The Moscow Affair by Nancy Boyarsky – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nancy Boyarsky will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

“The Moscow Affair is a thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable thriller punctuated by smart dialog, richly crafted scenes, and a topical plot.” –Dave Edlund, USA Today bestselling author of Valiant Savage

In this fast-paced mystery, P.I. Nicole Graves agrees to an unusual, short-term assignment working for MI6 in Russia. It sounds straightforward, even pleasant: a two-week luxury riverboat cruise on the Volga, observing a group of fellow passengers and filing a daily report on their activities. It’s simple enough, except for one caveat: No matter what these people do, she’s to tell her handler at MI6—no one else, especially not the Russian police. When one of the riverboat passengers winds up dead, Nicole realizes this assignment was anything but straightforward.

Soon, Nicole is immersed in a high-stakes game of murder and espionage where trusting a stranger can be as deadly as a bullet.

“Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” –Laura Levine, bestselling author of the Jaine Austen Mysteries

The Nicole Graves Mysteries have been compared to the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and praised for contributing to the “women-driven mystery field with panache” (Foreword Reviews) as well as for their “hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster” plots (RT Book Reviews).

Enjoy an Excerpt

She put on her coat, left her cabin and started down two flights of stairs that led to the main deck. The lighting had been dimmed for the night, but when she neared the bottom of the stairs, she had a clear view of three men standing by the ship’s railing. They had their backs to her. One of them appeared drunk, and the other two seemed to be holding him up. But when he started to struggle, it was clear they’d been restraining him. He said something she couldn’t understand; perhaps it was in Russian. His voice grew louder as the other two lifted him over the railing and pushed him. He screamed as he fell into the water and there was a loud splash. The men turned in Nicole’s direction. She froze for the briefest moment before ducking under a nearby lifeboat, one of several stored upside down along the deck’s perimeter.

She was stunned, not just by the violent act she’d just witnessed but by the fact that she recognized the two who’d thrown the third overboard. They were two of her targets, people whose photos Ian Davies had given her.

About the Author:

Nancy Boyarsky is the author of the Nicole Graves Mysteries. Her sixth installment of the series will be released September 2021.

Nancy has been a writer and editor for her entire working career. She coauthored Backroom Politics, a New York Times notable book, with her husband, Bill Boyarsky. She has written textbooks on the justice system and contributed to anthologies, including In the Running about women’s political campaigns and The Challenge of California. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, West magazine, Forbes, McCalls, Playgirl, Westways, and other publications. She was communications director for political affairs for ARCO.

In addition to writing mysteries, Nancy is producer and director of the “Inside Golden State Politics” podcast.

Website | Touch of Flame Books

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The Widow Wore Plaid by Jenna Jaxon – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Battle of Waterloo made them widows, but each has found new happiness. And Jane, Lady John Tarkington, intends to keep her freedom, even if love—and one particular gentleman—are determined to claim her heart . . .

It is a truth rarely acknowledged—at least in public—that a wealthy widow is free to pursue a great many adventures. For two years, Jane has privately enjoyed her independence. Why should she remarry, even when the gentleman proposing is as wonderful as Gareth, Lord Kinellan? She entreats him never to ask her again. But as her Widows’ Club friends—now all joyfully remarried—gather at Castle Kinellan, Jane begins to wonder if stubbornness has led her to make a terrible mistake . . .

Kinellan needs a wife to give him an heir, and he wants that wife to be Jane. They are perfect together in every way, yet she continually refuses him. Just as he is on the point of convincing her, a series of accidents befall Gareth and point to an enemy in their midst. He has promised Jane a passionate future filled with devotion, but can he keep them both alive long enough to secure it?




Enjoy an Excerpt

Parched, Gareth headed for the refreshment table that had been set up sufficiently far from the dancing to be out of danger. Footmen were stationed at each end to help keep those who might have imbibed too much from crashing into the table. He grabbed a cup of ale and drank thirstily until the tankard was empty. Setting it back on the table, he then took a glass of rich, red wine and sipped more moderately before heading back to the dancing.

He skirted the dancing couples, where Lathbury was heying with Jane, who was now flagging a bit. Two sets of fast-paced Scottish dancing was hardly comparable to the more staid English country dances. One actually had time—and breath—to converse during those. The faster paced Scottish tempos demanded stamina and good wind.

A young couple ran laughing in front of him. Smiling at the gaiety of the pair, Gareth backed out of their way, toward the blazing bonfire, his gaze still on Jane’s entrancing form. She did cut a delightful figure when dancing.

A passerby jostled his elbow, but he managed to save most of his wine. He spun toward the ungraceful lout when someone else shoved him harder.

The jolt propelled Gareth, already off balance, backward, directly into the flames of the roaring bonfire.

Desperately windmilling his arms to regain his balance, Gareth fought the sickening, helpless feeling of falling backward. Searing heat on the back of his head and jacket grew greater with each passing second, telling him his efforts to right himself would be in vain. God help him, but this would be a fiery end.


About the Author:

Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories.

She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets–including two vocal cats, one almost silent cat, two curious bunnies, and a Shar-pei beagle mix named Frenchie.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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What Would I Tell a New Author? by Mariëlle S. Smith – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Mariëlle S. Smith will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What would I tell a new author?
That there’s nothing more important than knowing what you want from your writing.

Writing is such a personal journey and we’re all on it for different reasons. Some of us dream of becoming full-time authors, while others simply use writing to let off steam and deal with their everyday life. Some write to entertain their friends, and yet others dream to be published in this or that magazine.

None of these goals are better than any of the others. We all have different dreams and that’s exactly as it should be. However, as new writers, we tend to be extra impressionable. Having figured out for yourself what you want from your writing both helps you find the right path for you and stick with it. It provides clarity on what opportunities are right for you and which aren’t, who makes sense as a role model for you and who doesn’t, what you need to be focusing your energy towards and what you should leave be.

Perhaps the best way to figure out what you want from your writing is by asking yourself what kind of writing life you want to look back on once your time here on this earth is over. Again, there are no wrong answers, and your answer might be different a few years from now, but knowing what your answer is right now will help you steer clear of anything that doesn’t serve the writing life you’re envisioning and align yourself with all that does.

I’ve answered this question for myself in 2016, after reading Joanna Penn’s The Successful Author Mindset, a book I highly recommend to anyone who’s in it for the long haul. My answer was: to leave a legacy I’m proud of.

Over the years, this short, simple phrase has helped me say ‘No’ to multiple projects and collaborations that I was considering for the wrong reasons, be that to impress someone or not disappoint them, to make a quick buck, what have you. It has also made it easier to prioritise certain projects over others, and it has pushed me towards things that scare me terribly, like starting the Doing Diversity in Writing podcast for fiction authors.

Isn’t it funny how something so simple can be so effective?

Whether you’re a seasoned or new author, are you clear on what you want from your writing? On what you want to look back on when your time comes? If not, I’d suggest you start digging for some answers.

‘A brilliant, supportive, challenging workbook, highly recommend.’ Jamie Sands

You, too, can become the writer you’ve always wanted to be!

The 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner:

• makes you plan, track, reflect on, and improve your progress and goals for an entire year long;

• invites you to dig deep through thought-provoking prompts and exercises; and

• helps you unravel the truth about why you aren’t where you want to be.

Two years after publishing the first volume of 52 Weeks of Writing, writing coach and writer Mariëlle S. Smith brings you the updated third volume. Similar in style but reflecting the tweaks made to her coaching practice during the pandemic, 52 Weeks of Writing Vol. III is even better equipped to help you get out of your own way and on to the path towards success.

Ready to start living your writing dream? Order your copy now.

Enjoy an Excerpt

About the Author:Mariëlle S. Smith is a writer, writing coach, and editor. She lives in Cyprus, where she organises private writer’s retreats, is inspired 24/7, and feeds more stray cats than she can count.

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Stop the Clock by Cassie Swindon – Spotlight and Giveaway

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

Stop the Clock is the finale in the Golden Chains trilogy.

Raelyn Bell has already experienced death and loss. Her family is falling apart at the seams. Despite her fears that Zohaib will hurt the few people she has left, Raelyn is still determined to prove him guilty. But this villain’s hunger for more power threatens to rip her and Kody apart.

To save Raelyn from being captured, Kody Walsh makes a deal with the devil and is dragged across the border to the middle of a rainforest by Zohaib’s hostile force. Commanded to complete unimaginable tasks for the sake of the enemy, Kody’s stakes couldn’t be higher.

Raelyn desperately seeks for any way to rescue Kody and has to decide if she can trust her mother for help after all they have been through. Can they see this journey through without losing their lives—and each other?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Raelyn lit another candle. The flicker added a layer to the dancing light coming from the fireplace. Seducing Zohaib with an email of this gorgeous model might be the only way to plant a virus and access his files. Raelyn refused to let that scumbag capture or sell one more woman.

She turned too fast, sending her new Canon camera flying. The naked woman beside her reached out and grabbed the stand before the tripod toppled to the cabin’s floor.

“Woops, sorry.” Raelyn shook her head.

“It’s fine. I got it.” The model followed Raelyn’s gaze. “Why do you keep glancing at the clock?”

“No reason.” Raelyn handed over an elaborate Venetian mask.

“I need you to wear this over your face.”

The model smiled. “We’re playing dress-up?”

“The man we’re doing this for is Italian, and he likes mystery and games.”

The woman clicked her tongue and fastened the mask on, covering most of her face. “Whatever you say…” She took the sheet of paper and angled it closer to the fire. “So, this is the script? … I’m all yours, Zohaib. Where and when can we meet?” She crunched the paper into a ball. “This is crap. I have a better idea.”

“You’ve done this before?” Raelyn asked.

“Manipulated a man? Of course. You haven’t?”

About the Author: Instead of the boring bio info, here’s some interesting tidbits about the author:

• Tackled her father for a pair of Michael Phelps’ personal goggles
• Cried when the Cubs won the World Series
• Met husband freshman year of college- a blizzard & tequila may have been involved
• Moved cross-country by the flip of a coin
• Mutated into a zombie when daughter was born in 2013, then again 17 months later when her son was born
• Evacuated from a boat crash in the Atlantic during a whale watching tour
• Witnessed a wild horse pack galloping through the Rockies
• Cofounded a three-person Beanie Baby Club in the 90s- in a treehouse
• Snorkeled in The Great Barrier Reef
• Broke her foot when pretending to be a Baywatch lifeguard
• Stranded in a Cancun lagoon while jet skiing
• Crunched the back of a Dodge Neon against a wall while transporting a Medieval knight to a pub
• Invented a symbol language to pass notes to her best friend in high school
• Swung off a rope swing of pirate ship in Aruba
• Backpacked through Italy
• Stole plaques showing what swim records she broke

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Candles and Honey Cookies by Shari Elder – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Shari Elder will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Tamara is trapped. Her father betrothed her to a man she does not like, let alone love. And she can’t forget the brazen shepherd who dared to look in her eyes.

Natan fell in love with Tamara the first moment he saw her. But the daughter of the high priest cannot marry a shepherd.

When Natan is arrested for practicing their religion, forbidden by the new king, he escapes and asks Tamara to hide him. After stealing a night with him, she helps him escape to join the brewing rebellion fighting for their freedom to worship. Tamara leaves a candle in her window to light his way home and sneaks honey cookies to him to sweeten his burden, her own small rebellion to her arranged marriage.

Only a miracle can save the rag-tag rebels from the conquering army and change a culture to allow Natan and Tamara to be together.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Natan—if she could choose her husband… But her father would never accept a shepherd who also worked as a lowly temple guard to help feed his family. The high priest’s daughter married a priest.

She saw him glance around, then he faded into the wall. Then she heard pounding on the door. Without thinking, she grabbed a candle and ran downstairs, wanting to be the first one to answer. The servants were in bed, but they would waken to the racket. She picked up the pace, reached the door first, and opened it quietly.

Natan’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You live here? This is the house of Boaz?”

She nodded, scorched by the anger in his gaze. “What are you doing here?”

She heard the slap of sandals against the ground. “We’re close,” a gruff voice shouted in the distance.

“Hide me.” Those eyes, black as midnight, drilled into hers until she squirmed. Her heart beat faster. He stank of sweat, rotted food, and the copper of blood. She breathed through her mouth to prevent herself from gagging. She should say no. Her father would never allow it. She would put her father and everyone in the house in danger.

“Please,” he whispered, his breath hot against her skin. She shivered, even though it was summer.

About the Author:Hello, I’m Shari. By day, I crawl out of bed, mainline coffee, walk the dog, miss my kid who has gone off to college, and save cities within the four walls of my office. Usually by email.
At night, the other Shari emerges. With a glass of wine by side, I curl up on the couch with my computer nestled in my lap and let my imagination play until stories take shape. I also periodically text my kid, just to make sure myself she’s not plotting world domination, then I pull out my alter ego, who definitely is. As my alter ego, I save cities in a cape and spangled tights, wander space and time on a surfboard, fly over the Himalayas on feathered wings, make six-toed footprints in indigo talc snow on the sixth planet in the Andromeda galaxy or eavesdrop on Olympian gods while pretending to whip up a bowl of ambrosia.

In all these wondrous worlds, romance and passion blossom. I can’t resist a happy ending. And I am particularly prone to writing happy endings for those who have given up on ever getting one.

Website | Facebook | Amazon Author Page | Twitter | BookBub | Pinterest

Buy the book at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

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Head vs Heart by Toby Negus – Guest Blog and Giveaway

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

******

When we were very young, we lived from the heart. There was little separation between our heart and our acts of life. We loved easily and carried the freedom and creativity because of it. But we live in a busy world and its pursuit for ‘more’ of what we do not need, has made the things of life more important than our love. These false prophets have subjugated the heart and left us bereft of its presence. It has made the head the master and the heart its servant. So now, instead of the head using its great abilities of thinking and reasoning for the heart’s purpose, it has become lost in its own struggle for identity.

The heart is the source of our truth. Not the truth of yesterday or tomorrow that the mind struggles to know, but the truth of the moment, the living truth. When we speak from the heart it is always powerful. When we live from the heart it is always an adventure. The head may be good at sorting and planning in the outer world. But is not so good at being with the moments of life. That is the heart’s art. The head is just too slow and clumsy to perceive and know the cause of the manifested world, its energy, and its meaning.

This is a thought-provoking and enlightening exploration of spirituality and perception. The text functions as a guide to self-improvement, with a mixture of autobiographical elements and snippets of universal wisdom. The speaker provides accessible solutions to life’s difficulties, and an outlook of optimism applicable to any circumstance. The illustrations and graphics are thoughtfully chosen, and the interactive textual elements give this work an originality that sets it apart. The speaker’s own experiences and conclusions are at the heart of this fiction, and the first person narrative voice creates a sense of proximity between author and reader. The text describes itself as ‘a journey to the heart’, and this truthful discovery of the self is reflected in the speaker’s revelation of his whole self through the text.

Frequent use of direct address and rhetorical questions promotes an active reading experience, in which the author opens up a dialogue with the reader. The text includes prompts and activities for the reader to engage with and learn from. Encouraging readers to take part in the text is emblematic of their journey to self-fulfillment and love, in which they must take responsibility for actively creating their own happiness.

The speaker depicts his process of enlightenment as a framework for others to emulate, and the format of the text demonstrates the transfer of agency to those who take part in the speaker’s challenges. This work ultimately teaches us that ‘we are the cause of what is’ and thus sheds light on the crucial idea that every individual has the power to create themselves and their world positively.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Real learning is not what we expect.
If we could expect it, it wouldn’t be learning.

I looked in the mirror today and saw more than who I thought I was; within the eyes was a million years of purpose. I saw the depth of the universe and felt its unfaltering love. It was as if I had seen the divine within myself, the truth of who we are. The us that never dies, the custodian of our purpose, the love of our life.

This wasn’t what I expected and was somewhat sobering. There was no blinding light, no sound of trumpets, and no big handshake with an almighty. But it was as profound as if there had been. For it seemed I was touching an eternal part of myself, an authority within that could create my heaven on earth, that was already in heaven on earth! It was a glimpse of something other than the me I thought I was. Its light questioned the lack of self-care and love I held for myself. And its presence would eventually crack and then dissolve my view of what I thought it meant to be human.

Doing a spiritual journey and tackling self-development issues can give many profound perceptions, and I have had my fair share of them. But this was different, this was personal. It was my eyes that were looking at me, something that I could not escape from. It could not be brushed off as a ‘perhaps’ or a nice perception that subsided over time. Its truth seemed to embed itself into my very soul.

About the Author: Toby Negus has studied and taught spiritual and personal development in the UK and around the world for over two decades. He is qualified in advanced counselling, as a life coach and as a Cognitive Behaviour therapist. He is an Amazon best-selling author of a collaborative Conscious Creators book and has illustrated and self published two books on the subject of self-awareness and the spiritual journey. He is also a published author of a children’s book The Boy Who Dreamed in Colour. He has given talks and run workshops in support of his published work within the UK.

In the last few years, he has created many pieces of artwork that are a reflection of his spiritual journey. These have appeared in magazines and have been exhibited in the UK.

Website | Author Amazon Page | YouTube | Facebook

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The Christmas Makeover by Susan Lute – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Lute will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

He’s ready for the lights…

Baker Grant Reed loves discovering new Christmas recipes, making people smile, and Angel Point—not necessarily in that order. But when his editor turns down his proposal for a Christmas cookbook, he must show her how serious he is about becoming the premier pastry chef in the country. He turns to his best friend, Faith—if anyone can give him a complete makeover that will turn heads, she can.

She knows how to make things sparkle…

In her past, Faith Hathaway was a costume designer for some of Broadway’s most prestigious plays. Now, after moving to Angel Point to help her grandfather, she owns and operates a vintage boutique and helps out at the local theater. When Grant asks for a makeover, she’s torn—she loves him the way he is, mismatched socks and all.

In exchange, he promises to show Faith, who has never enjoyed the holiday season, the magic of an Angel Point Christmas. But as the two grow closer, Grant can’t help but wonder…has he got his Christmas wish all wrong?

Enjoy an Excerpt

The bribe worked. As quick as Santa’s wink, Faith was there, unlocking the door. He accepted the silent invitation as she let him in out of the cold and took the coffee cup he offered.

“I see how this is going, Faith Hathaway. The price of admission is a threat to give away your food.”

“I’m sorry, Grant. I got a box of Christmas snow globes yesterday and was making room for them in the display case. I can’t help it if I got sidetracked by how beautiful this batch is.”

Faith, a little flustered, was so dang cute. Just telling him about snow globes made her brown eyes sparkle. Her long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail that cascaded down her back nearly to her waist. She wore a soft rose, vintage-style dress that clung to all the right places—places that weren’t appropriate for a friend to notice.

Shaking off the momentary lapse, he followed her into the warmth of her shop. A glass display case sat in the middle of the store, directly in front of the door. She was right. The Christmas globes were something special to behold.

She eyed the pastry box in his hands. “So, what have you brought for me?”

“I’m calling it a Christmas fritter.” He shrugged, a little smug as he handed her the container.

Opening the box, she held it close to her face and, closing her eyes, breathed in. “Oh. My. Word. It smells heavenly.”

Now that was what he called success. From the look on her face, he’d hit a home run. “Taste it.”

Eyes open now and bright with anticipation, she broke off a piece, put the bite in her mouth, and hummed softly as she chewed.

About the Author: Susan is an award winning author of contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and dystopian romance. Like all children of military families, she spent her childhood moving from one duty station to the next. She likes to say she is first and foremost a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, dreamer, and novelist. These days, when not working as a Registered Nurse, she remodels her house and writes whenever she can.

Website | Newsletter | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Buy the book at Tulle Publishing, Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, or Google Play.

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The Romance Novel Formula by Alicia Leigh – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Alicia Leigh will be awarding a paperback copy of The Romance Novel Formula to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Is there a secret formula for writing a successful romance novel? Backed by research and professional expertise, The Romance Novel Formula provides everything you need to take you from idea to first draft of your breakout romance novel.

Join best-selling romance author and academic researcher, Alicia Leigh, as you discover:

*How to take your love interests on the “lovers’ journey” – inclusive of ALL types of romantic relationships: ménage, alien, LGBTQI, polyamory, etc.
*A unique five-act structure to make your story easy to write and manage.
*The specific story “beats” exclusive to the romance genre (and which other books on writing typically exclude).
*The story and character arcs necessary to classify your book as romance.
*How to avoid stereotypes by focusing on archetypes.
*Popular romance tropes.
*Essential writing techniques.
*Advice on dialogue.
*The most common writing mistakes . . . and how to avoid them.
*Goal, motivation, and conflict.
*Fear, need, and flaw (what are they, and do you need them?).
*Much more!

Complete with checklists and over 30 writing exercises, The Romance Novel Formula is the new essential romance writing guide for aspiring and experienced writers, plotters and pantsers, and professional researchers.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Introduction

“Romance novels are written to a specific formula.” The number of times I’ve heard this insulting and patronizing phrase throughout my career as a romance writer would fill its own book! Yet, regardless of urban legends and popular culture tales, the simple fact is this: There is no romance novel formula. Let me repeat that with emphasis: There is no romance novel formula.

Now, it may seem I have contradicted the title of this book by saying that. However, there is more than one way to write a romance novel. This book is intended as a guide to assist you while giving you the freedom to find your own version of a formula. While there is no set formula per se, there is a structure you can follow that will aid you in writing your breakout romance novel. This structure isn’t used solely by romance writers. Different forms are used by all novelists (see, for instance, books such as Story, Save The Cat! Writes a Novel, The Plot Whisperer, and Story Engineering, which have a variety of formulas, guides and suggestions). In that regard, writing a romance novel is almost the same as writing any other novel. I say almost because the romance genre has necessary inclusions that are applicable to it alone.

This applies to every genre. These are called genre conventions. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned writer, this book can lead you through the quagmire of structure and help you find the unique path for your characters to follow on what I call the lovers’ journey.

About the Author:

Alicia Leigh is a bestselling non-fiction author, international-selling romance author, identical triplet, writing coach, and hot chocolate addict.

She uses her postgraduate degrees in counseling from the Australian College of Applied Psychology and editing from Macquarie University to create believable, three-dimensional characters. Her certificates in forensic science and forensic anthropology from the University of Strathclyde add layers to the realistic crime elements in her stories. She has completed her master’s degree in writing at Swinburne University and is currently embarking upon her PhD in Creative Arts (writing) at Central Queensland University.

When not writing, reading, coaching, studying, or enjoying nature, she can be found having fun with her three gorgeous children (plus one laid-back dog and one hypersensitive guinea pig).

She is active on social media and encourages readers and writers to interact with her there. She writes romantic fiction novels under the pseudonyms A.K. Leigh and Leigh Hatchmann.

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Buy the book at Amazon, Amazon Au, Amazon UK, or Amazon CA.

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The Winter Princess by Miriam Newman – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Miriam Newman will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Given to an enemy king to seal a treaty, Sereen of Havacia is known as The Winter Princess. Can she ever find a summer of the heart?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy an Excerpt

“Enter, Princess, and be welcome.” Her escort vanished and Sereen was utterly alone with only the seer and the flicker of flame.

“I am honored.” She was familiar with the Mothers, who also served in Armatica, obedient to the authority in each country and sublimely indifferent to all of them. It was not that their tentacles did not thread through each locus of power, only that they did not flaunt it, so secretive that one could only speculate on their influence. Sereen wondered how close Vanus was to them, yet he had not seemed eager to admit their company. Her father had never trifled with them, either, saying it was unhealthy to do so.

“I bring greetings from the King,” Sereen said, dutifully making Vanus’s case—assuming he had any. “And charity for your works.” Deftly, she unwrapped the ties from around her waist, laying his purse carefully at the bare feet of Mother Jalena. Heavily shrouded elsewhere, still the seer observed the custom of keeping her feet bare to feel vibrations of the earth, said to be a powerful conveyor of prescience for those able to discern it. Sereen had toyed with such practices as most young girls did, enough to know that she had no gifts, only the ability to feel them in others.

“We are grateful.” Mother spoke through her veil. Sereen could barely see the outline of her lips moving and could not see her face at all. It was said that the Flame Mothers were scarred by fire ritual, but since their faces were never seen, it remained a mystery. Certainly her speech was not impaired and the hand with which she took Sereen’s offering was not marred, nor did it appear crone-like. She was a puzzle.

“And what do you seek of me?” Sereen sat down in front of her, legs folded, a dutiful supplicant.

“Only what most brides seek, I suppose,” she answered. “Whatever future you see for me in my marriage.”

Unexpectedly, Mother Jalena chuckled—a rich sound, not so ancient.

“You have no future with Vanus,” she said, “but I need no prescience to know that.”

About the Author:

Fantasy poetry driven by myths and legends has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I was published in poetry before catching the romance writing bug. I bring that background to my writing along with a lifelong addiction to horses, an 18 year career in various areas of psychiatric social services and many trips to Ireland, where I nurture my muse. My published works range from contemporary fantasy romance to fantasy historical, futuristic, science fiction and historical romance. Currently I live in rural Pennsylvania with a “motley crew” of rescue animals. You can see my books at my website.

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Underestimate me – That’ll Be Fun! by Furiosa – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Furiosa will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

This book is a collection of rants, opinions, and observations on random subjects that I scribbled while running away from and toward my true self.

I hope my words can show others that there is life after years of breaking rocks on society’s conformity chain gang and that real empowerment is being yourself and not what others tell you that you should be. You cannot sit and read the book of your life as it unfolds. You must write the next page yourself. That is the way to growth and to peace and yes, you can be homesick for places you have never been.

Book description by my Inner voice: This is a chunk of at times incoherent ramblings on life and people one meets as they wander aimlessly on the internet and through the so-called real world… a shambolic, circumlocutious clustershtuck of a sometimes crap-infused, possibly drug-fuelled word salad.

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

“Eminence Front”

“Eminence Front” is a great song by The Who, and they are right: “it is a put on.” Your game face or whatever you want to call it is a necessary thing but one you should not use often as it can be exhausting being fake when you really don’t need to. Your own front is much more powerful, trust me. To crack open your eminence front and pack it away for emergencies, you have to be honest with yourself and others, and that leaves you open to attacks. The attacks and how you deal with them make you what you are. That’s the whole point of my method, and for the most part I bucked the of idea pretending to be something or someone other than what I am.

Certainly, I took gobs of wisdom from here and there and tried applying them to my life—think square peg, round hole. I came to reject the whole idea that I need to be what everyone else said I should be. The one thing I knew for sure was that conformity was not an option. I also learned that while I had no control over some things that happen to me, I do have control over how I react to those things.

What I needed to be was me. Since I am better and always get done what I have to do when backed into a corner, I threw myself into the belly of the beast, facing me head on and changing myself for the better. Fear of the unknown usually kept me from doing things that had to be done, and I usually just sat there sweating with a twisted knot in my stomach waiting to be hit with a shit storm of deadlines and demands for action. This time I ran up to meet the shit storm and I killed it. I was Queen of Confrontation. You have to throw yourself into situations that scare you to conquer your fears. What doesn’t kill ya makes ya stronger and all that rot. There’s a saying and a song that go: “If you’re going through Hell, keep going.” Know that when you’re in the middle of Hell there is a better place once you break on through the wall at the end, and you will get there if you don’t give up. You do not fail until you stop trying. Think about that!

Confronting the shit storm as it approaches allows you to do it on your terms. It’s okay to say out loud that you have no idea if what you are about to do is right but you’re gonna do it anyway. I’ll bet if you look back at things you didn’t do because of fear of failure, you’ll realize that many of those times you watched someone else do exactly what you thought should be done instead of doing the thing that scares you. Now, you probably think to yourself, Why the hell didn’t I just do it? Depending on what that job was, no one can kill you for making a mistake, or better yet, you can ask for help. It’s okay to be vulnerable. Wear your vulnerability like a frickin’ diamond encrusted tiara or a Kentucky Derby chapeau.

About the Author:Furiosa has been expressing her thoughts and ideas on paper, walls, and sidewalks since she could hold a crayon. Though she only recently published her first book, Underestimate Me. That’ll be Fun! She identifies as a bestselling author. She wants you to know that being yourself is your superpower. Furiosa loves autobiographies, classic old movies, all genres of music, chasing stars, and visiting far-flung places via roads less travelled.

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