.

 

He loves spending time with his adult children, grandchildren,extended family, and friends.

 

He enjoys reading, writing, watching superhero television showsand movies, collecting comics, attending the occasional Comicon and, forinspiration, relaxing in Sanctuary II, his comic book/man room.

 

He has a few more books in the works which he hopes to completebefore or during retirement.

 

 

Social Media

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www.instagram.com/barryfellinger

 

 

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GIVEAWAY:

Barry Fellinger will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GCto a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: THE 8TH GRADE KILLER by Katy Pierce

A missing friend found dead.

Carlee, a private eye, was a techwhizz and often used her own gadgets to catch cheating husbands. One case wasalways on her mind and that was the murder of her twin brother. Maybe one dayshe would find his killer and finally get a life. Maybe one day, but not today.Ever since The 8th Grade Killer slaughtered her classmates,including her brother, she’s never had any friends or social connections. Butthat didn’t matter. Right now, Carlee had a request to look in on the beachmurder and maybe clear a young boy’s name, sending her home to Harborside andbad memories.

The only alibi the poor boy hadwas one that could destroy families and possible futures, so Carlee had herwork cut out for her, especially with every town busybody recognizing her andasking her about The 8th Grade Killer.

I liked Carlee’s smarts, wits, andclever retorts. Like Batman, she was a tech genius with all these cool gadgets.But mostly what got me into this was the murder case. It could be anyone.

“An embittered [ex], a vengeful[lover], a jealous [friend], and tyrannical [father] –none of them could becompletely trusted.”

The dead bodies were piling up,which could only be the result of another serial killer. But that wasn’t all.Carlee’s trip back to Harborside also brings back The 8th GradeKiller. Two serial killers?

A compelling mystery from start tofinish! I’m definitely getting the rest of this series.

 

Rating:5 stars

Review: THE AWESOME FABULOUS DOG-WALKING SOCIETY AND THE CASE OF THE DISSAPPEARING DIAMONDS by Tiffany Nicole Smith

It all startedwith a dog-walking business. Fisher, Valentina, and Langley were all in on ittogether. Each chapter represents a POV from one of the characters. Since it’sin a diary format, we get the 411 of what’s going on in their lives. We evenget the POV of the new girl, Cici.

The whole thingwas kind of slow. In fact, it takes a long time to get to the case as the storywas so busy with introductions.

An okay read ifyou like middle school drama.

 

Rating:3 stars