Diane Bator's Blog, page 32
February 26, 2022
Mine, the newest book in the Deadly Sins Series by Rachael Tamayo
MINE
The Newest Book in The Deadly Sins Series
By International Best-selling Author, Rachael Tamayo
Set for release February 26th and published by Tangled Tree Publishing!
The book will be available worldwide, in digital and print, across all platforms!
What happens in Vegas just might kill you.
When divorcee Justin Gray wakes up next to a beautiful stranger in Vegas on his birthday weekend, he assumes it’s just a drunken mistake. When he discovers that he’s married to said stranger in her early twenties, he insists on an annulment and assumes his life will return to normal once he gets back home.
He assumes wrong.
As the shapely blonde refuses to give him an annulment and insists the marriage continue, what was a wild weekend turns into a deadly mistake.
Murder is only the beginning.
Get ready for a tale of greed so twisted you won’t know what’s on the next page or who anyone really is until the…
very…
last…
page.
Books2Read Link: https://books2read.com/deadlysins3
"Rachael Tamayo’s “Mine” is a must-read suspense thriller of 2022"-- Anthony Avina
"Creating credible characters for thrillers is a skill Rachel Tamayo owns, but she delves more deeply into her characters than most authors writing in this genre." Grady Harp
"a dark, moody piece that defies the reader to put the story, once started, aside before the final page. Expect high anxiety levels while reading it, and keep the lights on once finished. Highly recommended." Grady Harp, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer
"Full of secrets, spies and hidden truths unlike any book I've read before. Definitely something that feels like coming out of a movie. Well researched and fast paced" John Kerry, The Reviewer
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
"A well-written thriller that keeps the reader guessing until the end!" - InD'Tale Magazine
"Intense, original, and detailed thriller." - Power of Three Readers
ABOUT RACHAEL:
International bestselling author Rachael Tamayo is a former 911 emergency operator and police dispatcher. After twelve years in those dark depths, she’s gained a unique insight into mental illness, human behavior, and the general darkness of humanity that she likes to weave into her books. Born and raised in Texas, Rachael lives in the Houston area with her husband and their two young children.
Website: WWW.RACHAELTAMAYOWRITES.COM
Facebook: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RACHAELTAMAYOWRITES
Twitter: @RTAMAYO2004
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15251093.Rachael_Tamayo
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Tamayo/e/B01HC2VZ0C/
Newsletter sign-up: https://www.rachaeltamayowrites.com/contact-me/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rtamayo2004/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rachael-tamayo
To request additional review copies or an interview with Rachael Tamayo, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925. We look forward to the coverage.
February 24, 2022
Root That Mountain Down, the newest award-winning novel by Evan L. Balkan
Root That Mountain Down
The newest Award-Winning novel by critically acclaimed author, Evan L. Balkan
Released and published by Tuscany Bay Books
The book is available worldwide in print and e-format
Felix Laszlo is on a somber mission: Retrieving the body of his murdered father, a doctor who had volunteered to treat the civilian casualties in war-torn Sierra Leone, and bringing him home to be buried in the United States.Along the way Felix will discover how little he knew about his father, Africa and himself. Once in Africa, Felix will see first-hand the greed and corruption that is commonplace in the "blood diamond" trade. But he will also find beauty, heartbreak, joy as well as the path to his future.
Link: EVANBALKAN | Tuscany Bay Books
About Evan:
Evan Balkan teaches creative writing at the Community College of Baltimore County. His fiction and nonfiction, mostly in the areas of travel and outdoor recreation, have been published throughout the United States as well as in Canada, England, and Australia.
To request additional review copies or an interview with Evan, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
February 22, 2022
Carolyne Topdjian is the author of the new novel The Hitman’s Daughter
Welcome to author, Carolyne Topdjian! I just LOVE her Ouija story in the interview! Read on to find out more!
Carolyne Topdjian is the author of The Hitman’s Daughter, out in Winter 2022 from Agora/Polis Books. She has published in PRISM International, Dreamers Magazine and Firewords Quarterly and is a professor in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College in Toronto. A three-time Pitch Wars mentor, she lives in a 114-year-old haunted house.
Website: https://www.carolynetopdjian.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TopdjianC
FB: https://www.facebook.com/TopdjianC
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
How many hours a day do you write?
Good question! To be honest, I’m not sure about hours; rather, I tend to set daily goals by word count. When I draft a new novel, I write methodically at a tortoise’s pace, 1K a day, seven days a week. I’ve learned the hard way: I don’t cope well as the hare with sprints and breaks. I also don’t believe in restrictions like “don’t edit as you go.” The creative process is not a “one-size fits all.” I say, if it works for you, break the rule!
How do you choose which stories you will write?
I’m most drawn to write stories that move me emotionally. As a novelist of gothic fiction, I gravitate toward fusions of mystery with horror, psychological suspense, and surrealist fiction. I’m also invested in themes of belonging, in part due to my background as an Armenian of the diaspora and Lebanese-Canadian. I’ll often write stories that explore existential questions—moments when people are caught in dark states of transition, contradiction, and flux. Ultimately, I think all of these experiences and influences come together when deciding my next project.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
So many aspects of writing are hard! In terms of my artistic process, I can sometimes get impatient with drafting a project from ground zero. But the most difficult part is probably the uncertainty of writing. Publishing is an uphill battle, full of rejection and doubt. It’s very much about wearing your heart on your sleeve. That can be both extremely rewarding and terrifying at the same time.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
I have goals to always be growing as a writer, be it in one year or five years from now. I realize that is not terribly specific! For context: I’m an existentialist, and history has taught me not to get too hung up on “time.” Half my life has been struggling to figure out “what to be” and “how to get there.” Now as an author publishing my debut novel in my forties, I don’t have a concrete vision apart from hope and faith. Five years from now, I wish to be writing more stories, and better stories.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
At this exact moment in time, I have four unpublished, complete manuscripts saved on my computer. I have no half-finished novels, (unless you count those from my youth); however, I do have countless half-written and incomplete short stories.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
I’ve had so many inspirational and supportive people who’ve helped me get to where I am today: family, critique partners, mentors, other authors... I’ve also had unsupportive people, and they too, have pushed me harder. So rather than list a single person that influenced my writing, I’ll share an origin story that encouraged my reading…
When I was thirteen, I was into witchcraft. At the bookstore one day, a paperback novel with a blood-red and black cover caught my eye. Its title, in smeared cursive font, read “Ouija.” Even better—a book about séances and ghosts! I excitedly purchased it with the coins I’d saved up. But it turned out, that book had nothing to do with ghosts. In fact, its title was Cujo. Yet it didn’t disappoint. I went on to devour entire shelves of Stephen King, and his novels remain an inspiration to me today.
The Hitman's Daughter
The Chateau du Ciel was once the destination for the rich and famous to play, drink and ski—complete with a private railway to shuttle those desiring extra privacy—now, however, the guests are few and far between. The New Year’s Eve party was supposed to hoist the rundown hotel back to its former status, until a massive blizzard hits, trapping the guests who’ve come to celebrate the grand hotel’s last hurrah. The circumstances might even be romantic, if the hotel wasn't reputed to be haunted.
When hotel employee Mave Michael finds the resident artist dead, and shortly thereafter hotel security finds Mave alone with the body, the reputation that Mave has fought long and hard to outrun comes back to haunt her. You see, her father is a notorious hitman who is serving multiple life sentences in prison. She has changed her name and location dozens of times, but he somehow manages to track her down—even sending her a postcard on the eve of her birthday, January 1st. She’s the perfect choice to frame for murder, and now the number one suspect. Mave can no longer deny the lessons in survival her father taught her, and calls on that and her uncanny sixth-sense in “finding” lost objects to navigate the maze of the hotel. To save herself, she not only has to stop running from her own past, she must unearth the history of the hotel, its elite guests and buried secrets—one deadly sin at a time.
An homage to classic gothic horror, that proves that the ghosts of family and classism are alive and well.
Buy link for The Hitman’s Daughter: http://www.polisbooks.com/books/the-hitmans-daughter/
Blurbs for The Hitman’s Daughter:
“A fast-paced haunting novel of survival.” —Library Journal, Starred Review
“Topdjian’s debut thriller is intense with foreboding and an eerie sense of place. The past and present perspectives captivate the reader and connect brilliantly to reveal a shocking conclusion. Fans of Jen Williams, Karin Slaughter, and Alex North will enjoy this one!” —Booklist
“Carolyne Topdjian's The Hitman’s Daughternails every classic gothic horror trope in the most elegant of ways, drawing us into a ghostly suspense story with exquisite imagery, lush language and a cast of characters in the tradition of the best whodunits. Sumptuous, sinister, and seductive, I was both charmed and haunted.” —Emily Carpenter, author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls and The Weight of Lies
“A tense and atmospheric gothic mystery with lots of unexpected twists. Topdjian brings the Château du Ciel to life, with its haunted library, the twisting labyrinth of tunnels beneath it, and the suspicious cast of residents and guests whose pasts are intertwined with the hotel's dark history.” —Allison Buccola, author of Catch Her When She Falls
"Suspenseful, haunting and intricate, Topdjian masterfully delivers in this atmospheric debut that will have you on the edge of your seat."—Karen Winn, author of Our Little World
February 19, 2022
Lure, a new Lure River romance by W.L. Hawkin
LURE
A LURE RIVER ROMANCE
JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
A NEW DIRECTION FOR CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR,
W.L. HAWKIN
Released and published by Bluehaven Press!
The book will be available worldwide in digital and print on February 8th, 2022
Hawk is a wounded doctor bent on losing himself on the Chippewa reservation.
Jesse's a vegan nature photographer trying to find herself on that same wild land.
When Hawk shoots the deer Jesse's photographing, passions flare. Then Jesse hears that Hawk's friend is dying and sets off alone on horseback to warn him. He deserves the chance to say goodbye she never had.
BUT DANGER LURKS EVERYWHERE NEAR THE SMALL MIDWESTERN TOWN OF LURE RIVER.
Jesse's just discovered the twenty-year-old bones of a missing Indigenous girl in her shed and drawn the unwanted attention of two local men.
CAN JESSE FIND HAWK BEFORE THEY FIND HER?
Ruby Little Bear's tragic tale weaves through the narrative, reminding us that ONE MOMENT CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Amazon.ca: Lure: Jesse & Hawk eBook : Hawkin, W. L. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
Amazon.com: Lure: Jesse & Hawk: Hawkin, W. L.: 9781777262129: Amazon.com: Books
Praise for Lure:
“A sensual romance steeped in nature with a suspenseful undercurrent that’s tensioned with loss, danger, and lust. A must-read for romantic suspense enthusiasts.” — JP MCLEAN, author of Blood Mark
“An engaging and mystifying novel which tells a story that brings readers to a place of compassion, understanding, and relation. The ever-changing emotions, and idiomatic expressions that W.L. Hawkin represented left me feeling as though I was one with the character.” — ALEXA BLYAN, Indigenous activist
“A redemption story with an engaging suspense plot, plenty of action and a strong, sexy “mountain man” — CJ HUNT, author of the Rivers End Romance Series
“A book for those wanting to find romance, love and acceptance for themselves, and a sense of home. Blending characters readers will connect with, a strong sense of place and mystery, readers will turn pages until the very end.” — EILEEN COOK, author of With Malice
“A finely drawn romance with unique characters and a vivid sense of place. Lure doesn’t shy away from the grittier aspects of small-town life, but it will sweep you away nonetheless.” — AMANDA BIDNALL, editor
“A suspense-filled romantic story about unique and intriguing characters, who are also highly relatable. This story will stay with me.” — DANIKA BLOOM, USA Today Best-Selling Author
OTHER BOOKS BY W.L. HAWKIN:
ABOUT W.L. HAWKIN:
W. L. Hawkin writes romantic adventures, often charged with “myth, magic, and mayhem” from her home near Vancouver, Canada.
Her Hollystone Mysteries series features a coven of West Coast witches who solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods. The books—To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, and To Kill a King—follow Estrada, a flawed magician and coven high priest, as he endeavors to save his family and friends while sorting through his own personal issues.
Her latest, the Lure River Romances, is a small-town romantic suspense series set in the American Midwest, in the fictional town of Lure River. The first, Lure, tells the story of Jesse & Hawk.
Hawkin graduated from Trent University with a BA in Indigenous Studies. It was then that she discovered her great-great grandmother was an Indigenous woman. Wendy went on to study English literature at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, and then teach high school. She found her voice publishing poetry and Native Rights articles in Canadian news magazines and is now an Indie author/publisher at Blue Haven Press.
For the past few years, Wendy has been a book reviewer for the Ottawa Review of Books. A member of the Federation of BC Writers and the Writers Union of Canada, she actively engages with readers and writers at conferences, and is represented by Creative Edge Publicity.
As an intuitive writer, Wendy captures on the page what she sees (visual scenes) and hears (conversations) and allows her muses to guide her through the creative process. She needs to feel the energy of the land so, although she’s an introvert, in each book her characters go on a journey where she’s traveled herself. If you don’t find her at Blue Haven Press, she’s likely wandering the woods with her beautiful yellow dog
Website: http://bluehavenpress.com
Twitter @ladyhawke1003
Instagram @w.l.hawkin
Pinterest.ca @W. L. Hawkin Author
Facebook @wlhawkin
To request additional review copies or an interview with W.L. Hawkin, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
February 18, 2022
Round Robin Blog Fest February 2022
This month's Round Robin Blog Fest Topic : Feb. 19 - Describe a flawed character you might use as a heroine or hero in a story. How did they become so flawed? How might their flaws affect the story and what will happen to them?
“It seems to me that most characters, in anything, are flawed in some way, just like most people. You look for the good in the flawed people and vice versa, and then try to make them appealing in some way. – Author: Aiden Gillen
Flawed characters are what make a story far more entertaining than perfect, well-rounded characters. Any book or movie would be dull without characters who have an issue they have to overcome. A lot of the time, it’s those flaws that help to drive the plot. Not only does the character have an objective to achieve, they must also battle their fears or hang-ups to get through to the end. Think Indiana Jones and his fear of snakes.
In general, there are three types Of Character Flaws:
1. A minor character flaw is an imperfection which serves to make them memorable to the reader, but doesn’t affect the story.
2. A major character flaw is more noticeable and restricts the individual, whether physically, mentally, or morally.
3. A fatal flaw can cause a character to bring about their own downfall and possibly their death.
It’s true that you want your protagonists to be likeable but you also need a reason to cheer them on when they struggle. Giving them that flaw such as a fear of snakes when they’re a brave, tough guy (Indiana Jones) or a fear of not only leaving your house but of pretty much everything, yet they have to rescue a child (Nim’s Island) will give the reader that extra bit of relatability.
Would you be engaged if the main character had everything they wanted and never had to struggle? What would be the point of reading their story?
But if that same main character suddenly lost everything, or discovered the luck they thought they had was a by-product of criminal activity on the part of their partner, that would turn their lives around and they wouldn’t see life as the same rose garden. In fact, they’d become the underdog in how they dealt with those new situations. Their perfect worlds would suddenly be flawed as would their attitudes toward the changes they’d need to make.
In my newest book, The Conned Lady, Katie Mullins' biggest flaw is that she trusted the wrong people and paid the price. Only the bad guys have infiltrated her closest friends who all have their flaws and secrets. I found this book interesting to work on because it wraps up the series and forces Katie and her boyfriend Danny to face their worst fears.
Let's find out how the rest of the Round Robin team feels about flawed characters!Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2yB
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com
February 17, 2022
The magic continues in Revenge Seeker by V.K. Tritschler
REVENGE SEEKER
Vital Impetus Book 2
The magic continues in this critically acclaimed series by V.K. Tritschler
Released in February by Inkspell Publishing and available in e-book format worldwide!!
Her Grandfather took her father’s life, and now Jess wants revenge.
Heir to a multi-verse kingdom Jess should be the most powerful woman in the world, able to keep her loved ones safe and bring peace to the realms. But with her newfound powers, came newfound dangers.
Jess is determined to protect the people she loves. To keep her sister, mother and boyfriend Peter safe, she sends them away, where her enemies can’t find them. When, Peter’s parents find out she’s the offspring of their mortal enemy, they are determined to keep them apart forever.
Going alone is perilous, and it’s hard to tell the difference between friend and foe. Determined to bring down her maniacal Grandfather, Jess is just beginning to realize the depth of her ties to those around her and the strength they bring to her.
Will she become the great protector or is she more like her Grandfather than she wants to admit?
Featured at:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PB1FG2V
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/revenge-seeker
BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/revenge-seeker-vk-tritschler/1140824613
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1602305151
More Books in The Series:
Vital Impetus by VK Tritschler
Lost between worlds, Jess is hunted. Fighting back using newfound powers the teen has yet to understand, her only help is an old childhood friend with secrets of his own. Will their reunion be her salvation or the end of her life?
ABOUT V.K. Tritschler:
VK Tritschler is a full-time busy body, and part-time imagination conjurer. She lives on the amazing Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, having moved there from her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. Her family consists of a very patient husband, two rampant boys and too many pets to mention.
She has a wonderful set of amazing writers who support her in the form of Eyre Writers, and in return she offers crowd control services for the Youth section who are the future best-selling Australian authors.
Her first book “The Secret Life of Sarah Meads” was released in 2018 and since then she has participated in the NYC Writing Challenge, the Clunes Booktown, and helped organize and run the Eyre Writers Festival. Ever available to her readership you can find her at: www.vktritschler.com
www.goodreads.com/vktritschler
To request additional review copies or an interview with V.K. Tritschler, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com| 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
February 15, 2022
Robert J. Sawyer releases The Oppenheimer Alternative
The Secret History of The Manhattan Project
Bestselling futurist ROBERT J. SAWYER has been called “Canada’s answer to Michael Crichton” by The Toronto Star and “a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation” by The New York Times.
Now he turns his keen eye back on the past in this, the 80th-anniversary year of the beginning of The Manhattan Project. Sawyer’s 24th novel, THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE, tells the secret history of the physicists behind that desperate effort to create the world’s first atomic bomb.
As J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of The Manhattan Project, famously observed after the first A-bomb exploded, “Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.” And, in our reality, that remains his legacy.
But in the “What if?” vein of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, Sawyer’s novel THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE veers cleverly into alternate-history territory. In it, Oppenheimer and his colleagues — including Edward Teller (the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove), flamboyant Richard Feynman, Leo Szilard, Kurt Gödel, and Enrico Fermi — join forces with Albert Einstein, ex-Nazi rocketeer Wernher von Braun and computing pioneer John von Neumann to try to save our planet from impending ecological doom. If they succeed, they’ll be able to declare, “Now we have become Life, the saviors of our world.”
“Every single person in my novel was both real and famous,” says Sawyer. “I spent two years full-time researching this book to make sure I got the characterizations exactly right.”
And do the experts agree? Yes!
• Martin Sherwin, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (the basis for Christopher Nolan’supcoming biopic Oppenheimer), declares Sawyer’s novel is “an imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.”
• Gregory Benford, physicist at UC Irvine, says: “The feel and detail of the Manhattan Project figures is deep and well done. I knew many of these physicists, and Sawyer nails them accurately.”
• Perimeter Institute physicist Lee Smolin, the author of The Trouble with Physics, agrees: “I know the history of this period well and I’m one or two degrees of separation from many of these people. Sawyer’s portrayals ring true to me. I loved it!”
• And Doug Beason, former Associate Laboratory Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory, adds that “THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE is incredibly realistic: the characters, locations, the era, and even the science. I felt like I was back in Los Alamos — and I should know: I worked there!”
“The trick of this novel,” says Sawyer, “was to never contradict known fact. There’s nothing in the book that’s anachronistic or might not have actually happened. This is as much a secret history as an alternate history. So far as everything that’s been made public is concerned, including the most recently declassified documents, what I’m describing really could have happened.”
Indeed, Oppenheimer himself suggested there was a secret history to it all. When he lost his security clearance because of his Communist ties, Oppie really did declare:
“There is a story behind my story. If a reporter digs deep enough he will find that it is a bigger story than my suspension.”
Deak Parsons, Oppie’s second-in-command at the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Lab, concurred. He told colleagues, in reference to Oppie being cut off from classified information, that even President Eisenhower was in the dark about the truth:
“I have to put a stop to it. Ike has to know what’s really going on. This is the biggest mistake the United States could make!”
(Sadly, Parsons died the next day of a heart attack before speaking to the president.)
Even Freeman Dyson, Oppie’s great colleague after the war at the Institute for Advance Study in Princeton, felt Oppie was hiding something:
“As a direct result of Oppenheimer’s work, we now know that black holes have played and are playing a decisive part in the evolution of the universe. He lived for twenty-seven years after the discovery, never spoke about it, and never came back to work on it.
“Several times, I asked him why he did not come back to it. He never answered my question, but always changed the conversation to some other subject.”
What was Oppenheimer hiding? The answers are in Sawyer’s fast-paced, character-rich novel. The great alternate-history writer S.M. Stirling says:
“THE OPPENHEIMER ALTERNATIVE is a truly science fictional work of alternate history which turns on the decisions — and discoveries — of the great physicists who wrote the history of the 20th century: Einstein, Fermi, Gödel, and Oppenheimer. They are the vividly realized, all-too-human characters who people this novel, and give its brilliant speculations human life and blood. Bravo!”
Based on the latest research and recently declassified documents, Sawyer will enthrall your audience with stunning revelations about the dawn of the atomic age:
• Following Hitler’s suicide, many Manhattan Project scientists did not want to continue work on the atomic bomb. Their initial fear had been that the Nazis would get it before the Allies did, and, once the war in Europe was over, they saw no reason to continue.
• The Japanese had been making overtures to surrender through diplomatic back channels for over a year before the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Had their one demand been accepted, the war in Japan would have ended in 1944.
• Harry S. Truman shocked the hell out of Winston Churchill by deviating from their agreed script and demanding “unconditional” surrender from Japan in a live radio broadcast. Churchill only subsequently backed that demand so as not to be seen as contradicting the American leader.
• In the end, despite the posturing about “unconditional” surrender, the Allies gave the Japanese the one and only thing they’d wanted a year earlier, namely letting their divine emperor Hirohito retain his throne (which he did until his death in 1989).
• Leo Szilard, who got Einstein to write to FDR urging the creation of an atomic weapon, circulated a petition calling for a demonstration of the bomb for Japanese experts, rather than its use on Japanese cities. Oppenheimer’s boss, General Leslie Groves, had the petition branded “Top Secret” and hidden away — so that the bomb could be tested on an actual city, establishing a post-war order with America as the only superpower.
• As an outgrowth of the Manhattan Project, the US was developing an atomic-bomb-propelled rocket called Orionthat could have put humans on Mars by 1965. The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which banned nuclear explosions in space, scuttled the project.
· ROBERT J. SAWYER is a member of the Order of Canada, the highest honor given by the Canadian government, and he’s past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
· The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on Rob’s novel of the same name, and he is one of only eight writers in history to have won all three of the science-fiction field’s top awards for Best Novel of the Year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
· A multiple TEDx speaker, Rob has been interviewed on radio and television more than 800 times. He lives in Toronto.
For interviews, please contact publicist Mickey Mikkelson:
mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com or 403-464-6925
ONLINE PRESS KIT:
February 12, 2022
Keeper of the Jewel, Highcliff Guardians Series Book One, by Richard H Stephens
KEEPER OF THE JEWEL
Highcliff Guardians Series Book One
A series within the Soul Forge Universe
A new series release for fantasy author and podcaster, Richard H. Stephens
A novel in the Highcliff Guardians Epic Fantasy Series
Something evil lurks beneath the palace.
A phantasm from a darker past makes its presence known to Khae Wys, Queen of the Elves.
Braving the perils of a haunted tower, the queen seeks the counsel of the mysterious Fae, for only they can predict what is to come. A future that doesn’t bode well for her only living child.
In a desperate attempt to save the heir to the Willow Throne, Princess Ouderling is exiled to the only place capable of protecting her. Highcliff, the home of the coveted Crystal Cavern and the dragons that watch over it.
The Duke of Grim, however, has other plans for the princess.
Featured at:
Amazon: Amazon.com: Keeper of the Jewel: Highcliff Guardians Epic Fantasy Series (Soul Forge Universe Book 1) eBook : Stephens, Richard H.: Kindle Store https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PB1FG2V
More Books in The Series:
The Dragon Witch Wraith has returned.
With the Grim Duke in his place, and a tentative pact with the wizard’s guild, the Queen of the Elves’ only real concern is for her rebellious daughter. Or so she is led to believe.
Buoyed by the news of unrest in the land’s largest city of Urdanya, Duke Orlythe’s new wizard attempts to convince him that a path to the coveted Willow Throne lies within reach of someone bold enough to seize the opportunity.
The return of the Dragon Witch Wraith prompts the ailing high wizard to find a way to thwart his arch nemesis before everything South March has fought for is lost.
Oblivious to the dangers of the world, Princess Ouderling sets out on a quest to locate an ancient dragon, in a desperate attempt to save her mother from an inevitable fate.
Should she fail, the Grim Duke will ascend the throne.
ABOUT Richard H. Stephens :
Born in Simcoe, Ontario, in 1965, I was raised and still reside in Cambridge, Ontario. I began writing circa 1974, a bored child looking for something to while away the long, summertime days. My penchant for reading, 'The Hardy Boys,' led to an inspiration one sweltering summer afternoon, when my best friend and I thought, ‘We could write one of those.’ And so, I did.
As my reading horizons broadened, so did my writing. 'Star Wars' inspired me to write a 600-page novel about outer space that caught the attention of a special teacher, Mr. Woodley, who encouraged me to keep on writing.
A trip to a local book store saw the proprietor introduce me to Stephen R. Donaldson and Terry Brooks. My writing life was forever changed.
At 17, I left high school to join the working world to support my first son. For the next twenty-two years I worked as a shipper at a local bakery. At the age of 36, I went back to high school to complete my education. After graduating with honors at the age of thirty-nine, I became a member of our local Police Service, and worked for 12 years in the provincial court system.
In early 2017, I resigned from the Police Service to pursue my love of writing full-time. With the help and support of my lovely wife Caroline and our 5 children, I have now realized my boyhood dream. More information about Richard can be found at: Award-winningFantasy Author | Richard H. Stephens (richardhstephens.com)
To request additional review copies or an interview with Richard H. Stephens, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com| 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
February 10, 2022
James Webb releases a new Western novel called Tom's Revenge
Tom’s Revenge
An impressive Western debut by career cowboy James Webb
Released and published by Tuscany Bay Books
The book is available worldwide in print and e-format
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SITE
Tom Dufran was on the trail of one of the most malicious men to roam the west, with only the image on an old wanted poster to go on. The trail not only led him to Belle Fourche in the Dakota Territory, but also to cross paths with someone from his past. Aubrey Walters was only in town to purchase a herd of cattle, not to run into the man she thought had perished years ago. Now the memories and feelings of the past were flooding back in.
Did he feel the same way about her?
Would she be able to find out?
While that was unforeseen, giving countenance to the man to board the train was even more startling. A gross oversight that would allow him to fix the past.
Would he be able to rectify it in time?
Amazon.com Link: Tom's Revenge - Kindle edition by Webb, James Edward. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Amazon.ca: Tom's Revenge eBook : Webb, James Edward: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
About James:
James Edward Webb was born in 1981 and grew up on ranches around the western United States. With his fathers employment as a cowboy, James developed a lifelong fascination with the Old West. The charm of the rugged sophistication in the lives of those who lived in the westward expansion, was driven further with several experiences. Aside from growing up on the ranches where his father found employment, he had a chance to explore some of the remnants of that history. When James was 19 he joined the Army. In 2001 he married his wife, Tera, 2003 was deployed to Iraq, and in 2007, after his separation from the military, they moved to Michigan where they have been raising their three children. He attended college and received a degree in art. He finds that writing is good therapy for his PTSD. In Tom’s Revenge he uses his love for the Old West to bring a deeper understanding of this disorder by expressing what he, as a veteran, deals with internally and externally. Other therapies that he uses are art and cooking with his wife, creating and trying new foods. From cover to cover Tom’s Revenge is his first published work including the cover art.
Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: | 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
February 8, 2022
Gary Turner releases I'll Take My Chances Volumes 1, 2 & 3
I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES
A fictionalized account of war by the son of a career soldier, Gary Turner
Available in paperback and e-book format worldwide!!
The story begins in the 1850's and sets the stage for generational visions and wisdom sharing through the character of Walking Thunder. More than a century ago, most whites gave little credence to such notions. As Sidney travels through the story, he immigrates to Canada dreaming of owning a farm. He initially finds misplaced love with Mystique, although it is with Emma, that he finds lasting love and a home. When World War 1 erupts, he is torn between the Indian and white way. His decision sets the direction for Emma and their descendants in the following decades.
Amazon.ca: I'll Take My Chances: Volume 1: Turner, Gary: 9781698679761: Books - Amazon.ca
More Books in The Series:
ABOUT GARY:
The son of a career solider, Gary developed a keen interest in military history at a young age. His family lived in various locations in Canada and also a three year posting to Germany. Over the years he developed a passion for writing short stories and essays. Several of those essays have been published in a national magazine. His grandfather fought in The Great War and four decades ago, Gary began researching Canada's involvement in that conflict. Another obsession of his, which began fifty years ago, is riding motorcycles, naturally enough without his parent's knowledge. In 2011 he toured the old Western Front in Belgium and France on his BMW. That trip of a lifetime, led to the germination of his new novel, I'll Take My Chances.
To request additional review copies or an interview with Gary Turner, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com| 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
