P.D. Workman's Blog, page 100

Cozy Winter Reads on sale for $0.99

[image error]A bundle of cozy mystery books to read by the fire while the storm rages outside! The perfect way to spend cold winter nights. 

The regular price of this collection of cozy mysteries is a great one; who could pass up a sale price of $0.99 for six full-length novels? This promo is only running for four days, so don’t put it off![image error]

Excerpt from Flat Broke with Two Goats

The Smashwords annual Read an eBook Week has kicked off! Visit the promotional catalogue to find my books on sale.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

I don’t often read memoirs, but Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha attracted my attention and has been an entertaining read so far. It is a fun, honest look at what led to Jennifer’s financial demise and their efforts to confront the new realities of their lives.

Up until now, all the things I should have seen as warning signs had simply seemed like minor inconveniences. Somehow, David always managed to fix things. The lights came back on. The phone worked. The subpoenas to appear in court for unpaid bills were withdrawn. It never once occurred to me that the power might be out for good, that one day we might actually find ourselves in court.

Flat Broke with Two Goats, Jennifer McGaha

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Jennifer McGaha never expected to own a goat named Merle. Or to be setting Merle up on dates and naming his doeling Merlene. She didn’t expect to be buying organic yogurt for her chickens. She never thought she would be pulling camouflage carpet off her ceiling or rescuing opossums from her barn and calling it “date night.” Most importantly, Jennifer never thought she would only have $4.57 in her bank account.

When Jennifer discovered that she and her husband owed back taxes—a lot of back taxes—her world changed. Now desperate to save money, they foreclosed on their beloved suburban home and moved their family to a one-hundred-year-old cabin in a North Carolina holler. Soon enough, Jennifer’s life began to more closely resemble her Appalachian ancestors than her upper-middle-class upbringing. But what started as a last-ditch effort to settle debts became a journey that revealed both the joys and challenges of living close to the land.

 

Get Tattooed Teardrops for $0.99

[image error]Get ready for the release of Two Teardrops by reading Tattooed Teardrops, on sale for $0.99 for a limited time. Tattooed Teardrops won the Top Fiction Award from Library Services for Youth in Custody’s In the Margin’s Committee in 2016. 

I don’t plan on getting in any trouble.

Tamara had thought that when she got out of juvie, things would be easier. But before long, it seems like her life is spiraling into chaos.

If she can’t prove to her probation officer that she is innocent of the allegations against her, she’s going back to prison, and Tamara just can’t let that happen.

Two Teardrops, sequel to Tattooed Teardrops is being published in 2018, so be sure to sign up for my mailing list to be notified of its release!

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Buy Kindle or ePub via PayPal

$0.99 Sale

Two Teardrops

Tattooed Teardrops
Series: Tamara's Teardrops #2
Genres: Young Adult
Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Google Play, Booksamillion, Audible
Goodreads

There was no justice.

About Two Teardrops

The much-anticipated sequel to Tattooed Teardrops, winner of Top Fiction Award, In the Margins Committee, 2016.

Returning to juvie after breaching her parole, Tamara finds that everything is the same as when she left, and yet everything is different. She fights to reestablish her rep while increasingly troubled by emerging memories.

Unexpected events lead to Tamara again finding herself out of juvie and on the streets, trying to resolve her past while avoiding capture by the authorities.

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Coming Soon!

+ Praise for Tamara's Teardrops Series

—Refreshingly bold

—I couldn’t stop reading it! It took me about two days to read it and I ended up staying up late on a school night! Oh well, it was totally worth it! Thank you!

—Absolutely amazing, I just want to keep reading!

—No words, just pure happiness.

—I found myself rooting for [Tamara] all the way to the end.

+ Endorsements for Tattooed Teardrops

Readers will appreciate the realistic details about Tamara’s release, her issues dealing with a foster family, her emotional triggers, and the challenges facing someone trying to maintain the conditions of parole. For those teens who love books where all that can go wrong does go wrong (isn’t that almost all of them?), this is a winner.

– School Library Journal

P.D. Workman’s fictional Tattooed Teardrops and Tewhan Butler’s nonfiction title America’s Massacre: The Audacity of Despair and a Message of Hope top this year’s In the Margins (ITM) Book Awards. The selection committee, operating under Library Services for Youth in Custody, selected these winning works among books by, for, and about kids living in the margins.

– Library Services for Youth in Custody

+ Book Club Resources

Bullying Pinterest Board
Mental Illness Pinterest Board
Domestic Abuse Pinterest Board
Foster Care Pinterest Board

+ Praise for P.D. Workman

“Every single one of [P.D. Workman’s] books has spoken to me in ways no one or almost anything else has. And I have found strength in the books I’ve read.”

“The way that P.D. Workman writes just flows amazingly and allows the reader to get really invested in a book.”

“This is one author I certainly will be looking out for, I can’t recommend her enough.”

+ Two Teardrops on my Blog
Two Teardrops
About Two Teardrops The much-anticipated sequel to Tattooed Teardrops, winner of Top Fiction Award, In the Margins Committee, 2016. Returning ...
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Sequels to Tattooed Teardrops are coming soon!
Since I published Tattooed Teardrops, one of the most common comments that I received was "when is the sequel coming ...
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Another Excerpt from The Hero of Ages
I told you I would have a Halloween short story for you in the Auntie Clem's Bakery series, and it ...
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Tattooed Teardrops
About Tattooed Teardrops Winner of Top Fiction Award, In the Margins Committee, 2016. I don’t plan on getting in any ...
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Excerpt from The Twelve

Don’t miss my new release of multi-author bundle of cozy mysteries, Cozy Winter Reads, and check out the other deals in the sidebar.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

Something a little different this week, The Twelve is a 600 page post-apocalyptic dystopian epic with viral vampires. I haven’t read anything by Justin Cronin before. This is the second book in his Passage trilogy. I have found the switches back and forth through the timeline very confusing, and feel like the stories I was most interested in have been abandoned. But I’m only halfway through, so maybe the other storylines will reappear or will be resolved somehow.

She pulled the blade free, touched it to her head and heart. Thank you, Mary, for not killing me before my work is complete. I hope you are with your little ones now.

The Twelve, Justin Cronin

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A literary thriller revealed in multiple time frames, The Twelve is a suspenseful tale of the human capacity for sacrifice and the transformative power of renewal. In the present day: As three strangers attempt to navigate the chaos cast upon civilization by a U.S. government experiment gone wrong, their destinies intertwine. More than a hundred years in the future: Amy, Peter, Alicia and the others introduced in The Passage pinpoint the weaknesses of the twelve original vampires . . . even as they confront a betrayal by one of their own.

Bundle up and Stay Warm!

[image error]I have a surprise new release for you!

Cozy Winter Reads

A bundle of cozy mystery books to read by the fire while the storm rages outside! The perfect way to spend cold winter nights.

Six full-length novels (including Gluten-Free Murder) by:

P.D. Workman – Connie Cockrell – Linda Jordan – Anne Hagan – Robert Jeschonek – R. F. Kacy

Sequels to Tattooed Teardrops are coming soon!

[image error]Since I published Tattooed Teardrops, one of the most common comments that I received was “when is the sequel coming out? I want to read more!”

Tattooed Teardrops, winner of the 2016 top fiction award from In The Margins committee, was originally written as a stand alone novel, with no sequel contemplated. But I decided to play with it and see where Tamara might go next in her life. The result was not one, but three sequels!

If you are one of those who has been waiting for the sequel, you don’t have much longer to wait! Two Teardrops, second book in the Tamara’s Teardrops series, is scheduled for release mid-March. If you haven’t read Tattooed Teardrops, now is the time to pick it up, I have dropped the price of the ebook to $0.99 for a limited time.

Tattooed Teardrops got a cover makeover for the release of the series. The ebook version has been updated, and second edition of the print versions will be out soon. Here is a sneak peek at the series.

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Excerpt from After You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

I have not read any of Jojo Moyes’ books before, and as I often do, I just jumped into the middle of the series rather than starting at the beginning. After You is easily understandable as a stand alone novel. Good depth of characters, a unique plot, and several lines that made me laugh out loud. There is some unnecessarily strong language, so be warned.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

A brace around my neck

A hand feeling around my head, gently, swiftly.

I am alive. This is actually quite surprising.

After You, by Jojo Moyes

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How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future.

In the Margins Literary Awards

You’ve seen the In The Margins literary awards mentioned here before. Ruby, Between the Cracks placed in the Top Ten books for Teens in 2015. Tattooed Teardrops won the Top Fiction award in 2016.

In the Margins strives to find the best books for teens living in poverty, on the streets, in custody – or a cycle of all three. Our charge is to seek out and highlight the best fiction and non-fiction titles (Pre-K through adult) of high-interest appeal to youth ages 9-21 living in poverty, on the streets, or in custody, with a preference for marginalized books (small, independent press or self-published). Youth feedback is a critical factor in both book nomination and selection. 

Today, the 2018 In the Margins awards have been announced, and I had two books place on the Recommended Reading list:

Endless Change

[image error] She was a broken bird

He was a mender of wings

Parker’s mother always said he jumped into things without thinking first, and that’s exactly what he did when he saw Dakota, cold and hungry, fending for herself on the city streets. How could he ignore the pain and fear in her dark eyes? Dakota was eager to go to school and she made friends quickly, eager to make up for a dismal childhood full of deprivation and abuse by enjoying every moment she could.

But there was something wrong with Dakota. It wasn’t just the hollowness in her eyes or her traumatic past. Others sensed it too and warned Parker not to get too close to Dakota. But despite his questions, he just can’t help falling for her.

Dakota holds her secrets close, and Parker is worried that if he pushes too hard for answers, she’ll just run away.

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Chloe, Between the Cracks #4

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Chloe had always been the perfect daughter. Diligent, obedient, good at caring for the other children when Mom wasn’t home. She always worked hard and did everything she was asked.

But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse the abuse got.

Chloe had known for a long time that she was two people. The Chloe who watched and the Chloe who experienced. She had been watching for so long, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything anymore. But if she can’t overcome her past and start living in the real world, she knows she will lose herself forever.

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All of the books that placed in 2018 are listed here. A Press Release can be found here.

Valentine’s Day – Friends Forever

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Rather than focusing on romantic love, my blog post centers on friendship first. While “insta-love” and “insta-hate turns to love” are both prevalent in fiction, I have asked for submissions of titles that focus on friendship (either before love, or remaining as friends.) The idea of instant attraction or chemistry leading to a happily-ever-after is popular and I think leads to disappointment in real life relationships when Cinderella fairy tales turn out to be just that.

So here is a selection of books, a couple of mine and some others, that focus on friendship rather than romance, for your Valentine’s Day reading!

Covers and titles are linked.

[image error] Mito, Medical Kidnap Files #1

Gabriel’s and Renata’s friendship begins in the psych ward in book one, and continues throughout the series as they help and support each other.

Synopsis:

Gabriel has dealt with mysterious medical issues his whole life. Just when he finally thought that they had all of the answers and he was on the road to good health, he is apprehended by DFS on the grounds of medical neglect.

At first, he thought that he would be back home in a few days, once the misunderstanding was cleared up. But when Renata tells Gabriel her crazy conspiracy theories, Gabriel feels the first pangs of doubt. Is there really a conspiracy? Will he ever be able to get well and go back to his mother, or is he doomed to be another guinea pig for Doctor De Klerk?

[image error] Don’t Forget Steven

Steven lives in desperate circumstances, with few opportunities for happiness. Without his friends Sasha and Leo, he would have little to live for. These friends truly save his life.

Synopsis:

Things never have been easy for Steven. He accepts that, and just makes the best of things. He might not have parents or a happy home. Or enough to eat most days. But at least he has a couple of loyal friends who stand by him and help out when they can. At least he has school, someplace he can go to escape the abuse.

But just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did.

Steven is accused of murder. But that isn’t the worst part. The really bad part is not even knowing if he did it.

Beneath the Skin, by Kyla Stone
Free for a limited time

For 18-year-old Sidney Shaw, life pretty much sucks. Her mom’s a drunk. Her dad’s worse. At school, she’s bullied by her ex-best friend. And cutting no longer brings the relief she craves. 

When Sidney is forced into group counseling, she meets perfect, popular Arianna, the type of girl who grieves over a broken nail. But Arianna has secrets of her own. She might prove herself a friend–if Sidney can let her guard down. Then there’s Lucas, the sweet and funny new guy who sees straight through her tough, snarky façade. 

But Sidney’s wounds go deeper than anyone knows.

White Knights, by Julie Moffett

My name is Angel Sinclair. I’m the youngest senior at Excalibur Academy for the Technologically Gifted and Talented in Washington, DC. I was pushed ahead a year because of my high IQ and considerable prowess behind the keyboard, making me an outcast even among my own peers. I’ve been looking for my dad all my life. A brilliant mathematician and cryptographer, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances when I was eighteen months old.

Although my mom tells me I must put him in my past, it only makes me more determined to find out what happened to him. When weird accidents start happening at my school and the vice principal is involved in a deadly incident, I don’t see it as a coincidence. After launching my own investigation, with the aid of an unexpected set of allies calling themselves the White Knights, I discover a threat far greater than I ever could have imagined.

I could take my discoveries to the authorities, but my own investigative methods would be at risk. Can anyone say hacking? No, it’s up to me to set things right. My objectives are straightforward: clear the name of the vice principal, learn the truth about my father, and stay alive. In other words, save the day and try not to look too much like a dork while doing it.

On a Larp, by Stefan Deoul

On a LARP introduces readers to teen coder, Sid Rubin, a smartass—and super-smart—high school kid with a strong conscience and a knack for solving problems. This high concept, frenetic ride dives into the fascinating world of interactive role-playing when Sid recognizes the photo of a murder victim during an AP field trip to a police station. What starts out as an Aha! moment soon finds Sid and her unlikely posse of friends chasing a dark web killer through the middle of a live action role playing game. Sid and the gang work to unravel a deeply encrypted mystery while simultaneously enduring pop quizzes, endless Ted Talks, teenage heartbreak, suspicious parents, cosplay, and the irresistible lure of the NYC Public Library.

Malignant, by Emily Kazmierski
$0.99 this week

Reese Lane is a high school sophomore when her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her father pulls away from the family, overwhelmed by grief as he watches his beloved wife die. Reese must find the strength to hold her fraying family together, or else risk losing both of her parents to the effects of cancer. Heartbreak, hope, and healing are the themes of this raw Young Adult novel about finding peace and perseverance in the face of crisis.

Fake, by Lori Saetis
$0.99

Penny Sparrow is trapped in a lie. She’s a Strowler, a wanderer, forced to live as a Bleater, an ordinary person, for the sake of her family. Rebellion against her fake life leads to more misery as she’s bullied at school and suppressed at home. She makes an ally when she meets Lennon Lau. This ragged street hustler is the heir of the Two Dragon Clan and the descendant of a powerful dragon. Murderous relatives have forced him into hiding. The two teens become friends, and perhaps something more, but will the laws of the Crossroads and the demands of a dragon tear them apart?

Emma Beware, by Michelle A. Iden
$0.99

Fourteen-year-old standout athlete and student, Emma Mae Davenport, previously stalked through mysterious texts-vanishes-time’s ticking. Four of her friends dubbed, “Warriors for Emma,” armed with cyber-techno skills unravel clues and discover the unthinkable.

Will she be in attendance at her 15th birthday celebration, or her funeral, or will she remain missing?

The Way We Fall, by Megan Crewe
On sale for $0.99 until Saturday!

When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend leave for school without saying goodbye, she never dreams that she might not see him again. Then a strange virus begins to sweep through her small island community, infecting young and old alike. As the dead pile up, the government quarantines the island: no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Cut off from the world, the remaining islanders must fend for themselves. Supplies are dwindling, fatalities rising, and panic is turning into violence. With no cure in sight, Kaelyn knows their only hope of survival is to band together. Desperate to save her home, she joins forces with a former rival and opens her heart to a boy she once feared.

Heiress to Waitress, by Ginny Clyde
$0.99

When sixteen-year-old Olivia Buchannan’s father dies suddenly, her life is thrown into chaos. She is torn from the high society world of Edinburgh and her beloved Academy to go live in a small town in Pennsylvania where her mother grew up. Life is not the same anymore, but it’s turning into one heck of an adventure.

As if there wasn’t enough struggle in Olivia’s riches-to-rags life already, a mysterious boy has taken up stalking her. Even though she tries to avoid him, he is always there to save the day. It wouldn’t be as bad if he didn’t make her heart race every time she was near him.

Through Your Eyes, by Avril Sabine

A girl, a boy in a coma and a diary. How far would you be willing to go to save the life of a stranger?

Life seems determined to throw one problem after another at sixteen-year-old Brenna. She feels like her life is disintegrating before her eyes and has no idea how to sort it out. Her best friend lives in another state, her parents are constantly arguing, her younger sister keeps prying into her things and she wants to break up with her boyfriend without it causing her more problems at school. The only person she has to talk to about everything is a boy in a coma. And she’s terrified he might never wake.

Outbreak, by Joshua C. Chadd

Two brothers learn of the apocalypse after being out of touch for a few days. Returning to town, they learn first-hand, the dead are coming back to life with a taste for flesh. With their parents in Nebraska, they must embark on a journey to rescue them as they set into motion their zombie apocalypse plan. But they’ll see not all is fun and games as they realize it is nothing like they imagined it would be.

Can they make it in time to save their parents from a fate worse than death?