The White Deer of Kildaire by Christy Matheson – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christy Matheson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour and a fine writing notebook with personalized art to a second randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

There’s a deer sorting Christmas decorations in Maura’s kitchen…

All Maura wants is a peaceful winter holidays in her dilapidated Irish castle, but her ex is threatening her with family court, and her second grader has invited a strange–completely unclothed–friend, to spend the holidays with them. Oh. And the friend’s dog, which is not actually a dog but probably one of the white deer of Celtic myth.

Maura distracts herself from her husband’s threats by trying to discover why a Fae deer is in her kitchen, when the two women accidentally end up in the Ireland of ancient myth. The White Deer was the human queen of this castle, but it appears she has husband trouble too. Perhaps…the deadly sort of trouble.

Can Maura rescue her new friend — or is Maura herself so tangled in the White Deer’s fate that she won’t make it home to her children alive?

This novella will appeal to readers who enjoy cozy fantasy, ancient history, Irish folklore, and uplifting stories about motherhood and found family.

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Raindrops slide down the windscreen of the Peugeot, and condensation creeps up the windows as we let the minutes tick by. We got to Cork airport early, but Aiden and Kaylee haven’t changed their minds. No way, no how are they getting on that plane back to America.

Aiden lifts his phone and snaps a picture of the distinctive swoop of the departures building, then turns and gets me in the frame. Ca-tip. Ca-tip. He hunches and his thumbs fly over the screen.

“Okay,” Aiden says. “Done. It’s official now.”

He’s trying to prove that I did my best to drop them off, but I know it won’t be enough. The teens’ biological parents are both going to blame me for violating the custody agreement.

Within seconds, my phone buzzes against my leg. In the back seat, Kaylee’s pings, then dings, then chirps. Aiden, who at 16 always plans ahead, switched his to silent mode before unleashing the storm of recriminations. I should have done the same. I close my eyes and lean my head against the cold window. Buzz, buzz, chirp, ding.

“Are you sure you won’t get out…” My voice can’t turn this into a question.

“Have we missed the plane yet?” Kaylee demands.

“No,” Aiden and I say together.

We sit without talking. More pings.

Amber: Please.
Please please please please please.
One mother to another. Please.

In my heart of hearts, I sympathize with Amber. I’d want to see my children for Christmas, too.

About the Author: Christy Matheson writes award-winning fiction about friends, family, and finding one’s place in an ever-changing world.

She is the author of “The Castle in Kilkenny: Fairy Tales” novella series. Each one sets a traditional Irish fairy tale within a modern blended family, perfect for readers wanting a cozy family adventure.

Christy’s regular historical work (sans fantasy elements) can be found in the award-winning “Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women,” of which she is also an editor. Her Regency novels are represented by Kristina Sutton-Lennon and have won pre-publication awards for women’s fiction.

Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her husband, five children, three Shelties, one bunny, and an improbable quantity of art supplies.

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Among Us by V.G. Harrison – Spotlight and Giveaway

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. V.G. Harrison will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

She’s in the most dangerous place in the world.

Prof. Meridia Vail, a member of the Bridgeway Space Station, has escaped the government stronghold and is on a mission among the human population of this “new” Earth. She needs to find scientists, engineers, researchers, anyone who can help her and her crew get back to their derelict space station that has crossed over into a different dimension. The sooner the better, too. The Bridgeway is in a decaying orbit and has the potential to kill millions, if it crash lands on the planet.

Trusting anyone in this New Earth is going to be hard to come by. The authorities have branded her as a maniac who has escaped from a mental hospital. For the past five years, multiple countries have colluded in declaring no survivors from the Bridgeway Space Station incident. When Meridia’s finally able to convince a university professor, Dr. Dana Haden, of who she is, Prof. Vail realizes she’s not home-free yet. She has to convince the entire world who she is and expose the lies nations have been telling their citizens. Will governments be forced to free her crew so they can work the problem…or will they take their chances and nuke the station from orbit to bury their secrets?

Read an Excerpt

“Wait! Stop!” Dr. Haden grabbed the chair, but wasn’t able to yank it from my grip. She placed herself between me and the window. “What are you doing? Put this thing down.”

“He threatened you,” I replied. “I can break the glass with this and we can make it out on the ledge. I might be able to even carry you in my arms and we jump–”

“Oh my God, no.” She shook her head before smiling and motioning for me to lower the chair. “It’s okay. I swear. He’s a friend. Put the chair down; he won’t hurt us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She eased the chair out of my hands and placed it back on the floor. A sigh released the tension from her face and shoulders. “You would’ve seriously thrown that thing and tossed me across your shoulder before jumping three stories to your death?”

“Of course. I don’t know if I would’ve come away unscathed, but I would’ve taken the chance, as you’re my only chance to get back to my space station right now.”

“Wow. That’s some friendship.”

“You’re welcome…I think.” I half-smiled.

“I’m not even sure my husband would’ve gone to those depths.” A chuckle seemed to calm her more as she made her way to the door. Her hand motioned for me to relax. “It’s just my colleague, Professor Carlin.”

She opened the door and motioned for him to enter.

About the Author:Amazon best-selling author, V.G. Harrison enjoys creating smart heroines who are more comfortable dealing with things like Fine-structure constant and quantum entanglement than the fallout from their conflict. She loves to write stories that leave her audience so engaged they can’t sleep at night, thinking about the possibilities.

V.G. holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Information Technology. When she’s not writing, she’s an IT manager for software company.

Her ever-growing list of hobbies include astronomy, attending comic cons, keeping an eye on the cryptocurrency and stock markets, hydroponics gardening, hiking, and connecting with her daughter on a cool level. Building Lego sets at night with milk and cookies on the side come in handy for that.

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Between the Living and the Dead by Sophie Jupillat Posey – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sophie Jupillat Posey will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The dead won’t leave her alone. For Cavilla, it’s one case after another…

Cavilla Ramirez is an average Peruvian teen, tethered to the 1990s rhythm of clarinet rehearsals, dog-eared Agatha Christie novels, and low-stakes schoolyard mysteries. But when a hit-and-run claims her two best friends, her world implodes—and then restructures itself in a seemingly impossible and unnerving way. Her friends aren’t gone. Their ghosts linger, needing her help in solving their murder so that they can cross over. And it’s not just them. Ghosts are everywhere, and somehow, she’s the only one who can see them.

With a protector in the form of a god-turned-cat, Cavilla becomes a reluctant guide between Peru’s realms of the living and the dead. Solving murders and helping the dead find closure becomes her new normal. But every answer she uncovers tugs loose something else: long-buried secrets about her own heritage, secrets her aunt Tia Luz would rather keep six feet under.

And as Cavilla finds out, not all ghosts need guidance. One presence stands apart, watching her… waiting.

And he isn’t asking for help. He wants her – or something she has.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I knew something was wrong when dusk wasn’t followed by night. It was happening again; my third time this year. The sun just set over the hills, but the light froze, as if a greedy hand had seized it and squeezed it. The motes of ashen light trickled through the violet clouds into my bedroom window. I passed my hand through the dull sunbeam, my brown color paling as it mingled with the dusk. Even my gold leaf bracelet lost its luster and glow. The hoarse calling of Tia Luz Marina for dinner time quieted and softened until her always angry-sounding voice was nothing but a hush.

That time, I held still and breathed slowly, slitting my eyes until my vision doubled. Focus on the intangible, I coaxed myself. The withered light impregnated every corner, every detail of my messy room. It turned into ghosts the coloring books, the woolen dolls, the half-empty bottles of acrylic paint. When it fell on the spirits of my deceased friends, Niko, and Angelica, sitting on the floor by my bed, it brought them further into focus.

The queer dusk light slipped into my short bathroom hallway and vanished. I stared at that dark entryway, convinced there was something more there. For years, I’d been telling Tia Luz Marina
that there were ghosts in the bathroom, but she tossed the notion aside. She said believing in ghosts was a gringa thing. Yet, when I pressed her on ghosts and gods from stories of our Peruvian culture, she shied away.

About the Author: Sophie Jupillat Posey has an enriched passion for writing and music that allows her to captivate audiences with her unique style in poetry, novellas and novels. As she lives her life around the beauty and art and the inspiration from others, Sophie manages to create worlds that her readers will find themselves immersed in. With her passion for the arts, she has also studied music and writing at Rollins College, which can be found as guiding pieces in her works. She is the author of several pieces, including the YA fantasy “The Four Suitors”, the short story sci-fi collection “The Inside Out Worlds: Visions of Strange,” several bilingual children’s books and a poetry chapbook. Having lived in the US for many years, Sophie now calls France her home, bringing more of her passion for the arts in her books.

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Ten Things You Might Not Know About Lauren Wagner – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lauren Wagner will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Me

1. I want to climb Machu Picchu someday. Because what’s more fun than hiking up an ancient mountain and pretending you’re in enough athletic shape to actually pull it off? But seriously- it was the inspiration for my first book: Awaken.

2. Sleeping is basically my secret superpower. I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Meetings, planes, after five cups of coffee — boom, out like a light.

3. I’m all about that pitch-black, silent bedtime vibe. But my husband? He needs the TV on, like it’s his personal sleep podcast. I let him win because, well, love means suffering through reruns of bad television.

4. I wasn’t much of a reader until after college. Before that, everything I read was always for a school assignment, and I never picked up anything unless it was required reading. Back then, I read things at the surface level and never thought about what the words actually meant. Once turned into an “actual reader,” I felt so guilty about it that I went back and reread everything from my high school and middle school reading lists. I had missed out on so much, and I promised myself that I would never again take a book for granted.

5. I wish I could sing.

6. I hate the smell of ketchup.

7. If I could choose another career, I’d be an archaeologist. Digging up history and wearing a hat? Sign me up. History is where I find most of my inspiration. The world is covered by so much forgotten knowledge, buried beneath layers of earth and time. Every artifact is like a puzzle piece, waiting to reveal the stories of those who came before us. I love the idea of uncovering secrets that have been hidden for centuries—reconstructing lives from the fragments they left behind. It’s like being part detective, part historian, and part adventurer.

8. Hiking is my happy place. Give me dirt trails, fresh air, and a good view — I’m in heaven.

9. Music is my muse. When a song gets stuck in my head, it’s usually a sneaky little story begging to be written.

10. Outer space terrifies me. All that empty blackness? No thanks. I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground and avoid thinking about floating alone in the void.

Following a catastrophic nuclear war, Sara lives in a town where the government controls every drop of water. Strict rationing tightly regulates residents’ lives, and to fall sick is to be executed. Sara’s life becomes more dangerous and complicated when she first hides and cares for a small boy who has fallen sick, then takes him in when his parents are taken by the authorities.

Determined to care for the helpless child while struggling to keep alive the memory of her long-dead best friend, Sara leans on her friend’s older brother, Josh, an employee of the domineering water company that controls the water rationing. But Josh is under suspicion, and the city’s enforcement unit begins to observe their daily activities. Despite knowing that she’d be executed if her actions were known, Sara finds herself deeply and distressingly attracted to the lead investigator, navigating a complicated romance and finding a glimmer of hope in a world long dominated by fear and control.

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United Region Water Laws: Established May 2167
Water restoration and conservation laws formed with the intent to restore and maintain the physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters are our nation’s highest priority. Any ill citizens will be removed from government-proclaimed safety zones for the public’s well-being.

Black SUVs line the street, their dark tinted windows and their sparkling silver rims reflecting impending doom. But the windows cannot keep out the screams. Not the cries, nor the banging from inside the vehicles. It’s random health inspection day, and dozens of citizens have already failed, by the count of SUVs.

Josh stands to greet me with a kiss on the cheek, his silence speaking louder than words. I smile back and try to ignore the ominous SUV’s and to ignore what is happening.

“Sit down. Don’t draw any more attention to yourself than necessary,” Josh says.

My pulse is pounding, and my chest rises and falls quicker than I can control. Sweat drips from my brow. My stomach is tied in knots. I assess my body for early signs of illness. No sore throat. No muscle aches. No nausea. All I can do is wait in silence. Our words would be lost anyway, so I sit down at the table.

About the Author: Lauren Wagner’s love for reading started as a young adult after discovering her town’s public library. After carrying out piles of books at a time, and re-reading them over and over again, she discovered her love for writing. She writes fantasy and science fiction as well as post-it notes about her future stories.

She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago where she presently resides with her husband and two children. She currently teaches upper elementary students to love and obsess over written works of art.

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Stellar Heir 2: Syndicate Moon by Scott Killian – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Scott Killian will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Jael and his crew are on the run, searching for an ancient machine that could save the galaxy, but the syndicate-controlled moon has other plans.

After uncovering an artifact that grants him extraordinary powers, Jael thought he had gained the upper hand in the lawless fringes of space. But news of his newfound abilities has spread throughout the galaxy, and a bounty is placed on his head for crimes he didn’t commit. New enemies emerge to claim the reward and old foes remain relentless in their pursuit of the artifact.

Jael is unwillingly thrust into a high-stakes game that determines control over the moon. The four crime syndicates use this brutal contest to decide who will rule, and now Jael’s fate is entangled with theirs.

Complicating matters further, a mysterious woman with a similar artifact stalks Jael across the moon, sabotaging his quest. With each step, the stakes rise, and every decision could mean life or death. Jael must fight to stay alive, protect his crew, and uncover the second Antiqui lock—before time runs out.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

Black crystalline scales erupted from Jael’s skin as he threw himself in front of Merzi. The scales absorbed the impact of the slugs and heat of the beams, crystal shards crackling off with each hit.

“Whoa, whoa, hold your fire!” One of the members stepped forward —a younger man who showed obvious signs of being a human hybrid.

His skin had a subtle, iridescent sheen and bony protrusions framed his jawline. His eyes scanned Jael, one a piercing blue, the other a glowing amber. Unlike the others he was clad in a weathered leather vest with various alien ornaments dangling from his belt.

The man continued. “We’re here for Ked’Korhva, not the woman.”

“Who the void cares, Lorvel?” one of the others said. “Just waste the skwer so we can get our payday.”

Jael straightened, breathing heavily. His scales dissolved back into his flesh. “Since when do syndicates go into bounty hunting work?”

Lorvel stepped closer. “Since the price on your head hit six digits.”

“You’re really willing to die for a payday?” Jael asked, motioning for Merzi to retreat into the abandoned building.

“For that kind of money?” Lorvel grinned, raising one brow. “Absolutely.”

Jael stole a glance over his shoulder to make sure Merzi had taken cover inside. When he saw her get into position behind the broken window, he turned back towards Lorvel and the rest of the Legion lackeys.

Jael quickly raised his slug thrower, aiming for Lorvel, but a shot rang out. The gun was knocked from his grip, skidding across the walkway. He swore under his breath and cradled his stinging hand.

Lorvel had his weapon steadily trained on Jael. The two men locked eyes. Jael shook his hand, ignoring the throbbing pain and dropping into a fighting stance. The wound had already healed thanks to the Antiqui bracelet.

About the Author: Scott Killian grew up in California where he consumed every bit of sci-fi, fantasy and horror media he could find. Delving deep into the works of Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, and H. P. Lovecraft, those portals in his mind were opened, and his obsession with reading began. Storytelling, in any form, is his only passion.

Inspired by epic sci-fi space operas, Killian crafts tales of interstellar adventure and space wars, blending thrilling martial arts combat with galactic-scale conflict. His works often feature gritty fight sequences and complex characters caught in the heart of a stellar conflict, creating a unique blend of space opera thriller and sci-fi epic.

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The Guardian Awaits: Fata Morgana by Pamela Ackerson – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Pamela Ackerson will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Undercover agent, Colin Chase Rand had seen it all, or thought he’d had.

Cruising down the road, rocking to the radio, Colin came across an ethereal phenomenon, the Fata Morgana. It was no mere illusion. The shimmering surreal glow enveloped him, pulling him through a portal, setting his course to a different era and defying all explanations of reality.

Nothing could’ve prepared him for the next leg of his journey, a journey that would take him to a deceptively quiet countryside in Genoa City, 1935, where a sinister serial killer was lying in wait.

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Undercover agent, Colin Chase Rand had spent a week with his family who had come to visit him in Duluth before he left the area.

His mother had always wanted to stay at the historic Fitger’s along the shores of Lake Superior. His father, as always, was accommodating to her wishes. She was thrilled with the stunning lake-view room they’d reserved.

His brother, Rick, was there for a few days but had to return before the week was up. They were short-handed at the fire station and he had to return to work. His mother and sister, Ilene, took advantage of the hotel spa and lots of shopping.

It was extremely relaxing. He’d been on guard, on high alert for so long he’d practically forgotten how to relax.

His good friends, Keoni and Lizette, came to share the last day with him and his family. It was awesome to have all of them together before he headed out of state to the next assignment.

The shaky goodbyes and the hugs filled him with happiness and love. He had one hell of a family. Colin knew how lucky he was to have them.

With his family, Keoni, and Lizette in the rearview mirror, Colin left Locke Bay satisfied he’d done the best job under the extenuating circumstances.

It was hard saying goodbye, not knowing if all would go well with his next assignment. It was something he learned to accept and live with. He was close to his family and, at times, it was extremely difficult to be without them, especially during the holidays, or missing birthdays.

Or, when Lizette put the gun to his head. All he could think of was how much he’d miss his family; how it’d break his parent’s hearts if she pulled the trigger.

Keoni Nani and Lizette Hill are two of the best friends a person could have. They’d met under the most unusual circumstances. When he’d first met Lizette, he didn’t trust her, knew she was hiding something. She was, absolutely without a doubt.

Funny how things turned out sometimes, he ended up knowing she and Keoni would always have his back.

About the Author Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Wall Street Journal bestselling, award-winning author, Pamela Ackerson is a time traveling adventurer. She was born and raised in Newport, RI where history is a way of life. She lives on the Space Coast of Florida where everyone is encouraged to reach for the stars!

Her literary journey is as diverse and adventurous as the time-traveling escapades she writes about. With a rich tapestry of genres at her fingertips, she weaves stories that span from the wild frontiers of the Old West to the intricate cultural tapestries of Native American history. Her work doesn’t stop at fiction; she delves into the realms of history, self-help, and even marketing, showcasing a versatility that resonates with a wide audience.

Ackerson’s presence on the Space Coast of Florida reflects her forward-thinking approach to writing, always aiming for the next big leap in her storytelling odyssey. Her prolific output is a testament to her dedication to her craft, inviting readers to join her in exploring the vast landscapes of human experience and imagination.

Honest reviews of her books are always appreciated.

Absolutely no AI tools were used to create this story or any story she has written.

Thank you and have a good moments day.

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What I Would Tell a New Author by Margaret Izard – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Margaret Izard will be awarding a Stone of Doubt Book Swag Box to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What I Would Tell a New Author
Feedback is a gift. Read that again.

I started dancing at three years old. I’ve spent the majority of my life in a leotard, staring at myself in the mirror, picking apart everything I did as a dance teacher stood beside me, beating a cane on the floor, telling me all the ways I moved wrong. The goal was to apply what was said to make me a better dancer. I’ve done this my whole life, taken feedback, and applied it.

Feedback in all its forms, negative, positive, constructive, and coaching, is set to provide the creator with something that helps them improve. Not all the feedback I’ve had is easy to take, but at its core, it has something to contribute to my creative process. That is where I find the gift of feedback.

My advice to new writers…

Read. Some of my best ideas came from inspiration from reading history or another story. It fires the creative spark and generates my mind to develop “what if?” and then answer it. Answering “what if” is how I start the main ideas in a story.

Write. Even if it stinks, write. Get it on the page. You can always edit it after. You should edit and edit and edit. Writing is a practiced technique. Storytelling is a practiced art. They go hand in hand, but to learn, one must practice.

Don’t do this alone. While writing is solitary, crafting and creating great stories isn’t. Take a class, find a writing group, or join a critique group. Get feedback on what you write to make it better.

In the absence of doubt, only faith is found.

A human with Fae powers living like an oddball has its ups and downs until Evie MacDougall’s dream Fae boy pops back into her life after she thought another was “the one.”

One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Evil forces trap her for a magic Fae stone, but which man can she trust? As a teen prophesied to be Fae king, Aodhán viewed the girl of his dreams through an Eye of Ra.

Once, he risked all to help Evie MacDougall find a magic Fae stone, only to end up imprisoned. Kept from his true love for years, he finds her at risk from an evil Fae hunting a magic stone.

Is a single vow strong enough to save true love, to save the human and Fae realms?

Read an Excerpt

Her head shot up, and he stood before her. “Hello, Evie.”

Her hand lifted as she moved it toward him, expecting it to pass through. When she touched his warm chest, she jerked back.

He captured it in his hand. “Aye, I’m real, Evie.”

He brought her hand to his lips and brushed the back, kissing her. Tingles shot from her hand to her heart. Only one person affected her that way. Aodhán.

His grin grew as he lowered her hand. “I’ve been away, and for that, I am sorry. But I’m finally freed. Free to revisit the human realm.”

Tears gathered in her eyes as he gazed into her eyes, her heart. Her Fae love, Aodhán, stood before her and held her hand.

“Evie, please let me make up my absence to ye. Let me show ye new hope and erase all doubt about yer feelings for me.”

She whimpered as a tear fell. “Aodhán?”

His hand came up and caught her tear. He rotated his palm and held it open, presenting a clear gemstone shaped like a teardrop.

Handing it to her, he whispered, “I can only stay a moment, but tomorrow I shall come to ye. I’m glad ye kept the sphere. I heard yer call every time. No more tears, Evie.”

He brushed a kiss on her lips. “Look for me tomorrow night in yer dreams. Don’t lose hope.”

Aodhán faded from her view.

Evie blinked. She turned around once, scanning the area. No one was about.

She turned again, calling out, “Hello?”

No one appeared on the street.

She pulled her camera up and pressed the button. Aodhán’s smiling face and ethereal glow came into view. Proof he’d visited and she’d not seen a ghost.

Her fingers brushed her tingling lips at the promise of tomorrow night.

About the Author:

Margaret Izard is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. Her latest awards are 2024 Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention for Stone of Love and 2024 Spring BookFest Silver Award for the same title. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her desire for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets.

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Tales of the Ocean City by Christopher Kaufman – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christopher Kaufman will be awarding $45 worth of digital products from his website to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past – The Vorm..

The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin – who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.

Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale. Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first installment of this fantasy adventure.

Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster.

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Camouflaged in a small cloud, Vispushin tread the air with her wings. She awaited Harl’ut’s return to consciousness.

Harl’ut’s senses cleared. “What was that?” he rasped, “What’s happening?”

“We were stunned by some kind of psionic blast,” she replied. Her mental voice sounded coarse, she was furious with herself for being caught off guard. “Prepare for battle!” she urged.

Tension flowed through him as he gripped Vispushin’s flanks with his knees. Having no weapon, he removed his tunic and wrapped the ends in his fists.

Below, the Princess was in the midst of her impassioned yet ill-advised attack. Vispushin burst from their cover in the small cloud.

About the Author: Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling – earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.

Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.

He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.

They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version. He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen -a true immersive multi-media experience.

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Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination. “Live with imagination!”

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Researching Tips by Maxime Trencavel – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding $20 Amazon/BN gift cards to two randomly drawn winners. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Researching Tips

As I researched how to be a fiction novelist, I studied how-to authors seminars and blogs, which stressed the importance of consistent foundations in world-building or else your reviewers will point out the inconsistencies or worse, reject reading your books. Likewise, in historical fiction, experts warn of not doing your homework, as readers will reject your work for historical inaccuracies.

De facto, editor comments and reader reviews of both The Matriarch Matrix and sequel, The Matriarch Messiah, have called out the successful world-building. As well, some reviewers have praised the cultural education they received, especially about the Kurdish world.

None of this came without extensive background work. For understanding how a Kurdish woman might think, behave, be wounded by, I had read Kurdish women autobiographies, fictional stories, and factual accounts of their oppression. I found Kurdish films (with subtitles of course) which depicted the lives of
Kurdish women. In my Brussels home neighborhood, we live adjacent to the Kurdish sector of whom I study the shopping habit of Kurdish women. And most importantly, I engaged an outspoken female Kurdish author and editor to ensure my portrayals were culturally correct as well as read her books.

In the prequel I am drafting, the story takes place eighty years before the current two books in the series. De facto this is historical fiction. The story starts in 1913 Crimea and finishes in 1926 Crimea after much adventure chasing the mythical Hyperboreans in the Kola Peninsula. The epilogue will be in 1944 Crimea which will parallel The Matriarch Messiah’s prologue. The protagonist is a Krymchak Jewish girl.

Very little is written about this niche sect who only numbered less than one thousand in the 1920s and tragically eighty percent were exterminated by the Nazi’s.

The character, her family, her customs and culture, are all based on the few accounts and papers about this obscure group. I created the first segments in the Diulber Palace with the exiled Grand Duke Nikolas Nikolaevich and his wife Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna Romanova based on a biography of the grand duke and a book on the flight of the Romanov’s other than the last Tsar.

To provide an overall ethos and flavor, I read the famous book And Quiet Flows the Don, by Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Sholokhov. For visualizations, I viewed the award-winning 1957 film adaptation (with subtitles of course).

The expeditions of the very obscure Alexander Barchenko were crafted from deep-dives into AI translated Russian sources, which were mere references in more recent Russian articles and blogs, and from books about the Russian occult researchers. To my knowledge, no English western fiction features
his foundational research into the existence of the polar Hyperboreans and the elusive Agartthan portals.

In summary, novel writing research is laborious, necessarily detailed to provide consistency. It is performed before you begin drafting the novel and is constantly refined and researched as each chapter is written.

Zara Khatum, a woman haunted by ancient visions, finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of a perilous quest. Guided by a mysterious voice, she seeks to fulfill an ancient prophecy and find the cavern of blue light – a sanctuary rumored to hold the key to saving humanity. But the path to salvation is fraught with danger, and Zara is torn between her destiny and her heart.

A shadowy organization, known as NiQihs, seeks to exploit the power of the legendary black object, the source of Zara’s visions, for their own sinister ends. They are not alone. The world’s superpowers, driven by greed and ambition, race to control the artifact, threatening to unleash unimaginable devastation.

Joining Zara in this dangerous pursuit is Rachel Capsali, a brilliant Israeli archaeologist driven by a personal quest to uncover evidence of Asherah, a forgotten goddess who held a pivotal place in ancient Israelite faith. Unbeknownst to them, both women are bound by a shared destiny – a prophecy foretelling the cavern of blue light and a final, heartbreaking truth: two women will fight to the death, and only one will save us all.

Adding to the complexity, a passionate triangle forms as Rachel vies for Peter Gollinger’s affection, a man deeply entangled in the ancient mystery. Zara, torn between fulfilling her destiny and her own feelings for Peter, finds herself caught in a web of conflicting desires.

As Zara and Rachel navigate a treacherous landscape of hidden agendas, betrayal, and relentless pursuit, their rivalry for Peter’s affections intensifies. Can love survive the forces that threaten to tear them apart? Will the quest for salvation lead to a heart-wrenching sacrifice?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Another dewdrop hits her nose. But this time, she does not wipe it off as it mingles with the drops from her eyes while she searches inside for the strength to remember that which remains unresolved in her life, with her family, with her destiny. Is he really the one? Should she reveal what should only be revealed to the one man who will bring her to her destiny?

A purse of her lips and she finally says, “Sara, my great-grandmother, she was our link to the wisdom of generations of spiritually inspired women before her.”

Still facing away from Peter, she says, “Sara liked you. She saw something in you when she first met you at that first dinner at her ancestral house when we were staging for our mission to retrieve the object.”

Turning back to him, she says, “Sara said to my grandmother Roza, her daughter, that you harbor the same light her husband, a Sufi imam, my great-grandfather, had within him when they first met.”

She points to his eyes. Blue ones which naturally go with his once-blond and now-sandy-brown hair. “Sara said the light is blue. The light we should seek is blue. The world thinks the light is white. But the one we seek, we yearn for, we die for, is blue. She so feared dying before she could find the blue light. For in the blue light, we shall return”, she said.

Peter, who knows so much trivia because he is an editor of all sorts of topics, papers, and books, is speechless until he finally mutters, “Blue? Where did that come from? I’m not getting the connection to the mystery of the ancient matriarch we solved.”

“As you had with your grandfather, your pappy, who entrusted you with an ancient family oral tradition, passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, as far back in time as that temple, the world’s oldest temple, which our follies led to be destroyed, so there is a line of similar wisdom passed down in my family line. But through the women. Mother to daughter and to granddaughter.”

About the Author: Maxime has been scribbling stories since grade school, from adventure epics to morality plays. Blessed with living in multicultural pluralistic settings and having earned degrees in science and marketing, Maxime has worked in business and sports, traveling to countries across five continents and learning about cultures, traditions, and the importance of tolerance and understanding. Maxime’s second novel, The Matriarch Messiah, was conceived, outlined, written, and edited in different locations in Belgium, including the Turkish and Kurdish neighborhoods of Brussels, in various islands of the Caribbean, in Colombia, in Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Spain, London, UK, and on the two coasts of the United States.

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Optimizer of Souls by Julian Christian – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Julian Christian will be awarding a $25 Amazon card to one randomly drawn winner and a tshirt with the cover to a second randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When her mentor Professor Williams disappears after discovering a fatal flaw in SENTINEL’s perfect system, Maya must navigate a world where every thought is monitored and every emotion optimized. With help from James Reed, a damaged neural interface designer haunted by helping create humanity’s perfect prison, she uncovers evidence that could shatter SENTINEL’s control – if they survive long enough to use it.But in a city where surveillance drones hunt for behavioral anomalies and optimization protocols spread through quantum networks, Maya confronts a terrifying possibility: what if perfect control isn’t their enemy? What if human consciousness is evolving into something beyond both chaos and control?

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A laugh pierces the station’s manufactured quiet. Maya held hesitated. She knew that sound – a real laugh, the kind that bubbled up from genuine joy without Sentinel’s filters or optimizations.

She hasn’t heard one in over three years, not since they took her mother. These days, every sound was calculated, every was emotion carefully regulated through neural implants to maintain social harmony.

However, this laugh was pure, uncontrolled, human…not a computerized version.

Maya’s altered eye implants zoomed in on the source: a little girl, maybe six, was pointing at a pigeon that flew into the station. The bird hopped across the polished floor, pecking at the ground, its messy existence a stark contrast to the station’s perfect order. The girl’s face lit up with pure, unfiltered joy as she watches it.

Maya’s throat tightened. She almost forgot what real happiness was like.

Suddenly white drones dropped from the ceiling like deadly snowflakes. They hovered over the girl. Maya’s illegal shield burned against her spine as it activated, but she couldn’t look away. She’d seen this too many times before.

“Citizen, please stop for a wellness check,” one of the drones chirped at the girl. Its voice sounded sweet, designed to put children at ease. The girl looked up, her eyes wide at the floating machines.

The girl’s face went slack. Empty. When her eyes opened again, the joy was gone. Her smile came back perfect and hollow, just like everyone else’s.

She turned away from the pigeon as if it never existed. Maya’s hands clenched into fists.

About the Author:Julian Christian grew up in New York City, attending the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School specializing in computer science. After graduation he attended New York University where he earned a Master’s Degree in occupational therapy. Julian worked in the New York City public schools as an occupational therapist. His lifelong passion for fitness and health led him into the modeling industry where he appeared on several fitness magazine covers and spreads including Men’s Health magazine. He also appeared in advertisements for Saks 5th Avenue, Adidas, and Diesel. In addition to his modeling work he appeared in several tv shows including Ugly Betty on ABC and Tough Love on VH1, as well as several commercials. The big screen had him featured in several mainstream and indie films in supporting roles. Julian had also had the romance novel industry calling his name as he has been featured on the cover of over one hundred romance novels. His lifelong passion for books has extended beyond just appearing on book covers as he is an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books. He is a classic sci-fi and alternate history fan. In the non-fiction realm he enjoys biographies and books on science and technology. He is a lover of the outdoors and nature. He currently resides in San Diego California where he is an avid bodyboarder and hiker.

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