Wednesday 29 November 2017

Cover Reveal: Artesans of Albia by Author Cas Peace





Cas lives in the lovely county of Hampshire, southern UK, where she was born. On leaving school she trained for two years before qualifying as horse-riding instructor. During this time she also learned to carriage-drive. She spent thirteen years in the British Civil Service before moving to Rome, Italy, where she and her husband, Dave, lived for three years. They enjoy returning whenever they can. Cas supports many animal charities and owns two rescue dogs. She has a large collection of cacti and loves gardening. She is also a folk singer/songwriter and is currently writing and recording nine folk-style songs to accompany each of her fantasy books. You can listen to and download all the songs from her website: www.caspeace.com

See the video of her performing live at the King’s Envoy book launch here:


Find out more at her website: www.caspeace.com


Connect with the Author here: 

Author Facebook ~ Facebook ~ Website ~

 ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Reverbnation ~




Taran Elijah’s quest for knowledge uncovers a plot that threatens the world...

Desperate to learn how to control his innate Artesan powers, Taran embarks on a foolhardy plan to acquire the teaching he craves. The military backlash his action unleashes forces Albia’s High King to send Major Sullyan as an envoy to the Fifth Realm. But a dark and treacherous power is moving through the realms and all will feel its influence.

Captured and tortured by the power-hungry Lord Rykan, Sullyan is trapped in Andaryon. Aided by the unlikeliest sources, the major formulates a plan to defeat Rykan and end his quest for the throne. But Sullyan’s strength is fading fast and time is running out. The only thing that can save her is Rykan’s mysterious Staff, which lies buried in the ruins of Taran’s cellar.

Sullyan’s lover, Robin Tamsen, sets out to recover the artefact, but the enemy is two steps ahead of him. If Robin fails to secure the Staff, Sullyan’s life, the Artesan craft, and the very existence of their world is under threat.



And now for the Cover

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~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK



For more content, reviews and Author 

interviews, join the Tour

 for this Trilogy here:



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Friday 17 November 2017

Evidence is Lacking, Yet Still I Hope





Joshua Henry Bates, a young teacher of a country school, wonders if there will be more to his life. Yes, there are summers away from the farm, attending the University of Utah, dancing at Saltair, watching pictures shows, and eating ice cream on bone dry days. In his journal he questions his future. He finds a young woman to love, but she is an ever-mutating mystery. His job seems to be a dead-end. His parents need his help more all the time. Josh tries to change his life: cooling the relationship with his girlfriend, teaching in a new school, and registering for service in the American Expeditionary Forces. Still, Joshua is filled with self-doubt. Will Josh marry the girl? Will he find a dazzling life mission? Will he be victorious in war? Each chapter contains one to thirty primary sources from the life of this young man drafted as a doughboy in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign.
 Praise for the book:
If you have ever searched for your own history, or a way to bring
history to life, this book is a masterpiece.”
Kelly Milner Halls, author of Saving the Baghdad Zoo



Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 



Joan Enders lives in Washington State with her husband Jerry, and loves the Pacific Northwest! For 28 years she taught literature and research skills in school libraries to middle and high school students, and advocated for full-time school librarians in every school. She was a recipient of the American Library Association's Frances Henne Award for library leadership. 

She loved her jobs, often to distraction. Once Joan stayed so late at the school library that the custodians waxed the floors, unaware that she was still upstairs. She crept out the least sticky exit. Joan now teaches librarians on webinars. When not teaching she administers the local Family History Center for FamilySearch International. She enjoys peeling back the research onion for students and adults. That was the motivation for her first book, which replicates her most popular inquiry lesson for U.S. History students and teachers. Joan speaks in her community, for professional organizations and at genealogy conferences.



Connect with the Author here: 
~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Twitter ~


AUTHOR INTERVIEW

From Joan Enders....

1. If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?
a. I wish that my husband would be cancer-free. We are blessed that he responds
well to treatment but this pesky cancer likes to reappear. He had checkups every
three months.
b. Now to the absurd: I wish that a modern master bathroom with one of the clever
automatic toilets would suddenly appear in my house.
c. I wish to find my organization again. It went on the lam about 4 years ago and
has not returned.

2. Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal work/writing environment?
a. My studio is on the hill overlooking the monastery and grounds created by Monk
Kevin at Glendalough, Wicklow, Ireland. Expansive windows overlook the
monastery, fields, rivers, sheep, and cemetery. My standing desk faces the
windows and it is laden with my large barreled pens, mechanical pencils, darling
little notebooks, and the voice-activated computer. Behind the computer is a stout
farm table for the littering of gestating piles of purposeful disorganization. An
efficiency fireplace, disguised with a Austin rock facade, is flanked by a chaise
for pondering and reading aloud. The heli-pad in back cuddles my helicopter with
which I swoop to The Giant's Causeway, Warwick Castle or Sterling Castle, or
the British Library for inspiration.
3. Where do you actually work/write?
a. I write and swivel between PC and MAC laptops with my back to our office
windows. My work oozes out to the dining room table. Now it holds my
ShotBox for photographing old photographs and objects to preserve for a learning
kit.

4. Describe yourself in 50 words or less.
a. Hum... I would say detail-driven, mostly organized, make-up- is-me, and dry wit is
the only wit. Actually, I feel generosity has nothing to do with wealth; that
anything is fodder for humor; that work is worth doing well; 85% of life is just
showing up; and anything worth teaching can be explained simply.

5. What inspired your book?
a. High school social studies teachers were required to expose their students to
primary sources. I created an inquiry experience for their students so that they
would use primary sources like a historian would to interpret, analyze and create a
life story about the subject. They loved it. Friends found out and wanted me to
share the activity with them. They loved it. When I no longer taught at the school,
the teachers imploded over losing me. (Blush). Concerned, I pondered what to

do and the book was born as a consolation prize! Ironically, the book has many
more primary documents than had been used in the class. A reader has the time
(and not the assignment) to ponder each chapter.

6. How do you spend your free time?
a. I quilted a quilt for all members of our family. Based on the patterns and plethora
of fabrics on hand, I see a second quilt in their futures. I love to travel and cruise.
I love other people's cooking.

7. What do you love most in the world?
a. I love my family most, but I do luxuriate in quiet time.

8. What do you fear most?
a. Liver. It is disgusting and looks like the blob that conquered planet Earth.

9. What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
a. To visit every LDS temple and to visit every National Park. We have two lists,
and we are checking them off.

10. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
a. Cataloging class. I circled the dining room table suffocated with my cataloging
books and AACR2 bible, crying as I considered the thousands of pages of
controlled vocabulary and cataloging rules I was to master. My husband walked
in and said, "If it is that hard, just quit." I started reading and working.

11. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
a. No one else could share this information. It was my job to do. Likewise, no one
else had my vision of this book.

12. What is your favorite part of writing?
a. I enjoy researching background information and the historic milieu of the times.
People make history and are shaped by it.

13. Do you have any advice for other writers?
a. My BBF and writer, Charlotte, gave me a little origami chair with "Button Chair"
on the back and a little white button on the seat. It is my writing totem to remind
me that if I am going to write, I had better plant the tush in the chair and get to
work.

14. What was the hardest part of writing your book, and how did you overcome it?
a. Feeling worthy of writing was numero uno. I haven't the word-smithing skills of
someone who majored in creative writing. Once I saw the book's proof that I
realized that I could do this! My vision of the book was clear and I was worthy to
write it. The second challenge was time management. Life obligations take pre-
eminent roles which is all the more reason for structuring your writing time to an
acceptable minimum. I like what another writer said: promise yourself an hour of
writing per day.

15. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From
your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's
yours. What's your story?
a. Mrs. Bewley was a fearsome English teacher. I realized how much when I looked
at my first sophomore English report card and only received a B for all my A
papers. When I questioned her she said, "Joan, you don't show enough leadership
skills." Whaaaaat does that have to do with English? I theorize that was her line
to get people into her Forensics class. Of course, I signed up. Anything for an A.
The beauty of Forensics was John Goldhammer, a senior to my junior, bright,
sarcastic, argumentative (good for debate). Heart of my heart, I ended up as his
debate partner and we won all our debates. All of us had excellent seasons that
year and we headed to the UPS tournament, crowding into Mrs. Bewley's car. I
ended up on the front bench beside her, mistress of the AM radio controls. Signals
were iffy after you left the SeaTac area yet had not quite reached the Portland
signals. The best station that we missed, our two entire days in Tacoma, was
KISN in Portland. It was THE station. As I failed tuning in a decent signal,
suggestions of which way to turn the dial chorused from the back seat. Distinctly
I heard John say, "Turn it to KISN, turn it to KISN." The distance was just too
great. How did I know? I had already tried that station. When the chorus took up
his request, I swiveled around and said, "John. We are too far away for KISN."
Silence. Choking laughter. Red face. Hopefully I turned quickly enough that the
chorus didn't see. Yah, right.


To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 



Wednesday 15 November 2017

Soul Mirrors Cover Reveal





My love of storytelling traces back to my step-mother, who spun wonderful fantasy stories when I was child. I finished my first novel at sixteen. That first attempt was terrible, but taught me quite a bit about story construction. Though I would start numerous other projects in the following years, I wouldn't actually complete another book for another 21 years. 
I wasn't idle in that time, though. I earned a degree in engineering, married the love of my life, worked as a semi- truck driver crisscrossing the country, moved from Texas to North Dakota and then came back home. 
It's been a fun and interesting journey. I really enjoy engineering, but writing was my first passion, and I'm excited to share it with you.
I currently live in West Texas with my wife and our two adorable (but weird) cats.

Connect with the Author here: 
 ~ Website




"No one knows how human genetics evolved to create Mirrors. No one knows how the evidence of a criminal’s last horrendous act can be confirmed in a single gaze of a child’s silvered eyes. But just because science can’t explain something doesn’t mean it can’t be used, and this gift is simply too valuable to ignore.

Twins Thomas and Ashley Ross have grown up knowing they would be used as Mirrors for the “good” of humanity. When their powers mature at age twelve, they are taken weekly to fulfill their role. By reliving the most heinous crimes from a perpetrators’ perspective, they alone can assure that no innocent people will be executed, and that the worst offenders are not set free due to lack of evidence.

Justice is not without cost, however. Taking on the memories of others is a destructive process, one that quickly consumes the children involved until most take their own lives. As despair threatens to drown Thomas and Ashley, a distant hope keeps them from succumbing: If they can make it to their eighteenth birthday, their contract with the government will be fulfilled. Changing views on the morality of their role threatens to tear them apart, but the twins struggle to cling to each other and try to construct a fragile life above the weekly flood of horrors. 

As their work takes it toll, however, a new question emerges: does survival even matter when you’re already broken beyond repair?"


And now for the Cover
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~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK




To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 




Tuesday 14 November 2017

Dark Days of Promise





Thirty-four year old Vicki Laramie must learn to trust before she can love, but she might die trying.


While Vicki’s children grapple with the death of their father -- a man whom she’s successfully fabricated as loving, a lie her rebellious teenager recognizes -- she must find a way to support her family and find a role model for her boys. She never intends to fall for Staff Sergeant Chase, her best friend’s son, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She’d much rather choose a safer man to love, but her children have a voice in the decision she makes. With two deaths to deal with, a suitor after her money, a rebellious son, and Sergeant Chase’s repeated attacks, she can only hope to survive the danger she faces. If she doesn’t, her children will be left without either parent.






~ Amazon ~ iTunes ~ Kobo





Shaunna Gonzales currently resides with her family in the greater Seattle area. Married over thirty years, her role as wife and mother of four continue to be her priorities.
A storyteller in her youth, she endevored to extend her love of stories to the written word and in 2005 began to write her first novel. Though that manuscript will remain buried, she has continued to learn.
Once told by her doctors that she would never leave her wheelchair -- due to her Multiple sclerosis. It has been tucked in a closet while she continues on. (In other words muddles on.)

Shaunna has worked as a professional reviewer for InD'Tales eMagazine for three years. In 2012 she also served as the vice president of Moonwriters, the on-line chapter of American Night Writers Association (ANWA She prefers to write romantic fiction and has ventured into the romantic suspense, and time-travel genres. Her debut novel, Dark Day s of Promise was released by Desert Breeze Publishing in 2012 re-released 2015.
Although she prefers to spend her days writing, she is willing to share what she has learned from the school of life and is often found "giving back." 


Connect with the Author here: 
Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~





Excerpt 

"Um... Janine?" I dropped the letters I'd just tugged out of the mailbox decorated like a big, orange jack-o-lantern, and pointed at the four men in green dress uniforms approaching my front door. My mouth tasted like the Salt Flats.
Janine, my best friend and elderly neighbor, glanced at the house and back at me. "Vicki, it's going to be okay. Even the darkest of days hold a promise of good things. I'll be right here beside you."
I tried to breathe. I thought I had shielded myself from this ever happening to me with the divorce. I was wrong. Dead weight in both legs impeded my instinct to flee. With Janine leaning on her cane at my side, I raced for my front door in slow motion, each step seeming to come slower than the previous one. Struggling with the implications, I willed my feet to move. Step, step…now lift your foot. One step... two, you can do it, just one more. I couldn't breathe. I advanced to the porch.
I sidestepped between the army green uniforms, ignoring the need for a polite acknowledgment. My hand, below the frayed sleeve of my faded red shirt, looked old and froze to the doorknob before resorting to automatic pilot. An unconscious reflex spurred me to open the door and usher them inside. The door hung wide, welcoming what I dreaded. I shrank back as though the officers would assault me. Janine came through the door, accompanied by the chaplain.



To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page