Christmas Countdown Blitz Day 8

"Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.

Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian photography, Frozen Charlotte dolls, and antique poison bottles.

She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~
~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~

When Maisey Gates is introduced by friends to The Love List as a way to find that special Christmas date, she wants no parts of it, but she doesn’t want to disappoint her new friends.

Love finds Maisey before she even has a chance to look at her Love List match.
Meeting Maisey is a breath of fresh air for Sean Marshall, but Sean he a lot of baggage, some of it potential deal-breakers for his new relationship. 

What Sean doesn’t know is Maisey has a secret of her own.

With Christmas fast approaching, will Maisey and Sean find their Merry Christmas together, or will it be another holiday spent alone?

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Barnes and Noble ~

Q&A With the Author: 

  

1.      Describe yourself in 50 words or less.

Fiercely loyal, funny, thoughtful, can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

2.      What do you love most in the world?

Freedom. The ability to do what I love, and leave behind what doesn’t work for me.

3.      What inspired you to become an Author?

I don’t think there was a particular inspiration. I mean, I always knew I wanted to write since I was about 6 years old. First, I was a voracious reader, then a long-time book reviewer, and finally, I realized as I was reading and reviewing that I could do this, too.

4.      What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

I have always wanted to write a true crime novel. Over the last year, I have finally started the research, and I do hope one day to fulfil the dream.

5.      What is your trick for getting past writer's block? And what advice do you have for other authors who are struggling to tell their story?

I really don’t experience writer’s block. My problem is more procrastination. But, what I can say, if you don’t feel it, don’t force yourself to write it. Move on to a different or new project in the meantime.

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

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Christmas Countdown Blitz Day 7

Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~
~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~

Holly's two Christmas wishes this year are to finally win her mother's approval by gaining the notice of a handsome earl, and discovering the identity of the stranger who gave her a heart-shattering kiss...even if that mystery kisser is the resident Christmas ghost.

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Amazon Canada ~ 
~ Amazon Australia ~

Q&A With the Author: 

1.  Describe yourself in 50 words or less.

I'm a busy, crazy, often scatterbrained mom, wife, reader, chocoholic, nature-lover, and author with terrible organizational skills and a great love for literature, music, theatre, art, dance, and happily ever afters. 

2. What do you love most in the world?

Hard to choose. Well, besides my family and friends, I love sunsets on a beach. And the sound of rain pattering leaves. 

3. What inspired you to become an Author?

It's some kind of painful obsession. Really, I don't recommend it. But I write because I must, because I can't NOT write. When my son said he thought he might want to try his hand at writing, my reaction was; “No! Don’t succumb to those voices. If you do, they will never leave you alone!”

4. What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

Becoming a USA today best seller is an unfulfilled dream and I keep writing the next book hoping this one will be the one. I also take continuing education writing classes to add more tools to my writing tool box. But really, my biggest dream is to eat all the chocolate I want and never gain any weight. Wouldn’t that be awesome? I haven’t yet devised a way to make that happen since I refuse to run marathons every week. Or at all.

5. What is your trick for getting past writer's block? And what advice do you have for other authors who are struggling to tell their story?

Writers block is often a sign of burn out, so it helps to take a break from writing to do something that feeds my soul. Stress can also cause writers block. The most common culprit is that evil little voice in my head whispering that I'm not good enough. In those cases, I give myself permission to write worthless drivel, knowing it can be deleted or revised later, and just write. Often putting words on a page frees up my creativity enough that I can keep going. A looming deadline is also a great motivator to write even when I’m not feeling it.

6. 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?

Just this past weekend my husband reminded me of one of his favorite stories about me and related it to my daughters as we were washing and waxing our family SUV.

When my husband and I were just barely starting to date, I borrowed his truck—I can’t even remember why. His truck was one of those smaller Toyota pick ups and he had it lifted and looking very manly. I was impressed that he trusted me, a girl he had only known a few months, with his baby. Before I returned it to him, I filled it up with gas and washed it. He was so pleased and surprised that I’d done that. After he went to work, he sat at his desk on the second floor of the office and looked down at his truck parked right below his window…only to see a dirty stripe down the center of the cab. Right away he realized that the reason I had missed the top of the cab was because I was too short to see where I had missed, and too short to reach it, he started laughing. For some reason, he found that endearing. I think that is when he gave his heart to me. Now I know I should have stood in the bed of the truck to get the top and I get razzed about it every time we wash the car. Anyway, that’s one of his favorite stories to tell about me. Short girls. Gotta love ‘em, right?

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

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Christmas Countdown Blitz Day 6

Bennett lives a most unglamorous life in the beautiful state of Utah. She is the author of several YA books in many subgenres. She’s the mom of two daughters, two sons, two daughters-in-law, a son-in-law, four grandbabies, and a dog. She loves gooey cookies, dark chocolate, and cheesy popcorn. She hates housework and cooking, and has no plans to become a domestic goddess. Her favorite pastime—other than writing—is riding her Harley.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ 

"Banished from the South Pole, Kara tries to carve out a new life among the elves of the North. It’s not easy with a secret to protect—a secret she's cursed with by the unusual circumstances of her heritage: half-elf, half-fairy. In the North, she’s assigned to work with Seb on a special project. He's the most gorgeous elf she’s ever seen—and the orneriest.

As if being banished wasn’t punishment enough.

Seb introduces her to Trystin, a fairy from the nearby fairy forest. Trystin discerns her secret right away and promises to teach her how to use the powers given to her by the very thing she’s fighting to keep hidden."

~ Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~

Q&A With The Author: 

1.  Describe yourself in 50 words or less.

Writer, Mom, Grandma, lover. Everything else in life is secondary, some of it pleasurable, some of it hard. But I wouldn’t change anything about my life right now. Mistakes made have formed who I am, so I can’t regret them—too much. Motto: Love your life, and create your own happiness.

2. What do you love most in the world?

The people in my life, that’s what I love most.

3. What inspired you to become an Author?

I always wanted to write, but it was my 9^th grade English teacher who made me realize that not only did I have the talent and ability, I had the passion. To actually become a published author was inspired by my daughters who read what I wrote and encouraged me to put my books out into the world.

4. What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

A college degree. At this point in my life, it won’t do anything other than give me the ability to say, yes, I have a degree. But education is important to me (all four of my children have college degrees) and I love to learn. I have been taking college classes. It may take the rest of my life to achieve it, but I really hope to one day have a degree behind my name.

5. What is your trick for getting past writer's block? And what advice do you have for other authors who are struggling to tell their story?

That’s a tough one since I can’t always get past writer’s block. It mostly happens with persistence—keep writing even if you don’t feel like it. So, I guess that would be my advice: write even if you don’t feel particularly inspired. You never know what gem you may uncover by doing so.

6. 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?

On the subject of telling stories, and add to that, “out of the mouths of babes”: I can’t recall how old I was, but I was young enough to not understand the nuances of truth and a story. My dad, who passed away three years ago, and who I miss keenly, was a funny man. Even as a young kid, I recognized that he was perceived by all who knew him as a comedian. He had a sharp sense of humor, which I like to think I inherited to a certain degree.

He once told us kids a story about my mother. Keep in mind, I was too young to recognize the difference between truth and a story. I only remember that the story got a big laugh. A few months later, I’m at a church function with my mother. They went around the circle and asked for each mother and daughter to tell a story about the other.

Immediately I thought of my father’s story and the laugh it got. Of course, I decided that was the story to tell because I could get the laugh myself. I didn’t know just how inappropriate the story was to tell at a church function, nor the fact that it was just a funny, made up story that had no truth in it, which the first crowd that heard the story understood, knowing my dad. To my mother’s utter horror, this is the story I told:

“My dad told me that at a party recently, my mom got really drunk, and was dancing on the table.”

I couldn’t understand my mother’s upset (who didn’t drink alcohol, ever), but it was strong enough that to this day I remember the incident, and only later as I matured could I understand just how embarrassing and horrible it must have been for her. I have apologized to her, though by the time I did it was but a distant memory to her. Still, to this day, all these years later, I feel bad for it.

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

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Christmas Countdown Blitz Day 5

"Debra ""DJ"" Erfert, a winner of a 2017 Kindle Scout campaign, has authored five published novels, three novellas, and one Kindle World’s novella, and several short stories. She writes what her alter-ego dictates. Maybe it’s her super-ego. In her Window of Time series, Lucy is fearless and strong and has a secret power—all qualities Debra envies. In real life, spiders terrify her, which is why they appear on a regular basis in her books. “Confront your fears, and have your characters squish them!” 

Debra uses the pen name DJ Erfert for her paranormal suspense/thriller books, and Debra Erfert for her romantic suspense/mystery books. She is an award-winning fine artist who lives in a southwest desert city in Arizona with her husband, Mike, a retired police lieutenant, where the average summer temperatures are well above 100 degrees—truly hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. After raising two Eagle Scouts, she now spends her time writing and shooing her polydactyl cats away from her keyboard."

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Blog ~ Website ~ Amazon ~

Artist Abigail Carson crashes off the deserted highway during a Wyoming blizzard while driving to reach her dying mother. Carbon County Sheriff Jackson Reynolds rescues her, leaving her Jeep in the snowdrift as the storm becomes a whiteout. They’re trapped at his ranch for the week leading up to Christmas, along with his two young daughters, a protective mother-in-law, and a bitter memory of his dead wife. 

Tensions rise as Abby’s attraction grows for the tough sheriff. She must crack through his emotional wall before the storm breaks or lose her only chance for real love. But if the storm doesn't stop soon enough, Abby may lose her opportunity to ask her mother's forgiveness for running away almost ten years before.

Snowdrift is a story about love, faith, and forgiveness."

~ Amazon ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ B&N ~

Q&A With The Author: 

1) 50 words or less about myself: 

If I had to describe myself I'd say that I'm not merely shy, but very sincerely shy. I dislike being in a crowd and having to talk to people. I'm afraid of making a fool of myself. This is why I love to read and to write. I only have to talk to my characters.

2) What I love most in the world is my family. I'd be happy without anything and everything as long as I am able to have my family.

3) I wrote my first story because I wanted to "see" a sequel to a movie that left the theater. 

Although it's not something that can ever be published (copyright infringement). 

4) My largest, unfulfilled dream is to be on the New York Times Best Seller list with a single title and not with a group boxed set. I want my writing to be the reason it makes the list, and not a group using a cut-rate 99¢ deal. I'm continually writing more books, and hopefully, my dream may come true. And to go to Scotland. 

5) Writer's block? I don't believe in it. Sorry--no offense.

6) This is a little glimpse into who I am. 

Several years ago I wrote a short story for the compilation book Value Stories for the Young Woman, published by Walnut Springs Press that has over 50 uplifting stories for young women. My title was Faith Epiphany. Not long before I wrote it, I was writing Changes of the Heart, a romance. The main character had a heartbreaking childhood where her mother had brain cancer. As a little girl, she had prayed and prayed asking God to heal her mother. The mother died 13 years after she was first diagnosed. The character believed the answer to her prayer had been a resounding no, or it was totally ignored. The experience left my character seriously doubting the power of prayer. After all, her mother hadn't been healed and had died from complications of her cancer. While I was writing a particular scene, I had my character have an epiphany that her mother had lived, she had lived long enough to see her daughter (my character) grow into an adult who could take care of herself. 

I modeled the character after me. 

As I wrote the words that flowed into my mind, I had my own epiphany about my own mother. My mother was first diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor when I was only 6, and I remember kneeling in front of the waiting room chair with my little hands folded tightly and my face down on the blue plastic seat, praying to God with all my heart for her to be healed. My mother battled her illness for 17 years before dying of a complication. I just looked at it as my prayer wasn't answered. Except... she had lived--she'd lived long enough to see all her children grow up and move away, and that God had, indeed, answered my prayers.

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

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Artesans of Albia Review

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:

http://www.caspeace.com/cas-peace/the-wheel-will-turn

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.

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Amazon Canada ~ Amazon Australia ~

4 of 5 Stars

I read the first book in this series. The book starts off with the main character Taran making a colossal mistake, putting him and his 2 friends on a path that will either make them or completely destroy them. 

 I am accustom to having books where the story is focused on the main character. But this isn't how it works in this book. The main character isn't the best at what he does, he doesn't get the girl... I am assuming, he isn't the only person contributing to the storyline. This book is very careful of making the book more than just about Taran. You get insight in many different characters which could be distracting however it isn't. It allows you to immerse yourself more fully into the story being able to understand the different characters that make up this story. It was a different pace from what I am accustomed to read however I enjoyed it. The book pulls you in fairly quickly but there is the world building necessary to carry an entire series, luckily it is spread out throughout the book as to not bog you down.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fantastic fantasy series in a complex and yet believable world. This is definitely an adult book, not necessarily because of content but because of writing style. There are not really any warnings per se...Things that could be sensitive to some readers are mentioned but never embellished on. 

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

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