tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75316018065540064012024-03-16T01:54:59.261-04:00Let Them Read BooksA book blog specializing in historical fiction, romance, and fantasy.Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.comBlogger1231125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-73335737809851735312022-07-20T14:37:00.005-04:002022-07-20T14:39:23.251-04:00On Hiatus<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO1JGAk6ssgmJTUVm-TU4arMgZWv3H__bvCuy4wPrMEi1LSVakDzL8uIEpDOzhoabHFBIT2JQNUBqYVRrQLEVTX4PgzKSKDu-Pt7eytF5SZp67pVUlSOhckUqCxzN6kDCG3iIkbk_JPTHEMl1Dvdk10uaOM3FZrDf4fgTQlWt2DjJPt4214cUek2ZMg/s1600/Untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO1JGAk6ssgmJTUVm-TU4arMgZWv3H__bvCuy4wPrMEi1LSVakDzL8uIEpDOzhoabHFBIT2JQNUBqYVRrQLEVTX4PgzKSKDu-Pt7eytF5SZp67pVUlSOhckUqCxzN6kDCG3iIkbk_JPTHEMl1Dvdk10uaOM3FZrDf4fgTQlWt2DjJPt4214cUek2ZMg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span><span>Hi there! Let Them Read Books is on hiatus for the foreseeable future. </span><span>You can still check out what I'm reading on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2661064-jenny-q" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>. </span></span><span>Thanks for understanding!</span></span></div><br /><p></p>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-71278224251284575492021-08-28T09:58:00.004-04:002021-08-28T09:58:44.530-04:00Cover Reveal: And by Fire by Evie Hawtrey<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDztb_Ao-IiLi8mKlIlEsbDooNTZZGPH8NO85mLmxgenkNZwx7545MOj8bhrkGmQ-hR20ZFlDM2BmK4_zqTWt6FatdngJFb3xJFy9WVlQa8VdU6m3umhazGvJDrY27dZfcV2nesQxXguhk/s2048/And+by+Fire+Cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1384" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDztb_Ao-IiLi8mKlIlEsbDooNTZZGPH8NO85mLmxgenkNZwx7545MOj8bhrkGmQ-hR20ZFlDM2BmK4_zqTWt6FatdngJFb3xJFy9WVlQa8VdU6m3umhazGvJDrY27dZfcV2nesQxXguhk/s320/And+by+Fire+Cover.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">And by Fire</b></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Evie Hawtrey</b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Published by: Crooked Lane Books</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Release Date: May 10, 2022</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ISBN13: 978-1643859934</b></span></div><p></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Nigella Parker, Detective Inspector with the City Police, has a deeply rooted fear of fire and a talent for solving deadly arson cases. When a charred figure is found curled beside Sir Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire of London, Nigella is dragged into a case pitting her against a murderous artist creating sculptures using burnt flesh.</i></p><p><i>Nigella partners with Colm O’Leary of Scotland Yard to track the arsonist across greater London. The pair are more than colleagues—they were lovers until O’Leary made the mistake of uttering three little words. Their past isn’t the only buried history as they race to connect the dots between an antique nail pulled from a dead man’s hands and a long-forgotten architect dwarfed by the life’s work of Sir Christopher Wren.</i></p><p><i>Wren, one of London’s most famous architects, is everywhere the pair turn. Digging into his legacy leads the DCIs into the coldest of cold cases: a search for a bookseller gone missing during the Great Fire of London. More than 350 years earlier, while looking for their friend, a second pair of detectives—a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a royal fireworks maker—discovered foul play in the supposedly accidental destruction of St. Paul’s Cathedral…but did that same devilry lead to murder? And can these centuries-old crimes help catch a modern-day murderer?</i></p><p><i>As Nigella and O’Leary rush to decode clues, past and present, London’s killer-artist sets his sights on a member of the investigative team as the subject of his next fiery masterpiece.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Praise for <i>AND BY FIRE</i>:</b></span></p><p>“BONES meets the Restoration Court in Evie Hawtrey's AND BY FIRE, a taut dual-timeline mystery that races along at the pace of an inferno! . . . Fresh, dynamic, and crisply researched, AND BY FIRE WILL appeal to histfic fans and mystery readers alike—I couldn't put this one down!"</p><p>—Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of <i>The Alice Network</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNvT1W6Y8LWZpmD9PA9rIGGF_fE4hwF_K9c8rftxBPCCy3aZE1ZJCBvHJc3dYv4WimHHQ-N4ezRYfwAvu9_-toludVjFM-OSAHhPwl5LoGqVK2jmqnPovVFD91uw4oq0_0rC4swzFe0bn/s1080/FOR+MY+USE+INSTA.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNvT1W6Y8LWZpmD9PA9rIGGF_fE4hwF_K9c8rftxBPCCy3aZE1ZJCBvHJc3dYv4WimHHQ-N4ezRYfwAvu9_-toludVjFM-OSAHhPwl5LoGqVK2jmqnPovVFD91uw4oq0_0rC4swzFe0bn/s320/FOR+MY+USE+INSTA.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"><a name="_Hlk80608354" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: underline;"><span face=""UI sans-serif"">🔥</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>PRE-ORDER LINKS</b></span><span face=""UI sans-serif"" style="font-size: 12pt;"> 🔥</span></p><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;"> </p><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">Amazon: <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Amazon</a></p><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">Hudson Booksellers <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Hudsons" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Hudsons</a></p><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">IndieBound <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bit.ly/And_By_Fire_Indiebound" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/And_By_Fire_Indiebound</a></p><p class="yiv0442836741MsoNormal" style="background-color: none; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0in;">Barnes & Noble <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Barnes_Noble" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/And_by_Fire_Barnes_Noble</a></p><div style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Learn more at <a href="http://www.eviehawtrey.com">www.eviehawtrey.com</a></b></span></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-24173646487388611922021-07-29T08:50:00.006-04:002021-07-29T08:56:59.397-04:00Guest Post: Landscape of a Marriage by Gail Ward Olmsted<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-hxtjYQTGLmpGnk0BP1NQztrRMBg0OdVVZ8HKu3u9Xc5nIHhLT_UANN4e-fxJyeYDJKl7yzJ3an6oskHGhuWxnNlb7CW3OscwvD6zz28wfoyaJ6WcfkFWQ0zOFAl2gWtSYnbBuYhvkWe/s1102/57441320.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="738" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-hxtjYQTGLmpGnk0BP1NQztrRMBg0OdVVZ8HKu3u9Xc5nIHhLT_UANN4e-fxJyeYDJKl7yzJ3an6oskHGhuWxnNlb7CW3OscwvD6zz28wfoyaJ6WcfkFWQ0zOFAl2gWtSYnbBuYhvkWe/s320/57441320.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Please join me in welcoming Gail Ward Olmsted to Let Them Read Books! Gail is celebrating the release of her newest novel, <i>Landscape of a Marriage</i>, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a guest post about the inspiration for her story, Frederick Law Olmsted and his wife, Mary.</span><p></p><p><i>Central Park was only the beginning...</i></p><p><i>A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.</i></p><p><i>New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother’s deathbed plea to "not let Mary suffer”. But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband’s love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a 'beating green heart' in the center of every urban space.</i></p><p><i>Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary’s journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man. </i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3xc67Vq" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57441320-landscape-of-a-marriage" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Landscape of a Marriage: Frederick Law Olmsted & Mary Perkins Olmsted</b></p><div><div>By all accounts, they were an unlikely couple right from the start. They met at the home of mutual friends when Mary was just 18. Orphaned at an early age, she was raised by her grandparents and attended school in Staten Island, NY. She was an outspoken young woman who loved art and French literature. Fred was 27, a gentleman farmer who had previously spent time as a merchant seaman and a newspaper reporter, after dropping out of Yale University. He had dated plenty of women, but often confided to friends that he was likely to remain a bachelor for life. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3PFilopl1efdJ9jjwii3u2SdX3CjElMcs8F-F_f9GbOI5bvC9nu34SB2Hc4qqaP7fSCBVUg6f3tjtnJnx_qq7g2ySziYMPb7AuTDzYfl5vi12Ak8IXPmtHEJEb-_0ObNtpcfCbIaBJmJ/s435/FrederickLawOlmsted-e1338318850263.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3PFilopl1efdJ9jjwii3u2SdX3CjElMcs8F-F_f9GbOI5bvC9nu34SB2Hc4qqaP7fSCBVUg6f3tjtnJnx_qq7g2ySziYMPb7AuTDzYfl5vi12Ak8IXPmtHEJEb-_0ObNtpcfCbIaBJmJ/s320/FrederickLawOlmsted-e1338318850263.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>After meeting her for the first time, Fred was overheard remarking to a friend, “Mary is just the thing for a rainy day. Not to fall in love with, but to talk with.” Meanwhile, Mary fell in love with Fred’s younger brother John, a recent Yale grad, and soon after, the two became engaged. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mary and John married in 1851 and honeymooned in Italy. Over the next five years, they had three children: John Charles, Charlotte and Owen. Never in the best of health, John was diagnosed with tuberculosis, prompting the family of five to travel throughout Europe in search of a cure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, Fred had been in and out of relationships with a number of women and was briefly engaged to one of them. The engagement was broken by the young woman’s mother in a note to Fred detailing her daughter’s concerns for their future together. Fred was now more convinced than ever that marriage was not in the cards for him and he began to devote all of his time to his latest project--designing a public park out of an 800-acre plot of swampy land in Manhattan.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>After burying her husband in Nice, France, Mary and her children returned to New York. Acting upon his late brother’s plea to "not let Mary suffer while you are alive," Fred found temporary housing for Mary and her children before moving them into his own house. He offered to marry her and she accepted. Her allowance from her late grandfather’s estate did not begin to cover her family’s expenses and she was out of funds and desperately lonely.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZK5EzMgR8lnHB58vAQbROQ6vKaSuSKqmOpGP_Q4ytYhxZZJO1z8N5tkVm-fdEy1nMQffLSwBHGz7-m9lEXTZQOiD_5nH6iUYDm_ScXCZjjtblCm3bzEPtOKcLG9L0TJBAU4lDCsQ_tdHj/s850/86827scr_5e83b9572553a8b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZK5EzMgR8lnHB58vAQbROQ6vKaSuSKqmOpGP_Q4ytYhxZZJO1z8N5tkVm-fdEy1nMQffLSwBHGz7-m9lEXTZQOiD_5nH6iUYDm_ScXCZjjtblCm3bzEPtOKcLG9L0TJBAU4lDCsQ_tdHj/s320/86827scr_5e83b9572553a8b.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>On June 13, 1859, Mary Perkins Olmsted became the wife of Frederick Law Olmsted. The ceremony was a no-frills affair, officiated by the mayor of New York City, the honorable Daniel Tiemann.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mary had been passionately in love with her first husband, John. Although she had no illusions about her new husband’s feelings toward her, she set out to win his love. She would not be content to settle for a marriage in name only and was determined to have a second chance at a happy ever after. What began as a marriage of convenience, a "levarite" marriage designed to maintain the family name, bloomed into a loving and passionate union that lasted 44 years and produced four more children, only two of whom survived infancy.</div><div><br /></div><div>With Mary and his family by his side, Fred was inspired to devote himself professionally to his goal of creating a "beating green heart" for the masses to enjoy in every urban space. The renowned "father of American landscape architecture" was responsible for designing dozens of public parks, private estates, state parks and college campuses throughout the United States. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Olmsteds moved from New York to Washington, DC, then to California for a few years before returning to New York. They eventually relocated to Brookline, MA, a suburb of Boston. Initially a sounding board for her brilliant husband’s vision, Mary began to exert her influence on his choice of projects, as well as the management and direction of the growing design firm. Two of their sons joined the family business and Olmsted and Sons prospered for decades after Fred’s death at the age of 81.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Landscape of a Marriage</i> is the story of the unlikely love affair of two people determined to live with passion and purpose, while transforming the American landscape forever.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3xc67Vq" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57441320-landscape-of-a-marriage" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">About the Author:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C49p7najg5jUXU6h2F8JFzgo5uC1yiTRze2BHnOfUvz-1dicqkTV0_Ysl2pE709KbIHjiWr7YbmgQrpnJ7CpchCtO6S8Oa50eeIC0EcS49q-5_7a4O3f74CRwXE7QijFeXpbABbEbZZy/s770/8158738.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C49p7najg5jUXU6h2F8JFzgo5uC1yiTRze2BHnOfUvz-1dicqkTV0_Ysl2pE709KbIHjiWr7YbmgQrpnJ7CpchCtO6S8Oa50eeIC0EcS49q-5_7a4O3f74CRwXE7QijFeXpbABbEbZZy/w182-h200/8158738.jpg" width="182" /></a></div>Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a fulltime basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before she began Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical work of fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary.</div><div><br /></div><div>For more information, please visit her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gailolmstedauthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and at <a href="http://GailOlmsted.com">GailOlmsted.com</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-71506553545926381332021-05-05T08:25:00.003-04:002021-05-05T08:25:39.034-04:00Blog Tour Excerpt: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8S0bq0Q5KPPNNyCnjqTi8QQr30H5WiVzhMKqnSzIDHCq4-DKQxHt1GCcP63BJ1G-kNAw23oYk-fHR0wv1g3wxpCUerKBT3j7zs0lSTpQMomdeeI3bIkcVaoAs2BX-U_jeRoN30ay_GyC/s2048/THE+MOST+BEAUTIFUL+GIRL+IN+CUBA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE8S0bq0Q5KPPNNyCnjqTi8QQr30H5WiVzhMKqnSzIDHCq4-DKQxHt1GCcP63BJ1G-kNAw23oYk-fHR0wv1g3wxpCUerKBT3j7zs0lSTpQMomdeeI3bIkcVaoAs2BX-U_jeRoN30ay_GyC/s320/THE+MOST+BEAUTIFUL+GIRL+IN+CUBA.jpg" /></a></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Chanel Cleeton</b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Berkley Trade Paperback; May 4, 2021</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>At the end of the nineteenth century, three revolutionary women fight for freedom in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's captivating new novel inspired by real-life events and the true story of a legendary Cuban woman--Evangelina Cisneros--who changed the course of history.</i></div><div><i><br />A feud rages in Gilded Age New York City between newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. When Grace Harrington lands a job at Hearst's newspaper in 1896, she's caught in a cutthroat world where one scoop can make or break your career, but it's a story emerging from Cuba that changes her life.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><span style="text-align: center;"></span>Unjustly imprisoned in a notorious Havana women's jail, eighteen-year-old Evangelina Cisneros dreams of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression. When Hearst learns of her plight and splashes her image on the front page of his paper, proclaiming her, "The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba," she becomes a rallying cry for American intervention in the battle for Cuban independence.</i></div><div><br /><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: left;">With the help of Marina Perez, a courier secretly working for the Cuban revolutionaries in Havana, Grace and Hearst's staff attempt to free Evangelina. But when Cuban civilians are forced into reconcentration camps and the explosion of the USS Maine propels the United States and Spain toward war, the three women must risk everything in their fight for freedom.</div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Rsiopw" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54866589-the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611533/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba-by-chanel-cleeton/" target="_blank">Penguin Random House</a> | <a href="http://www.chanelcleeton.com/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba" target="_blank">Chanel Cleeton</a></span></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><p align="center" class="04BodyText" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p align="center" class="04BodyText" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Excerpt</b></span></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“I’m here for a job if you have one. As a reporter. I’ve
spent the last few years writing for smaller papers, getting experience where I
could.” I gesture to the leather folio in my lap. “I’ve brought samples of my
work if you’d like to look at them. They’re not necessarily the kinds of
stories I want to cover, but they’re a start.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“Why do you wish to work here, Miss Harrington?” Pulitzer
asks, making no move to take the folio from me.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“Because of the stories you cover, the impact you have. The
<span class="ITAL">World</span> has one of the largest circulations in the world.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">Indeed, Mr. Pulitzer has just slashed the <span class="ITAL">World</span>’s
price to one cent, saying he prefers power to profits, circulation the measure
by which success is currently judged.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“You have the opportunity to reach readers, to bring about
change, to help people who desperately need assistance,” I add. “I’ve admired
the work you’ve done for years. You’ve long set the tone the rest of the New
York newspaper industry follows. You’ve filled a gap in the news, given a voice
to people who wouldn’t have otherwise had one. I’ve read the articles you wrote
when you were a reporter yourself in St. Louis, and I admire the manner in
which you address society’s ills. You’ve revolutionized the newspaper. I want
to be part of that.”<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“That’s all fine and good, but why should I hire you? What
would you bring to the <span class="ITAL">World</span> that someone else wouldn’t?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“My gender, for one. A woman knows what it’s like to be
pushed to society’s margins. There are some who might argue that a woman cannot
do this job as effectively as a man. They would be wrong. Nellie Bly has proven
that. You did, too, when you hired her.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“And what do you know of Nellie Bly?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“You gave her a chance when others wouldn’t.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“Cockerill gave her a chance,” he replies, referring to his
editor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“With all due respect, Mr. Pulitzer, we both know this is
your paper. You saw something in Nellie Bly. And now she’s gone, and you need
another reporter who can take on the kinds of stories she did and can go places
your male journalists can’t. What she accomplished at <a name="_Hlk43885330">the
Women’s Lunatic Asylum”—the words “lunatic asylum” fall distastefully from my
mouth—“on Blackwell’s Island</a>, going undercover like that, was nothing short
of extraordinary. Those women’s lives have been changed because of Miss Bly’s
courage and her daring. Those placards out there, the philosophy with which you
run your newsroom—I promise to uphold it every single day I work for you.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">Pulitzer leans back in his chair. “You’re plucky like Bly,
I’ll give you that.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="04BodyText">“I am.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="04BodyText"><br /></p><p class="04BodyText"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Rsiopw" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54866589-the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611533/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba-by-chanel-cleeton/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Penguin Random House</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.chanelcleeton.com/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-cuba" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Chanel Cleeton</a></span></p><p class="04BodyText"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIg1tqzo9EP3FCG9qwtXwp4xoIgSRPC9oBynnMePz4_nlBIBD8eo9HeWSfbBCnK0YLFb80SFro04DQtGXhs-VBeyzKv7aVIPzlKpAn9uan9PurgR6L-2R_PO6sgUYPYTyT5sZAxSuiR9qg/s450/Chanel+Cleeton+%25C2%25A9+Chris+Malpass+2017+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIg1tqzo9EP3FCG9qwtXwp4xoIgSRPC9oBynnMePz4_nlBIBD8eo9HeWSfbBCnK0YLFb80SFro04DQtGXhs-VBeyzKv7aVIPzlKpAn9uan9PurgR6L-2R_PO6sgUYPYTyT5sZAxSuiR9qg/w133-h200/Chanel+Cleeton+%25C2%25A9+Chris+Malpass+2017+.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Originally from Florida, Chanel Cleeton grew up on stories of her family's exodus from Cuba following the events of the Cuban Revolution. Her passion for politics and history continued during her years spent studying in England, where she earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations from Richmond, The American International University in London, and a master's degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chanel also received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.<p></p></div></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-92085251835064303252021-04-20T08:13:00.003-04:002021-08-28T10:03:06.225-04:00Guest Post by Rebecca Duvall Scott, Author of When Dignity Came to Harlan<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWNEgxqfI24QYFyQ-DKwlPyT1l9nPAxBxirW9rePMLtuAX9NYDHuHtuepgipS-4dua2j7dGYOcMSI0roN2MkhXyJcnbSBIQVzPqkU0C5s8C5KqhGKG88ZEaYWh5AtRdv2HROgvg5pMarQ/s1107/When+Dignity+Came.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWNEgxqfI24QYFyQ-DKwlPyT1l9nPAxBxirW9rePMLtuAX9NYDHuHtuepgipS-4dua2j7dGYOcMSI0roN2MkhXyJcnbSBIQVzPqkU0C5s8C5KqhGKG88ZEaYWh5AtRdv2HROgvg5pMarQ/s320/When+Dignity+Came.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Rebecca Duvall Scott to Let Them Read Books! Rebecca is celebrating the publication of her debut historical novel, <i>When Dignity Came to Harlan</i>, based on the true story of her great-grandmother. Read on for a glimpse into the family history behind the story!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>I made up my mind right then and there that I would just have to wade into this move like wading into a pond or lake I'd never seen before - slow and steady, feeling around for my footing and trying to avoid the sharp edges at the bottom that you never see coming.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>News of what really happened to me - to us - spread through town like wildfire. It caught from one dry gossip tree to another and burned them to the ground with shame.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>"Y'can do this, child - show 'em why I call y'Dignity," my old friend winked at me.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Skillfully written and sure to draw you in to its pages, When Dignity Came to Harlan is set in the early 1900s and follows twelve-year-old Anna Beth Atwood as she leaves Missouri with her family dreaming of a better life in the coal-rich mountains of Harlan County, Kentucky. Anna Beth’s parents lose everything on the trip, however, and upon asking strangers to take their girls in until they get on their feet, Anna Beth and her baby sister are dropped into the home of Jack and Grace Grainger – who have plenty of problems of their own. Anna Beth suffers several hardships during her time in Harlan, and if it wasn’t for her humble and wise old friend who peddles his wisdom along with his wares, all would be lost. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Based on a true family history, this is a story of heartbreak and hope, challenges and perseverance, good and evil, justice and merciful redemption. It exemplifies the human experience in all its many facets and shows what it means to have real grit. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Take the journey with us and see how, with the unseen hand of God, one girl changed the heart and soul of an entire town. </i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2QJiVTC" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56695176-when-dignity-came-to-harlan?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=9iihXjfIqk&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Every person’s heritage is sacred, but what if yours had the makings of an amazing story? I spent a lot of my childhood at my grandmother’s kitchen table, mesmerized by the anecdotes of our forebears. I could see my great-grandmother, May Wood Elliott Kerr, being packed into a covered wagon with three of her sisters at the tender age of five. She would leave her eldest sister, who was married, behind and journey from Leadwood, Missouri, to Edmonson County, Kentucky, in search of a better life. Upon arrival, however, her parents had no money or place to stay, so they asked neighbors to take the girls in until they could get on their feet. The sisters were parceled out to strangers to earn their room and board, and May, unknowingly, was put into a very harsh home. The saddest part is that her parents never came back, and the girls grew up separated in foster care with many challenges to overcome. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-JLeJIn7E5TEcrmOsT9cFbuajjJ5Vajk0j8y01kFnHiLX-L2z5k6Mya4ZkATYhCn9KNkNvLUPcVWIh0dI37kR3IFZfG4-_T25AgFtFdVeuPXIB7_MUlNxrilDANWfoKXX-YjV7L50TDL/s373/May+Wood+Elliott+Kerr+-+mailchimp+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-JLeJIn7E5TEcrmOsT9cFbuajjJ5Vajk0j8y01kFnHiLX-L2z5k6Mya4ZkATYhCn9KNkNvLUPcVWIh0dI37kR3IFZfG4-_T25AgFtFdVeuPXIB7_MUlNxrilDANWfoKXX-YjV7L50TDL/s320/May+Wood+Elliott+Kerr+-+mailchimp+2.jpg" /></a></div>You know how bad it was? Besides the stories passed down through the generations, we have found documents that list my great-grandmother on the 1910 census as a servant in the foster home … as well as her first marriage certificate where her parents’ names are left blank! She was only five when they left her, remember, so until she reconnected with her older sisters, she didn’t even remember her parents’ names. Among the few photographs that survived the tumultuous time, my favorite is the one where she is holding a cat in front of her foster house. May cut out the man and his wife but kept it because she liked the cat!</div><div><br /></div><div>I began taking notes for this Christian historical fiction novel in honor of my great-grandmother and grandmother when I was sixteen … which is a good thing because my grandmother suffered a stroke that took her ability to communicate ten years later. I turned in the first 70 pages of the manuscript to my creative writing professor in college when I was a senior, and on graduation day, he shook my hand and said, “Rebecca – please finish your story.” After becoming a wife and a mother, I did indeed turn back to Anna Beth Atwood, the character based on May Wood Elliott Kerr, who I had left in Harlan. I realized I couldn’t have finished it a moment before I did because I had to grow up myself and gain important life experiences to even do it justice. It is a deep-hearted book, and a dream come true. I am grateful the story chose me.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wfPvjD7GdU7-AKzyeadRwHxUDymmL3CH3G8p5Bev_G5zTug7mVEshywC9oIkVCmGUk7DEuGUP8cVU9oSN806Dy4F3wuPWofLZS3BwNoFPmk8GF9btvx8NwAFe7Px_nrPGnuddmCjQX5s/s1080/When+Dignity+Came+praise+meme+5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wfPvjD7GdU7-AKzyeadRwHxUDymmL3CH3G8p5Bev_G5zTug7mVEshywC9oIkVCmGUk7DEuGUP8cVU9oSN806Dy4F3wuPWofLZS3BwNoFPmk8GF9btvx8NwAFe7Px_nrPGnuddmCjQX5s/s320/When+Dignity+Came+praise+meme+5.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2Y_zeMCU5O_oDIt_fQvA3cpqhmj7KKXhUULkv_UOSTshwn4IiURJZWM0DZ01r8rBdE3tntGJ514Z5z-h6mBRdNz-zAiEhzUNw-lCoPATr8tgYZigrvP6qDKnYLKzG1_4I06kwCh3eI4z/s700/20144018.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2Y_zeMCU5O_oDIt_fQvA3cpqhmj7KKXhUULkv_UOSTshwn4IiURJZWM0DZ01r8rBdE3tntGJ514Z5z-h6mBRdNz-zAiEhzUNw-lCoPATr8tgYZigrvP6qDKnYLKzG1_4I06kwCh3eI4z/w200-h133/20144018.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Rebecca Duvall Scott is an accomplished author and the recipient of numerous awards. Her first published work and best-selling memoir, <i>Sensational Kids, Sensational Families: Hope for Sensory Processing Differences</i>, chronicles the research, interventions, and mindset shifts that successfully brought her family through her son’s SPD diagnosis. While she values her special needs initiative, her heart has always been with Christian historical fiction. Her best-selling and #2 Amazon Hot New Release novel, <i>When Dignity Came to Harlan</i>, is based on her great-grandmother’s childhood. Rebecca lives with her husband and their two children in Kentucky and plans to write more in both the Dignity and Sensational Kids series.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.RebeccaDuvallScott.com" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/whendignitycametoharlan/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://www.twitter.com/author_rdscott" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaduvallscott/" target="_blank">Instagram</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-75111973761007163322021-04-15T06:00:00.034-04:002021-04-15T06:00:00.322-04:00Guest Post by Jean M. Roberts, Author of The Heron<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rhb_hMaJQ8sAEXX15jg6clnXC9N3fEvvwEIPiDKyk3uimk-DFGKKbDMVcENBTy5AzknSgjURR8QkjVJ6jKLBQ79F4s652ZVL6WaivJpW81ubKZZF2ureYIxXtV8KXgTWke7_owYNYLGE/s2048/Heron+full+cover+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rhb_hMaJQ8sAEXX15jg6clnXC9N3fEvvwEIPiDKyk3uimk-DFGKKbDMVcENBTy5AzknSgjURR8QkjVJ6jKLBQ79F4s652ZVL6WaivJpW81ubKZZF2ureYIxXtV8KXgTWke7_owYNYLGE/s320/Heron+full+cover+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Jean M. Roberts to Let Them Read Books! Jean is celebrating the publication of her newest historical novel, <i>The Heron</i>, and I'm pleased to have her here today with a guest post about the historical story world her characters inhabit!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>The past calls to those who dare to listen…</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>An invitation arrives; Abbey Coote, Professor of American Studies, has won an extended stay in an historic B&B, Pine Tree House. The timing is perfect. Abbey is recovering from an accident which left her abusive boyfriend dead and her with little memory of the event.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>But her idyllic respite soon takes a terrifying turn. While exploring the house, Abbey comes face to face with Mary Foss, a woman dead for 350 years. Through a time/mind interface, Abbey experiences the horrors of Mary’s life, living at the edge of the civilized world in the 1690’s New England.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>As Abbey faces her worst fears, she struggles to free them both from the past.</i></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3fGPE6L" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56471468-the-heron?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YeSbEvtCRj&rank=4" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Heron</i> is a blend of passion and creative energy, woven together to form a single work. I have always loved history. As an American, I also appreciate and enjoy our unique history as a people and a country. There was a time when immigrants to New England were not quite American and not fully English, a very interesting period in our history!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />From its inception, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which from time-to-time controlled New Hampshire was a virtual theocracy. It did not become a Royal Colony until 1691. The Puritan elite who ruled Massachusetts quickly dropped their Anglican pretensions and set up a system of congregation churches. A staunch, rigid religion which controlled society, it believed most people were damned to hell and espoused an angry righteous God. Each church chose and hired their own minister. Attendance was mandatory and abstainers were fined. Services held in unheated wooden buildings could last for hours. The fiery ministers exhorting his flock to fear his maker.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Women, children, servants and slaves were under the household government of their father/husband/master. The population was litigious; the quarterly courts were filled with cases of slander and trespass. Neighbors were quick to turn on each other, and report each other’s misdeeds. Women who did not conform, who strayed too far from accepted norms, might find themselves accused of witchcraft. Physical punishment was not only tolerated but encouraged. Men who did not chastise their wives were seen as weak. Abuse was frequent; a part of daily life.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Violence came from without as well. As much as we would like to believe that the land of the ‘new world’ was there for the taking, the Native Americans resisted the takeover of what was their home. The result was frequent attacks and several full-scale wars between the colonists and the native population. Juxtaposed to this frightening, conformist world were the glittering courts of Europe. Hard as it is to believe, but actions taken by European governments, thousands of miles and an ocean away played havoc on the struggling colonies. From 1688 to 1697 King William’s War, the first of four French and Indian Wars raged across New England, sparked by the continental War of the Grand Alliance. Waves of French soldiers and their native allies, swept out of Canada to attack the fledgling towns, defended only by their local militias.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The colonists of New Hampshire built garrison houses, thick-walled buildings, surrounded by stockade walls to provide shelter during times of upheaval. I have found many ancestors who were killed in these attacks, many scalped before they died. Others were taken as captives to Canada, some never seen again. For years at a stretch, they lived in daily fear of attack.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The psychic scars left by living under such conditions must have been almost unbearable. One of the main accusers during the Salem Witch Trials, Mercy Lewis, survived the attack on Casco Bay, Maine, in which her entire family was killed. It is believed that the event affected her deeply. This is the world of <i>The Heron</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZap_a5Di0y7_lq0065O7kV214AV0028ddwKz-8vZJSufXz2iung0fpxeB-NGE6MT0eYRmF-GjVOe6z1JC2r7xIeamUNqXQWoYclkCufHq_zDe00rs2N2aQVSEzXlrTJsYUU6MFe-rGh0S/s3264/Jeanie+Roberts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZap_a5Di0y7_lq0065O7kV214AV0028ddwKz-8vZJSufXz2iung0fpxeB-NGE6MT0eYRmF-GjVOe6z1JC2r7xIeamUNqXQWoYclkCufHq_zDe00rs2N2aQVSEzXlrTJsYUU6MFe-rGh0S/w150-h200/Jeanie+Roberts.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Jean M. Roberts is the author of three novels. <i>Weave a Web of Witchcraft, Blood in the Valley,</i> and <i>The Heron</i>. She writes historical fiction with a special focus on American history. Her novel <i>Blood in the Valley </i>was reviewed by the Historical Novel Society. Jean was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and has deep New England roots. She is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and lives in Texas with her husband. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.thebookdelight.com/" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jean-M-Roberts/e/B07N1RQLN5/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebookdelight.com%2F&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&screen_name=jroberts1324&tw_p=followbutton" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JeanRobertsAuthor" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jeanie1701/" target="_blank">INSTAGRAM</a></div><div><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-6353076341448192452021-04-06T06:00:00.001-04:002021-04-06T06:00:00.340-04:00Guest Post by Dianna Rostad, Author of You Belong Here Now<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMERZx8U0hxsSc1lVGU0qO1QwSncNt3nP9OqyQWEpAlRO3juqo8Z7oPe87qQ2ruSh8sBLo5DwgCzG2i44mrVDvWtypHgk3vFFzvqKuSbxI7Xdv_NDYLtij53xMXedkT7NBJaT4U5EAcdmi/s648/You+Belong+Here+Now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMERZx8U0hxsSc1lVGU0qO1QwSncNt3nP9OqyQWEpAlRO3juqo8Z7oPe87qQ2ruSh8sBLo5DwgCzG2i44mrVDvWtypHgk3vFFzvqKuSbxI7Xdv_NDYLtij53xMXedkT7NBJaT4U5EAcdmi/s320/You+Belong+Here+Now.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Dianna Rostad to Let Them Read Books! I've had the pleasure of Dianna's friendship for several years now, and I'm thrilled to have her here today in celebration of the publication of her debut historical novel, <i>You Belong Here Now</i>! Read on to learn how her dad helped her write this book and see some photos that helped inspire the story!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Montana 1925: An Irish boy orphaned by Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t speak, and a volatile young man who lies about his age to escape Hell’s Kitchen, are paraded on train platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks. They journey countless miles, racing the sun westward.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Before they reach the last stop, the oldest, Charles, comes up with a daring plan, and alone, they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.</i></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3dCHidA" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54427166-you-belong-here-now?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=pwXNmBgpYf&rank=1" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a> | <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/you-belong-here-now-dianna-rostad?variant=32202203988002" target="_blank">WILLIAM MORROW</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">My Father’s Bookshelf</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />One Christmas my father drove down to Texas and he brought a bunch of old photos of the family ranches in Montana, and stories about how his family lived in this beautiful, but unforgiving land. One picture I always remember is of my grandfather’s old ranch house with a small windmill on the top of it. My grandfather had written a note that he’d put that windmill on there as a boy, hoping it would power just one light bulb—and it did for a time. He tells a great story about walking through the snow near the train tracks to get a wet car battery to store and convert the power from the windmill. My grandfather became an electrician later. All these photos broke open a whole big world where I could see my characters falling into place. I decided then to set You Belong Here Now in 1925 Montana.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />My father was pretty excited, and we went down to the library straight away, and later on, he gave me a list of recommendations for books written by writers from Montana or set in the Big Sky state. These books helped me frame the mindset and everyday lives of people living in this quiet, rural place. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Larry Watson, Montana 1948, White Crosses<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ivan Doig, Sweet Thunder, <br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Richard Wheeler, Winter Grass<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ray Grensten, Tracks of the Iron Horse<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Elmer Kelton, The Man Who Rode Midnight<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">From there I discovered:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Judy Blunt, Breaking Clean<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Margaret Bell, When Montana and I Were Young<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Barbara Van Cleve, Hard Twist<br />•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Spike Van Cleve, Forty Years’ Gatherin’s <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As the manuscript began to take shape, he would often read my manuscript for me. One time, he came back with the advice to cut the man fight out of the book, as he didn’t think guys would really believe it. I told him I needed it, and could he help me make it better. He sent me a link to a YouTube video of an old Charles Bronson movie set in New Orleans of an illegal fight much like mine in the book. It helped tremendously. All the goings on of the people watching a fight like that, how it was run by the men putting up the fighters, all those little details gave credence to my scene. The scene was cut after many versions, but I’ll always remember him sending me that video. Or the time we argued about whether butane was available in 1925. Throughout the process of bringing this book to the world, my father was with me every step of the way, giving me advice on rifles vs. shotguns, how they were loaded, cocked, etc., and lots of good feedback on old cars from that era, as he is a great hobbyist of early 20th century automobiles. <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I couldn’t have written this book without the help of my father. He has been so instrumental from sparking that first passion to writing it in Montana, sharing his book shelf, supporting my research in all its various forms, and always being my tireless reader, who says: “Yes, I’ll read it again.”</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks, Dad. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyOEP-apwk09gq2RS9xVdhhV0mpM915GYaTSdqri-4Lxmmg4TSeyEaxwvwIRyXKfsLPIDEzv358Ac6agbSjeui-AyFIZBm323yjh3G_EaR7HYGwoa0rCrbFotblX5BvieAKHACDqB6MrO/s557/You+Belong+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="557" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyOEP-apwk09gq2RS9xVdhhV0mpM915GYaTSdqri-4Lxmmg4TSeyEaxwvwIRyXKfsLPIDEzv358Ac6agbSjeui-AyFIZBm323yjh3G_EaR7HYGwoa0rCrbFotblX5BvieAKHACDqB6MrO/s320/You+Belong+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bull Mountains, Montana Today</span><o:p></o:p></b></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinI5Bv7PtFzaBUgyRZjGZk6VXALH284YHnU5gcuB9JHoaeYaVpOOb71cmwgrVJW3Rnk55GzEw1BMdqbT_wILu3B5bqFQbbRpZiJrSUa_InqDP4eBNJPbbcasbBf8wcO9UliQps5oEeOqtC/s1463/You+Belong+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="1432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinI5Bv7PtFzaBUgyRZjGZk6VXALH284YHnU5gcuB9JHoaeYaVpOOb71cmwgrVJW3Rnk55GzEw1BMdqbT_wILu3B5bqFQbbRpZiJrSUa_InqDP4eBNJPbbcasbBf8wcO9UliQps5oEeOqtC/s320/You+Belong+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">My
Father</span></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO1XQcQ_uO_9IC6eJtx2oYdiFEgwzqHrYRsFTnBp_IQMEpIdSvnEdAaVGmfHi5SM0xhkKBZMB7BThBBWVPahV8oOc_rPIKpc8y0ojLg3AjobYwiMlHRrXnbRnR3RVT-QaBxIQo1iASv_o/s1432/You+Belong+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="1432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO1XQcQ_uO_9IC6eJtx2oYdiFEgwzqHrYRsFTnBp_IQMEpIdSvnEdAaVGmfHi5SM0xhkKBZMB7BThBBWVPahV8oOc_rPIKpc8y0ojLg3AjobYwiMlHRrXnbRnR3RVT-QaBxIQo1iASv_o/s320/You+Belong+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">My Grandfather (shading his eyes) and his brother George after school, after church?<br />They’re all dressed up. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlndVf5lIAIBrnTDJfZ6SE5pxiw7J0HcRoxnJv9w2S5Rye2jVN0VBp3rMmHHpLpx_QQOmuDG0q4dDZqJGcFLxezfyAnbBmjyt9BkSkxqa9I5O-53Epq-RI6KNF-YvVNUpfzvuYi3YNcKpE/s1432/You+Belong+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlndVf5lIAIBrnTDJfZ6SE5pxiw7J0HcRoxnJv9w2S5Rye2jVN0VBp3rMmHHpLpx_QQOmuDG0q4dDZqJGcFLxezfyAnbBmjyt9BkSkxqa9I5O-53Epq-RI6KNF-YvVNUpfzvuYi3YNcKpE/s320/You+Belong+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">My grandfather in boots to big for him, out with the chickens. </span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIsUAV92WVQOFCEEgUsX5k_WryskdOjERcsY9La-fYUiktcrpbxE9OIOgwN1zbvddMQRWutBRRdGzOB6NjtttJOman8T_JV_UZN54i986LoQL7XaNTwMXmuuX_KfKTqcJ3mr5TQ0TmWY2/s1430/You+Belong+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="1430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIsUAV92WVQOFCEEgUsX5k_WryskdOjERcsY9La-fYUiktcrpbxE9OIOgwN1zbvddMQRWutBRRdGzOB6NjtttJOman8T_JV_UZN54i986LoQL7XaNTwMXmuuX_KfKTqcJ3mr5TQ0TmWY2/s320/You+Belong+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>My Grandpa’s old Ranch House with the small windmill on top he put there to light a bulb. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-L8kbaAN-6p8GB1Jq8Mt4FgnX_q4ujZnnIgBV6vg6As5H8nvcINyoVUd94N74JP4wc_x5m0jGsHNlPrqHg79P-tp2Z9n3gpXnz7lTjV_4ldl4PADACxfSW459zGkq2Fd7eNOpULt4-uV/s810/Dianna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="540" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-L8kbaAN-6p8GB1Jq8Mt4FgnX_q4ujZnnIgBV6vg6As5H8nvcINyoVUd94N74JP4wc_x5m0jGsHNlPrqHg79P-tp2Z9n3gpXnz7lTjV_4ldl4PADACxfSW459zGkq2Fd7eNOpULt4-uV/w133-h200/Dianna.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Dianna Rostad was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Her parents and extended family come from the ranches of Montana and the farms of Arkansas. Dianna raised three kind, human beings, and when they began to test their wings, she took to writing with a passion, completing Southern Methodist University Writer’s Path program in 2009. A favorite task of her creative endeavors is the discovery and research of people and places where her novels are set. She has traveled extensively to pursue the last artifacts of our shared history and breathe life, truth, and hope into her novels. Now living in Florida, Dianna continues to write big-hearted novels for wide audiences everywhere. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.diannarostad.com">http://www.diannarostad.com</a></div><div><a href="https://twitter.com/DiannaRostad" target="_blank">@diannarostad</a> Twitter</div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/dianna.rostad/">Dianna.rostad</a> Instagram</div><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/diannarostadauthor" target="_blank">Dianna Rostad Author</a> Facebook</div><div><br /></div></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-41544166972238730102021-03-26T15:54:00.007-04:002021-04-05T12:25:06.369-04:00Q&A with Brenda Sparks Prescott, Author of Home Front Lines<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UjQpni3DJExnMz92bAbUaqcQoFvpyhFbNEqAAh39SwEeEF0XQh8nxNEP7oo_h4p4v5V6IQOllSD8Sqt6ub8_Ig0XtDiBfOq88WCZI-v7jomwcw-HWFU37lOkuUeWY-Qy_2w998RkJf3R/s648/HomeFrontLines-lores.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UjQpni3DJExnMz92bAbUaqcQoFvpyhFbNEqAAh39SwEeEF0XQh8nxNEP7oo_h4p4v5V6IQOllSD8Sqt6ub8_Ig0XtDiBfOq88WCZI-v7jomwcw-HWFU37lOkuUeWY-Qy_2w998RkJf3R/s320/HomeFrontLines-lores.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Brenda Sparks Prescott to Let Them Read Books! Brenda is celebrating the release of her debut historical novel, <i>Home Front Lines</i>, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a Q&A!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>In 1962 tensions are rising between the United States and the Soviet Union. But it is the everyday tensions of home, family, and military life that are top of mind for military spouse and African American Betty Ann Johnson in D.C. and Cuban Lola Montero who is asked to cook for the Soviet troops amassing on her island. At a time when many Americans feel unsettled and fearful of nuclear war, these women harness their agency to prepare their families for the worst in Home Front Lines by Brenda Sparks Prescott.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>When Betty Ann catches wind that military preparations are being made for something more than just practice drills, she gathers a small band of military spouses to develop an evacuation plan for their children. Across the Florida Straits, Lola accidentally witnesses the installation of a Soviet missile. She and her sisters secretly make plans to send their children to Florida without their husbands’ knowledge. The two women are on opposing sides of the conflict, but they share the same fierce determination in protecting their children.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Home Front Lines is a story of strong and determined women. It is a story of BIPOC historical fiction in the 20th century, a genre that too often leaves out narratives not directly tied to the World Wars, the Great Migration, or Civil Rights movement. But these communities existed in every time and place, and their stories deserve to be told. </i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3cqyQPb" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56565335-home-front-lines?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=jAFbKR2in8&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold;">Hi Brenda! Welcome to Let Them Read Books!</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>You've had short fiction published in a variety of literary magazines - why the switch to writing a novel?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>Brenda Sparks Prescott: I have always been interested in long form fiction. My initial story ideas are often too complex for a short form, especially when coupled with my habit of asking “what if” while building the world in which each story lives. In fact, the original take on what is now Home Front Lines was a triptych story that was about 40 pages long. One of my mentors who was also an editor of a literary journal said it was too long for a short story and too short for a novella. He suggested I get rid of one or two of the three primary elements and make it into a short story. Instead, I kept asking “what if,” which took my original exploration deeper and eventually resulted in this novel. The short form wasn’t completely lost, though, as chapters from an earlier version of the novel were published as stand-alone short stories in literary journals.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>How has your experience with Solstice Literary Magazine and the MFA program informed your writing?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Brenda Sparks Prescott: <i>Solstice Literary Magazine</i> and the Solstice MFA program have a common origin in terms of their visionary founders, but they are separate entities that involve overlapping communities. It has been immensely nourishing to be part of these communities, which embody the concept of inclusive excellence through their intentional actions to support diverse voices. I can’t imagine getting this project to publication without their support.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>You write from the perspective of both a Black woman and a Cuban woman in Home Front Lines. You are Black, but what tools did you use to ensure you accurately portrayed the Cuban cultural experience?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Brenda Sparks Prescott: I did the kind of extensive research that one would expect of a conscientious writer, which included sources on the cultures of Cuba and its early post-revolutionary era. Histories and memoirs I found particularly useful included <i>Matanzas</i> by Miguel Bretos; <i>Waiting for Snow in Havana</i> by Carlos Eire; and <i>A Cuban Story</i> by Marcia Del Mar. Equally or more important was the vision that led me to write this story the way that I did. I wanted to start with the assumption that mothers would act to protect their children from a threat and examine how identical impulses can lead to very different life outcomes when clothed in different cultural circumstances. I’m always intrigued by the difference paradox. Instead of seeking to express the humanity of the other, I was exploring the other expressions of humanity. This was uppermost in my mind as I worked with each character. <span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Why do you think it's important to see Black stories in historical fiction that does not center around the Civil War or the Civil Rights Movement?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Brenda Sparks Prescott: Black people have a rich history encompassing the many heritages of the African diaspora. We need tales that reinforce the idea that Black norms include prosperity, strong work ethics, intellectualism, and creativity to help counteract unconscious bias and illustrate for younger generations that their people have always been a positive part of the American story. As someone said this week, Amanda Gorman didn’t come from nowhere. She’s been here all along, as long as Black people have been on this continent. It’s time to really get to know her and her people.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What books or authors inspired you when writing Home Front Lines?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Brenda Sparks Prescott: I was inspired by <i>Love Stories</i> by Louise Erdrich for its nonlinear story construction and for its indigenous (other than white) protagonists. I was also greatly influenced by Toni Morrison’s <i>Jazz</i>, with its story structures and rhythms that echo the elements of jazz or blues songs. Both of these books are brilliantly out of my league, but in a way that encourages me to strive to be the best I can be.</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4uvK-y2FvFJ93SDyhpxl-niWRW3NQdDS_SM7xVVlnRS0yDtwOji7MEduZrmQnXrKrYNAqF5Wk76v9_kyXAHep7N6pIUO0AefLvJgIIqsSfc1VhO0E9_RQDboR0q1UeIIZt5CTg7RQaes/s1800/Brenda_Prescott-landscape_credit_Justine_Martin_Dinner_Geeks.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1800" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4uvK-y2FvFJ93SDyhpxl-niWRW3NQdDS_SM7xVVlnRS0yDtwOji7MEduZrmQnXrKrYNAqF5Wk76v9_kyXAHep7N6pIUO0AefLvJgIIqsSfc1VhO0E9_RQDboR0q1UeIIZt5CTg7RQaes/w200-h160/Brenda_Prescott-landscape_credit_Justine_Martin_Dinner_Geeks.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Brenda Sparks Prescott lives and writes in Eastern Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. Prescott is the co-editor of <i>Solstice Literary Magazine</i> and her writing has appeared in publications such as <i>The Louisville Review, Crab Orchard Review, </i>and <i>Portland Magazine</i>. She also serves on the advisory board for the Solstice MFA in creative writing program, and is a founding member of Simply Not Done – a women’s writing collaborative. Brenda’s Family has a long history of military service, with records stretching back to the Civil War.</div><div><br /></div><div>Connect with Brenda Sparks Prescott at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bsparksprescott/" target="_blank">@bsparksprescott</a> on Instagram, <a href="https://twitter.com/bsprescott" target="_blank">@bsprescott</a> on Twitter, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brendasparksprescott" target="_blank">BrendaSparksPrescott</a> on Facebook.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-23849363282746931512021-03-23T08:38:00.004-04:002021-04-05T12:25:23.173-04:00Guest Post: Celestine by Azriel Hope<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVMIuKYQp0vUIRjt7CHNcZ1J8W64cgxo-AgvYl3KL3q1BE_gtglkX03Sx82_Y7_SrY94MinHi8Lq6W6W0qs8vHH6QVbwKuy6wkbegGJeJt_ayOdYAxjlr-dLXGsJnYnyGtW3RPwhs_dxL/s500/celestine.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVMIuKYQp0vUIRjt7CHNcZ1J8W64cgxo-AgvYl3KL3q1BE_gtglkX03Sx82_Y7_SrY94MinHi8Lq6W6W0qs8vHH6QVbwKuy6wkbegGJeJt_ayOdYAxjlr-dLXGsJnYnyGtW3RPwhs_dxL/s320/celestine.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Please join me in welcoming Azriel Hope to Let Them Read Books! I'm pleased to have Azriel here today with a guest post about her inspiration for her new historical romance, <i>Celestine</i>. Read on and check out some of the images she used to bring her story world to life!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>A 1900's Parisian Fairytale Romance about the Courtesan who came to Christmas Dinner. Celestine is a rags to riches love story that will take your heart on an arduous journey from heartbreak to whatever lies beyond.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Inspired by the Moulin Rouge and Bridgerton, Celestine will take you behind the curtains of the famed Palais Rose to meet its shining star, the most coveted courtesan in all of Paris.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Adrien Louis is a rich merchant successful in international trading who is in Paris for the World's Fair. With business to attend, he shuts himself away in his cold and forgotten townhouse, left empty after the death of his wife and infant son four years prior.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Ravenously curious sisters who reside across the street notice the arrival of the dashing Monsieur Louis and each plot to entrap him in marriage. Both lonely and unattended by their neglectful and business-minded father who has no interest in securing them matches, they dream of the day when Monsieur Louis will sweep one of them away.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Lost to his melancholy and ready to be rid of the world, Monsieur Louis joins a business associate at the Palais Rose to appease his client's interest. There Adrien sees the stunning Celestine and despite his dark mood, finds himself drawn to her. After paying for an hour's conversation with the bright spirited Celestine, Adrien decides to bring her as his companion to a Christmas Feast his neighbors have insisted he attend. When Adrien realizes how hungry Monsieur Baudelaire's two daughters are to make a match with him, he hires Celestine as a means to thwart them. What he hasn't bargained for is that the beautiful Celestine might just capture his cold heart if only he'd let her in...which he vows to never do.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Celestine is a lightly steamy stand-alone historical romance that will have you clutching your pearls...</i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3tNx6W9" target="_blank">Buy on Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57004896-celestine?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=KpRGHx2gMm&rank=1" target="_blank">Add on Goodreads</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I ghostwrite for a few bestselling romance authors, and for them I write contemporary alpha male, billionaire romances with enough steam to drive a locomotive. As a writer for my own pen name, I play with different levels of steam and storytelling. Well, cut to my screenwriting partner and I writing a Christmas romance movie for a very famous Christmas Romance Television Channel. (Which I can’t announce yet because it hasn’t been announced on the channel.) </div><div><div><br /></div><div>I am in a Zoom meeting for this conservative, family-oriented romance brand and my partner and I are talking about the story, and suddenly I feel like the whore who came to Christmas dinner. I almost laughed out loud in the meeting. I mean, my ghostwriting characters are often pregnant with surprise babies before they have “the kiss.” And that road to pregnancy is fraught with graphic detail. I felt so scandalous! I wanted to blurt out, “Do you have any idea what I actually write for a living?” The analogy in my mind was like putting an adult toy store next to a church…So I figured, why not write a story about the Whore Who Came to Christmas Dinner?<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I had just seen <i>Moulin Rouge</i> and fell in love with that glorious film all over again. What ended up materializing out of the laugh I gave myself was a beautiful story of sacrifice, grief, and love in 1900’s Paris during the age of women’s enlightenment and the World’s Faire. Add to it my grieving a loved one and the story began to take on this amazing textured tone of surviving pain with resilience and hope.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paris was ahead of the rest of the world in allowing women to modernize their ways of dressing, doing business, and creating partnerships. Artists and writers were celebrating the burgeoning women’s liberation, and places like the Moulin Rouge and others gave women a better alternative to the streets for sex work and employment. I figured, why not turn it all into a fairytale?<span></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt0tIf4Iy-R2_PP7EBdEd-EfkUq_leFmr4-wroxJnETUTvuV5BhCS5W4okWcIWp-Ev-ZrUK2MVNfjcIrzgNRekwKCigaTb4R1YPYGe6MeKpvpIyNPcw-Eejozbi0eMIa4O_otVCFcpdzW/s352/celestine+1.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt0tIf4Iy-R2_PP7EBdEd-EfkUq_leFmr4-wroxJnETUTvuV5BhCS5W4okWcIWp-Ev-ZrUK2MVNfjcIrzgNRekwKCigaTb4R1YPYGe6MeKpvpIyNPcw-Eejozbi0eMIa4O_otVCFcpdzW/s320/celestine+1.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>While this picture is from 1920, around the turn of the century women were wearing trousers. This was the inspiration for Celestine to wear Adrien’s clothes. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Celestine is a dancer and also an expensive courtesan forced by her father to service patrons of the theater. I wanted to play with the idea of immigration and poverty and thought of Morocco being a likely place where Celestine’s mother may have been born. She found her way to the theater and, because of her beauty, performed there only to have an illegitimate child with the theater’s lecherous owner. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Celestine’s father is the Swedish owner of the Palais Rose (like the Moulin Rouge) who rules Celestine’s life without regard for her happiness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite all, Celestine is an indescribable beauty with a remarkably bright spirit. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>For Adrien Louis, our wealthy and mysterious merchant, I thought of finding a man with naturally handsome looks, but a sad and pained disposition. This photo fit Monsieur Louis perfectly. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2h3jnWhonp1WhyphenhyphenM_vAX09UlI67GNbyV3Ctdv9VpXChJxGpRVIqmvrTS-67xz-V6uwDqEJTp_-p50Wo_Xs3EXa-v4yaASWt6GK5eV16ON-VTvHd0OoHIYYC0UxFaW4MCM7KTHC7iGps1w/s490/celestine+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2h3jnWhonp1WhyphenhyphenM_vAX09UlI67GNbyV3Ctdv9VpXChJxGpRVIqmvrTS-67xz-V6uwDqEJTp_-p50Wo_Xs3EXa-v4yaASWt6GK5eV16ON-VTvHd0OoHIYYC0UxFaW4MCM7KTHC7iGps1w/s320/celestine+6.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I explored women of the 1900's Moulin Rouge and courtesans of the era.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eGihc49XmzR-dxtqVppWR8w94wYBIXmafa9FaTPoUodU9WYR3zdS4uZPWM98A37du_0IC1-RM5A4PrdwJKfrOgc1xmbdJXqIrLtKCUlN9EdxUQNpyhB-h1LiTzmQ1db16t4mujdX5RCe/s962/celestine+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eGihc49XmzR-dxtqVppWR8w94wYBIXmafa9FaTPoUodU9WYR3zdS4uZPWM98A37du_0IC1-RM5A4PrdwJKfrOgc1xmbdJXqIrLtKCUlN9EdxUQNpyhB-h1LiTzmQ1db16t4mujdX5RCe/s320/celestine+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzm-1Itim6_PrXSfAZXikxr_WPQR7NfOhJx_pbh8Sc6RWzrcpS2KZFjhLNRKG3Oj8RPW177yeLr0cCQO1lt6f6ta18V6YHbim-Uvhso3tSuIt-M6jia45jFy_9eAsP8vuBHsg6O2kmXXY/s1270/celestine+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzm-1Itim6_PrXSfAZXikxr_WPQR7NfOhJx_pbh8Sc6RWzrcpS2KZFjhLNRKG3Oj8RPW177yeLr0cCQO1lt6f6ta18V6YHbim-Uvhso3tSuIt-M6jia45jFy_9eAsP8vuBHsg6O2kmXXY/s320/celestine+3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also researched the World's Faire and Christmas in 1900's Paris.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q892eHQDXlNm23sIicCjlxRPRprY2OtfsT5piigvgdiwOZfo7Hrq3NpZuGohFMfKjL9CzS7N3frBBTmz4uoJmPXzD8Uzd6ddBp6_Ulqk4ELRPt31LlwmF0MlEsWJF81QRkrBXkQVkl_P/s765/celestine+4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="765" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q892eHQDXlNm23sIicCjlxRPRprY2OtfsT5piigvgdiwOZfo7Hrq3NpZuGohFMfKjL9CzS7N3frBBTmz4uoJmPXzD8Uzd6ddBp6_Ulqk4ELRPt31LlwmF0MlEsWJF81QRkrBXkQVkl_P/s320/celestine+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbroPsmdWMEmyjQyTCWOg02Qcw7qGH1gn2tdiyuSjoFC0UPJCqXgH3-vdm25X5LGimAYC84ScGa5SZV9u3CjqLHWOeXnXA-825U0TnE9BOhEPTZGTMyx2_n5CChJ5j4Ij4gIhdAaikGDxj/s799/celestine+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="799" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbroPsmdWMEmyjQyTCWOg02Qcw7qGH1gn2tdiyuSjoFC0UPJCqXgH3-vdm25X5LGimAYC84ScGa5SZV9u3CjqLHWOeXnXA-825U0TnE9BOhEPTZGTMyx2_n5CChJ5j4Ij4gIhdAaikGDxj/s320/celestine+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">And from these images and my imagination,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Celestine: A 1900’s Parisian Fairytale Romance</i> was born. </div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.azrielhope.com/" target="_blank">Visit Azriel's website to learn more about her books!</a></span></p>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-63140115616490709712021-03-15T13:43:00.003-04:002021-04-05T12:25:45.565-04:00Spotlight: From the Ashes by Melissa Addey<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYlQJpSbRaLcgb4eGzzTAvjcIY3-ihM1jgEjh6nbJfUoN-M3xEVjfIrWwAuwMx6BzWI4P-1moINOOFvMwmymPKeQsmlb3UFp9sXpZkDOGDVAMoOURbUYLSG4DZzPTX81JaJinSiILCm6g/s2048/From-the-Ashes_1877x3000-Amazon-300dpi.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1281" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYlQJpSbRaLcgb4eGzzTAvjcIY3-ihM1jgEjh6nbJfUoN-M3xEVjfIrWwAuwMx6BzWI4P-1moINOOFvMwmymPKeQsmlb3UFp9sXpZkDOGDVAMoOURbUYLSG4DZzPTX81JaJinSiILCm6g/s320/From-the-Ashes_1877x3000-Amazon-300dpi.jpg" /></a></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>From the Ashes</b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by Melissa Addey</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Published February 4, 2021</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Genre: Historical Fiction</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>ebook/paperback; 318 pages</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><i>Rome, 80AD. A gigantic new amphitheatre is being built. The Emperor has plans for gladiatorial Games on a scale no-one has ever seen before. But the Games don’t just happen. They must be made. And Marcus, the man in charge of creating them, has just lost everything he held dear when Pompeii disappeared under the searing wrath of Vesuvius. Now it will fall to Althea, the slave woman who serves as his scribe, to ensure the Colosseum is inaugurated on time – and that Marcus makes his way out of the darkness that calls to him. First in the Colosseum series. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/30KRTx1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://melissaaddey.com">melissaaddey.com</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nURw1U2rpLE" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Excerpt:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">“What were you thinking?”</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The triclinium of my master’s house looks as though it has been turned into a brothel. The wall panels, which usually depict classical scenes befitting a grand holiday villa, have been repainted entirely since this morning with images more befitting… well, a brothel. The tables are opulently laid for tonight’s gathering and the couches for the guests are draped with elegant throws and plumped-up cushions, but my mistress is staring at the household slaves, who have all been stripped naked. Their newly plucked private parts have been painted in gold, the better to highlight them. They stand huddled together, faces drained with shock.</div><div>“Lucius! What were you thinking?”</div><div>My mistress is appalled. She comes from one of the best patrician families, albeit a rather impoverished and distant branch. In marrying my master, a handily wealthy import-exporter from the equestrian class, she has had to put up with many failings of etiquette over the past few years, most of which she is adept at smoothing over, but this time he has gone too far. She stands in the doorway, trying to look away from the images on the walls, which leave nothing to the imagination. Men with men, women with women, men with women, women with beasts… all in fresh, bold paint, some of it significantly larger than life. Her young daughter is coming, and she puts out an unseeing hand behind her back, seeking to push the girl away.</div><div>“To your room, Lucilla,”</div><div>“But mother –”</div><div>“To your room!”</div><div>Lucilla reluctantly departs. I’d like to follow her, but my mistress is blocking the doorway and I don’t want to draw attention to myself. Although I am the only slave fully clothed, I fear that my apparel might offend her even more than if I were naked. I stay still, pressed against the wall in the corner.</div><div>“Splendid, isn’t it,” says my master, casting a lingering glance over one of the slave boys. “It’ll be a memorable evening.”</div><div>“Memorable?” My mistress’ eyes are bulging out of her head, her already pale skin drained white. “It looks like something organised by –” her voice drops to a hiss “– Nero!”</div><div>“Fit for an emperor?” he asks. Deliberately misunderstanding.</div><div>“Fit for a madman,” she spits back. “I cannot be seen at such a gathering!”</div><div>“Just as well I’ve arranged a substitute for you then, isn’t it?” he says.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div>My heart sinks as he gestures towards me. A look of humiliated rage grows on her face as she takes in the expensive gauzes and finely woven fabrics draped around me, my elaborately dressed hair, the gold jewellery dangling from my hair, ears, neck. A slave, dressed as though I were the rich lady of the house, about to play her part as hostess for the evening, as though it were Saturnalia when slaves become masters and masters play the fools. But this is not Saturnalia. This is an important banquet, a dinner hosted by her husband for their rich and powerful neighbours before the autumnal return to Rome, leaving their Pompeiian holiday homes behind for another year. An ingratiating attempt to be part of a class he knows secretly look down on him, and on her for marrying him, wealthy or not. And now this evening is to be staged as a debauched orgy, something from the bad old days of Nero, when anything went? <span></span></div><div>She hovers, uncertain whether she should insist on being hostess and suffer the humiliation of knowing she is being laughed at for arranging such a vulgar event, or disappear into her rooms and pretend she knew nothing about it, dismissing it with an airy laugh if anyone mentions it, “Oh men, they can be so crude you know, but one has to indulge their needs sometimes. Best not to enquire what goes on at their ‘little dinners’!” Her face colours as she contemplates the two options and I can’t help but feel sorry for her, although I know that, ultimately, she will take this humiliation out on me, since she cannot take it out on her husband. There is a final hesitation, a welling-up of tears in her eyes and then she turns her back and leaves the room, trying to keep her head high in front of the servants, although they are humiliated enough themselves at this moment. They have never been treated like this. The women and some of the younger and more attractive men have put up with occasional wandering hands from the master, as well as some of his less refined guests, but they have never been presented like this, as though they were fruits to pluck from serving platters. </div><div>“I hope you’re pleased with my gift?” asks my master.</div><div>I glance down at the heavy gold cuff on my wrist. It is worth a fortune, I could live humbly for years on what it cost him. I bow my head, force the words out of my mouth. “Thank you, Dominus.”</div><div>“Excellent. I must go and wash before I change, I’m sweating like a hog.” He slaps the nearest girl on the behind and leaves the room. </div><div>“At least you get a gold bracelet,” mutters Myrtis to me. She’s the cook and my best friend. She’s seething with rage. I can smell the sour reek of it coming off her in waves. Her pendulous breasts and slack belly are past their prime, she feels the gold paint as only a mockery. </div><div>I look down again at the bracelet, feel its weight. </div><div>“What in Hades was Master thinking, employing that man, anyway?” asks Myrtis.</div><div>“What man?”</div><div>“The man organising all of this. Whatever his name is…”</div><div>“Marcus,” supplies Felix.</div><div>“I don’t know who you mean,” I say. </div><div>“The man who runs the amphitheatre.”</div><div>“Runs it?”</div><div>Myrtis is losing her temper. “What are you, stupid? You think the Games happen by themselves once an editor has said what he wants? You think no-one tells the gladiators when to step out? Who to fight? Who do you think orders in the animals and advertises the shows?”</div><div>I’ve never really given it much thought. I rarely go to the Games. When I do, I am there under sufferance and I try to leave before midday when the criminals are executed, or at least arrive after that, if our master is intent on watching the gladiatorial shows in the afternoons. My only thought when I am at the amphitheatre is how quickly I can leave. But yes, of course, there must be a team who make the Games happen, just like at the theatre: there must be costume-makers, rehearsals for re-enacting bloody legends, that sort of thing.</div><div>“Master said he wanted a ‘real show’ putting on for his guests,” says Felix. “He said this man Marcus arranged Games with female gladiators and dwarfs last time he was at the amphitheatre.”</div><div>Myrtis and I exchange glances. How vulgar. Not even proper battles, not even professional fighters fighting, and sometimes dying, like men, just specialty acts, titillation for a bored crowd who’ve seen it all before. </div><div>“But I was only out with the Master a few hours,” I object. “How has all of this happened in one afternoon? He’s repainted the walls.” </div><div>“The walls? That’s what’s grabbing your attention in this room? Not twenty naked men and women with their tits and bits painted in gold?”</div><div>“Well, how did any of it get done?”</div><div>“The minute you and the Master went out a man arrived, with a massive team in tow. Ten painters came into this room and got to work. We were all dragged into the small baths down the road, which were empty except for us, they must have hired them out especially. There was a whole team of pluckers, and they gave us no choice about it. You should have heard Felix yell. For a big man, he’s got an awfully high-pitched squeal. And an awfully tiny – ”</div><div>“Shut your mouth, Myrtis,” grunts Felix. </div><div>“After we’d all been plucked and washed, we were brought back to this room. And there were people waiting for us. I thought we’d be given clean robes or wear something fancier than usual, some theme, perhaps. But, oh no. Gold paint. And they had already finished the wall paintings. Though they’re still wet. I’ve half a mind to smudge them all so the guests can’t use them as instructions. Goddess Libertas, watch over us tonight, we’re to be used as nothing better than whores.”<span><!--more--></span></div><div>There’s not much I can say. It’s clear that the household slaves can expect groping at the very best, or a great deal worse, tonight. I grimace. Our master, so far, has been more of a half-hearted groper than much else, and we’ve been grateful for it: we all know slaves who work in other houses and get a worse time of it. Looks like our time has come. “Where has this man gone who’s organising all of this?”</div><div>“Oh, he dismissed the painters when they’d finished their tasks and went off to the kitchen with his own cooks. Apparently, I’m not fit to make tonight’s meal, I’m just a bit of fun on the side.”</div><div>“What are they serving?”</div><div>“How would I know? I told you, I’m not fit to cook a meal for his guests. After serving Domina’s family for years, before she married this buffoon. I was expensive, you know. Price of three horses, they paid for me.” Myrtis is clearly smarting in more ways than one. </div><div>“Should I go and see what’s happening?”</div><div>“If you’re allowed free rein of the house, why not? We were told to stay right here until the ‘honoured guests’ arrive.”</div><div>But I am stopped by the closed door of the kitchen, guarded by a little weasel of a man, who nevertheless proves quite firm. No, I may not enter. Yes, he does know who I am. No, I may not enquire what is on the menu. Yes, his master is called Marcus. No, I may not speak with him. </div><div>“Look,” he says at last, smiling as though he has been in this same situation more than once. “If I were you, I would just go back to the triclinium and wait. Everything will be taken care of. You need not worry about anything. Marcus is very experienced at this kind of thing. He will not disappoint your master.”</div><div>“I’m not worried about my master,” I hiss, beginning to lose my temper. “Half the slaves of this household are gathered in the triclinium, about to be groped and –and worse. I don’t see you stripped naked and painted with gold.”</div><div>He grins, showing missing teeth. “Sounds like I’m missing out.” He touches my arm. “Seriously, don’t worry. And tell the other slaves not to worry either. Marcus knows what he is doing, I swear on Sancus. You’ll see.”</div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I write historical fiction and have completed two series: The Moroccan Empire, set in 11th century Morocco and Spain, and The Forbidden City, set in 18th century China. My current series focuses on the ‘backstage team’ of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre) set in 80AD in Ancient Rome. <br />I have a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Surrey, run regular workshops at the British Library and speak at various writing festivals during the year. I was the Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library in 2016 and won the 2019 Novel London and Page to Podcast awards. I live in London with my husband and two children. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />For more information on me and my books, visit my website <a href="http://www.melissaaddey.com">www.melissaaddey.com</a>. </div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-35726315399135101952021-03-14T10:45:00.002-04:002021-04-05T12:26:17.799-04:00Blog Tour Guest Post: The Steel Beneath the Silk by Patricia Bracewell<span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVegNBEpvmnCw5KL3POr-qybGVcKDlMb1yptMkoBf08PjQKFfMTeFmOgF8-z728IpRVz69LQBatVDtzAEfJG6IFyWO59nl0t_AO5bzYt_9Bw8syNvOv1fVLBaA0EU5KetntcFeIYe3eilZ/s600/Steel+Beneath+the+Silk.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVegNBEpvmnCw5KL3POr-qybGVcKDlMb1yptMkoBf08PjQKFfMTeFmOgF8-z728IpRVz69LQBatVDtzAEfJG6IFyWO59nl0t_AO5bzYt_9Bw8syNvOv1fVLBaA0EU5KetntcFeIYe3eilZ/s320/Steel+Beneath+the+Silk.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Patricia Bracewell to Let Them Read Books! Patricia is touring the blogosphere with her brand new release, the long-awaited conclusion to her Emma of Normandy trilogy, <i>The Steel Beneath the Silk</i>. I had the pleasure of helping Patricia <a href="http://historicalfictionbookcovers.com" target="_blank">design the cover</a>, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a guest post about the women who have been left out of the chronicles of history and how she is giving them a voice. Read on and enter to win a copy of <i>The Steel Beneath the Silk</i>!</span><div><br /></div><div><div><i>A breathtaking conclusion to Bracewell’s Emma of Normandy Trilogy, brimming with treachery, heartache, tenderness and passion as the English queen confronts ambitious and traitorous councilors, invading armies and the Danish king’s power-hungry concubine.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>In the year 1012 England’s Norman-born Queen Emma has been ten years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred. The marriage is a bitterly unhappy one, between a queen who seeks to create her own sphere of influence within the court and a suspicious king who eyes her efforts with hostility and resentment. But royal discord shifts to grudging alliance when Cnut of Denmark, with the secret collusion of his English concubine Elgiva, invades England at the head of a massive viking army. Amid the chaos of war, Emma must outwit a fierce enemy whose goal is conquest and outmaneuver the cunning Elgiva, who threatens all those whom Emma loves.</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.amazon.com/Steel-Beneath-Silk-Novel-ebook/dp/B08P5892K9" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-steel-beneath-the-silk-patricia-bracewell/1138375790?ean=2940162677932" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">BARNES AND NOBLE</a></h3></div><div><br /></div><div><div>My third novel about Emma of Normandy is set in the early 11th century during a period in England’s history when the kingdom was assaulted by wave after wave of viking armies that were determined on conquest. My working title was <i>Perilous Tides</i>, and for me that phrase had several meanings. It was a reference to the ocean tides that carried the vikings to England; to the tides of blood that were shed by English and vikings alike during that war; and to an actual tidal wave that devastated England in 1014. These events were all perilous for Emma and for the English. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, as I reached the end of one of many drafts of the novel it was clear to me that the working title didn’t do justice to the story that I’d written. As with my earlier books, I had attempted to do what the chroniclers of the 11th century did not. While the scribes reported battles, betrayals, murders, shifting alliances, the deaths of kings, even a tidal wave, they did not describe, except very, very obliquely, what was happening to the women. Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle—the contemporary, recorded history of the time—one might come to the conclusion that there were no women in England at all during those years. <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>So after weeks of brainstorming, I came up with the title that is now blazoned across the book’s cover. <i>The Steel Beneath the Silk</i> is a reference to the enduring strength of the women who suffered through those years of war and deprivation, but who were ignored by the chroniclers and so have been largely forgotten. Queen Emma, of course, is the novel’s central figure, but she is not alone. The women who lived through such a terrible time included her stepdaughters, the noblewomen of the queen’s household, the abbesses, and even the refugees seeking protection from the horrors of war. <span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I was able to pull some of them from the sparse pages of the history of the time—women who were mentioned because of their husbands or sons or fathers. We know about Emma because she was the daughter of the Duke of Normandy, was the queen to two kings, was the mother of two kings, and she was the great aunt of William the Conqueror. Indeed, Emma made certain that she would be remembered. She commissioned a book, known now as <i>The Encomium Emmae Reginae</i>, that documented events of that time as she wanted them recorded. Even so, her name echoes down the ages only faintly. </div><div><br /></div><div>We know far less about the noblewoman Ælfgifu of Northampton, who appears in my books as Elgiva. Her claims to fame? She was the daughter of a man who was murdered on the orders of a king. She was given (forced?) into marriage to an enemy of England. She was the last survivor of a noble family, and she would bear a son who, we know from her later history, would one day claim the English throne with her help. Clearly she had determination and grit. One historian refers to her as “powerful and ruthless.” But we know little about what she experienced in the years covered by my novel or what she thought about Queen Emma. We don’t know what she felt toward the viking she was perhaps forced to marry, nor what hardships she faced. That page of her life was blank, and I was happy to write on it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The lives of Emma’s stepdaughters are as unknowable as Elgiva’s. We know their father’s name because he was a king. We know the names of their brothers and we know the names of the men that the girls married. Beyond that, their lives are shrouded in mist. One of them became a nun…maybe. The others certainly wed and may have had children, but it was up to me to imagine the losses and hardships, possibly including exile, that they suffered in the midst of war. </div><div><br /></div><div>And what of the women who were not nobly born? The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle claimed that the enemy "plundered and burned and slew all they met," and that word “all” is chilling. Women’s homes and fields were burned, their husbands and children killed or wounded, and if the women survived they had to pick up the pieces. One of the characters I invented for my book is a stand-in for an entire kingdom of women who endured such terror, loss, and hardship.</div><div><br /></div><div>The women of early England and all the women who’ve endured and continue to endure the trial by fire of war—they are the steel beneath the silk. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFgCEUmpLHAK6j0HjPgsnN1ErsGr8nhyphenhyphenbZaNqPGLdtpsg050SVW9SOMm6wam2cpl2WaVTi3paystPr2TMXCVsBUFVf5yHBYWoHcoD0OMQo95ScPJL9ZRsDf5scpU1yl_N4AQKt1izimqx/s373/Patricia+Bracewell.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFgCEUmpLHAK6j0HjPgsnN1ErsGr8nhyphenhyphenbZaNqPGLdtpsg050SVW9SOMm6wam2cpl2WaVTi3paystPr2TMXCVsBUFVf5yHBYWoHcoD0OMQo95ScPJL9ZRsDf5scpU1yl_N4AQKt1izimqx/w134-h200/Patricia+Bracewell.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>Patricia Bracewell grew up in Los Angeles where her love of stories led to college degrees in Literature, a career as a high school English teacher, and a yearning to write. Her first novel, <i>Shadow on the Crown</i>, about the 11th-century queen of England, Emma of Normandy, was published in 2013. Its sequel, <i>The Price of Blood</i>, appeared in 2015. The final book of her Emma of Normandy Trilogy, <i>The Steel Beneath the Silk</i> was published March 2, 2021.</div><div><br /></div><div>Patricia lives with her husband in Oakland, California.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a fg_scanned="1" href="http://www.patriciabracewell.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaBracewellAuthor" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/patbracewell" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6442240.Patricia_Bracewell" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a></h3></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Steel Beneath the Silk is on a blog tour!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/thesteelbeneaththesilkblogtour/" target="_blank">View the tour schedule</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrwmdvBrg8eH0tZMu6H2O9NVeJgRutj-uUdnHmVYOe5LFZnjsUJkXRdnfelDcGAFKPLk6Bx-cGNYU5C9oSIIVjXDwLH8WyXTNz4ZHjNms85RYAvFufMhVjimw-dWSylsRnX42eaz4rF52/s645/Steel+Beneath+the+Silk_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="645" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrwmdvBrg8eH0tZMu6H2O9NVeJgRutj-uUdnHmVYOe5LFZnjsUJkXRdnfelDcGAFKPLk6Bx-cGNYU5C9oSIIVjXDwLH8WyXTNz4ZHjNms85RYAvFufMhVjimw-dWSylsRnX42eaz4rF52/w400-h240/Steel+Beneath+the+Silk_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;"><b>GIVEAWAY!</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>During the Blog Tour, we are giving away two paperback copies of The Steel Beneath the Silk!</div><div><br /></div><div>The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on March 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/LZbQu/the-steel-beneath-the-silk" rel="nofollow">The Steel Beneath the Silk</a>
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Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-48411946380822826772021-02-03T09:15:00.008-05:002021-04-05T12:26:33.519-04:00Guest Post: In a Town Called Paradox by Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pqEMn9MEypXLpKuuuXkHuPsfqwqIo28-0ofPRpTSRYpXFTtVGs2KLVv263Ri-n5Dfz88mfNaHI5IXZxHGmhhR6XMR_iYJQeCgJ6NqoELHgtHEQXy7h05KliTd1JNf_gvm05XCPD1ySsI/s2000/In+a+Town+Called+Paradox.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1253" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pqEMn9MEypXLpKuuuXkHuPsfqwqIo28-0ofPRpTSRYpXFTtVGs2KLVv263Ri-n5Dfz88mfNaHI5IXZxHGmhhR6XMR_iYJQeCgJ6NqoELHgtHEQXy7h05KliTd1JNf_gvm05XCPD1ySsI/w200-h320/In+a+Town+Called+Paradox.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Richard Starks to Let Them Read Books! Richard is co-author with Miriam Murcutt of the just-released historical novel, <i>In A Town Called Paradox</i>. I'm so happy to have Richard here today with a guest post on how it’s the right details that help make a story come alive.</span><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>“I wasn’t looking for Marilyn Monroe when I bumped into her, even though I knew she was in town filming River of No Return…”</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>So begins In a Town Called Paradox, which asks the question: If each of us has a life story, then who determines how it unfolds and how it should end?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>After her mother’s untimely death, the young Corin Dunbar is banished to live with her aunt Jessie, an obsessively religious spinster who runs a failing cattle ranch near a speck of a town called Paradox in southeast Utah. It’s the mid-1950s, and Corin hates her new life until the Big Five Hollywood studios arrive, lured by the fiery red-rock scenery that provides a perfect backdrop to the blockbuster Westerns they plan to film. Overnight, Paradox is transformed from a rural backwater to a playground for glamorous stars like Marilyn Monroe and Rock Hudson.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Seduced by the glitz of the movies, Corin finds work with the studios, but after a brush with the casting couch, she channels her growing ambitions into saving the ranch—the jewel of the Dunbar family for three generations. When she falls for a charismatic stranger, her future seems bright, but a tragic accident she believes is her fault wrecks her dreams and forces her to make an agonizing decision that will change the course of her life.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Told mainly by Corin—now a middle-aged woman haunted by this watershed moment—In a Town Called Paradox is a compelling read that redefines the meaning of love. </i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/36BrwwM" target="_blank">Available on Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55825191-in-a-town-called-paradox?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=CncHw52gqh&rank=1" target="_blank">Add on Goodreads</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>In A Town Called Paradox</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The devil is in the detail – or so people say, usually in relation to contracts or international treaties. But detail is just as important in a novel – especially when, as authors, we are trying to draw readers into a fictional world they may not be familiar with.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Our latest novel,<i> In A Town Called Paradox</i>, is set in Utah during the 1950s, when the Big Five Hollywood studios descended on that state, lured by the fiery red-rock scenery that formed the perfect backdrop to the blockbuster movies they wanted to shoot. Their arrival turned rural backwaters – like our fictional town of Paradox – into playgrounds for glamorous stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Rock Hudson, and in the process upended the lives of the local residents. We thought this setting would be ideal (if it had worked for Hollywood, it should work for us), but to make it credible we needed to salt our scenes with telling detail that was both intriguing and – more importantly – authentic.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />We didn’t want to write vaguely about movie cameras and lights, but instead needed precise details of dollies, tracks, cranes and booms. When we introduced a sheriff on duty, we couldn’t just put him in uniform; we needed to highlight the fit of his shirt, the width of his tie, and the particular brown of his pants (that inexplicably were known as ‘pinks’). And when we created a scene with a stuntman, we couldn’t have him tumbling from a height, but had to show how, in those days, he was expected to land – breaking his fall on a stack of cardboard boxes precariously balanced on a mattress.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And then there was ranching. Our main character, Corin Dunbar, is rejected as a child and sent from New York to live with her aunt Jessie, a religious spinster who runs a failing cattle ranch near Paradox. We needed to create – in detail – what her life was like. At the same time, we needed to make sure the detail we used enhanced our characters as well as their story. It could not be allowed to slow the action; but needed to blend in so our readers would unknowingly absorb it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />To that end, we traveled many times to Utah (we live in neighboring Colorado, so already knew the state well) and tracked down people who remembered the days when Hollywood came to town. (Among them was one retired rancher, well into his eighties, who’d worked on set as a movie extra. He gave us a line that became the catchphrase of our fictional Paradox mayor: “When the studios arrive, they take only pictures and leave only money.”)<span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />We listened carefully to what these people had to say – and how they said it. Because dialog in a novel can’t be just talk, but needs to reveal much about character, background and attitude. This was of special importance to us, because in addition to Corin from New York, we had two other main characters: an Englishman who’d been born and raised in the Amazon jungle, then arrived in Paradox because of his love of the movies that were filmed there; and a Native American who’d been convicted of murder but was now on the run near Paradox. (It makes sense in the book, especially when these characters come together to highlight the theme: If each of us has a life story, who determines how it unfolds and how it should end?) But we couldn’t have this diverse trio all speaking the same.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />For a while, we played around with 1950s’ slang, as a way of making the characters sound real and at the same time underlining our time period. Some of the expressions current back then had considerable appeal to us (“smog in the noggin”, meaning confused; or “agitate the gravel”, meaning to drive away quickly; or “ice it”, meaning to forget about something), but wisely we decided they would be going a step too far. We didn’t want our readers to think the title of our book was In A Town Called Parody, not <i>In A Town Called Paradox</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/36BrwwM" target="_blank">Available on Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55825191-in-a-town-called-paradox?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=CncHw52gqh&rank=1" target="_blank">Add on Goodreads</a></span></b><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Authors:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3p15ja3PBy3nQZTYJkjwt4Qiv2Vbg2vE5nQFZdCIwqiO2A_S_KONJrIfJRO9bFUYMuAvao_fPsdyYFu_rgr5bBQYNWEIYBsd0Cq0mfVfEp8zLZPCIt7aacdPB2mUsOxZlZ7oyTQBECDlW/s2048/Richard+Starks.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3p15ja3PBy3nQZTYJkjwt4Qiv2Vbg2vE5nQFZdCIwqiO2A_S_KONJrIfJRO9bFUYMuAvao_fPsdyYFu_rgr5bBQYNWEIYBsd0Cq0mfVfEp8zLZPCIt7aacdPB2mUsOxZlZ7oyTQBECDlW/w150-h200/Richard+Starks.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />Richard Starks has lived a writer’s life, first as a journalist, then editor, then magazine publisher, and now a full-time author. He’s written both fiction and non-fiction books in genres that include crime, horror, travel, true-life adventure (both his and other peoples). His books have been published in five languages and seven countries. He’s also freelanced for business and consumer magazines, written for television, and completed the novelization of one of the early horror movies of director David Cronenberg.</div><div><br /></div><div>Four of his more recent books, including <i>In A Town Called Paradox</i>, were co-written with Miriam Murcutt.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOM_hwqZxWjN1Rn5345EFF2eJUsAQgIh635GIw98OVZJXiv2FVASQkqSoejBrrwIppZmQ5qYVBWA889ylJAhxEZinpjdm8eP3URvr71b9EzCyMapChxBdZnZr00Nga3CDwGd-Wbz9EUw50/s4000/Miriam+Murcutt.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOM_hwqZxWjN1Rn5345EFF2eJUsAQgIh635GIw98OVZJXiv2FVASQkqSoejBrrwIppZmQ5qYVBWA889ylJAhxEZinpjdm8eP3URvr71b9EzCyMapChxBdZnZr00Nga3CDwGd-Wbz9EUw50/w200-h150/Miriam+Murcutt.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Miriam is a former journalist, editor and marketing executive who has an M.A. in English Literature. When not busy writing, she’s a student of Spanish and a volunteer interviewer for a Carnegie Library oral history archive.</div><div><br /></div><div>The two writers often think they should have focused on one genre, one series or one character. But researching their books has taken them to Tibet, Greenland, Spain, London, the Amazon basin, and, most recently, to the hidden canyons of Utah. So no one’s complaining.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.starksmurcutt.com" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="http://facebook.com/@starksmurcutt" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/@StarksMurcutt" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/richardstarks_author " target="_blank">Instagram</a></b></span></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-38713720266965877942020-11-26T06:00:00.001-05:002020-11-26T06:00:03.877-05:00Happy Holidays from Let Them Read Books!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LqMtMMAA9NzS1XmGddXLcKDFqsz3WnSiuc6kCGAbTdanhKG-UEDau71lRjlg15iqf9NpcWunhEZiHCxBqXO5FrotVKlGYcFP588B1wbhdFoKMrN8vLYvm67TT4JEINSlCHX-1G9Bx5zu/s600/depositphotos_7668546-stock-illustration-decorated-happy-holidays-text-with.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="600" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LqMtMMAA9NzS1XmGddXLcKDFqsz3WnSiuc6kCGAbTdanhKG-UEDau71lRjlg15iqf9NpcWunhEZiHCxBqXO5FrotVKlGYcFP588B1wbhdFoKMrN8vLYvm67TT4JEINSlCHX-1G9Bx5zu/w400-h299/depositphotos_7668546-stock-illustration-decorated-happy-holidays-text-with.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: red; font-size: xx-large; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Let Them Read Books is on hiatus through the holidays!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Thank you so much for your support throughout the year, a year that's reminded us of the importance of books to transport us in time and place!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Wishing you and yours a very merry season!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">I'll see you in 2021!</span></div><br /><p></p>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-47031248576314040012020-11-24T07:45:00.002-05:002020-11-24T07:52:19.471-05:00Blog Tour Q&A with Mimi Matthews, Author of Gentleman Jim<div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk39suuW_ZfJOjFw5ZYDAOg-nQy2u4CVYAvcrCJXC6P6SABp-YwK_umMUwDV3XstwWlzJ7u5xU0LgYpYImBjha7J3laINk0OLrpJG_b0q0JEXaGw2kY3wbUsCjDE0xd0fO8kQjX2FCzPxw/s2048/Gentleman+Jim+by+Mimi+Matthews+2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk39suuW_ZfJOjFw5ZYDAOg-nQy2u4CVYAvcrCJXC6P6SABp-YwK_umMUwDV3XstwWlzJ7u5xU0LgYpYImBjha7J3laINk0OLrpJG_b0q0JEXaGw2kY3wbUsCjDE0xd0fO8kQjX2FCzPxw/s320/Gentleman+Jim+by+Mimi+Matthews+2020.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming bestselling author Mimi Matthews to Let Them Read Books! Mimi is touring the blogosphere with her new release, <i>Gentleman Jim</i>, and I recently had the chance to ask her some questions about writing this tale of romance and revenge!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>She Couldn't Forget...</i></div><div><i><br />Wealthy squire's daughter Margaret Honeywell was always meant to marry her neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe, but it's bastard-born Nicholas Seaton who has her heart. Raised alongside her on her father's estate, Nick is the rumored son of notorious highwayman Gentleman Jim. When Fred frames him for theft, Nick escapes into the night, vowing to find his legendary sire. But Nick never returns. A decade later, he's long been presumed dead.</i></div><div><i><br />He Wouldn't Forgive...</i></div><div><i><br />After years spent on the continent, John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has finally come home to England. Tall, blond, and dangerous, he's on a mission to restore his family's honor. If he can mete out a bit of revenge along the way, so much the better. But he hasn't reckoned for Maggie Honeywell. She's bold and beautiful--and entirely convinced he's someone else.</i></div><div><i><br />As danger closes in, St. Clare is torn between love and vengeance. Will he sacrifice one to gain other? Or, with a little daring, will he find a way to have them both?</i><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Advance Praise:</b></span></div><div><br />"Tartly elegant. . . A vigorous, sparkling, and entertaining love story with plenty of Austen-ite wit."— <i>Kirkus Reviews</i>, starred review</div><div><br />"Matthews ups the ante with a wildly suspenseful romance..."— <i>Library Journal</i>, starred review</div><div><br />"Equally passionate and powerful...Mimi Matthews proves once again that she is a master of historical fiction in Gentleman Jim."— <i>Readers' Favorite</i></div><div><br />"Rollicking and romantic, passionate and intriguing...Regency romance does not get any better than Gentleman Jim."— <i>Relz Reviewz</i></div><div><br /></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3kGgfjL"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">AMAZON</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gentleman-jim-mimi-matthews/1136179655?ean=9781733056991"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BARNES & NOBLE</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">| </span></b><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Gentleman-Jim-Mimi-Matthews/9781733056991?ref=grid-view&qid=1604012293610&sr=1-3"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BOOK DEPOSITORY</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781733056991"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">INDIEBOUND</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/books/gentleman-jim-by-mimi-matthews-2020-02-26"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BOOKBUB</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49471321-gentleman-jim?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=lYfRKpapSz&rank=1">GOODREADS</a></span></b></p></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Hi Mimi! Thanks so much for visiting Let Them Read Books!</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>What inspired you to write <i>Gentleman Jim</i>?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I’m a huge fan of Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, and of Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel <i>The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling</i>. I love the idea of hidden identities, and of justice deferred—but not denied.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Did your characters pop into your head fully formed or did they take shape as you wrote?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Maggie and Nicholas were pretty well formed in my mind when I started the story. Of course, they developed and changed as I wrote. Their growth from passionate reckless teens into (slightly) less reckless adults was part of their journey.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What was the most challenging aspect of writing this story?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I wrote the first few chapters of <i>Gentleman Jim</i> several years ago. I’ve grown as a writer since then, so it was a challenge to revise those early chapters and then write the remaining 70% of the story from scratch without losing the spark of inspiration I’d had in the beginning.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Do you have a favorite scene in the book?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes! It’s the tavern brawl. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What do you hope readers take away from Gentleman Jim?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I simply hope readers enjoy it, and that it can offer some escape for them during these perilous times. There are other themes, of course, but escapism really is the main point of this one</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What are you working on now?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I’m working on my novel <i>The Siren of Sussex</i>, the first book in a new Victorian romance series I’m writing for Berkley/Penguin Random House. It’s about a bold, bluestocking equestrienne and the talented half-Indian tailor she hires to design her daring riding habits. The story features some of the characters from my <i>Parish Orphans of Devon</i> series.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>USA Today</i> bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning proper Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in <i>Library Journal, Publishers Weekly</i>, and <i>Kirkus</i>, and her articles have been featured on the <i>Victorian Web</i>, the <i>Journal of Victorian Culture</i>, and in syndication at <i>BUST Magazine</i>. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats. Her next romance, <i>The Siren of Sussex</i>, will be out in 2022 from Berkley/Penguin Random House.</div><div><br /></div><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mimimatthews.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">WEBSITE</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><a href="https://twitter.com/MimiMatthewsEsq"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">TWITTER</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MimiMatthewsAuthor"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">FACEBOOK</span></b></a><a name="_Hlk54877485"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> | </span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/MimiMatthewsEsq/_saved/">PINTEREST</a> | </span></b><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/mimi-matthews"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BOOKBUB</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
| <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16948224.Mimi_Matthews"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">GOODREADS</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkgC8RElOcnSILD7IYhWh7qYvptIYeKHWhdk-DO7UP8tGclD64hyLoat7W2etmBsp65kaPj5IbcaFNkTVUWa4mMFq49Vv_oQSYl38VpmyTy3NxjczEz5pvlm_-d8WOlRd9zka9cHLaiHy/s750/Gentleman+Jim+Blog+Tour+Graphic+Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkgC8RElOcnSILD7IYhWh7qYvptIYeKHWhdk-DO7UP8tGclD64hyLoat7W2etmBsp65kaPj5IbcaFNkTVUWa4mMFq49Vv_oQSYl38VpmyTy3NxjczEz5pvlm_-d8WOlRd9zka9cHLaiHy/w400-h266/Gentleman+Jim+Blog+Tour+Graphic+Final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Gentleman Jim</i> is on a blog tour!</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Join the virtual blog tour of GENTLEMAN JIM; A TALE OF ROMANCE AND REVENGE, Mimi Matthews’s highly acclaimed new historical romance novel, November 9 through December 6, 2020. Forty-five popular blogs specializing in historical fiction, historical romance, and Austenesque fiction will join in the celebration of its release with exclusive excerpts, interviews, spotlights, or reviews of this new Regency-era novel set in Somerset, England. </div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 09 </span><a href="http://relzreviewz.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Relz
Reviewz</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Character Spotlight)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 09 </span><a href="https://lifeofliterature.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Life of Literature</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 09 </span><a href="https://austenprose.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Austenprose—A
Jane Austen Blog</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 10 </span><a href="https://savvyverseandwit.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Savvy Verse and Wit</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Interview)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 10 </span><a href="https://greenishbookshelf.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Greenish Bookshelf</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 11 </span><a href="http://www.libraryofcleanreads.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Library
of Clean Reads</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 11 </span><a href="https://www.silverpetticoatreview.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Silver Petticoat Reviews</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Excerpt) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 12 </span><a href="http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bookworm
Lisa</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 12 </span><a href="http://heidi-reads.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Heidi
Reads</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 13 </span><a href="https://lureviewsbooks.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lu's
Reviews</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 14 </span><a href="https://thegreenmockingbird.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Green Mockingbird</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 15 </span><a href="https://bookishrantings.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bookish
Rantings</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 15 </span><a href="https://thelitbitch.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Lit Bitch</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 16 </span><a href="https://historicalfictionreader.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Historical Fiction
Reader</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 16 </span><a href="https://austenesquereviews.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Austenesque
Reviews</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 17 </span><a href="https://www.inkwellinspirations.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Inkwell Inspirations</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 17 </span><a href="https://www.robinlovesreading.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Robin Loves Reading</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 18 </span><a href="https://christianchicksthoughts.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Christian Chick's Thoughts</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 18 </span><a href="http://thesecretunderstandingofthehearts.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My Jane Austen Book Club</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Excerpt) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 19 </span><a href="http://lauragerold.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Laura's
Reviews</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 20 </span><a href="https://jorielovesastory.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jorie
Loves a Story</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Spotlight)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 20 </span><a href="https://foxesfairytale.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Foxes and Fairy Tales</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 21 </span><a href="https://gwendalynbooks.blog/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gwendalyn's
Books</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Excerpt) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 22 </span><a href="https://www.romanticallyinclinedreviews.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Romantically Inclined
Reviews</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 22 </span><a href="https://www.exballerina.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Book
Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 22 </span><a href="http://vespermeikle.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Vesper's Place</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Spotlight)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 23 </span><a href="https://fictionaficionado.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fiction
Aficionado</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 23 </span><a href="https://jennifercwilsonwriter.wordpress.com/blog/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Historical Fiction with
Spirit</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 24 </span><a href="https://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Let Them Read Books</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Interview)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 25 </span><a href="https://thecaffeinatedbibliophile.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Caffeinated
Bibliophile</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 25 </span><a href="https://candy-m.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So
Little Time…</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Spotlight)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 27 </span><a href="http://amongthereads.net/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Among
the Reads</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 28 </span><a href="https://chicksroguesandscandals.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Chicks, Rogues and Scandals</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 29 </span><a href="https://bookbustle.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Book
Bustle</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nov 30 </span><a href="https://cupofteawiththatbookplease.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cup of Tea with that
Book Please</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(Review)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 01 </span><a href="https://nursebookie.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nurse Bookie</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 02 </span><a href="http://www.confessionsofabookaddict.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Confessions of a Book
Addict</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 02 </span><a href="https://impressionsininkblog.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Impressions in Ink</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 03 </span><a href="https://frompemberleytomilton.wordpress.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">From Pemberley to Milton</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 04 </span><a href="http://relzreviewz.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Relz
Reviewz</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 04 </span><a href="https://rosannelortz.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Rosanne E. Lortz</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 05 </span><a href="http://englishmysteriesblog.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 05 </span><a href="https://probablyatthelibrary.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Probably
at the Library</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Review) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dec 06 </span><a href="http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Calico Critic</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (Excerpt) <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-31251013924194131642020-11-18T07:11:00.000-05:002020-11-18T07:11:15.464-05:00Book Blast: Betrayal by the Historical Fictioneers<div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo_xpbe4REz2hD3RQoojcGPDieeazcmKwxX2ldFmfkALqVYDMfksNmiiOpnLHYOU98LYsH0xVpD7cPCmuhb04okSQc-5Kr_RTFgRjp-xdqzL7zSHH3ge69DaIPKk1UajQHWNR6MHdNgGO/s1920/BETRAYAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo_xpbe4REz2hD3RQoojcGPDieeazcmKwxX2ldFmfkALqVYDMfksNmiiOpnLHYOU98LYsH0xVpD7cPCmuhb04okSQc-5Kr_RTFgRjp-xdqzL7zSHH3ge69DaIPKk1UajQHWNR6MHdNgGO/w200-h320/BETRAYAL.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Betrayal</b></div></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>by the Historical Fictioneers</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Published: November 17, 2020</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Formats: eBook; 436 pages</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Genre: Historical short stories</b></span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">"Loyalty breaks as easily as a silken thread."</span></div><div><i><div><br /></div><div>Misplaced trust, power hunger, emotional blackmail, and greed haunt twelve characters from post-Roman Britain to the present day. And betrayal by family, lover, comrade can be even more devastating.</div><div><br /></div><div>Read twelve tales by twelve accomplished writers who explore these historical yet timeless challenges <i>from post Roman Britain to the present day</i>.</div></i><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: italic;">AD455—Roman leader Ambrosius is caught in a whirlpool of shifting allegiances</div><div style="font-style: italic;">AD940—Alyeva and cleric Dunstan navigate the dangers of the Anglo Saxon court</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1185—Knight Stephan fights for comradeship, duty, and honour. But what about love?</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1330—The powerful Edmund of Kent enters a tangled web of intrigue</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1403—Thomas Percy must decide whether to betray his sovereign or his family</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1457—Estelle is invited to the King of Cyprus’s court, but deception awaits</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1483—Has Elysabeth made the right decision to bring Prince Edward to London?</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1484—Margaret Beaufort contemplates the path to treason</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1577—Francis Drake contends with disloyalty at sea</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1650—Can James Hart, Royalist highwayman, stop a nemesis destroying his friend?</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1718—Pirate Annie Bonny, her lover Calico Jack, and a pirate hunter. Who will win?</div><div style="font-style: italic;">1849/present—Carina must discover her ancestor’s betrayer in Italy or face ruin.</div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /></div><div>“I read this anthology from start to finish in a matter of days…. Each story is gripping.”–<i> Discovering Diamonds Reviews</i></div></div><div><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">About the Historical Fictioneers:</span></b></div><div><br />Hailing from two continents and five countries, the Historical Fictioneers include Judith Arnopp, Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks, Helen Hollick, Amy Maroney, Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Tony Riches, Mercedes Rochelle, Elizabeth St John, and Annie Whitehead. </div><div><br />The Historical Fictioneers can be reached via their Facebook Group at <a href="http://bit.ly/HistoricalFictioneers">http://bit.ly/HistoricalFictioneers</a></div><div><br />Betrayal is offered as a FREE download from Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble. Claim your eBook today: <a href="https://books2read.com/BetrayalAnthology">https://books2read.com/BetrayalAnthology</a></div><div><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-16066005983585505622020-11-17T07:33:00.001-05:002020-11-17T07:33:28.246-05:00Guest Post: The Girl with the Silver Star by Rachel Zolotov<div style="text-align: left;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdlvHBUmlBiPaaG7q0ycrzN7Dpp9lLOlKScLDrlDMk38bV24NdukU-CV36aULgIxyD05zvcDA64aney3o0YLdLkyD2c6Aex636WjnY-pnXUMn5-CmTKqcHgQTrlvIzc7Qz61XFBJZTRtT/s475/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdlvHBUmlBiPaaG7q0ycrzN7Dpp9lLOlKScLDrlDMk38bV24NdukU-CV36aULgIxyD05zvcDA64aney3o0YLdLkyD2c6Aex636WjnY-pnXUMn5-CmTKqcHgQTrlvIzc7Qz61XFBJZTRtT/s320/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Please join me in welcoming Rachel Zolotov to Let Them Read Books! Rachel is celebrating the release of her debut historical novel, <i>The Girl with the Silver Star</i>, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a guest post about the inspiration for the novel: her own family's harrowing history. Read on and grab the Kindle copy for only $2.99!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>For the readers of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls, inspired by the true story of the author’s great-grandmother’s journey during World War II, The Girl with the Silver Star is the extraordinary story of a mother’s love and will to survive during one of history’s darkest time periods.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>As a hailstorm of bombs begins to shatter the city of Minsk in Belarus, Raisa and her family run through the darkness of night to take cover. When Raisa, Abraham, and their daughters, Luba and Sofia, emerge from the bomb shelter, they find an unfamiliar city before them; chaos and terror burn in every direction. Fearing for their lives, they must leave at once to find the rest of their family. But before they are able to escape, Abraham is conscripted into the Russian Army and the family is forced to part ways. Raisa’s love and strength are put to the ultimate test as she finds herself on her own with her two young daughters in tow. How will she manage alone without her soulmate by her side?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Relying on hope, resourcefulness and courage, they walk, hitch hike and take trains heading for Uzbekistan, over 2,500 miles from home. Along the way they run from bombs, endure starvation, and face death.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Raisa finds solace in the women around her. Her mother, sisters, old friends and new help carry her through the difficult war years, but Raisa’s longing to reunite with Abraham still rages inside her heart. Will they ever see each other again? Will Raisa and her family find their way back to their homeland?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The Girl with the Silver Star is a captivating journey through war-torn Soviet Union as it illuminates a unique part of WWII history, the female heroes. Raisa’s journey is a tribute to the nameless women, their determination, bravery, grief and unwavering love during impossible times. Their stories shouldn’t be forgotten. </i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/32RFOHU" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55164510-the-girl-with-the-silver-star" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRachelZolotov" target="_blank">Facebook</a></b></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was early winter of 2016 and I had just finished reading <i>The Nightingale</i> by Kristin Hannah. As I turned the last page and closed the book, I started to think back to the stories my parents had told me about by family during WWII, and I suddenly realized that I didn’t really know much about what they went through. My family is Jewish, and they lived in Minsk, Belarus – I knew there had to be more to their story than just the few details I had overheard as a child. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />As a young girl, I could be often found evading bedtime by reading historical novels and memoirs from WWII under the covers with a flashlight. This fascination didn’t stop in adulthood, so how was it that I barely knew anything about my own family’s past?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittbYHLmw4jd9eR0ZGEB-H68GkWUQxbiURKU3v540gUefDPIvznmDn68-KfY7wcNqqgokspDrqqCV3djP0HM4KCoDmmt-QKUbI4EIqPkDdibsGXs1iFiYG_TDKmMXQWPWjUNsPwPn5l_QH/s2048/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+Raisa%2526Abram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittbYHLmw4jd9eR0ZGEB-H68GkWUQxbiURKU3v540gUefDPIvznmDn68-KfY7wcNqqgokspDrqqCV3djP0HM4KCoDmmt-QKUbI4EIqPkDdibsGXs1iFiYG_TDKmMXQWPWjUNsPwPn5l_QH/s320/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+Raisa%2526Abram.jpg" /></a></div>I picked up the phone and called my mother, on a mission to find out more. I had my notebook ready to scrawl down all the details. A few minutes later, I had a page of notes, but barely any more information than I had already known. My mother explained that they didn’t talk about those times much. For obvious reasons, it was too painful of a memory to relive. There was, however, one detail that I didn’t already know. My great-grandmother Raisa and her two girls, Luba (my grandmother) and Sofia, evacuated to Uzbekistan during the war.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I was having a hard time imagining how many countless miles it took to get from Minsk to Tashkent. After a quick search, I discovered how incredibly far they had to travel; over 4,000 km. That’s about the same distance as New York to San Diego. They walked some of the way, and took trains for the rest. As a mother of two girls myself, I thought about taking that journey with them under those circumstances, and couldn’t fathom how they survived such a journey. I was instantly drawn to find as many of the puzzle pieces as I could.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />That was all it took. One conversation and a few hours of research later, I was inspired. I needed to know more, and thus it began, <i>The Girl with the Silver Star.<span><a name='more'></a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I had no idea where to start with such little information, and to make matters more difficult, I was dealing with the Russian language, not my first language. Fortunately, I came across a site called <a href="http://JewishGen.org">JewishGen.org</a>. It was packed with information about the Holocaust and contained a database filled with testimonies and original documents.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />According to the site, approximately one million former Soviet Union Jews were evacuated or fled to Uzbekistan and neighboring areas before the German troops entered their cities. They estimate that as many as 300,000 deportees perished from disease and starvation, while some died in the line of fire while serving their country. 152,000 registration cards have been digitized in their database and made available with records of evacuees that arrived in Tashkent between 1941 and 1942.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I quickly signed up for an account and began typing in the names of my family members. I started first with my great-grandmother, Raisa Tsalkina.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLvRgZKRum7iiMYtu-HpzmxyyRotzK6jCUxkfxCjdn3XgjOO51GIiytVDrcFlKXGgRYEDmOq7JKk7tNcZ6EeUcs6x-IjGhmwAE4a6GKElNVcHPNIraxlGW7VFDxERaC-pMZCmdmOkHoKc/s1161/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+Tsalkinaentrycard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="1161" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLvRgZKRum7iiMYtu-HpzmxyyRotzK6jCUxkfxCjdn3XgjOO51GIiytVDrcFlKXGgRYEDmOq7JKk7tNcZ6EeUcs6x-IjGhmwAE4a6GKElNVcHPNIraxlGW7VFDxERaC-pMZCmdmOkHoKc/w400-h159/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+Tsalkinaentrycard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There it was. A few clicks, and I was staring at a copy of her registration card. It listed her two girls along with other information like what city they came from, birthdates, occupation, and the address where they were sending them to live.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />After many Google searches and scouring the web for information, I realized that even though I had bits and pieces, I didn’t have the entire story or anywhere near it. I needed more. I wasn’t sure how to continue and where to look, but then I remembered something my mother always says when I’m feeling stuck.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />“If you don’t knock on any doors, none will open.”</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />So I started looking beyond the library and the internet and began reaching out to my extended family. I spoke to relatives I knew well, and to ones that I didn’t even know existed. A few phone calls later, I was in contact with a very distant relative from my great-grandfather’s side who still lives in Belarus. He was also interested in the family history and had compiled a very detailed family tree, which I had within a few hours of chatting with him on Facebook!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFttF4ri6S6XJBPE1KY-hVpKYrpOrHD1kNt1ykys7ocTTNqHM8DRGZOoVv_z975qO28jw3psCIF4kGMCSQYhT3ThE-ND3t1EMTaebsu88kPjm3hWSxCg4dE1Z8_4prrtrw4QL8tOqBPNb/s2048/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+IMG_20200606_125041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFttF4ri6S6XJBPE1KY-hVpKYrpOrHD1kNt1ykys7ocTTNqHM8DRGZOoVv_z975qO28jw3psCIF4kGMCSQYhT3ThE-ND3t1EMTaebsu88kPjm3hWSxCg4dE1Z8_4prrtrw4QL8tOqBPNb/s320/Girl+with+the+Silver+Star+IMG_20200606_125041.jpg" /></a></div>Later, another relative sent me the most precious package I have ever received. The original letters that Abraham (my great-grandfather) sent to Raisa. Just holding the collection of letters and postcards sent shivers down my spine. I knew in that moment that I was holding an amazing story in my hands that must be written down; If not for me, then for my kids and others.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />After more than a year of research, I began writing, and the words flowed freely, as if they were meant to be told. Many details of the book were inspired by the letters and postcards that I had painstakingly translated from Russian and Yiddish, but many parts were taken from my own childhood, and some were from passed down stories from my family members. I double checked each detail that I added to the story to be sure it fit with the time period and circumstance since I wanted to take every attempt to make the novel as historically accurate as possible.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />As I continued to write, I realized that there were a few things I wanted to be sure to include. First were the letters to Raisa from Abraham. I wanted them to flow through the story as a way to keep Abraham and his voice a part of the storyline. Another unique aspect I wanted to weave into the story was a taste of how life was before the war. It was important for me to share those special moments as full chapters in the past so the reader could have brighter spots among the darkness of War. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I have always thought of myself as a reader, not a writer. I never thought I would write a novel, but here I am about to publish <i>The Girl with the Silver Star</i>! All it takes is one spark to ignite the imagination and a passion for the message being told through your words. I hope you found my journey inspiring, and I am so excited to share my family’s incredible story with you and the world.<br /> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2ZuAHseUJXP-e5jOKoGt_r1tVUmh4OlqATsarBz9JquPsn1Slhdz9g8U3tWLxVWPQ3sQx2KlxEplY77DgCOK6fQXHthTJgxOHjO0-6_aTH0393-bkZwXI0munGGI00gPgIbO_fUxpstS/s700/Rachel+Zolotov.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2ZuAHseUJXP-e5jOKoGt_r1tVUmh4OlqATsarBz9JquPsn1Slhdz9g8U3tWLxVWPQ3sQx2KlxEplY77DgCOK6fQXHthTJgxOHjO0-6_aTH0393-bkZwXI0munGGI00gPgIbO_fUxpstS/w200-h200/Rachel+Zolotov.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Rachel Zolotov was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri as a first generation American born into a Belarusian family. Rachel has a passion for antique jewelry, art, reading, cooking and history. She started her career as a Gemologist and Jewelry Designer, and studied Hand Engraving in Austria.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />After the births of her children, Rachel felt the desire to research her own lineage and was inspired to uncover the puzzle pieces of the journey her ancestors had taken during WWII. She wrote <i>The Girl with the Silver Star</i> in hopes of teaching and sharing what she discovered with future generations.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />In her free time, you can find her snuggling up with a good book and a large cup of tea. Rachel lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband and two beautiful daughters. If you would like to learn more, please visit <a href="http://RachelZolotov.com">RachelZolotov.com</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/32RFOHU" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55164510-the-girl-with-the-silver-star" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRachelZolotov" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-26237545192813997802020-10-23T07:42:00.005-04:002020-10-23T07:42:31.594-04:00Blog Tour Excerpt: Prospects of a Woman by Wendy Voorsanger<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EgnJTjLhsMUyyqsrg1ex6uiJ9dAxuoCwPJnAZ2WAT0Z9cpfY-RtoG_LIHtr-o7niem70t6Mp-BJvNf7qhJFMGgL4qy7WD7J_ki91sAcNgrkhhymvjMnIZI0UANWnvV2gs55cDxdKO_xq/s1280/Prospects+of+a+Woman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="834" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EgnJTjLhsMUyyqsrg1ex6uiJ9dAxuoCwPJnAZ2WAT0Z9cpfY-RtoG_LIHtr-o7niem70t6Mp-BJvNf7qhJFMGgL4qy7WD7J_ki91sAcNgrkhhymvjMnIZI0UANWnvV2gs55cDxdKO_xq/s320/Prospects+of+a+Woman.png" /></a></div><i>Elisabeth Parker comes to California from Massachusetts in 1849 with her new husband, Nate, to reunite with her father, who’s struck gold on the American River. She soon realizes her husband is not the man she thought—and neither is her father, who abandons them shortly after they arrive. As Nate struggles with his sexuality, Elisabeth is forced to confront her preconceived notions of family, love, and opportunity. </i></div></div><div><i><br />She finds comfort in corresponding with her childhood friend back home, writer Louisa May Alcott, and spending time in the company of a mysterious Californio Don. Armed with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, she sets out to determine her role in building the West, even as she comes to terms with the sacrifices she must make to achieve independence and happiness. </i></div><div><i><br />Prospects of a Woman is a fresh, authentic retelling of the West that explores women’s contributions in California and shatters the stereotypes of the typical hard-boiled novel of the West that has captured the American imagination for over a century.</i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/34nzR6Q" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prospects-of-a-woman-wendy-voorsanger/1136028533?ean=9781631527814" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Praise: </b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>"Prospects of a Woman is a fascinating, complex, dark, and beautiful novel of women and sexuality on the frontier of the California gold strike days." </div><div>— Douglas Glover, two-time Governor General's award-winning author of <i>Elle</i></div><div><br /></div><div>"I loved this surprisingly feminist story of Gold Rush-era California! Elizabeth Parker is a heroine to fall in love with--plucky, sensuous, courageous and clear-eyed. It is a rare and unusual pleasure to—finally—have a narrative of the Gold Rush told from a woman’s point of view."</div><div>—Janis Cooke Newman, author of<i> Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln</i></div><div><br /></div><div>"Prospects of a Woman is thoughtful and thrilling. The landscape of California - the rough-scrabble mining towns, the wildness of the river and woods -- sings on every page."</div><div>—Alex Myers, author of the novels <i>Revolutionary</i> and <i>Divide</i></div><div><br /></div><div>"Prospects of a Woman is a riveting read about a woman who comes to California during the Gold Rush determined to escape societal constraints, find love and strike it rich. As a woman in a man’s world, she faces innumerable challenges but manages to rise above them. This is a bold, rollicking and satisfying tale, one that is hard to put down."</div><div>—Frances Dinkelspiel, award-winning journalist and author of the best-selling books, <i>Tangled Vines </i>and <i>Towers of Gold</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Excerpt:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div>“God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please; you can never have both.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Hiking out of the steep gorge was goddamn difficult, going barefoot over all those sharp rocks and prickly pine needles. She couldn’t very well wear Henry’s man boots with her only fancy dress on her first visit to Coyoteville, so she wore nothing on her feet. Done feeling sorry for herself, she was fixing to find some fun of her own. That Yellow Dog loped up too close underfoot, and she tripped on a rock sticking up on the trail, falling hard on her knees and tearing her emerald-green silk dress nearly to the waist, showing her dingy drawers underneath. Yellow Dog lay down on the trail beside her while she cursed and cursed, holding her toe, ripped open and bleeding. When he whined and licked her bloody toe, she pushed his muzzle away irritated, and stood up. She pressed on, stepping slower and careful now, walking and walking up the hill, reaching the top just as dark fell. </div><div><br /></div><div>She limped over to a huge open-air tent lit with lanterns and lurked just outside, mesmerized. Wild with abandon, men culled from every race and nation mixed up crazy, dancing a twisted waltz with each other to a comic tune played out of time on a banjo, a fiddle, and two harmonicas. A bare-chested Nisenan accompanied the band with rattles tied ’round his ankles, strutting and gyrating and puffing like a grouse. Half the men wore pants patched front and back across their man parts with flour sacking that read Self-Rising Haxhall. Others wore sacks bearing the name of a Mexican hot chile. Having no women didn’t hinder the men, with some overcoming the difficulty by taking on the feminine role. Transfixed, Elisabeth studied the men and figured the ones wearing the patches were acting as women, prancing coy and light, following the lead of their men. Those not dancing cradled the arms of their partners, cheering and clapping ladylike, while the real men hooted and stomped furious to the bawdy music. <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>It seemed the ordinary order of things had gone askew, like some dirty dream brought on by fever. She watched the men, hips swaying, lips pursed, arms wrapped around each other. They groped and sucked on bottles, passing the drink in sacred, merry fraternity. The tune changed, and the fiddler led the couples in the Lady’s Chain square dance, blurting out steps in between plucking and bowing, the drunken men joining in verse. She knew she was witnessing something women shouldn’t see, something sick and sinful. But it seemed somehow sweet, too, as if the dancing cured the men of a vast loneliness that’d spread across their hearts since coming out west to find the women hadn’t yet arrived. She couldn’t turn away, fascinated. She spied the men from the dark fringes, when someone came up behind her. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Have you come for the Fandango?” In the sinister light cast from the lanterns stood a man, imposing and peculiar. He wore a black velvet vest so short it barely reached the top of his loose-bottomed pants. Rows of shiny brass buttons ran down the sides of his pants, and he had a fine leather holster strapped around his waist. Without a hat, she recognized those moody eyes and shoulder-length curls. It was that Californio from Captain Shannon’s store. Out here the man seemed less lovely than she’d remembered. His hair splayed too long down around his face, and he swayed like he was a little drunk. She ignored his question, looking back at the dancers as her stomach screamed with hunger. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Señora Elisabeth Parker,” he said with a wobbly bow. “Buenas noches. Soy Don Nemacio Gabilan.” </div><div><br /></div><div>She looked him up and down, wondering if he intended to join the degenerate ball in the male role or strap on a sack. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Good evening,” she said, cool. “I don’t think that particular Fandango is for us,” he said, nod- ding toward the tent and pulling on his own green glass bottle. </div><div><br /></div><div>“You’re drunk too.” “Ahh . . . señora. A matter of perspective. Perhaps not nearly as drunk as them,” he said, leaning his hand on the tent pole behind for support. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Is that so?” Yellow Dog bared his teeth at Nemacio. “Settle!” she said, snapping her fingers. Yellow Dog listened, lying down next to the tent pole, watching Nemacio. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Dance with me,” he said. “I won’t join in that,” she said, pointing at the tent. Seeing the lewd lot under the tent put her in no mood for dancing. Besides, she’d learned from Mr. Chana that flirting with a man other than your husband is dangerous. Still, she’d worn her silk emerald dress for the first time since coming west and felt like a woman, even with her drawers showing through the rip down the side. Sure, she was barefoot with a toe stubbed bloody. But she’d combed the tangles from her hair and arranged it up high on her head with a green ribbon she’d been using as a bookmark in her Emerson book, and she’d scrubbed her skin raw with pine soap and hot water. She dressed decent, and knew she smelled clean. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Let’s dance outside the tent,” said Nemacio, putting down his bottle. </div><div><br /></div><div>Before she could object, Nemacio slipped his hand around her waist and turned her in circles, moving elegant and masterful, like he was used to handling a woman. Against her better judgment, she didn’t resist, allowing herself to be led around in the dark, forgetting all about her sore feet and the raunchy squawking fiddle. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/34nzR6Q" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="font-size: x-large;"> | </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prospects-of-a-woman-wendy-voorsanger/1136028533?ean=9781631527814" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBu3e51CesJyvHhmblEWrX2GTlnA1dUzOYEdb1XDv8CwI-QDgxjXRbG50Uj0G_tmFLQMlZ_xdDRwvhkUubl-fkNL1W1W_MRrPoA-AG1Y-vKX5ousjys4_SpzSA-kvi6o0ZNHM_TszU2La/s2048/Voorsanger_Headshot+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBu3e51CesJyvHhmblEWrX2GTlnA1dUzOYEdb1XDv8CwI-QDgxjXRbG50Uj0G_tmFLQMlZ_xdDRwvhkUubl-fkNL1W1W_MRrPoA-AG1Y-vKX5ousjys4_SpzSA-kvi6o0ZNHM_TszU2La/s320/Voorsanger_Headshot+%25281%2529.jpeg" /></a></div>Born and raised on the American River in Sacramento, Wendy Voorsanger has long held an intense interest in the historical women of California. She started her career in the Silicon Valley, writing about technology trends and innovations for newspapers, magazines, and Fortune 100 companies. </div><div><br />She currently manages SheIsCalifornia.net, a blog dedicated to chronicling the accomplishments of California women through history. Her debut historical novel, <i>Prospects of a Woman</i> will be published in October 2020 (She Writes Press); an excerpt entitled "Shifting in California" won 1st place in the California Writers Club short story contest and is published in the Fault Zone: Shift: An Anthology of Stories. </div><div><br />She earned a B.A. in Journalism from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a member of the Castro Writers' Cooperative, the Lit Camp Advisory Board, and the San Mateo Public Library Literary Society. </div><div><br />In addition to being an author, Wendy has worked as a lifeguard, ski instructor, and radio disc jockey. Wendy lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="www.wendyvoorsanger.net" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wendy.voorsanger" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authorwendyvoorsanger/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://sheiscalifornia.com/" target="_blank">She is California</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2RiUofWhTP1IqrlZshj_m6fjdlWAiHCzgFIs_sBAFHgNpQyeo9VG4rgF3BfUlPI3pPuSEenS_OzI8sCJ5SHePDDCjF__5Di9LICf-luWEJnQwsU4uQ_8nKgigneOKZdZpEaiMC9yvRi1/s940/Propspects+of+a+Woman+FB+Wendy+VBT++%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2RiUofWhTP1IqrlZshj_m6fjdlWAiHCzgFIs_sBAFHgNpQyeo9VG4rgF3BfUlPI3pPuSEenS_OzI8sCJ5SHePDDCjF__5Di9LICf-luWEJnQwsU4uQ_8nKgigneOKZdZpEaiMC9yvRi1/w400-h335/Propspects+of+a+Woman+FB+Wendy+VBT++%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-12300683766072243242020-10-15T08:38:00.008-04:002020-10-15T08:40:21.060-04:00Blog Tour Q&A with Samantha Cohoe, Author of A Golden Fury<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7hqe5smtE-7gnNTgk_JAvEKJvXMwQ2nhamo2MHalsw1jbJ9gLDeD96QwDchCGBOwpdsdP03srO8dFhxUbtc8dIcQt4T6siseqDfNwMIcvqHJl5boq86Omfka2slI_UIau1MlKP1_jNm6/s2048/Golden+Fury_COVER.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7hqe5smtE-7gnNTgk_JAvEKJvXMwQ2nhamo2MHalsw1jbJ9gLDeD96QwDchCGBOwpdsdP03srO8dFhxUbtc8dIcQt4T6siseqDfNwMIcvqHJl5boq86Omfka2slI_UIau1MlKP1_jNm6/s320/Golden+Fury_COVER.jpg" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Samantha Cohoe to Let Them Read Books! Samantha is touring the blogosphere with her debut YA historical fantasy novel, <i>A Golden Fury</i>, (which I'm reading now, btw, and it's so good), and I recently had the chance to ask her a few questions about writing historical fantasy. Read on and grab your copy today!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Set in eighteenth century England, Samantha Cohoe’s debut novel, A GOLDEN FURY (Wednesday Books; October 13, 2020), follows a young alchemist as she tries to save the people she loves from the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone. The streets of London and Oxford come to life as this historical fantasy unravels. Weaving together an alluring story of magic and danger, Samantha’s debut has her heroine making messy decisions as she toes the line between good and evil while it becomes blurred.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die.</i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/342AeDH" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-golden-fury-samantha-cohoe/1135426714?ean=9781250220400" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> | <a href="https://read.macmillan.com/lp/a-golden-fury/" target="_blank">Macmillan</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41187447-a-golden-fury" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hi Samantha! Thank you so much for stopping by today!</b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What inspired you to base your fantasy in a historical setting?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I love history! I’ve spent so much time reading history and historical fiction that I feel almost as much at home in the past as I do in the present day. One thing I really love about writing historical fiction is the way it lets you explore different times and different contexts. That’s interesting in its own right, and it also helps us reflect in a different way on our own time by contrast.<br /><br /><b>What drew you to this time period?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I love the late 18th century because of all the turmoil and change that came about specifically as the result of ideas. Ideas that make revolutions are exciting to me.<br /><br /><b>Did you get to do anything fun or learn something surprising during your research?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I really enjoyed all my alchemy research, but one particularly fun fact I ran across in the course of it is that there are researchers who try to work out which Chinese emperors may have died from taking alchemical elixirs!<br /><br /><b>What are the biggest challenges of blending fantasy with history?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I think the biggest challenges come from seeing the consequences of the changes you make to history. So let’s say alchemy did work, then how would our world be different? I cleverly avoided most of this through methods you’ll have to read the book to discover.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What are you working on now?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I just finished developmental edits for my second book, BRIGHT RUINED THINGS, a 1920s retelling of <i>The Tempest</i>, which comes out Fall 2021 with Wednesday Books. Now I’m excited to get back into drafting a new secret project I started drafting at the beginning of lockdown. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsHXNaw0V_qU4mJieDISSYg_OR9iQVWXYvZxUXb91CQNmoQpDEj8ukg-0bzwz2FPLLAxRHC2kcSb-N4Dg94CadCdvoWZz0XPN9CPeQK3AYa05mXin3X5EyOBv8P1kSk2QsaFkEPDv-XQ1/s1640/Golden+Fury_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1640" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsHXNaw0V_qU4mJieDISSYg_OR9iQVWXYvZxUXb91CQNmoQpDEj8ukg-0bzwz2FPLLAxRHC2kcSb-N4Dg94CadCdvoWZz0XPN9CPeQK3AYa05mXin3X5EyOBv8P1kSk2QsaFkEPDv-XQ1/w400-h153/Golden+Fury_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO-GGwHx4fGZxd_HIdYQyYePfzYcbgD7ZHrFm8PUK5AdEmFXkG8QuSw8g98nMbHwgVg4wi3AgsJFATtAmZPcrHCiKsY3jLOMzxt_QPWULrewTDmF8L65fg25zwXxCGn7IWq61fElb-JFB/s648/Samantha+Cohoe_Credit+Alison+McQuain+of+Alison+McQuain+Photography.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="432" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO-GGwHx4fGZxd_HIdYQyYePfzYcbgD7ZHrFm8PUK5AdEmFXkG8QuSw8g98nMbHwgVg4wi3AgsJFATtAmZPcrHCiKsY3jLOMzxt_QPWULrewTDmF8L65fg25zwXxCGn7IWq61fElb-JFB/w133-h200/Samantha+Cohoe_Credit+Alison+McQuain+of+Alison+McQuain+Photography.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Samantha Cohoe writes historically-inspired young adult fantasy. She was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs. She currently lives in Denver with her family and divides her time among teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and deleting adverbs. <i>A Golden Fury</i> is her debut novel. <span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: Alison McQuain of Alison McQuain Photography</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/samanthacohoe/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/smcohoe" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.samanthacohoe.com/" target="_blank">Samantha's website</a> | <a href="https://wednesdaybooks.com/" target="_blank">Wednesday Books</a></span></div><div><br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-49773653762116307912020-09-16T07:56:00.004-04:002020-10-09T12:53:55.753-04:00Blog Tour Spotlight: Remember Me by Mario Escobar<div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-18729" height="400" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Remember-Me.jpg" width="265" /></div></div><p> </p>
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Remember Me: A Spanish Civil War Novel by Mario Escobar</h3>
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Publication Date: September 15, 2020</div>
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Thomas Nelson</div>
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Paperback & eBook; 384 pages</div>
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Genre: Historical Fiction</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53155604-remember-me" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-10765 size-full" height="41" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Add-to-GR-Button.png" width="130" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><i>
Amid the shadows of war, one family faces an impossible choice that will change their lives forever.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Madrid, 1934. Though the Spanish Civil War has not yet begun, the streets of Madrid have become dangerous for thirteen-year-old Marco Alcalde and his younger sisters, Isabel and Ana. When Marco’s parents align themselves against General Franco and his fascist regime, they have no inkling that their ideals will endanger them and everyone they love—nor do they predict the violence that is to come.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>When the Mexican government promises protection to the imperiled children of Spain, the Alcaldes do what they believe is best: send their children, unaccompanied, across the ocean to the city of Morelia—a place they’ve never seen or imagined. Marco promises to look after his sisters in Mexico until their family can be reunited in Spain, but what ensues is a harrowing journey and a series of heartbreaking events. As the growing children work to care for themselves and each other, they feel their sense of home, family, and identity slipping further and further away. And as their memories of Spain fade and the news from abroad grows more grim, they begin to wonder if they will ever see their parents again or the glittering streets of the home they once loved.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Based upon the true stories of the Children of Morelia, Mario Escobar’s Remember Me—now available for the first time in English—explores the agony of war and paints a poignant portrait of one family’s sacrificial love and endurance.</i></div><div><i><br /></i><h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081MZRXWD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i56" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/remember-me-mario-escobar/1134978552?ean=9780785236580" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780785236580" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IndieBound</a></span></h4><div><br /></div>
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About the Author</h3>
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<a href="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mario-Escobar.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignright wp-image-18730" height="184" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mario-Escobar.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
Mario Escobar Golderos has a degree in History, with an advanced studies diploma in Modern History. He has written numerous books and articles about the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and religious sects. He is the executive director of an NGO and directs the magazine Nueva historia para el debate, in addition to being a contributing columnist in various publications. Passionate about history and its mysteries, Escobar has delved into the depths of church history, the different sectarian groups that have struggled therein, and the discovery and colonization of the Americas. He specializes in the lives of unorthodox Spaniards and Americans.</div><div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.marioescobar.es/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/marioescobargolderos" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/escobargolderos?lang=es" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5609032.Mario_Escobar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></h4><div><br /></div>
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Blog Tour Schedule</h3><div><br /></div>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Tuesday, September 15</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://instagram.com/nurse_bookie" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nursebookie</a>
Review at <a href="http://wtfareyoureading.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WTF Are You Reading?</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Wednesday, September 16</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://amysbooketlist.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amy's Booket List</a>
Feature at <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Let Them Read Books</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Friday, September 18</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://stephaniesbookreviews.weebly.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">100 Pages a Day</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Saturday, September 19</strong></span>
Feature at <a href="https://thegreenmockingbird.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Green Mockingbird</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Monday, September 21</strong></span>
Feature at <a href="http://thelitbitch.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Lit Bitch</a>
Feature at <a href="https://imallaboutbooks.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I'm All About Books</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Wednesday, September 23</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://passagestothepast.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Passages to the Past</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Friday, September 25</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://www.birdhouse-books.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View from the Birdhouse</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Saturday, September 26</strong></span>
Feature at <a href="https://bookworlder.wordpress.com/">Bookworlder</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Sunday, September 27</strong></span>
Review at <a href="https://readingismyremedy.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reading is My Remedy</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Monday, September 28</strong></span>
Review at <a href="https://pagebypagebookbybook.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hallie Reads</a>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tuesday, September 29</span></strong>
Feature at <a href="http://whatisthatbookabout.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What Is That Book About<span><a name='more'></a></span></a></div><div><br />
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GIVEAWAY!</span></h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">During the Blog Tour, we are giving away 5 copies of <i>Remember Me</i> by Mario Escobar! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on September 29th. You must be 18 or older to enter.</div></div><div>
<a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/AeAlY/remember-me" rel="nofollow">Remember Me</a>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-19415" height="338" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Remember-Me_Blog-Tour-Banner.png" width="675" /></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-69411854225905205722020-09-14T08:08:00.002-04:002020-10-09T12:54:09.610-04:00Blog Tour Q&A with Mitchell James Kaplan, Author of Into the Unbounded Night<div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqM89R_A_nur6gzjLbVeI9M-SlruTeLwnIDOQHoBhZAlAKwoGxrRN3o3i-E33weU2WS5IsM7NwKSdZF2iZmjXydFkINyDsI31qy7WsgPzbY2sDFJj9osr9OsZzvfTJl4ynYS9YL5Qd-zvl/s595/Into+the+Unbound+Night_web.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqM89R_A_nur6gzjLbVeI9M-SlruTeLwnIDOQHoBhZAlAKwoGxrRN3o3i-E33weU2WS5IsM7NwKSdZF2iZmjXydFkINyDsI31qy7WsgPzbY2sDFJj9osr9OsZzvfTJl4ynYS9YL5Qd-zvl/w269-h400/Into+the+Unbound+Night_web.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Mitchell James Kaplan to Let Them Read Books! Mitchell is touring the blogosphere with his new historical novel, <i>Into the Unbounded Night</i>, and I recently had the chance to ask him a few questions about researching and writing this story. Read on and enter to win a copy of <i>Into the Unbounded Night</i>!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>When her village in Albion is sacked by the Roman general Vespasian, young Aislin is left without home and family. Determined to exact revenge, she travels to Rome, a sprawling city of wealth, decadence, and power. A “barbarian” in a “civilized” world, Aislin struggles to comprehend Roman ways. From a precarious hand-to-mouth existence on the streets, she becomes the mistress of a wealthy senator, but their child Faolan is born with a disability that renders him unworthy of life in the eyes of his father and other Romans.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Imprisoned for her efforts to topple the Roman regime, Aislin learns of an alternate philosophy from her cellmate, the Judean known today as the Apostle St. Paul. As the capital burns in the Great Fire of 64 AD, he bequeaths to her a mission that will take her to Jerusalem. There, Yohanan, son of Zakkai, has been striving to preserve the tradition of Hillel against the Zealots who advocate for a war of independence. Responding to the Judeans’ revolt, the Romans—again under the leadership of Vespasian—besiege Jerusalem, destroying the Second Temple and with it, the brand of Judean monotheism it represents. Yohanan takes on the mission of preserving what can be preserved, and of re-inventing what must be reinvented.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Throughout Into the Unbounded Night, Aislin’s, Faolan’s, Vespasian’s, and Yohanan’s lives intertwine in unexpected ways that shed light on colonization and its discontents, the relative values of dominant and tyrannized cultures, and the holiness of life itself—even the weakest of lives.</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.regalhousepublishing.com/product/into-the-unbounded-night/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">REGAL HOUSE PUBLISHING</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083Z22WSM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-the-unbounded-night-mitchell-kaplan/1136062524?ean=9781646030026" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">BARNES AND NOBLE</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Into-Unbounded-Night-Mitchell-Kaplan/9781646030026?ref=grid-view&qid=1586705800476&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">BOOK DEPOSITORY</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=into+the+unbounded+night" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">INDIEBOUND</a></h3></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hi Mitchell! Thank you so much for stopping by Let Them Read Books!<br /> <br />What inspired you to write <i>Into the Unbounded Night</i>?</b><br /> <br />I wasn’t particularly thinking about writing a novel set in the first century. Nor did I decide to do so prior to undertaking the research. I simply became fascinated with the period. The characters emerged from the world I was exploring.<br /> <br /><b>What kind of sources did you use as you were researching the time period?</b><br /> <br />Any and all sources. Of course, I read lots of books. I went to Roman sites in the UK, Italy, Israel, and Turkey. Questions arise in your mind, and then questions beget other questions. Why did the Romans feel it was necessary to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem? What were the underlying differences (cultural, ideological, political)? Why did Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism diverge in the first century? etc. It’s like you’re trying to fit together the pieces of a puzzle.<br /> <br /><b>Did you learn anything in your research that surprised you?</b><br /> <br />Everything I learned surprised me. I hope I managed to convey some of that wonderment in INTO THE UNBOUNDED NIGHT.<br /> <br /><b>What were the most rewarding and challenging aspects of writing this story?</b><br /> <br />The most rewarding thing, for me, is learning from my characters. I find their stories so fascinating, enriching, and moving. <br /><br />What I find most challenging, when writing any novel, is to get outside of it, back into the so-called real world, where I try to spend as little time as possible. (But honestly, I don't think it's more real than the so-called fictional worlds.)<br /> <br /><b>What do you hope readers take away from the story?</b><br /> <br />That we can learn a lot from these people: how they perceived the universe; what mattered to them; what mistakes they made; and maybe, what mistakes we’re making.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br /> <br /><b>What are you working on next?</b><br /> <br />I’ve written a book called RHAPSODY, set in the 20s and 30s. It explores the jazz age and the brilliant love triangle that lit up that world—Kay Swift, George Gershwin, James Warburg. It also deals with race relations and a woman’s quest for recognition and dignity in a man’s world. (Kay Swift was the first woman to write a hit Broadway show.) Like my two previous novels, BY FIRE, BY WATER and INTO THE UNBOUNDED NIGHT, RHAPSODY is closely based on real people and events. It’s set to come out in March 2021 from Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster. Beyond that, I am currently working on a novel set in the present and in the 1960s.</div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLoTQFFMYW1Sp9KDYWYFxCLewPJcw2fb5sHMkpVC_uzweOBKrKyz8AqUgO46VJi6jK8aajWOjmC6v6zYj5rWVXbm_R2qhDtzT4iW2w4q646a19r-8tj12Q41sMPcy8BWuv_oxkNt6NyfX/s450/Mitchell+James+Kaplan.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLoTQFFMYW1Sp9KDYWYFxCLewPJcw2fb5sHMkpVC_uzweOBKrKyz8AqUgO46VJi6jK8aajWOjmC6v6zYj5rWVXbm_R2qhDtzT4iW2w4q646a19r-8tj12Q41sMPcy8BWuv_oxkNt6NyfX/w109-h164/Mitchell+James+Kaplan.jpg" width="109" /></a></div>Mitchell James Kaplan graduated with honors from Yale University, where he won the Paine Memorial Prize for Best Long-Form Senior Essay submitted to the English Department. His first mentor was the author William Styron.<p></p><p>After college, Kaplan lived in Paris, France, where he worked as a translator, then in Southern California, where he worked as a screenwriter and in film production.</p><p>He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with his family and two cats.</p><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a fg_scanned="1" href="http://www.mitchelljameskaplan.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mitchell-James-Kaplan-Author-402801866478121/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/mitchelljkaplan" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4277594.Mitchell_James_Kaplan" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a></h3><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><i>Into the Unbounded Night</i> is on a blog tour!<br /></span><span><a href="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/intotheunboundednightblogtour/" target="_blank">View the tour schedule </a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3Zr7YxITpnYIdx-Rj7xnNYIJ6I5726ji7DGpPxZHKIh7HjVCpXoot3GDDrRekh7ETCphVZef8UJqdXYm4P98jLFjHPZJedJezecsuWlmFMxA_OS91FmKh-2YYc4O2XvWAVEYlfQUisu0/s700/Into+the+Unbounded+Night_Blog+Tour+Baner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3Zr7YxITpnYIdx-Rj7xnNYIJ6I5726ji7DGpPxZHKIh7HjVCpXoot3GDDrRekh7ETCphVZef8UJqdXYm4P98jLFjHPZJedJezecsuWlmFMxA_OS91FmKh-2YYc4O2XvWAVEYlfQUisu0/w400-h400/Into+the+Unbounded+Night_Blog+Tour+Baner.png" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: x-large;"><b>GIVEAWAY!</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>During the Blog Tour, we are giving away two copies of <i>Into the Unbounded Night</i>! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on September 25th. You must be 18 or older to enter.</b></p><a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/g5ZAi/unbounded-night" rel="nofollow">Unbounded Night</a>
<script async="true" src="https://widget.gleamjs.io/e.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-9073846099356768672020-08-26T08:16:00.004-04:002020-08-26T08:16:46.367-04:00Guest Post by Kate Lord Brown, Author of Silent Music<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4LE_mTZcZ1xDV4ggwFGMEcyVPVWDWFeyhpcj0amMBCCatC-o84TNZgAbWSZl4bjLV1ZY9PSY3fZ4dTBEf6elvKFGZjyNAgGxPV2BBFUN7Nu0wui9HCTTRE1SqTTojOA9Q3tNRqEfcc4Q/s500/Silent+Music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4LE_mTZcZ1xDV4ggwFGMEcyVPVWDWFeyhpcj0amMBCCatC-o84TNZgAbWSZl4bjLV1ZY9PSY3fZ4dTBEf6elvKFGZjyNAgGxPV2BBFUN7Nu0wui9HCTTRE1SqTTojOA9Q3tNRqEfcc4Q/w200-h320/Silent+Music.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Please join me in welcoming Kate Lord Brown to Let Them Read Books! Kate is celebrating the release of her newest novel, <i>Silent Music</i>, and I'm so happy to have her here today with a guest post about the various mediums she used when researching her story. Read on, and then head over to Amazon and snag yourself a FREE ebook copy of <i>Silent Music</i> before August 29th!</span></div></div><p></p><p><i>Three marriages, two weddings, one affair which threatens them all. Is it ever too late for happily ever after?</i></p><p><i>A woman in 1960s New York struggles to place duty before passion, when her son's wedding plans throw the limitation of her marriage and apparently perfect life into the spotlight. </i></p><p><i>1939 HONG KONG. Ballet dancer Tess is seventeen. She is unsure about marrying naval officer Kit, but she is pregnant and feels she has no choice but to go ahead with the marriage. </i></p><p><i>1961 MANHATTAN. Ballet teacher Tess leads a seemingly idyllic, gilded Upper East life with her husband in their penthouse overlooking Central Park. But Kit asks for a divorce the night before their son announces his marriage. Just as her son's life is beginning, it feels like her youthful dreams and potential have come to nothing. Kit tells Tess they must pretend everything is normal until after Bobby's wedding. But can Tess play the part of a lifetime - that of a good wife?</i></p><p><i>"Jam packed with all the complexities that come with falling in and out of love." Netgalley</i></p><p><i>"A woman in the 60’s finding her feet in a world that wants to keep her in a neat little box. A timely read about how women have been pushing against those tight boundaries for generations" Netgalley</i></p><p><i>"A beautifully written tale about a repressed wife who longs to follow her dreams. Achingly sad at times but wonderfully joyous at others. Twists and turns throughout the whole story kept me hooked until the very last page." Netgalley</i></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/32sOe7G" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/kate+lord+brown?_requestid=120779" target="_blank">BARNES & NOBLE</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53528163-silent-music?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=1YSI66Qv9n&rank=1" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a> | <a href="www.katelordbrown.com" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Researching <i>Silent Music</i></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>by Kate Lord Brown</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5a5AKNAZ3rYh1M4czNMkr9eju412b9-GAIEHuGAD31ANwUZxGQJcPqfdnkK58C4_BXg4LxXmcKXjFT9absVGxvykkkq4RD1owFoq6UjqoD-BAwrmyUTszI1_2eDwncZEIqPzCPargt6Ld/s488/Silent+Music+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="300" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5a5AKNAZ3rYh1M4czNMkr9eju412b9-GAIEHuGAD31ANwUZxGQJcPqfdnkK58C4_BXg4LxXmcKXjFT9absVGxvykkkq4RD1owFoq6UjqoD-BAwrmyUTszI1_2eDwncZEIqPzCPargt6Ld/w154-h250/Silent+Music+2.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>For each new book, I start a secret Pinterest board to corral all my research - there are about ten of them, hidden away on my profile at the moment. This is the latest public board for my most recent novel, <i>Silent Music</i>: <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/katelordbrown/silent-music/">https://www.pinterest.co.uk/katelordbrown/silent-music/</a>. My background is in the visual arts, so I tend to think and write cinematically. I'm known for writing epic twin-timeline historical fiction, and in the early days when you have all these glittering ideas and characters clamouring for attention, spread over a century, it really helps to start pinning down some visual anchors. Before writing each day, scrolling through the images gathered so far helps you key into your story. <p></p><p>With twin-timeline stories you are always looking for ways to let the stories echo one another, so that the narratives talk to one another over the years. Perhaps writers are magpies. Alongside all the textual research needed for historical fiction, I find amassing a lot of visual material allows you to make unexpected connections. In the olden days (as my children say), before the advent of Pinterest, I used to cut and paste scrapbooks and storylines. It's a lot easier now!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCVi71vWHDNkWsQEe5DcnV0TqHB50uFK3iF3PXfPmFT5YRIdD6Ha3e1tbmBOzJb97MlgC5f3z7c6ufYofrnQdDp16dnIGM1aTtGOpMYxC61XytDurOcmYhoMT603i2vAYZrvwufpPGu0d/s727/Silent+Music+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="407" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCVi71vWHDNkWsQEe5DcnV0TqHB50uFK3iF3PXfPmFT5YRIdD6Ha3e1tbmBOzJb97MlgC5f3z7c6ufYofrnQdDp16dnIGM1aTtGOpMYxC61XytDurOcmYhoMT603i2vAYZrvwufpPGu0d/w146-h262/Silent+Music+3.jpg" width="146" /></a></div>I love that you can also clip video and music links. Every novel has a soundtrack, too. Not surprisingly from the title, music is at the heart of this book - here's the playlist for <i>Die Schritte zu deinem Herzen</i>, the German edition coming out in November. <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5C1ikz6Evj1x8MyMZzXArZ?si=ZFAl51TRQ6KCAex4Y1rLQg">https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5C1ikz6Evj1x8MyMZzXArZ?si=ZFAl51TRQ6KCAex4Y1rLQg</a><p></p><p>At the heart of this story I wanted to explore the 'silent music' we all carry within ourselves - our hidden thoughts, desires, dreams. The external music for the story sweeps between favourite ballet pieces and early rock & roll, following the protagonist, dancer Tess, and her journey as her only son leaves home in 1961. </p><p></p><p>The starting point for the story was a photograph I found of a little girl with her dogs in the 1930s. The novel begins in wartime Hong Kong and follows Tess to New York. I read widely for this book - from the wartime diaries of westerners held in Hong Kong, to early settlers in Cape Cod, ballet annuals from 1961 and Harrods mail order catalogues for expats in the 1930s. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb5_L0PekGKMEjWMllFIGO3T9LQkxrpSRL4UtqiD-5VhxtyH8yGeoZXI_D6AO08kONfU1ec1owL0oKJGFcz4DHOf77A2OI07v1wn_JwW2v8GbyujDntsQU_Oi6D87gpeF6x7bLg53IaYn/s200/Silent+Music+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb5_L0PekGKMEjWMllFIGO3T9LQkxrpSRL4UtqiD-5VhxtyH8yGeoZXI_D6AO08kONfU1ec1owL0oKJGFcz4DHOf77A2OI07v1wn_JwW2v8GbyujDntsQU_Oi6D87gpeF6x7bLg53IaYn/w160-h160/Silent+Music+1.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>It was immensely moving researching the suffering of people in occupied Hong Kong during WW2, and I wanted to counter that sadness with the explosion of pop culture in 60s America. I grew up listening to my parent's LPs, and a favourite was 'Peppermint Rock'. It was great fun writing in the Peppermint Lounge scene. Perhaps that's one of the most wonderful things about writing - it allows you to time travel, and through your characters experience many lifetimes.<p></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKwlTfM0RMYmabGjln1QQwwf1LBbOkL7WIhqEvbuFFQsBGQTNsxH2kuW19BEPGjCRGbWFdVWvMmOKN3f7hT6L4Ks_T2sw-FhgmmeNR65uCOJGnzSGOVcqT0TzdDq4qZOhyTQLd7DLIbiA/s400/Kate+Lord+Brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKwlTfM0RMYmabGjln1QQwwf1LBbOkL7WIhqEvbuFFQsBGQTNsxH2kuW19BEPGjCRGbWFdVWvMmOKN3f7hT6L4Ks_T2sw-FhgmmeNR65uCOJGnzSGOVcqT0TzdDq4qZOhyTQLd7DLIbiA/w164-h164/Kate+Lord+Brown.jpg" width="164" /></a></div>KATE LORD BROWN grew up in a wild and beautiful part of Devon, England, and was first published while at school. After studying philosophy at Durham University and art history at the Courtauld Institute, she worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East. Kate won the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition, Middle East region, in 2014; was a finalist in ITV's The People's Author competition; and has an MA in creative writing. The Perfume Garden was shortlisted for the UK Romantic Novel of the Year. She lives in the UK and Middle East with her family, and is working on her next novel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Visit Kate's <a href="http://katelordbrown.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">website</a> and find her on <a href="https://twitter.com/katelordbrown" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katelordbrown/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> as @katelordbrown</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3gpTYny" target="_blank"><b>Get your FREE copy of <i>Silent Music</i> on Amazon by August 29th!</b></a></span></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-28350798951165044542020-08-18T08:50:00.002-04:002020-09-08T20:16:28.931-04:00Blog Tour Guest Post by Rachel McMillan, Author of The London Restoration<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCaW03udtFXAyvTcQiXXGo1f1eB67tD4BThyZA3Y9A2hdkfSmSbYwyKEFMgpI4rM4t7WRynxkx5lxPG888sBe9e84hBsXpYX4vPKF6VHDSIiIUupqbbRljZnKcNQrcBDur3GjLC6W-4rM/s609/London+Restoration.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="400" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCaW03udtFXAyvTcQiXXGo1f1eB67tD4BThyZA3Y9A2hdkfSmSbYwyKEFMgpI4rM4t7WRynxkx5lxPG888sBe9e84hBsXpYX4vPKF6VHDSIiIUupqbbRljZnKcNQrcBDur3GjLC6W-4rM/w205-h312/London+Restoration.jpg" width="205" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Please join me in welcoming Rachel McMillan to Let Them Read Books! Rachel is touring the blogosphere with her newest novel, <i>T</i></span><i style="font-size: x-large;">he London Restoration</i><span style="font-size: x-large;">, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a guest post about endings and beginnings and cinematic themes in her storytelling. Read on and enter to win a paperback copy of <i>The London Restoration</i>!</span><p></p><p><i>From author Rachel McMillan comes a richly researched historical romance that takes place in post-World War II London and features a strong female lead.</i></p><p><i>Determined to save their marriage and the city they love, two people divided by World War II’s secrets rebuild their lives, their love, and their world.</i></p><p><i>London, Fall 1945. Architectural historian Diana Somerville’s experience as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park and her knowledge of London’s churches intersect in MI6’s pursuit of a Russian agent named Eternity. Diana wants nothing more than to begin again with her husband Brent after their separation during the war, but her signing of the Official Secrets Act keeps him at a distance.</i></p><p><i>Brent Somerville, professor of theology at King’s College, hopes aiding his wife with her church consultations will help him better understand why she disappeared when he needed her most. But he must find a way to reconcile his traumatic experiences as a stretcher bearer on the European front with her obvious lies about her wartime activities and whereabouts.</i></p><p><i>Featuring a timeless love story bolstered by flashbacks and the excavation of a priceless Roman artifact, The London Restoration is a richly atmospheric look at post-war London as two people changed by war rebuild amidst the city’s reconstruction.</i></p><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachkmc1/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-london-restoration-rachel-mcmillan/1134978551?ean=9780785235033" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">BARNES AND NOBLE</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780785235026" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">INDIEBOUND</a></h3><p>If my book were one of the movies I love, the credits would roll and the reel would end just as my action is beginning.</p><p>For in movies set in war time, the end is always the reunion between the lovers. A violin score swells and the lighting design frames the embracing couple in sepia. Somewhere a bird flies and the clouds part and the old war song "We’ll Meet Again" is made manifest. The heroine is kissed brilliantly senseless by a uniformed soldier whose ardor inspires her left heel to raise off the ground. </p><p>Fade to black. The theme overtakes the violin swell and I swallow the last of my wine and bunch the tissue holding the last of my sniffles and snobs. Love wins. Love reunites.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>When I first met Brent and Diana Somerville, I knew that their love story would truly build during the restoration of the city that first witnessed their pre-war romance. Even though they meet and fall in love before the bombs start to fall, even though they have an adorable meet-cute in a church yard and even as they marry before having to spend their wedding night in a Tube bomb shelter, I knew that the most romantic tenet of their love story would be their determination to rebuild their love even as divorce rates skyrocketed and reunited couples were wrenched apart by singular war experiences.</p><p>When Brent and Diana find each other after four years—their kiss isn’t a melting, foot-popping kind. She trips on his shoe, his lips meet her ear. I just knew the synchronization, even in their first physical meeting would have to be real and thus imperfect imperfect.</p><p>Their foundation, as firm as many of the Blitzed Christopher Wren churches that entice architectural historian Diana, is the crux on which their love story, brick by brick, will be rebuilt throughout the core of the novel. As they learn each other’s rhythms again and their fluid movements and the timbre of each other’s voices and as they reconcile that the passions and similarities they had before they parted. When your wants and needs are different and you’re bound to someone for eternity, you’re almost starting at square one…</p><p>As a voracious reader of romance novels and historical romance novels, I have always loved tropes that feature a married couple. You already have the backstory. You already have the commitment. You are starting in the middle of the chapter, in the happily ever after. I think that this can lead to a more mature and still passionate love. When you reignite a relationship that has already withstood the awkward first moments and the marriage night and the vows and the parting, then what you have left are two people exposed for their flaws, annoyed by how one burns the toast or how the other squeezes the toothpaste. Add in four years of secrets (including a signing of the Official Secrets Act as Diana has done branding her a traitor if she reveals what she did at Bletchley Park while her husband Brent served as a stretcher bearer for the course of the war) and you have two fallible people who have to intentionally fall in love again. </p><p>Perhaps this is why I have always loved marriage of convenience stories and, of course, stories like <i>The Scarlet Pimpernel</i>: where the married couple are plagued by issues of trust and secrets. The lust and puppy love are off the table and the true romance they find as they peel off layers of mistakes and miscommunication can lead to a much sterner, deeper passion.</p><p>Diana and Brent choose to fall in love again. Indeed, Brent vows to Diana that he will fall in love with her again and again as many times as he needs to. This intentionality takes us out of the violin swell and fade to black and into a representation of how the world was rebuilding after a devastating loss. A love story that mirrors the resiliency of a nation that would rebuild and restore what was blasted from under them and forge something stronger because of it. </p><p>To me, <i>The London Restoration </i>is a very passionate story featuring two people who would die for the other while falling in love again not just with themselves but the city that witnesses each delicate note of their restitution. It’s in the broken places, the secrets and the cracks, in the awkward reunited kisses and the late night spats. It’s something worth fighting for. It was why Diana decoded messages and Brent lifted stretchers…the possibility and hope…of a reunion and to start as new, stronger people grafted by war’s experience. </p><p>And while that first reunited kiss at Charing Cross station didn’t raise Diana’s foot off the ground (it was more firmly planted on Brent’s own in a mis-step), I promise the reader that if they stay the course—just as my Somervilles—hearts were thrum: at the rebuilding of glorious bombed churches and the reunion of two people match-made for each other as they fall in love again and again and again…</p><p>Architect Christopher Wren said “architecture aims at eternity,” that’s what Diana and Brent aim for too. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0Bc64iee2nJPrnts4rxJwPGhcAn-4wYsTPWGc9h3ePrpmYLPCIES6Yj2l6lyPTD-Gk60MTeOpq9YMbbl-6EKr8QEaS9FruufzeBslonOrtP59J4DKEjmu_0cPyzBzsyXNGoGL1eOyd2f/s350/Rachel+McMillan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="350" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0Bc64iee2nJPrnts4rxJwPGhcAn-4wYsTPWGc9h3ePrpmYLPCIES6Yj2l6lyPTD-Gk60MTeOpq9YMbbl-6EKr8QEaS9FruufzeBslonOrtP59J4DKEjmu_0cPyzBzsyXNGoGL1eOyd2f/w224-h149/Rachel+McMillan.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>Rachel McMillan is the author of The Herringford and Watts mysteries, The Van Buren and DeLuca mysteries and The Three Quarter Time series of contemporary Viennese romances. Her next work of historical fiction, <i>The London Restoration</i>, releases in Summer 2020 and takes readers deep into the heart of London’s most beautiful churches. <i>Dream, Plan, Go</i> (May, 2020) is her first work of non-fiction. Rachel lives in Toronto, Canada, and is always planning her next adventure.<p></p><h3 style="background-color: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #3c2313; font-family: georgia, "new serif"; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.rachelmcmillan.net/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachkmc1/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/rachkmc" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.pinterest.com/rachkmc/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">PINTEREST</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.instagram.com/rachkmc/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">INSTAGRAM</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14165949.Rachel_McMillan" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>The London Restoration</i> is on a blog tour!</b></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/thelondonrestorationblogtour/" target="_blank">View the tour schedule</a> ~ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48856403-the-london-restoration" target="_blank">Add to your shelves on Goodreads</a></b></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5EdC6YKSDBWTrKT77wFme6P8tUFhmUvPRBrJF7wP1yzsc-1YKaUA81jgMsDxn3oXCY7mUkKz2zPkobyOJ88gduvhhyphenhyphen88eMsLq75ycs_olfZ6vR57LqR0fH-S_wmJVF76srE_6ifA4_vY/s675/London+Restoration_Blog+Tour+Poster.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="675" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5EdC6YKSDBWTrKT77wFme6P8tUFhmUvPRBrJF7wP1yzsc-1YKaUA81jgMsDxn3oXCY7mUkKz2zPkobyOJ88gduvhhyphenhyphen88eMsLq75ycs_olfZ6vR57LqR0fH-S_wmJVF76srE_6ifA4_vY/w512-h256/London+Restoration_Blog+Tour+Poster.png" width="512" /></a></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="color: #800180; font-size: xx-large;"><b>GIVEAWAY!</b></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></div><div>During the Blog Tour, we are giving away 5 copies of <i>The London Restoration</i>! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.</div><div><br /></div><div>The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on August 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.</div><div><br /></div></div></div>
<div><br /></div><a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/IwOVW/the-london-restoration" rel="nofollow">The London Restoration</a>
<script async="true" src="https://widget.gleamjs.io/e.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-41384219838454485682020-08-05T06:00:00.012-04:002020-08-05T06:00:05.058-04:00Cover Celebration: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h3><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SO7eZGeiLq9hkpKYw364J0TWxOU0cVsmdU61lMbhrI_7vFfFhTQ_BDK3sqvgxnWJzSJrWafodN9-8YcPsuhhQbQVnWntOOr5vIu-tX65KiwZfbGoliDatkpzYx5RDZVc23Dv46TjVfAa/s1080/The+Rose+Code+Cover+Reveal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SO7eZGeiLq9hkpKYw364J0TWxOU0cVsmdU61lMbhrI_7vFfFhTQ_BDK3sqvgxnWJzSJrWafodN9-8YcPsuhhQbQVnWntOOr5vIu-tX65KiwZfbGoliDatkpzYx5RDZVc23Dv46TjVfAa/w513-h513/The+Rose+Code+Cover+Reveal.png" width="513" /></a></h3></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></h3><p style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="5">Y'all know Kate is one of my favorite histfic authors, and I'm so excited to be part of her cover celebration team! You can help spread the word by sharing this post and adding The Rose Code on Goodreads!</font></i></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><font size="5">THE ROSE CODE<br />by <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author Kate Quinn<br />(Morrow; on-sale March 9, 2021)</font><br /><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bit.ly/3k4t8o5" target="_blank">Preorder</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2XBJgUD" target="_blank">Add on Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2DfrgIz" target="_blank">Kate's Newsletter</a></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><i>New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter--the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger--and their true enemy--closer...</i></div><div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bit.ly/3k4t8o5" target="_blank">Preorder</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2XBJgUD" target="_blank">Add on Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://bit.ly/2DfrgIz" target="_blank">Kate's Newsletter</a></h3></div>Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-49719140098741227222020-07-11T05:00:00.001-04:002020-08-12T22:12:00.860-04:00Spotlight: A Song for Lonely Wolves by Lee Evie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8Gas2msGeMNVoUPZunZ1GDC3BB8jnztv7aKdYbIFkgv1lWy_GkXTghIyacs_z2O_5YCEq4E-7LE-phVKhf_7UQO9EZ7ic6KOBLpNS4rQ2GL-vNmxAzyT-WGBsX5Lz8Nj2oXF8_7hfRpD/s1600/A+Song+for+Lonely+Wolves_web.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8Gas2msGeMNVoUPZunZ1GDC3BB8jnztv7aKdYbIFkgv1lWy_GkXTghIyacs_z2O_5YCEq4E-7LE-phVKhf_7UQO9EZ7ic6KOBLpNS4rQ2GL-vNmxAzyT-WGBsX5Lz8Nj2oXF8_7hfRpD/s320/A+Song+for+Lonely+Wolves_web.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
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A Song for Lonely Wolves
by Lee Evie</h3>
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Publication Date: February 26, 2020</div>
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Interstice Press</div>
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Series: Joseon Detective, Book One</div>
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Genre: Historical Fiction</div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50374531-a-song-for-lonely-wolves?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Q2ut01eV1I&rank=1" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-9770" height="41" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Add-to-GR-Button.png" width="130" /></a> </div>
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<em>A missing woman. A frozen body.</em><br />
<em>A bonded servant girl, determined to solve a mystery.</em><br />
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<i>Joseon Korea, winter, 1590.</i><br />
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<i>At the foot of a jagged mountain range, an isolated village lies in muddy snow. From her bed, a young noblewoman vanishes in the dead of night and rumours of a fearsome ghost with no face echo in her wake.</i><br />
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<i>Hard-working and dogged Dan Ji, arrives in the long winding valley with her own ghosts. As a damo, a tea servant of the police force, she is overlooked and undervalued. Yet this case has gripped her heart, and she craves to prove her worth beyond simply cooking and cleaning for her superiors – she is determined to solve the mystery.</i><br />
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<i>With only the officer in charge on her side – a hard young man with a bloody past and secrets of his own – Dan Ji must convince the local Magistrate and his provincial policemen to trust her judgement. Yet with mistrust brewing, the investigation slowly grinds to a halt. Until a frozen body is unearthed from the deep snows of the mountain range.</i><br />
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<i>It is not within Dan Ji’s nature to leave a mystery unsolved, yet soon she discovers the fine threads of this investigation run much deeper than anyone has anticipated.</i><br />
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<i>A dark historical mystery set in old Korea.
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<a href="https://amzn.to/2ZwO9Qx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-song-for-lonely-wolves-lee-evie/1136498919?ean=9780648732334" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780648732334" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IndieBound</a></h3>
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About the Author</h2>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18589" height="301" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Lee-Evie.jpg" width="300" /></div>
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Lee Evie is a historical fiction author. She writes with a focus on Korean history and loves dark adventures with a heavy dose of danger, mystery and romance. When she's not writing, Lee Evie can be found watching drama, which she will do for hours on end. She believes drama watching is the ultimate joy of life. Even when they make her cry. An avid photography and travel lover, Lee Evie thinks stories are the most precious gift to the universe.</div>
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<a href="https://leeevie.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://mailchi.mp/ff790bd17d61/leeeviesignup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Newsletter</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lee_evie_writes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19754240.Lee_Evie" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads<span><a name='more'></a></span></a></h3>
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Blog Tour Schedule</h2>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Monday, July 6</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://passagestothepast.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Passages to the Past</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Tuesday, July 7</strong></span>
Review at <a href="https://bookworlder.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bookworlder</a>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wednesday, July 8</span></strong>
Review at <a href="https://yaitslitblog.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YA, It's Lit</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Thursday, July 9</strong></span>
Review at <a href="https://jennifercwilsonwriter.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Historical Fiction with Spirit</a>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Friday, July 10</span></strong>
Feature at <a href="https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donna's Book Blog</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Saturday, July 11</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://www.bookbustle.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Book Bustle</a>
Feature at <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Let Them Read Books</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Sunday, July 12</strong></span>
Review at <a href="https://readingismyremedy.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reading is My Remedy</a>
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Wednesday, July 15</strong></span>
Review at <a href="http://impressionsinink.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Impressions In Ink</a>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: x-large;">GIVEAWAY!</span></h2>
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<b>During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of <i>A Song for Lonely Wolves</i> by Lee Evie! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.</b></div>
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<strong><br /></strong></div>
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<strong>Giveaway Rules</strong></div>
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– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on July 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.<br />
– Paperback giveaway is open to the US only.<br />
– Only one entry per household.<br />
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.<br />
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.<br />
<a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/d28qw/a-song-for-lonely-wolves" rel="nofollow">A Song for Lonely Wolves</a>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18798" height="338" src="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/A-Song-for-Lonely-Wolves_Blog-Tour-Banner.png" width="675" />Jenny Qhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12912015732671970679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531601806554006401.post-60483759940242828662020-06-23T06:00:00.000-04:002020-07-18T11:53:17.158-04:00Blog Tour Q&A with Tea Cooper, Author of The Woman in the Green Dress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GdaiYM6RZ0mPugpsSXqfmNCz5WbzwL8iQl18XgQg3ea-NdNw9RTFMOhsSC84HMkiQNqGofGJi_jFZEhsVZOTEhAhcA6QkdMOrTN2-2BRctv25vuy_c2UIL-lskX6KaFmpiO5dykZmYhG/s1600/Woman+in+the+Green+Dress_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GdaiYM6RZ0mPugpsSXqfmNCz5WbzwL8iQl18XgQg3ea-NdNw9RTFMOhsSC84HMkiQNqGofGJi_jFZEhsVZOTEhAhcA6QkdMOrTN2-2BRctv25vuy_c2UIL-lskX6KaFmpiO5dykZmYhG/s320/Woman+in+the+Green+Dress_web.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Please join me in welcoming Tea Cooper to Let Them Read Books! I was thrilled to have the the chance to ask Tea a few questions about her newest release, <i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i>, and where she finds the inspiration for her novels. Read on and enter to win a paperback copy of <i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i>!</span><br />
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<i>A cursed opal, a gnarled family tree, and a sinister woman in a green dress emerge in the aftermath of World War I.</i><br />
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<i>After a whirlwind romance, London teashop waitress Fleur Richards can’t wait for her new husband, Hugh, to return from the Great War. But when word of his death arrives on Armistice Day, Fleur learns he has left her a sizable family fortune. Refusing to accept the inheritance, she heads to his beloved home country of Australia in search of the relatives who deserve it more.</i><br />
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<i>In spite of her reluctance, she soon finds herself the sole owner of a remote farm and a dilapidated curio shop full of long-forgotten artifacts, remarkable preserved creatures, and a mystery that began more than sixty-five years ago. With the help of Kip, a repatriated soldier dealing with the sobering aftereffects of war, Fleur finds herself unable to resist pulling on the threads of the past. What she finds is a shocking story surrounding an opal and a woman in a green dress. . . a story that, nevertheless, offers hope and healing for the future.</i><br />
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<i>This romantic mystery from award-winning Australian novelist Tea Cooper will keep readers guessing until the astonishing conclusion.</i><br />
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<b>Hi Tea! Thank you so much for visiting Let Them Read Books!</b><br />
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Thank you so much for the invitation. It’s great to be here!<br />
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<b>What inspired you to write <i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i>?</b><br />
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Without a doubt a book that was given to me by the local historian: A translation of Baron Charles von Hügel’s <i>New Holland Journal</i>,<i> </i>written during his visit to Australia from Austria between November 1833—October 1834. One section of it is devoted entirely to the Hunter Valley, the area where I live and set my stories. It was amazing to read his observations at the time. A line in the introduction of von Hügel’s journal sparked <i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i>. It said von Hügel’s journal had been transcribed by an amanuensis, a ghost writer. In a flight of fancy I dreamt up this character, Stefan von Richter, and the story began.<br />
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<b>Did you get to go anywhere fun in the course of your research?</b><br />
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All of my books are set in the Hunter Valley of NSW, in Australia, an area bound by the Hunter, Hawkesbury and MacDonald rivers, and I spent a lot of time wandering the paths von Hügel took. Some you can drive today; others required a lot of hiking. I took several boat trips rediscovering the Hawkesbury River and the small riverside villages mentioned in the story and camped at Mogo Creek, where Della’s story begins. And of course I wandered the streets of Sydney. Many of the original buildings are still standing, but sadly Tost & Rohu’s shop on which I based The Curio Shop of Wonders is no more.<br />
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<b>Did you learn anything in your research that surprised you?</b><br />
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I’ve been fascinated for some time by the prominent part women played in Sydney business in the nineteenth century. Jane Catharine Tost and, her daughter, Ada Jane Rohu, are two such women. They owned the taxidermy shop Tost & Rohu at 605 George Street, Sydney. Their customers included museums and scientific collectors as well as middle-class householders shopping for interior decor and fashion items. They won many awards for their work at International Exhibitions in London, Paris and New York. Known as ‘the queerest shop in Australia’, their business supplied the Australian Museum with many important specimens and boasted ‘the largest collection of genuine Native Implements’.<br />
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<b>What were the most challenging and rewarding aspects of writing this book?</b><br />
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The inspiration for most of my books begins with a little known historical fact (or myth) that I have stumbled across. I particularly love it when I see the words … an unknown person … then I play a What—If game. My aim is to keep my stories fictional but feasible. I received a lovely review from one of the Australian weekend newspapers saying I wove fiction around little known historical facts, and that is what I like to do. However, it is challenging, and if it comes to fruition, most rewarding.<br />
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<b>What are you working on now?</b><br />
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I have just completed the US edits on <i>The Girl in the Painting</i>, which released in Australia at the beginning of the year, and I’m currently finalizing the edits on <i>The Cartographer’s Secret</i>, which will release in November 2020 in Australia. It tells the story of a girl who lives in the shadow of her father’s obsession with the famous explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. And I am about halfway through the first, and very dirty, draft of my 2021 Australian release <i>The Paleontologist</i>. Busy, busy! But I love this writing life.<br />
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Thanks so much for the opportunity to talk about The Woman in the Green Dress. I hope everyone enjoyed the trip Down Under!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>About the Author:</b></span></div>
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Téa Cooper is an award-winning, bestselling author of Australian historical fiction. In a past life she was a teacher, a journalist and a farmer. These days she haunts museums and indulges her passion for storytelling.<br />
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<a fg_rewritten="1" fg_scanned="1" href="http://www.teacooperauthor.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> | <a fg_rewritten="1" fg_scanned="1" href="http://www.teacooperauthor.com/blog.html" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">BLOG</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TeaCooper/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FACEBOOK</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/TeaCooper1" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">TWITTER</a> | <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6586621.Tea_Cooper" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #0d4a49; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">GOODREADS</a></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i> is on a blog tour!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com/thewomaninthegreendressblogtour/" target="_blank">View the tour schedule</a> ~ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48856404-the-woman-in-the-green-dress" target="_blank">Add to your shelves on Goodreads</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSTnnwF3bfkRFjAhMSvirWhx4stAnOipqhf6ZbipEq6CHByv5SgsJdc2ZrZ6uDfMnET22kw50A-z-KqVEbIJVbrERwTgAX-5lYxn_4mnc5tgSgLQOH3G3xZPfQcCtl2alumhrwiNEG40K/s1600/Woman+in+the+Green+Dress_Blog+Tour+Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="675" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSTnnwF3bfkRFjAhMSvirWhx4stAnOipqhf6ZbipEq6CHByv5SgsJdc2ZrZ6uDfMnET22kw50A-z-KqVEbIJVbrERwTgAX-5lYxn_4mnc5tgSgLQOH3G3xZPfQcCtl2alumhrwiNEG40K/s400/Woman+in+the+Green+Dress_Blog+Tour+Poster.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: x-large;"><b>GIVEAWAY!</b></span></div>
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<b>During the Blog Tour, we are giving away 5 paperback copies of <i>The Woman in the Green Dress</i>! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.</b></div>
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<b>Giveaway Rules:</b></div>
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– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on June 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.</div>
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– Paperback giveaway is open to the US only.</div>
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– Only one entry per household.</div>
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– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.</div>
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– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.<br />
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<a class="e-widget no-button" href="https://gleam.io/Rz15p/woman-in-the-green-dress" rel="nofollow">Woman in the Green Dress</a>
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