Bad News

Hey guys!  Unfortunately I've got some bad news to share.  I have to take a bit of a hiatus from the blog.  Work, life and health issues have ganged up on me and have left me with little to no time to read or keep up with the blog.

It could be a few months before I get back on track, but I do plan on getting back to blogging.  It may be a little bit but I'll be back with an even better blog!  I'd love it if all my wonderful followers would stick around, but understand if some of you can't.

See you soon!

The Mistaken Tour: Showcase

Hey guys, welcome to my stop on The Mistaken Tour organized by the lovely gals over at Partners in Crime Tours.

Synopsis:

Tyler Karras is an honest man, a transplanted Brit living the American dream, but his charmed life takes an unexpected turn when his brother, Nick, is coerced into joining ranks with San Francisco’s Russian mafia. Ty intervenes to secure Nick’s freedom, yet only succeeds in incurring their wrath. With no choice but to accept Nick’s new life, Ty returns to his own, but his dreams are dashed when his wife—pregnant with their first child—is killed, the victim of a reckless crime.

Despondent and bitter, Ty macerates his grief in alcohol. From the depths of the bottle screams a voice, howling for vengeance. His target is a stranger, the woman who drew his wife toward her death. He doesn’t know her, but he’ll find her, and when he does, he will make her pay, for a deal has been struck with Nick’s Russian associates, enslaving her into a life of bondage. But as Ty moves forward in a cloud of alcohol, he mistakes the wrong woman for his intended victim and now all his plans have gone straight to hell.

With his eyes made clear by the stark reality of his mistake, Ty is driven, compelled by remorse and a relentless sense of guilt to make amends and protect Hannah Maguire, the innocent woman whose life he has derailed. He vows to keep her safe and out of the Russians’ hands, but they’re holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal and turn over the girl. Once again, he must fight to free his brother, miring all three lives in further jeopardy. But Ty can’t do it all: Save the girl, his brother and his own soul. One of them must make the ultimate sacrifice.


You can purchase 'The Mistaken' at the following websites:

Amazon  Smashwords  Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Nancy Thompson makes her fiction debut with The Mistaken. She is an interior designer and California transplant, currently living with her husband near Seattle, WA.

You can find Nancy at the following sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Author's Website

Cover Reveal: Catalyst by Jennifer Snyder

Hi All!  Welcome to the cover reveal event for 'Catalyst' by Jennifer Snyder organized by Atomr Tours.

Title: Catalyst
Author: Jennifer Snyder
Expected release date: May 1, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Cover Designer: Mae I Design

Book Description:

Sometimes who we really are lies buried just beneath the surface…

After learning she’s inherited a house in the beachside town of Soul Harbor, Georgia, Addison 

Harmon and her best friend decided to take a much needed vacation before the pressures of life 

after high school suffocate them too heavily. 

But what Addison finds isn’t a chance to recoup from a bad break up and hang out with her best 

friend while she decides what she wants to do with her future. What she finds is Kace Sullivan—a sexy guy she can’t seem to get enough of—someone who with one touch reveals a seductive 

world full of magick and secrets Addison isn’t sure she’s ready to be a part of.

Are you ready to see the cover??

Absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?  I love the color!

If 'Catalyst' looks and/or sounds good to you please consider adding it to your Goodreads shelf.

About the Author:

Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends most of her time writing young adult 

fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is an instant coffee lover with 

an obsession for spiral bound notebooks and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her 

husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and 

tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage targeted TV shows.

You can find Jennifer at the following links:

Her blog- http://jennifersnydersblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/jennsnyder04

Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/760553.Jennifer_Snyder

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/authorjennifersnyder

Guest Review: RX- A Tale of Electronegativity by Robert Brockway

Time again for another guest review from Jason of Invasive Species Radio and Dead Manz Kassette.  I'd like to take a minute to thank Jason for taking time out of his busy schedule to write this review.  He has been working hard on several music projects and if you'd like to learn more about them, click on the above links!

Ok, remember the fuss when the internet and the music world collided? New tech emerged, old formats fell by the wayside and we found new ways of doing things. Now just imagine the changes in the world that would erupt when the sciences of pharmacology and nanotechnology shacked up together and had some naughty fun.

This is the world of RX: A Tale of Electronegativity by Robert Brockway. Or more specifically, this is the intricately detailed vertical future city sprawl of Four Corners. A cyberpunk noir totem pole with the downtrodden cramped on the bottom below sea level, and the mind numbingly wealthy and powerful in glass cathedrals hanging high above the clouds.

This is also the world of Red, a small-time supplier of custom formulas of a gas called “Presence”, which gives the illusion of being in another time or place. One of his clients is Byron, a rich kid who is addicted to reliving the history of the 18th Century poet that shares his name. Another client is foul-mouthed “Factory Girl” QC, who Red helps occasionally with some gray market nanotech she uses in her work. Which is helping prepare and clean up after mass-hallucination Presence based anachronistic grudge matches like Abraham Lincoln vs. a Triceratops.

So when Byron and QC run into each other while looking for Red at his apartment around the same time that some heavily trained and equipped badasses go looking for Red at his apartment, they decide to try and find him and figure out what's going on. Good thing too, as Red wound up in the wrong lift, at the very bottom sub-level of Four corners, with a drug hangover, a circulatory system full of copy-written beta-test formulas, and absolutely no pants.

Brockway shoehorns a ton of detail about the environment he's created. From the clans in the tightly packed sub-levels, to the detailed effects of Presence trips, there are plenty of ideas for multiple novels weaved throughout the book. I only wish he spent as much time on the character development and dramatic pacing. The story bounces between Red's journey, and the journey of QC & Byron, when suddenly about three-fourths of the way in the perspective changes to characters that were never really part of the narrative at all. Took me a bit to realize it was the intruders at Red's place in the beginning of the novel, but dropping their narrative that late in the novel was jarring to say the least. As far as character development, there wasn't any. Byron was the useless rich kid junkie, and QC was a hard ass chick with a creative Tourettes streak. (The term f*cksquad, I actually want to catch on). And stayed that way until the end. Which it just kind of ended abruptly, without any satisfying conclusion. Red stumbled upon a MAJOR development in Presence tripping technology, and yet did NOTHING with it.

RX: A Tale of Electronegativity is an amazing feat of sci-fi world building, and I know there are some amazing stories happening in the sprawl of Four Corners, but sadly, not in this novel. Having innovative ideas is a great thing for a sci-fi novel. But so is a compelling story.


Jason's Rating: 2 and 1/2 nanotech eating pigs outta five.

Giveaway: Pandora's Key

Hey guys, I haven't hosted a giveaway in quite some time and I'm WAY overdue.  It's perfect timing to help welcome my new followers here on the blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Nancy Richardson Fischer has graciously offered up FIVE e-copies of the first book in her Key Trilogy, 'Pandora's Key'.  Even if you don't have an e-reader, I know that Amazon has a free kindle app for your computer!

Here is what you need to know:

• Winners will be contacted by email and they will have 48 hours to respond.  If I do not receive a response, a new winner will be chosen.
• You must be 13 years old to enter
• Prizes will be sent directly from author, so she will be provided with your contact information.
• If you choose to enter the giveaway via any option other than "free entry" and you fail to complete the option task, that entry will be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by and best of luck!

Tour and Review: Leaves by Michael Baron

Hey All!  Welcome to my stop on the 'Leaves' Tour which was organized by Providence Book Promotions. Thank you to the great gals over there that allowed me to participate.

Genre: Contemporary

Pages: 332

Edition: Kindle

Source: Providence Book Promotions

'Leaves' is a story of love and loss, of family and friends and of the fluidity of relationships. The Gold children were raised in Oldham, CT, learning the ins and outs of small town life. They grew up in and helped their parents run The Sugar Maple Inn. Now that both of their parents are gone, the kids have decided it's time to sell the inn and move on. Before the sale goes through the family is going to throw one last huge Halloween bash, after all the Sugar Maple is famous for them. That is if they don't drive each other crazy first. They have always been a close family, has the loss of their parents and the pending sale of their childhood home changed that?

I was completely captivated by this story! The author does a wonderful job setting the scene in each of the locations, though most of the story does take place in Oldham. With his descriptions of the scenery, I really felt like I was there in the moment with the characters. The fact that Tyler, the youngest of the Gold children is a photographer by trade gave the author more room to be descriptive without overwhelming the reader. I will admit that after reading 'Leaves' I have added “Connecticut during Autumn” to my places I need to visit list.

In my notes, I referred to the story as a sampler platter. Throughout the book we are introduced to several characters the main ones being the Gold children, and the supporting cast their significant others, children, love interests, etc. Because there are so many characters to get familiar with, it felt like I didn't get to know them as well as if there had only been two main characters. That being said, I do think the author did a fantastic job developing the ensemble cast and I was excited to learn that we haven't heard the end of the Gold children. Michael Baron made his characters real. They are believable and best of all they aren't perfect! Some of my favorites are Deborah, Tyler and Sage (love that name). My least favorite was Corrina, and that's just because I wasn't fond of the type of person she was. She was extremely well written though and at times very punchable (to me at least). I cannot wait to learn even more about this family.

All in all I was extremely happy with this book and I'm so glad to have Michael Barons on my radar now. I will most definitely be reading more of his work.

My Rating: 4/5 Autumn Leaves

About the Author:

I grew up in the New York area and I’ve lived there my entire life. I worked in retail and taught high school English before I got my first book contract. I have gotten several additional book contracts since then, which is fortunate because I didn’t have the patience to work in retail and, while I quite enjoyed teaching, my approach was a bit too unconventional for most school systems. One school administrator told me that, “there are more important things than being a dynamic teacher.” Since I couldn’t name any of those things (at least in the context of school), I figured I didn’t have a long-term future in the profession. Hence, I became a writer, where I believe people appreciate a certain level of dynamism.

Though I started with nonfiction, I have always loved fiction and I have always wanted to write it. Since I can remember, I've had a particular affection for love stories. In fact, the very first book-length thing I ever wrote, when I was thirteen, was a love story. Mind you, it was the kind of love story that a thirteen-year-old boy would write, but it was a love story nonetheless. I have a deep passion for writing about relationships – family relationships, working relationships, friendships, and, of course, romantic relationships – and I can only truly explore this by writing fiction. These novels have given me a way to voice the millions of things running through my head.

My wife and kids are the center of my life. My wife is the inspiration for all of my love stories and my children enthrall me, challenge me, and keep me moving (and have served as the inspiration for several of the kids I've written about). One of the primary reasons I wrote my first novel, WHEN YOU WENT AWAY was that I wanted to write about being a father. Aside from my family, I have a few other burning passions. I’m a pop culture junkie with an especially strong interest in music, I love fine food (as well as any restaurant shaped like a hot dog), and I read far too many sports blogs for my own good. 

Getting To Know Author Nancy Richardson Fischer

Hey Readers, take a moment out of your day and meet Nancy Richardson Fischer, author of 'Pandora's Key'. If you'd like a refresher course on the book, click here to see my review. :)

I was born on the east coast and went to Cornell University. After college I worked as a writer for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was a fun first job and I learned how to write quickly, and also that when elephants sneeze on you it's very (VERY) messy. After a year in the circus, I moved out west. I lived in Aspen, Colorado where I skied as much as possible and worked as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant. Great experience but I learned that waitressing is hard (HARD) and I'm not very good at it.

After Aspen, I moved to San Francisco, California where I worked as a writer for University of California, San Francisco and wrote freelance for LucasFilm. At UCSF I learned that sitting in a cubicle under fluorescent lights dulls my soul. LucasFilm taught me that writing freelance, especially fiction, is fun (FUN). So I headed tograduate school in Boulder, Colorado to further hone my skills.

For the first part of my freelance writing career I wrote sport autobiographies. I'd visit and travel with an athlete like Monica Seles, Bela Karolyi, Nadia Comaneci or Apolo Ohno and then write their book. It was a terrific job, but after ten years and tons of incredible experiences I got tired of writing other peoples' stories and not my own.

I've always loved books with adventure, magic, and dark forces. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Suzanne Collins and George R.R. Martin. Those writers allow a reader to lose themselves in stories that are intense, sometimes other-worldly, yet strangely believable. I feel incredibly lucky that now I have the chance to create books for readers that will hopefully captivate and transport them into a world where the supernatural is possible with characters that they can relate to who are flawed yet totally compelling.

Today I live in the Pacific Northwest with my amazing husband, Henry, and our mostly loveable (but sometimes vorpal) Vizsla, Boone. When I'm not conjuring a story, I love to kite-board, bike, ski or plan adventures with Boone and Henry, who both make me laugh for different reasons and who are the best partners in fun a gal could ever imagine. (Bio taken from Nancy's website, which can be found here )

Interview:

What is the hardest part of the writing process?

Putting my butt in the chair. A lot of people tell me they have great ideas for books... and they do! But it's putting your butt in the chair for hour after hour, day after day, and continuing to write when you feel like playing with your dog, going for a run, meeting friends for coffee, that's hard! It's worth it, but it's hard:-)

Where is your favorite place to write?

I love writing in my house with my dog curled up at my feet.

Are you lucky enough to write full time or do you have a day job?

I am lucky enough to write full time. That wasn't always the case. I spent a decade writing other peoples stories - sport autobiographies, Star Wars trilogies, and various articles, plus a few years working for different companies. There isn't a day that I'm not thankful for the opportunity I now have to write what I love!

 How do you handle negative reviews?

They hurt my feelings... and then I get over them. You just can't please everyone. Sometimes I want to write the person and explain that I spent two years writing the book they just trashed and I did it FOR readers to enjoy, NOT to torture them! Good intentions, you know? But that's why they make a zillion different flavors of ice cream - people need options and we all like different things.

If Pandora's Key was made into a movie who would you cast?

Brittany, I really want to know who YOU would cast!!! Who would play Evangeline, Olivia, Raphe, Dr. Sullivan and Malledy? 

I'm still working on this...... :) Everyone that I have in mind is too old, I need to become more familiar with the younger generation of actors!

I can imagine Dakota Fanning as Evangeline... Naomi Watts as Olivia... Michael Pitt or Joseph Gordon Levitt as Dr. Sullivan.... and I'm not sure about Raphe or Malledy... maybe two unknown actors... what do you think?

What book is currently on your night stand? (At least, at the time of the interview)

'Where She Went' by Gayle Forman

Do you have any hobbies?

I'm a sporty gal. I love to kitesurf, ski, road bike, hike... anything outside. I also like to study French and dream of one day being fluent.

 What are your favorite tv shows, past or present?

Hands down The Walking Dead!!!! Followed by Homeland, Justified, and Breaking Bad. I also loved Deadwood.

What are some of your favorite smells?

Vanilla. Orange blossoms. Freshly baked pies. Chocolate chip cookies. My husband right after he shaves.

Do you have any pet peeves?

Mean people. Pet owners who don't pick up their dog's poop (I have a dog so I can say this;-). Olives in any food I want to eat. Pickles. The word: moist.

Thank you so much Nancy for taking the time to answer my questions.  If you haven't read it yet, give 'Pandora's Key' a try.  And be on the lookout for 'The Key to Tartarus' (Book 2 of the Key Trilogy) which Nancy is currently hard at work on!