Val Tobin's Blog, page 9
July 6, 2019
Val Tobin
Thank you so much, Hannah, for such a lovely write-up.
I first met Val Tobin around five years ago, through online author groups. At that stage I became aware of her high quality books in a number of genres, including mysteries. Val studied general arts at the University of Waterloo, then obtained a diploma in Computer Information Systems from DeVry Toronto. She worked in the computer industry as a software and Web developer for over ten years, during which time she started to get serious about energy work and the paranormal and occult.
Val uses her background and knowledge in her novels and this adds a great air of authenticity to her stories. She is an excellent author and I highly recommend her books. Furthermore, she is very supportive of other authors.
Fascinating facts about Val.
She had tiny parts in two feature films: Route of Acceptance, where she played the main character’s mother and is on screen for about…
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June 30, 2019
4 BOOK GIVEAWAY! Am I delirious?
Four free books just for youhttp://mybook.to/SilenceoftheStones – mystery set in Wales
http://mybook.to/TouchingtheWire – the women of Auschwitz
http://getbook.at/WhereHopeDares – post-apocalyptic adventure
http://mybook.to/OnDifferentShores (Book 1 of 3) – convict exile to Australia
and on pre-order now for only 99p/99c
http://mybook.to/KindredandAffinity – when the man you love marries the sister you hate!
Am I delirious? Quite possibly, but there is method in my madness. Firstly, I’ve written these books to be read, and I’d love you to read them. If you enjoy them, maybe you’d leave me a review on their Amazon page, links above – that would make me very happy.
What would make me even happier, ecstatic, in fact, would be if you pre-ordered my new release, Kindred and Affinity, which will be out on July 12th but is available to order right now at http://mybook.to/KindredandAffinity. Five books for 99p? That has to be a bargain, and…
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June 20, 2019
Sylva Fae Author of the Week Blog Tour
Sylva Fae
Introducing Sylva Fae
This week Mom’s Favorite Reads is featuring Sylva Fae. She writes children’s stories and loves beauty and nature. You’re certain to find her among the fae, listening and learning.
I first got to know author Sylva Fae in an online writing group and fell in love with her positive, gentle spirit. Her books are wonderful for young children, and my grandkids own more than one.
Mini Bio
Sylva Fae is a married mum of three from Lancashire, England. She grew up in a rambling old farmhouse with a slightly dysfunctional family and an adopted bunch of equally dysfunctional animals. She spent twenty plus years teaching literacy to adults with learning difficulties and disabilities but now lives in Cheshire, juggling being a mum, writing children’s stories and keeping up with the crazy antics of three naughty rabbits.
Her earliest memories are of bedtime stories snuggled up close to mum to see the pictures. It was a magical time, those last special moments before dozing off to sleep would feed dreams of faraway lands and mystical beings. She now wants to share that love of stories and inspire children to create their own magical adventures.
Sylva and her family own a wood and escape there at every opportunity. Adventures in their own enchanted woodland, hunting for fairies and stomping in puddles, have inspired Sylva to write stories for her girls.
Sylva published her first children’s book Rainbow Monsters, in 2017. She has since published four other children’s picture books, an anthology of Christmas stories, and has a short story published in the IASD charity anthology, You’re Not Alone. Two of her books have won Best in Category for children’s books at the Chanticleer International Book Awards. She also writes a blog, Sylvanian Ramblings, and enjoys doing developmental editing as part of One Stop Author Services. Recently, Sylva joined the editors’ team at Mom’s Favorite Reads and regularly contributes articles to the magazine.
Books to date
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Books by Sylva Fae
Rainbow Monsters – Winner of 2017 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award
Mindful Monsters – Shortlisted for 2018 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award
No Place Like Home
Yoga Fox – Winner of 2018 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award
Bea & Bee
Elfabet – Illustrated by Katie Weaver
Children’s Christmas Collection – With authors Kate Robinson, Paul Ian Cross, and Suzanne Downes
That Pesky Pixie – a series of stories for a story app
www.getbedtimestories.com/library/that-pesky-pixie
An Itchy Situation
A Stinky Start!
A Dastardly Plan
A Feast for a Fairy Queen
Three Pesky Pixies and a Monstrous Mouse
Contact Links
Blog https://sylvafae.co.uk/blog/
Amazon author.to/SylvaFae
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SylvaFae
Twitter https://twitter.com/sylvafae
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sylvafae/
Book Links
www.getbedtimestories.com/library/that-pesky-pixie
You can find a list of sites featurning Sylva Fae on Mom’s site.
June 18, 2019
Aedammair’s Choice by Val Tobin
Short Story
Aedammair’s Choice by Val Tobin
Tangled bodies blocked Aedammair’s path through the gorge and almost made her turn around and run back to what remained of her home. She was less than a league from it, and it would be so easy to return. No one would notice.
No one would notice if she kept going, either, so she screwed up her courage and picked her way through the corpses of her friends and neighbours.
She couldn’t resist counting them. Seven. A lucky number, but not for these Alfar. Arrows protruded from the bodies. What broke her heart was that the killing arrows belonged to other Alfar—rebels wanting to wrest control of the state from the King to rule in his stead.
Read more in our magazine
June 5, 2019
Author Rescues Dogs from Kill Shelters
Paulette Mahurin is an international best-selling literary fiction and historical fiction novelist. She lives with her husband Terry and two dogs, Max and Bella, in Ventura County, California. She grew up in West Los Angeles and attended UCLA, where she received a Master’s Degree in Science.
Semi-retired, she continues to work part-time as a Nurse Practitioner in Ventura County.
When she’s not writing, she does pro-bono consultation work with women with cancer, works in the Westminster Free Clinic as a volunteer provider, volunteers as a mediator in the Ventura County Courthouse for small claims cases, and involves herself, along with her husband, in dog rescue. Profits from her books go to help rescue dogs from kill shelters.
Paulette’s first novel, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap, made it to Amazon bestseller lists and won awards, including best historical fiction 2012 in Turning the Pages Magazine. Her second novel, His Name Was Ben, originally written as an award-winning short story while she was in college and later expanded into a novel, rose to bestseller lists its second week out. Her third novel, To Live Out Loud, won international critical acclaim and made it to multiple sites as favorite read book of 2015. Her fourth book, The Seven Year Dress, made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon U.S., Amazon U.K., and Amazon Australia. Her fifth book, The Day I Saw The Hummingbird, is now available for purchase on Amazon.
To learn more about Paulette, her books, and the dogs she rescues, visit her website.
Comment on this post and other posts in Paulette’s blog tour this week and we’ll enter your name into a draw to win a small prize. Find the complete list of sites to visit.
May 27, 2019
The Mark Coker Interview
Fascinating interview with Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, in Mom’s Favorite Reads May 2019.
Mark Coker is the CEO of Smashwords, the largest eBook distributor in America. Mark was kind enough to offer Mom’s Favorite Reads an interview, and his answers are truly fascinating, a must read for all readers and writers.
Smashwords is a wonderful platform for authors and publishers. What sparked the idea for Smashwords?
Smashwords grew out of my personal experience trying to sell a novel my wife and I co-wrote.
My wife is a former reporter for Soap Opera Weekly Magazine. About 12 years ago we wrote a novel titled Boob Tube that explored the dark underbelly of Hollywood celebrity.
Despite enthusiasm from beta readers and representation from a top New York literary agency, traditional publishers rejected it. Our agent told us that previous novels targeting soap opera fans had performed poorly which made publishers reluctant to take a chance on our book.
Our failure to land a publishing deal…
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May 16, 2019
Guest Author Interview on Cheryl Holloway’s Blog
I’m honoured and thrilled to announce that I was asked to do an interview with author Cheryl Holloway on her blog. Please take a moment to read the interview. The link to it follows:
Guest Author Interview – Val Tobin
… CH: Today’s Guest Author is Val Tobin. She writes stories worth losing sleep over by drawing on her master’s degree in parapsychology. Welcome to my blog, Val.
CH: How did you come up with the premise for this psychic/ghost thriller?
VT: Earthbound is a prequel to The Experiencers, book one of the Valiant Chronicles. Ever since I wrote about Michael Valiant, I wanted to know more about his previous victims and what led up to the events that occur in The Experiencers and A Ring of Truth. I decided to tell the story of one of the unjustly murdered, and to do it from the spirit world. This way, I could explore philosophical and theological themes. I’ve always wondered, if spirits exist, why don’t all murder victims try to expose their killers? What would cause them to let it go? What higher purpose might there be to events? What is fate and how does it fit in with free will?
Most of these questions don’t have answers, but fiction is a great conduit for exploring such ideas….
Thank you for reading!
May 11, 2019
Fussy Librarian Promotional Offer
Excellent promo from Fussy Librarian and Goylake Publishing.
Authors Would You Like to Reach 175,000 Readers?
Goylake Publishing has teamed-up with the Fussy Librarian and in partnership we are offering you 20% off your first book promotion with the Fussy Librarian. To qualify for this promotion, your book must be either permafree or listed free during a special offer.
In our experience, the Fussy Librarian is the best book promoter in the business. When we promote with him, our free books always reach the top five of Amazon’s genre charts, most often they reach the top three. We promote with the Fussy Librarian every month and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future.
Prices start from as low as $15, minus our special discount of 20%. Click here:
https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake
for full details. And, at the checkout, be sure to enter this code: goylake20 to claim your 20% discount.
Thank you for your interest. And good luck…
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May 3, 2019
Val Tobin Interviewed by Rachael Wright
Thank you, Rachel Wright and Mom’s Favorite Reads for the interview. I had fun with it.
There’s a cabin in rural Ontario, where the trees are bare and the rain falls in sheets. It sits on the edge of a black lake. Out of the flat black water rise sun baked wrecks of trees. There’s no guarantee that a slithering quiet creature hasn’t grabbed hold to that driftwood and in the silence lifted its hand to grip the edge of your boat.
The stuff of nightmares for many children or perhaps forgotten after hours of sunbathing, but for author Val Tobin, the family cabin she returned to each Spring was the stuff stories are made of. It has stuck with her through the years.
Read the full interview in our magazine
April 30, 2019
Recommended Reading #1
Thank you for including Injury!
Recommended Reading, books that have captured my interest and authors I admire.
Val Tobin
Formerly a software/web developer, Val Tobin now spends her time writing and working on a masters degree. She is also a Reiki Master/Teacher and Angel Therapy Practitioner®. She is the author of the novels The Experiencers, A Ring of Truth, and Injury.
Injury
If you could ask your father anything right now, what would it be?
Actress Daniella Grayson would love to be able to ask her father anything at all. She puts herself in the spotlight, hoping to attract the attention of the father she believes abandoned her when she was five.
Dani’s world falls apart when her father’s remains are discovered, and her mother is arrested for the murder.
In a moment of vulnerability, she turns to the handsome and caring Robert “Cope” Copeland, her limo driver, for comfort and support.
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