A Word Please

I’m excited to be a part of the book tour for How (Not) To Kiss A Toad by Elizabeth A. Reeves, put together by Jaidis Shaw of Juniper Grove Book Solutions. Elizabeth shares the intriguing inspiration for her story. I also have an excerpt for you, and an awesome giveaway! Read on.

Legend has it that Elizabeth A Reeves was born with a book in her hands and immediately requested a pony. Though this story is questionable, it is true that books and horses have been consistent themes in her life. Born in Massachusetts, she was quickly transplanted to Arizona by a professor father and creativity-driven mother, who is the one responsible for saying “If you can’t find a book that you want to read, write a book you want to read.”

In her spare time, she likes to knit, weave, hatch chickens, and chase after her husband and four sons.

Connect with her in the following places:

Blog: www.cindyeller.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SelkieHorse or @SelkieHorse
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-A-Reeves/177376417308
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5835604.Elizabeth_A_Reeves
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-A-Reeves/e/B0086FY4K8

***

What inspired you to write this story?

When I was pregnant with my fourth son I spent the majority of the pregnancy sick in bed, utterly drained and utterly miserable. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t write because my brain was stuffed with cotton balls instead of brain cells, I couldn’t read because I was getting motion sickness from the print, I couldn’t eat because nothing sat well, and I was just too uncomfortable to sleep.

I was slowly and quietly driving myself crazy.

I’ve never been one to watch much TV—I get bored really easily– but I discovered I could watch cooking shows and competitions on TV pretty much endlessly without getting too restless. Hour upon hour I floated through Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, Cupcake Wars, Chopped, Unique Sweets, and Iron Chef America. As my sister-in-law frequently says, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives is like porn for pregnant women.

As I watched little ideas started to spark through my head. What would I bake if I was on Cupcake Wars and faced with those flavors? Why weren’t there any truly southwestern flavors? What would happen if tamarindo, lucas, or saladitos showed up on Chopped as a basket ingredient? Why did Bobby Flay have to say chipotle like someone from New York City?

All of this resulted in the birth of Cindy Eller, a baker from the real southwest, my hometown of Tucson, Arizona. As I started sketching out her story I came to know her, her recipes, her special brand of magic, and discovered she had a serious problem—every man she ever kissed turned immediately into a toad.

Having grown up in Arizona, the worst thing I could imagine was dating a Colorado river toad. During the monsoon season they are everywhere—causing all kinds of mischief as they are seriously toxic and can cause serious damage to any cat or dog that unwittingly scoops them up. Kissing one would be a huge mistake.

But why were all these men turning into toads? Was it because there was something wrong with them? What kind of magic did Cindy have? Why couldn’t she just change them back? The questions slowly resolved in my head as I lived through each scene inside of my head.

From that point on Cindy Eller and her story were on a roll.

The love affair with ice cream that Cindy and her roommates have is based on my own life. I have definitely had days over the years where ice cream was better than any man I could imagine.

I had to wait until my son was born and I had access to my brain again before I could write down Cindy’s story—which I finally did when he was seven months old– but I had months to daydream and plan and drool over things that I could create with my pen and paper on days when I couldn’t make it into the kitchen with my newborn.

It’s almost as if I was pregnant with the story at the same time I was carrying my son.

***

Cindy Eller is a baker and a witch– the creator of magical desserts that send the senses reeling and highlight the unique flavors of her native Southwest. All isn’t sweet in her life, however– every man she has ever kissed has turned immediately into a real, live, disgusting toad. Cindy has long since given up on ever finding true love. She has decided that ice cream will be her only true love.

Enter Timothy Borden, handsome, a foodie, and with dimples that make Cindy’s stomach get all knotted up inside of her. Could he be the one to break her curse?

Or does he have secrets of his own?

***

Excerpt:

Closing the door of the house behind me, I tossed my purse on the couch and threw myself after it. I lay limply for a moment, wondering if I would ever have the energy to move again, then decided to get my– oh, so stylish and oh, so painful– shoes off before I cast off to drama land. If I was going to have a crisis, at least my feet wouldn’t hurt.

My roommate, Jessi, peeked her head around the door of the open freezer, a spoon dangling from her mouth. She looked me up and down, removed the spoon and quipped, “Prince Charming or Toad?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Toad, of course.” I flopped back down, eyeing her spoon. “What do we have?”

She gave me another long look and disappeared back into the freezer. “I think you need Double Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough.”

I grinned. My roomie so got me. “Hand it over.”

She pitched it underhand and the pint came flying towards me, followed by a spoon. I dug into the rich decadence of the ice cream with a hopeful sigh. In my opinion, there were very few things in life that ice cream couldn’t fix.

As the first velvety icy mouthful slid down my throat, I let out a moan of pleasure, letting all the stress flow off of my shoulders.

SweetDreams Ice Cream had only been available in our grocery store for a few weeks and we were already hooked. It was so good I could even let a bad date roll off my shoulders.

“So…” Jessi flopped down beside me. I squinted at her pint. She was eating Chocolate Cherry Cocoa Bliss. I considered snatching it out of her hands and finishing it for her, but there was nothing wrong with me that ice cream was really going to fix.

“So, nothing,” I said, crossly. “We went to dinner, talked, held hands…”

“Kissed.” Jessi giggled.

I glared at her, then sighed. “Yeah… and …”

“Toadsville!” Jessi giggled again.

“I’m so glad you think my personal life is so hilarious.” I said dryly.

She waved her hands. “No, no, I’m sorry. It’s just… Nathan was so a toad. You know it.”

He sure was. A giant, ugly, warty, slimy Colorado River Toad. He was nearly a pound of toxic waste done naturally.

Nasty.

In my limited experience the outside of the toad matched the inside of the man. Apparently I had just kissed a man whose insides were so gruesome that he was even more hideous than the average toad. Much as I hated bringing another toad home, I’d dodged a silver bullet on that one. If there was a perk to my personal hell, it was that I never dated a bad guy for long.

Not that I dated any guy for long.

I tried to remember why I had gone out with him in the first place, trying to ignore the huge ‘desperate’ sign that was blinking on and off like a huge neon sign in my brain. I sighed again. There had to be one good guy out there somewhere, right? One single someone who was not instant toad material.

“This is it,” I growled, licking my spoon clean. The ice cream was really good, insanely good even. “I’m done with men. I’m going to stick to ice cream.”

Jessi snorted. She’d heard it all before.

“I mean it this time,” I insisted. “I’m just going to focus on my work at the bakery and stop looking for a Prince Charming who obviously doesn’t exist.”

Tansy padded into the living room from her room, complete with pink halter top, baggy flowery pajama pants, and pink bunny slippers. Her light blond hair was gathered up in a rather messy looking ponytail. Her bangs were bound up in pin curls. Her eyes were slightly puffy. She looked like we had roused her up from a deep sleep. Even then she looked like the epitome of the angel next door. She held out her hand. “Ice me, baby.”

Jessi bounced up from the couch with far too much energy for that time of night. I shook my head as she disappeared back into the freezer. Just watching her exhausted me.

“Let’s see,” she said thoughtfully. “I think White Chocolate Strawberry Fantasy should do the trick.”

Jessi was quickly becoming our ice cream therapist. Not that you could ever go wrong with Tansy and pink. Even her car, an old ‘Bug’, was painted a brilliant pink.

Tansy held out her hand and was soon deep in her pint. “This is so good,” she said, around a spoonful. She paused, spoon in the air, as she regarded me.

I cringed, knowing what was coming.

“Toad?”

“Ha ha.” I searched in vain for another spoonful of fudgy bliss in my empty pint and sighed. “You guys enjoy my misery way too much.”
“Well, at least you’ll know Prince Charming when he comes around,” Tansy pointed out. “We just have to muddle through like everyone else.”
“We think I’ll know the right guy when he comes around. We don’t know for a fact. It may just be that I’ll be kissing toads until I’m ninety.”
It didn’t seem fair. I wasn’t flat out gorgeous like Jessi or even girl-next-door cute like Tansy, but I wasn’t exactly Hagsville either. Why I was stuck kissing toads instead of having a normal relationship, I didn’t know.
“I swear,” I muttered, “I am cursed.”

“We know,” my roommates chorused. They’d heard it all before. Many times.

***Are you hooked? You can win this book, as well as the two others in this series! Here are the giveaway details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

3 Kindle copies of How (Not) to Kiss a Toad

3 Kindle copies of How (Not) to Kiss a Prince

3 Kindle copies of How (Not) to Play with Magic

Giveaway is International. Kindle copies will be gifted directly through Amazon.com so you must be able to accept them to win.

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below:

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You can learn more about Elizabeth and this series by following the book tour:

How (Not) to Kiss a Toad by Elizabeth A Reeves tour schedule:

• April 15th – Darcia @ A Word Please (Guest Post)
• April 15th – A.G. Dow @ Juniper Grove (Book Review/Interview)
• April 16th – Momma Chaos @ Reviewing in Chaos (Spotlight)
• April 16th – Cameo @ Cameo Renae (Spotlight)
• April 17th – Sabrina @ Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace (Book Review/Guest Post)
• April 17th – Maria @ Queen of All She Reads (Book Review/Guest Post)
• April 18th – Ali @ GingerBread Reviews (Book Review)
• April 18th – Flora @ From the Bootheel Cotton Patch (Spotlight)
• April 19th - Laurie @ Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews (Tens List)
• April 19th – Lisa & Sarah @ Girls with Books (Spotlight)
• April 19th – Elora, Marie & Layna @ Lunar Haven Reviews and Designs (Guest Post)

***

If you don’t want to wait around to see if you win a copy, you can purchase these three titles and more by Elizabeth on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble.

I hope you’ll take the time to connect with Elizabeth and explore her fictional world.

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

Do you love your ereader? If so, then we need to wrap it up with a cool cover and fill it with ebooks!

My BestsellerBound author friends and I have a total of 12 ebooks to give away, as well as 2 ebook covers!

The prizes are split into two packages, with two winners each receiving 6 ebooks and an ereader cover. Here are the prize packages: (For more information on any of the titles, click the cover.)

Package 1:

Package 2:

This giveaway is international, open to everyone 16 and older anywhere in the world. Enter between Friday, April 12 and midnight EST Friday, April 26. Please use the below Rafflecopter form for entries. The winners will be announced here, and also notified via email.

* Each author is solely responsible for sending their title to the winner. *
** Winner will be able to choose preferred format. **

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Thank you to all my author friends for your participation and support!

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

I’m excited to be part of the Sweet Oblivion Book Tour and Giveaway, put together by Jaidis Shaw of Juniper Grove Book Solutions. The authors are offering three ebook copies, which you can enter to win. More details on that soon. First, let’s meet the talented duo behind the words:

*** Bailey Ardisone is a collaboration by two sisters born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois. They took the last names of their two grandmothers and combined them together to form their pen name. They both married the love of their lives and spend their days submerged in books, movies, music, or art and love traveling. Fantasy books and movies have been a huge part of their lives and are obsessed with Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sweet Oblivion is the first book they have written together and is the first novel of a series.

Connect with these authors in the following places:

Amazon Author Page:
www.amazon.com/Bailey-Ardisone/e/B00AVGKCME
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSweetSeries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BaileyArdisone or @BaileyArdisone
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6876493.Bailey_Ardisone
Blog: www.baileyardisone.blogspot.com
Website: www.thesweetseries.com

***I asked each author to answer to following question:

If you could fall into ‘Sweet Oblivion’ and forget any one time in your life, would you? Why or why not?

 

Bailey:

There are many things I would like to forget, many memories I wish I could let fall into Sweet Oblivion. Regrets, mistakes, tribulations that plague my mind surface from time to time. Honestly, I would choose not to forget anything about my life. It is mistakes and tribulations that make you into the person you are, and help make you a better person. It would be too easy to be able to forget those things and life is hard, you have to work for it. I learned the other day in a magazine article that you should not let regrets rule your life. Do not let it bog you down and cause you anxiety. We all do stupid things, we all make mistakes. Let the past go and focus on the future. Do not let your regret stumble you from pushing ahead, but focus on the ‘now’ in life and work to make it better. Sometimes it is easier to forget certain things, errors we wish had never happened. However, worrying about it produces no rewards. I really took that article to heart and I am trying to apply those thoughts in my life. The idea of falling into a sweet oblivion does sound rather nice sometimes, but life has a way of getting in the way and reminding that you have things to do and responsibilities to take care of. One could sit all day long thinking about ‘What ifs’ and ‘if only’, but where would that get us? We can’t go back and make any changes, we can only go forward. We have to take those mistakes we made and try to make them better, remembering to not make those same mistakes in the future. Learning from them and not focusing on our regrets will help us move forward and enjoy life to the fullest. 

 

Ardisone:

Whenever I am sad or upset, I absolutely have to go to sleep and fall into sweet oblivion. This is how I wrote Nari in “Sweet Oblivion” because that is exactly how I am. I love to be in the dream world where my hopes and desires can be reality. So although it is my way of escape from reality to temporarily forget the pain I may be feeling, I do believe it is important to wake up and not completely forget forever the situations that can be a lesson to learn from in life, no matter how hard they are. Of course, I do believe there are some situations that are just so horrible for a person that it would be better to completely forget it, but it could also depend on the person. And if there is a way to learn from it and it makes you a stronger person in the end, perhaps it can be considered something you could use to your advantage in the long run.

***

 

sweet adjective ?sw?t a : pleasing to the mind or feelings
obliv•i•on noun ?-?bli-v?-?n, ?-, ä- 1: the fact or condition of forgetting or having forgotten

Have you ever wanted to forget? Nariella Woodlinn has. Many times. Especially when her already frustrating life gets turned upside down by a mysterious boy who randomly shows up in her small town and she can’t seem to understand anything about him, despite how much she tries.
Nari hates everything about her life except for her best friend Rydan, but now that they’ve been separated during their senior year of high school, she has to learn to make new friends without him. When strange, unexplainable phenomenon start becoming an everyday part of her life, Nari struggles to come to grips with reality. And with love.

Naminé has responsibilities. Duties. It is her obligation to fulfill all that is asked of her by their King. But when a glimmer of hope is introduced to her by a prisoner she tends to and it means life or death for her and her people, she does all that she can to turn that hope into reality and finally end the vicious war that has been ensuing since she was born. Even if that means keeping it secret from her King. Even if it means carrying out the biggest betrayal against the King ever seen during her time.

She has hope. She will fulfill her duty. She will not let her people down.

Some secrets are best kept in Oblivion.

***

Excerpt:

But in that short, torturously way too short, second that I got to look at him, something odd stuck out in my mind. He was effortlessly balancing a sharpie on the tip of his left index finger, looking very bored. Too bored. Hmph. 

I refuse to succumb to the charms of a man just because they speak in an alluring accent and look completely devilish. And hot. That will be the last time I ever let myself fall prey to his cunning tricks.

… I hope.

As the novelty of surprise wore off the longer I sat listening to Mr. James go on and on about whatever, I couldn’t shake this eerie feeling that started creeping up my spine. For whatever reason, the new guy was beginning to freak me out. I had this strange alarming sensation in my gut, as if telling me he was dangerous. But all of it was nothing compared to what I felt out in the hallway after class ended.

I had slowly stood up to gather my things, hoping that everyone, and I mean everyone, would leave and I could get to my next class without speaking to anyone. Or at least one particular person.

But as soon as I walked out the door, he was there next to me, making me almost jump to the roof like a cat with my hair standing on end. He looked amused and wore a very adorable smirk. He had backed me up against the lockers, pinning me with only his aqua eyes and as he leaned down, both hands in his pockets, I stood there trapped by my own wonder at what was about to happen. But all he did was lean into the left side of my hair and took a long inhale of breath through his nose, like he was smelling me.

“Mmmm” was all he moaned, before he gracefully skipped backwards like a mountain lion and walked away, leaving me now completely and utterly freaked. What the heck was that? That had to be the creepiest thing I have ever experienced.

And hottest.

But I refuse to acknowledge that part. 

I began to dread going to anymore classes today, afraid he would be there. It all came to nothing though, because it turns out, I didn’t end up seeing him again the entire rest of the day. Thank the Lord! Something was finally going my way.

The next day, I was too afraid to walk into Literature. I stood there at the door, hand over my heart, trying to calm my nerves down. I don’t know what it was, but something about that guy has me frightened. I asked Zaylie and Desmond about him, but none of them saw him. Zaylie doesn’t even remember seeing him in class yesterday. That right there had me reeling, expecting to see him anywhere I turned and being the only one who did. If I’m starting to see ghosts, someone please just kill me now.

***

Enter to win an ebook copy of Sweet Oblivion! The authors are giving away 3 ebook copies, worldwide. Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the tour to learn more about the authors and their book:

Sweet Oblivion by Bailey Ardisone Tour Schedule:

• April 1st – Amber G. @ Lady Amber’s Reviews (Book Review)
• April 1st – Laurie @ Laurie’s Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews (Tens List)
• April 2nd – Darcia @ A Word Please (Guest Post)
• April 2nd – Nikki A @ Vamps and Stuff (Spotlight)
• April 2nd – Holly @ Full Moon Bites (Interview)
• April 3rd – E.M. @ The Reader’s Hollow (Interview)
• April 3rd – Sheri A. Wilkinson @ Juniper Grove (Book Review)
• April 4th – Keira @ Keira’s Corner (Spotlight)
• April 4th – Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts (Spotlight)
• April 4th – Elora, Marie & Layna @ Lunar Haven Reviews and Designs (Book Review)
• April 5th – Flora @ From the Bootheel Cotton Patch (Spotlight)
• April 5th – Dafeenah @ Indie Designz (Spotlight)
• April 5th – Momma Chaos @ Reviewing in Chaos (Spotlight)

***When you feel the need to escape, I hope you’ll grab a copy of Sweet Oblivion.

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

My awesome editor and good friend Bob Helle and I are embarking on a publishing venture! Or is it an adventure? We’re hoping a little of both! Our plan is to put together a fiction ebook series and a nonfiction ebook series. They will be edited by Bob and published by me, through my site Quiet Fury Books.

The fiction series will be short story anthologies in the mystery/suspense/thriller genres.

The nonfiction series will be articles and essays covering all aspects of crime, justice, and injustice.

We’ll be starting out by offering these as free ebook downloads! All readers love freebies, right? And freebies also work as great promotional tools for authors.

If you’re an author and would like to contribute, we’d love to include you! All details can be found here: www.QuietFuryBooks.com/publishing.html

We hope to have more news for you soon!

Thanks for reading.

I’m on tour! The fabulous Jaidis Shaw, through her company Juniper Grover Book Solutions, has organized a Secrets book tour for me. I have seven stops this week, featuring interviews, a guest post, reviews, and a giveaway! I’m offering 2 signed, print copies and 10 ebook copies of Secrets.

Secrets by Darcia Helle Tour Schedule:

March 11th – S.H. Roddey @ A Haunted Head (Interview)
March 12th – Flora @ From the Bootheel Cotton Patch (Author Spotlight)
March 12th – Laurie @ Laurie’s Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews (Interview)
March 13th – Darlyn @ Darlyn & Books! (Book Review/Guest Post)
March 14th – Elora, Marie & Layna @ Lunar Haven Reviews and Designs (Book Review/Interview)
March 15th – Daniel @ Parenting 2.0 The Child’s Perspective (Spotlight)
March 15th – A.G. Dow @ Juniper Grove (Book Review/Interview)

I hope you’ll visit each stop and share your thoughts along the way. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

 

Avery Tingle is a survivor of both child abuse and domestic abuse. Men rarely speak out publicly about their lives as victims, and I’m honored that Avery chose to do so with me here today.

You were a victim of both child abuse and domestic violence. Was the abuse physical, verbal and/or psychological? Please share as much detail as you’re comfortable with.

All three. My first memory of a relative involved them committing violence against another member of my family. I also remember getting slapped in the face in preschool while this same relative held me, angry that I couldn’t get the color of a toy right. As I grew up I was called probably every negative thing a child could be called, and anything I ever expressed interest in was torn apart. It made school slightly easier to weather because I’d heard all of the horrible stuff at home first. Beatings, either bare-handed or anything that relative could get their hands on, were a way of life.

How, if at all, do you feel your abuse as a child predisposed you to becoming a victim of domestic violence in your adult years?

This didn’t hit me till recently, but violence is a cycle. Once you get the idea in your head that you’re a victim, you tend to seek out situations in which you’ll stay in that role. I found myself attracted to women who came off as virtually flawless, only to discover some deep-rooted anger issues that led to a lot of destructive (verbal) behavior. In a very strange way, I was comfortable with it because I had grown up with it. I figured that the violence was what life was about.

Let’s talk about your situation as a child first. Was there anyone in your life you felt safe confiding in, such as a school counselor or the parent of a friend?

Emphatically speaking, NO. I remember feeling tremendously let down by my comics that advertised that it was safe to talk to an adult if bad things were happening to you. I tell you what; the sooner you learn that adults don’t have all the answers, the better off you are. At first I told anyone who would listen. It was always the same reply; I was blowing it out of proportion, it couldn’t be that bad, BLAH BLAH BLAH. I learned to keep it all to myself. I still haven’t revealed all of the details, and I probably never will.

Did Social Services ever get involved? If so, do you feel the system helped? If not, what do you think would have made it easier for you to get help as a child?

Social Services did get involved, briefly, and I was removed from the home for a brief period. To be fair, this was both because of what was happening and my behavior. I think as I got older, people were beginning to put two and two together.

Social Services, and other so-called resources, broadcast that they are easy to talk to, and they’re willing to help, and while there are genuinely good people who want to help everyone, the truth is, the current system does more harm than good. The victim is put through a grueling battery of questions and exams in the name of gathering evidence that is almost as invasive as the abuse itself. Then, if any action is initiated against the perpetrator, forget confidentiality, which only serves to anger the perpetrator even further. I don’t know what the exact stat is, but I’m almost certain that less than half of all cases result in either prosecution or the victim’s removal from the home. Guess what happens when perpetrator and victim are reunited?

How did the child abuse change you? Did you become more introverted? Or did you act out?

Both; I went wild as a way of keeping anyone from trying to get too close to me, finding out the truth. I let the anger take over. I broke the law repeatedly and even got incarcerated a few times. I don’t get into (legal) trouble anymore but I will probably be dealing with anger management my entire life. I like to think I’ve made great strides with it, but I can still be quick-tempered especially when it comes to violence against women and children.

Now let’s talk about the period of time you lived with domestic violence. At what point did you realize you were in trouble with the relationship?

When the yelling matches became a nightly habit and I found myself ducking plates being hurled at my head, that was my cue that it was time to get out.

At any point, did you go to the police, or request intervention from a lawyer or any organization? If so, what were the results?

As a child, for a little while, I was screaming for help. When I realized none was coming, I went wild. As an adult, I learned to deal with it on my own. There were no lawyers and no organizations I was aware of.

What are your thoughts for the laws as they stand, for both children and adults in abusive situations?

The law is grossly inept at handling situations like this because it requires proof to proceed, and even if this proof is obtained, the system is run by overworked people. Also, the penalty upon a successful prosecution isn’t nearly enough. It’s often probation with counseling, and only in the most egregious of circumstances does the perpetrator receive a jail sentence. The process as it stands only serves to make the situation worse for the victim, which is why so few people are willing to come forward.

I understand that proof has to be established for the system to work, but one must consider what the victim has already endured. Stepping forward requires more courage than most can fathom, because speaking about it makes it real. Worse, the perpetrator is made aware that they are “losing control” of their victim, which only serves to infuriate them further, and this most definitely will be taken out on the victim when the system fails. Please note I said “when”, and not “if”, because in most cases, it does.

Upon establishment of abuse, jail time should be mandatory, and then it should be a minimum of five years behind bars. Victims will spend their entire lives recovering from what their tormentors have done to them. They should at least be able to focus on their recovery without having to look over their shoulder. People who perpetuate this cycle are cowards and bullies, and need to be addressed as such.

What are some of the changes you’d like to see within our justice system, both for victims and abusers?

Confidentiality is key. Victims should be able to come forward without worrying about their tormentor finding out. Someone with bruises all over their body, who cringes at being touched, didn’t fall down the stairs. They need to be able to come forward, know they’re going to be taken seriously. They also need to know that their situation will end, and that the person doing this to them WILL be punished with something tangible. No one’s afraid of probation or counseling, and truthfully, not a lot of people are even afraid to go to jail, because they know eventually they’ll get out. But five years is enough time for the victim to turn their lives around while their perpetrator gets to experience abuse from the other side of the equation.

Do you have advice for children and/or adults living with abuse? Are there resources you can suggest?

You’re not alone. It’s not your fault. You don’t do anything to deserve it. It’s not about you, it’s about them, and a need to dominate and control. IT’S NOT LOVE. THAT PERSON DOES NOT LOVE YOU. IF YOU REMAIN IN THAT SITUATION, THINGS WILL GET WORSE.

Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any resources beyond a few hotlines. The best thing I can tell you is to RUN. Get out of that situation as soon as you can, go to someone you trust and once you’re there, get all of this on the record AND MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK FOR YOU.

I’d like to mention something; I tried to do something good with my anger. I went after people who did this to women and children, and almost lost myself in the process. I chose to turn things around, even going so far as to forgive the person who did this to me. I didn’t do it for them; I did it because I got tired of carrying all that anger around. Eventually, it will wear on you and it must be resolved. I got my life together and actually managed to salvage a relationship with the person who did this to me as a child.

Your situation is not going to change unless you make it change. Don’t believe promises, or statements that things will get better, because those words are only meant to lower your guards and get you to stay. If this is happening to you, I implore you, get out, get your kids out, get to someplace safe or you just may end up a statistic.

*** Avery K. Tingle is an indie author and blogger living in the Seattle area. Originally hailing from California, he survived a troubled childhood and ten years of on-again-off-again homelessness, going through twenty-two states in eleven years. He eventually landed in Missouri, where he calmed down (to a point) before returning to his West Coast. He is the author of Universal Warrior: Before Red Morning, and its upcoming sequel Atherean Defenders. He maintains the blog The Road Home in which he chronicles his journey to become a self-sustained storyteller.

Connect with Avery in the following places:

Website/Blog: http://averyktingle.blogspot.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ironman1176
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorakt
Tumblr: http://theroadhome2012.tumblr.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ironman1176

***Universal Warrior: Before Red Morning is available free on Smashwords, in formats for all ereaders and computers:

RED MORNING: A bloody event that took the lives of four young Angels and plunged Heaven and Hell into a war that would last for millenium, eventually spilling into our world.

Before the war began, three Angels–and one desperate human being–were forced into impossible situations which eventually led them to Zeus, and the formation of the ATHEREAN DEFENDERS.

Now, witness key events in the lives of four beings that led them to becoming Heaven’s first strike force. Journey back to a time when Heaven was at the end of its innocence and the beginning of dark times. See what happened BEFORE RED MORNING.

***What are your thoughts on the way the criminal justice system treats abuse victims? Do you think men are treated different, perhaps less seriously, than women?

Come back on Monday, February 25 for thoughts on Mental Illness and Incarceration by psychologist and author Jennifer Lane.

You can see the full month’s schedule here: Criminal Justice Blog Series

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

Thanks for reading.

Jason McIntyre is the master of dark fiction, psychological suspense, and Canadian bacon. (Admittedly, I’m just guessing about the bacon.) The Devil’s Right Hand, his long awaited, full-length novel featuring The Night Walk Men, has arrived! Jason is here to tell us how the series came to be. He’s also sharing an excerpt. If you have yet to meet The Night Walk Men, be prepared to be hooked.

I’m happily stepping aside. Here is Jason McIntyre:

JASON MCINTYRE is the #1 Kindle Suspense author of THE NIGHT WALK MEN, bestsellers ON THE GATHERING STORM and SHED, plus the multi-layered literary suspense THALO BLUE. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and won several awards.

His current release is the full-length follow-up novel to THE NIGHT WALK MEN called THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND, available now.

Learn more and connect with the author in the following places:

Website: www.theFarthestReaches.com
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JasonCMcintyre or @JasonCMcIntre

*** The saga began with The Night Walk Men, the #1 Kindle Suspense novella by Jason McIntyre. Now it continues with The Devil’s Right Hand. And a war is brewing.

Meet Benton Garamond. He’s lost. He careens through the wet streets of downtown Vancouver on a collision course with a dirty lawyer named Levy Gillis. He wants something from Gillis and he aims to get it.

Meet Donovan Lo, former drug kingpin and not bad with the ladies if you ask him. He’s in hiding and has a plan to leave his empire for good. But something — and someone — aims to put a bullet through his last big score.

Now meet Sperro. He has a lot to say about his job, about Benton Garamond and about Donovan Lo. Sperro will be your tour guide.

“We are Night Walk Men, imbued with the lives of at least ten men, and we walk among you like a blur, unseen but often sensed or smelled like pollen in the air when you can’t see flowers—or the tingle you get when the hairs on your neck stand up.

“If you hear footsteps on the parched earth behind you, or if dry autumn leaves scrape concrete with a breeze, that’s most likely one of us, walking just a little ahead or just a little behind. If it’s dark and you climb into your car and for once—for no reason at all—wonder why you didn’t check the back seat for strangers, one of my brothers is mostly likely back there as you drive off.

“We are everywhere at once and nothing can stop us. We are Death incarnate, walking under long robes of black and chasing down the winds to read from a discourse that may be the last words you’ll hear…”

Be prepared to shake The Devil’s Right Hand.

***

Hi everyone. I’m Jason McIntyre, author of THE NIGHT WALK MEN and the new novel THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND which picks up where THE NIGHT WALK MEN left off.

We’re forty-odd years out from the fateful night in 1964 when our favorite tall dark figure saw his robes flapping madly in an unnatural wind. On that night he discovered he would indeed be punished for going against the Word of his shepherds.

In the new novel, we pick up with his son, Sperro, our smarmy narrator who follows a man named Benton Garamond to an un-scheduled appointment with a lawyer in the lawyer’s downtown Vancouver office tower.

On the surface, Benton appears as a moderately mundane character. He’s in his fifties and has a family, a house in the suburbs and a straightforward desk job with a government bureau. Looks can be deceiving. We discover Benton has a vendetta to fulfill.

The original novella only touched on the father-son dynamic but THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND is rife with exploration of parenthood and its effects on our lives – both in being a parent and in being someone’s child. Benton is no different than most of us. He would do anything to help the interests of his family.

When I tell stories, I introduce seemingly innocuous characters that could be people down the street or in the next office from you. Then I either blast into them with earth-shattering developments and see how they deal with it, or I let the reader discover that the character isn’t mundane at all. And far from it.

It makes for interesting reading, I hope. Following regular people as they encounter irregular circumstances. All the best fiction usually starts with such a premise.

The only imperative detail you need to know about the coming excerpt is that it’s narrated by Sperro first-hand. He’s one of the Night Walk Men, an almost mythic group of beings who can exist alongside you and me and manage the daily activities of our lives. He and his kind can become invisible to us and know our thoughts to a degree that they can help or hinder us. Think of those traffic lights that always turn red for you and make you late for work. Or those house keys you keep misplacing. It’s likely the Night Walk Men are managing things for you – so you either make your way to a fruitful fate…or one that is at least a little morbid.

Without further delay…the excerpt from the novel, THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND:

Benton Etienne Garamond spins the wheel of his SUV and jams on the brakes. Then he fires a foot onto the gas pedal and takes off around a wet corner and down a concrete ramp.

Honestly, Benton! You’re the sort of man whose name history forgets. I look to your face in the bars of on-again, off-again light and see deep lines, heavy gauged like steel train tracks of shadow on flesh.

Benton, dear Benton! What say you? Why so glum, chum? In the rear view of your previously shiny Cadillac Escalade, now coated in a thick layer of grey mud, that face you see is the same one I do. It’s full of those deep lines, those eyes black, not brown like they used to be. You’re speeding, Mr. Garamond, did you know that you are ignoring the posted limits? Before, once, a long time ago, heated ignorance of such societal norms got you into a lot of trouble.

Now you’re in the parking garage of the Conseco Business Centre out on West 49th and fine, powdery wafts of white spew from the melted film of your black tires as they screech on concrete. Trails behind you are reversals of comet streaks in the sky. They aren’t from heaven, nor are they lit. You’re like a fallen angel tonight, aren’t you, Benton? Aren’t you?

* * *

He doesn’t care about the hot markings. Why would he? He’ll have this car for another week, tops. After that, the whole works of it, all the pretty things he’s ever known, will have been killed.

His black duffle bag’s handles are clenched into his fist. He pulls on thin, pale yellow latex gloves as he retreats from the safety of the vehicle. It’s cool in the parking garage, down here, underground: an artificial cold. He doesn’t bother to lock the Escalade. It would be ludicrous that anyone would steal it now. After all this.

Benton doesn’t know exactly what he’ll say. He doesn’t know what he should say. But he does know he’ll be mixing his words with fire. He has to.

He has a white plastic keycard on a coiled pink bracelet. Conseco Tower, it says, printed in blue at one end. He uses the keycard to gain access to the building, the same card he used to open the steel gates of the parking garage. The keycard is coded for the elevator, too.

Upstairs on the twentieth floor, after sidestepping the laughably bad security in a building that should at least have a concierge and some video coverage, Benton moves through a flimsy wood-veneer door done in faux oak with trim in dark chocolate, all the rage in decor ten years ago. He moves swiftly for a man his size and comes across the dark rug of the law office to the face of an assistant’s desk. This comes as she looks up into his eyes. His dark, dark eyes.

But there’s nothing in them, not tonight. He’s learned to hide what lurks behind his corneas and she’s not so much afraid as she is startled.

She lets out a little sound when he hits her. That’s all she gets out at the impact of his big hand with her small, apple-pink cheek. And why does he do that? He has seen the light is on in her boss’s office. A calculated guess means he might get what he wants directly from him.

There’s something about Benton’s state that has heightened his senses, heightened who he is. He was always a big man, since high school when he was involved in sport—out of expectation, mind you. But he was never entirely graceful. When Gabby found him, she must have seen something in his big arms, his big chest, must have seen something soft. She fell for him immediately.

Past the assistant’s desk, Benton sees the door to the boss’s office is ajar. Another name for this figure, at least in some circles, is Numero Tres, Number Three. He is, as you should surmise, third in a chain from the top of something notorious and powerful. Three is approaching from behind his own door and Benton hears his dress shoes moving on the carpet. Three speaks up. “Dianne? Did you call for m—”

And WHAM! The matching veneer door cracks him in the nose, breaks it instantly. Benton pushes into the plush corner office. Banks of tall black window panes dressed with the night surround them both. Counselor Levy Gillis falls back. A spray of blood arcs in the air and his hands shoot to his face in reflex. “HOlee Mother of—”

Benton spins around, light on his feet, seals the door, turns the lock and latches a deadbolt. Why the goddamn does a lawyer need a handle lock and a deadbolt? he thinks. Then he answers himself: because he’s a goddamn dirty lawyer. That’s why.

Then Benton is on top of Gillis, Number Three he’s called in those fearful circles, third down the line from the Big Man himself. Benton is on top with one hand at his throat, the other grappling with Levy’s wrists. A gurgle-snort of blood in the man’s throat and nose. His eyes snap shut. He has not come to terms with exactly what is happening here.

Well, this might come as news to you.

But this, fickle lawyer-man, is a hijacking.

Benton Garamond needs something from you, Counselor Levy Gillis.

And he aims to get it.

* * *

It’s night time splashed on the long, shiny panels of Gillis’s office, showing a city of tall and short shot glasses, each of them an unplanned war map of light squares and dark squares.

On the floor in front of his large cherry wood desk, Gillis’s nose is broken and he’s gushing blood onto his dress shirt. It has already stained his light cream rug. He’s flat on his back, howling in pain. His eyes are squeezed shut against pain and shock. He still hasn’t had a good look at Benton, who’s now on top of the lawyer, forearm up under his chin, crushing the man’s larynx, heavy body splayed over him to keep the coward from struggling up.

Benton quivers like a leaf on a tea tree. Despite his size, he’s coming to terms with what is happening, with what he is wielding. His wide eyes now betray what is going on behind them. He can’t believe he’s doing this again.

Don’t lose your cool, Ben, not now, he’s mentally blurting at himself. For God’s sake, that’s what happened before.

“Now you listen to me—and you listen good. We’re going to have a little chat.” This is Benton talking, spitting the words into the closed eyes of Counselor Gillis. He’s not shouting, but his words have fire behind them.

Inside the black duffle that Benton brought with him are various implements. No guns, no knives—he tried that once before—but some things that will make this easier. He had flung it down on the rug beside them when he lunged forward onto Gillis, and now it was slightly out of reach to his left. He leans for it and gets the zipper pulled. The bag opens like a big black mouth and then Benton’s hand goes inside.

Big mistake, Benton. What are you thinking? You visualized this part of your plan, didn’t you, and in your visualization you had the shoulder strap over you. The duffle bag was at your waist. Heavy, yes, but not too heavy for you. You’ve spent your career at a desk but there aren’t gold bars in the duffle bag.

Shame on you, Benton. Are you hardly surprised when the good ol’ dirty lawyer takes advantage of your gaffe? He’s bleeding and stunned but he’s never been stupid. He’s good at thinking fast on his feet. And though he’s on his back at the moment, fast thinking is a skill that continues to serve him well.

His knee goes to Benton’s crotch as Benton reaches into that damned bag. Bolts of intensity shoot forth from Benton’s loins, and you, all and sundry, might agree that this shot to the jewels is where all the problems will begin.

Next come Gillis’s hands, no longer concerned with his nose, more with getting the hell out from under this monster who’s barged into his office and, for all he knows, killed his secretary out there in his waiting room.

Gillis gives Benton a monumental shove. Normally, even this gargantuan effort would do little to dissuade a large and formidable figure like Benton, but Benton’s center of balance was sufficiently toppled by his reach for whatever’s in his damned duffle bag.

That Damned Duffle Bag, right, Benton? None of us could have foreseen your shaky nerves, not even in the elevator when the shoulder strap was caught in the door. What bad kismet! But you had the presence of mind to flick the clips holding it to the duffle. It went down and you and your bag with all its paraphernalia went to the top floor of this unguarded, unwatched tower where Councillor Gillis was, what? Finishing a court petition to swindle some poor pensioners out of their savings? Helping to shield another drug lord from tax avoidance charges? Maybe he was having his assistant stay late as a ruse. Maybe the two of them were about to come in here and lock the door when Benton blew in like a storm.

Benton’s arms shake like he’s on too much daytime cough medication, way too much. He’s flung to the side and back, and the duffle flies too—spilling some of its contents as it goes askew. Eyes in a squint, Gillis is up at only the waist, using his elbows to frantically back-pedal on the rug away from Benton. That look in his eyes says he has this far from sewed up. But he’s also heading for something, not just away from this attacker.

There! At the side of his cherry wood desk he reaches up to open a drawer. Damn him, right Benton? You see it and understand. Once again, you’ve brought a knife to a gunfight.

Thoughts from Benton Garamond in this tiny instant: Why the goddamn does a lawyer have a gun in his desk drawer in downtown Vancouver? Then he answers himself: because he’s a goddamn dirty lawyer. That’s why.

You should know that I’m here with Benton and Gillis, right here with them in this office. I stand among the tall, shadowed facades of nighttime, while the two men scurry on the rug near my feet a hair-width above the pile. But my own volume is turned down. I’m unseen and unheard and unknown. I am, as we say, inside the Night. I move swifter than you and your kind, swifter than even these two men, whose bodies are oiled by adrenaline and their sudden and innate will to live.

You should know that I’m here. And you should know why.

I’m here to steer the barrel of the gun as best I can. What I can tell you is that Benton Garamond is not be taken until certain other things are in place. What other things, I cannot say, because I have not been made privy to that. In your world, you might say that such intel is above your pay grade. It is certainly above mine. But I do know this: The Night Walkers need Benton but we also need him to come down a notch or two. Benton’s mind rams ahead, fueled by the threat of this going badly like it did once before—in another place and what seems like so long ago.

Benton lunges forward at Gillis as the bullet escapes the weapon.

 

THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND is available now as an ebook from Amazon, Amazon UK and Smashwords. It’ll find its way to all the other retailers soon. A print edition is on tap for 2013.

***

Thank you, Jason, for sharing the world of The Night Walk Men with us today!

These are the books in The Night Walk Men series so far – the (free!) novella, the follow-up short story, and the newly released novel:

Here are all Jason’s other stories on Amazon:

You can also find all Jason’s book on Amazon UK and Smashwords.

Do you like audiobooks? If so, Jason is offering The Night Walk Men free for your listening pleasure! You’ll find all the details on his website: www.thefarthestreaches.com/p/the-night-walk-men.html

Before you go off to read and/or listen to Jason’s books, you might enjoy reading some of Jason’s past visits:

Embracing the Darkness – We talk about his books Black Light of Day, Nights Gone By and Walkout: http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2012/01/jason-mcintyre-2

Step Into The Darkness, If You Dare – We talk about his story Bled: http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2011/09/step-into-the-darkness

Thalo Blue: Crashing Into Personal Space – Jason shares insight into his writing, including his novel Thalo Blue: http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2011/06/thalo-blue

A Conversation With Jason McIntyre and Shedding Skin – Both focus on one of my favorites, Shed: http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2010/12/jason-mcintyre and http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2010/12/sheddingskin

I hope you’ll take the time to connect with Jason and explore his fictional world.

Thanks for reading.

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Have you read any of The Night Walk Men books? What do you think of the concept that there are, in essence, being controlled by unseen puppet masters?

literature blog

BestsellerBound is a incredible community of indie authors. I created the message board in the late summer of 2010 with the help of resident authors Maria Savva and Stacy Juba. We wanted to celebrate one thing that has kept us all going over the past two years: friendship. Many friendships have been formed on the board. In fact, one of the most common things our members say is that BestsellerBound is the friendliest group of writers they have found. We pride ourselves on that.

To celebrate not only a successful 2 years as a popular indie writer forum, but also the friendships we have made on the board, a few of us organized this blog hop. The theme is, of course, Friendship. You can read blog posts based on the theme of friendship by each of the participating authors. We are sure it will be an interesting and varied blog hop. We are also offering a big prize package to one lucky winner! This is a tour-wide giveaway. Details are at the bottom of this post. First, my thoughts on friendship…

***

For my part in this friendship blog hop, I’d planned to write about the impact my BestsellerBound friends have made in my life. At some point in the future, I will return to that topic. Today, though, in the spirit of friendship, I have to talk about my best friend. I lost him recently and my heart still aches from the loss.

This was Sidney, my best friend, in happier days:

Yes, Sid was a dog. But he was never just a dog.

If you’re not an animal person, no words I say could express the impact this little guy had on my life. I’ve always had dogs, and I’ve loved them all. But this one, he tugged at my heartstrings in a way no other could; in a way no other ever will again.

We adopted Sid in July 2000. He was about 8 months old at the time. I could tell you about his early days, before he came to live with us. They were difficult months for him, including abuse for the crime of not being 100% Chihuahua. But Sid would tell you those days didn’t matter once he came to live with us. He showed me that each and every day. What mattered was his family. What mattered was that he woke up with us each morning and went to sleep with us each night. What mattered was that we loved him unconditionally, and he returned that love a million times over.

In July of 2000, my health was in serious decline. Less than a year after Sid came to live with us, I had to stop working. A year after that, I had to stop driving. My life became one of relative isolation. My best friend, the one that never left my side, was Sidney. He had the most expressive eyes. They truly sparkled with delight. He’d just look at me and I’d have to smile. He was a little dog with a huge personality. My world was so much better with him in it.

Sid could be difficult for others, but never for me. He feared men, and quick movements could cause him to lunge at someone out of instinct. We worked on those issues. As he learned to trust me, he also learned to trust that I’d never let anyone hurt him.

He loved to walk. My mother often compared him to a Clydesdale. He pranced. His eyes would sparkle with absolute euphoria. I didn’t get to walk him as often as I would have liked. My health goes through long periods of total crap. During those spells, it’s difficult for me to get past the pain and the fatigue. My one regret with Sid is that I didn’t force myself to take him walking more often. But I know without question that he forgives me.

We lost Sid on October 27. He had an extremely rare liver disease called Hepatocutaneous Syndrome. It destroys the liver, causes skin lesions that can be incredibly painful, and, eventually, causes the organs to shut down. There is no cure; there isn’t even a treatment. Life expectancy after diagnosis is typically five to six months.

We were fortunate, in that Sid didn’t suffer for a long time. I had him on a high protein diet, fed him at least twice the normal amount, and also gave him one egg per day. (The disease causes them to burn an extreme amount of calories.) That seemed to work well. Until one day, it just didn’t.

The end was quick. Very early on Friday morning, October 26, he woke up vomiting. I couldn’t get him to eat anything. He was lethargic. The decline was so fast. He couldn’t even hold down water, but was so very thirsty. By late Friday night, I knew he wouldn’t rebound. I stayed up with him all night. I talked. He listened. I told him I had to let him go. He moaned, because he knew it too. I promised him, as I had all along, that I would be with him right to the end. I would not let him die alone. Saturday morning, we took him to the vet. I held him and said my final good bye. It was quick. And, suddenly, my best friend was gone.

What struck me when we returned home was how incredibly empty the house felt. You see, we have two other dogs and a cat. Yet, the house felt so wrong. Sid was never a dominant dog. He loved his little sisters and brother. They could eat out of his plate, step on top of him, and even steal his treats. He never snapped at them, never snarled. Still, despite his complete lack of dominance, he was their leader. He was like the glue that held us all together. And we were all a little lost without him.

My other dogs and my cat are finally starting to come out of their funk. They’re finding their way in this new world without their big brother. We’re reconnecting in a different way.

I miss Sid every moment of every day. But I remind myself that he had an infectious joy. He loved his life, and he loved me. He wouldn’t want me to spend my days crying over his loss. He’d want me to remember that sparkle in his eyes and smile.

***

Enough of my melancholy mood. Now on to the giveaway! One lucky winner will win the following prizes:

Secrets by Darcia Helle (Print)
Haunted by Maria (Print)
Harmony’s Passing by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick (Print)
Belkin Mod Standing Cover for Kindle Fire
Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba (ebook)
Alaskan Healing by Lana Voynich (ebook)
Nexus Point by Jaleta Clegg (ebook)

This is a tour-wide giveaway, so you can enter from any one of the blogs. Use the Rafflecopter form and follow the instructions for multiple entries. Each author has included a simple question as a way for you to earn bonus entries. The answers can be found within that author’s friendship blog post. You can answer all the questions on one form, or answer from the form on each author’s blog.

This giveaway is open to everyone 16 and older, everywhere in the world. Enter between Monday, November 12 and midnight, EST on Monday, November 26.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Visit the following blogs, for some great stories about friendship!

BestsellerBound Blog: BestsellerBound Recommends
Jaleta Clegg’s The Far Edge of Normal
Maria Savva’s Goodreads Blog
Stacy Juba’s One Stop Reading
Lana Voynich: Scribblings From My Mind
Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick: The Tale’s The Thing

Thanks for reading.

I’m excited to be part of this blog tour! I received a review copy of Sundowners by Tonia Brown. This is a great read that I highly recommend to anyone who likes a chilling horror story with a lot of depth. As part of this tour, you could win one of  5 eBook copies being offered! Details on the giveaway will follow my chat with Tonia. First, let’s get to know the woman behind the words

***

Tonia Brown’s short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies. She has cranked out several books, including The Cold Beneath, Badass Zombie Road Trip, Skin Trade, and the erotic steampunk series Clockworks and Corsets. Tonia lives in North Carolina with her genius husband and an ever fluctuating number of cats. When not writing she raises unicorns and fights crime with her husband under the code names “Dr. Weird and his sexy sidekick Butternut.”

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Tonia-Brown/201358633233742
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ToniaBrown1 or @ToniaBrown1
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/3160763.Tonia_Brown
Blog: http://thebackseatwriter.blogspot.com

*** SUNDOWNERS is a backwoods southern horror about the importance of family, the power of gossip and the nature of the artistic muse.

Fifteen years ago, siblings Coil and Cassiopeia suffered an incident in the woods behind their family home. An incident that neither of them can remember in full, that nearly killed Cass and left Coil accused as her abuser, and robbed young Coil of his artistic potential yet boosted his little sister into an almost overnight sensation in the art world. Now, fifteen years later, the self-exiled Coil has been called home to deal with his world famous sister as she suffers from Sundowning; severe and violent personality shifts after the sun sets. In order to cure her, the pair of siblings must come to terms with their old demons, both figuratively and literally. An ancient and terrible horror has risen once more from the backwoods of the family home, and this time it threatens to not only tear their family apart, but also the entire world.

Find this title and others by Tonia brown on her Amazon and Amazon UK author pages.

***On to our chat:

Sundowners is a real, somewhat mysterious medical disorder that effects many people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. What inspired you to use this as a basis – or launching point – for your story?

One evening I was discussing unusual medical stuff with some friends, and one told me all about sundowning, and how the old folks at her nursing home got easily confused and some even became violent just after the sun set. I had never heard of sundowning, but was enthralled with the idea of it. I began to wonder, what would it be like if a whole town started sundowning? That’s where the inklings of the story first began. The rest unfolded along the two years it took to write it.

Your characters personalities and the dynamics of their relationships are very well developed. What is your creation process like? Do you have specific intentions and create characters accordingly? Or do your characters emerge seemingly out of the blue with their own personalities?

Thanks so much! I would like to take the credit for this but I find most of my characters arrive in the story with a personality attached. If I have trouble with a character that refuses to take on dimension, I sit back and think of someone they remind me of, and then use that memory to shape their attitude and dialogue.

Painting is a big part of your main characters’ lives. As they created their paintings, I could almost see the canvas in front of me. Do you paint and/or have an interest in art?

I have always loved art and am very jealous of folks talented enough to transcribe their ideas onto the canvas. I have tried many a time to do so, with no success. I do paint miniatures and some other stuff, but paintings on a canvas? Nope. I like to think I paint with words instead. Did that sound as lame as it did in my head? *face palm*

That didn’t sound lame at all. Actually, I agree that good writing is like painting with words.

You touch upon the issue of a creative muse. Many authors think of writer’s block as a time when their muse is lost to them. What or who is your creative muse?

My muse is a satisfied reader. Nothing drives me to create more than positive feedback. Even negative feedback has its place in the creative cycle.

What do you find hardest to write, beginning, middle or end? Why?

The end. Because I’ve lived in this novel’s world for weeks and weeks and I know that as soon as I write the end, I will be relegated to the ranks of an outsider. I may look in from time to time. I may tweak or adjust or edit, but never again will I be such an intimate part of that world. Unless of course I write a sequel.

What scares you the most and why?

Spontaneous human combustion. Why? Seriously? Who isn’t afraid of just catching fire and burning to death for no apparent reason? *shudders*

What are some of your favorite pastimes, aside from writing and reading?

I love to sew and crochet. If I didn’t spend so much time writing then I would probably sew as a freelance job.

Describe yourself in one word or phrase.

Curious

***Thank you, Tonia, for taking the time to answer my questions and hang out with us here!

Now on to the giveaway! This is a tour wide international giveaway of 5 ebook copies (Mobi or PDF) of Sundowners by Tonia Brown. Entering is simple and painless with the Rafflecopter form. Go ahead. I know you want to.

a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:

• November 5th – Cameo @ Cameo Renae
• November 6th – Delphina @ Delphina Reads Too Much
• November 6th – Autumn @ Books, Reviews, Wine and Cheese!
• November 7th – Sabrina @ Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace
• November 8th – Flora @ From the Bootheel Cotton Patch
• November 8th – Darcia @ A Word Please
• November 9th – Brittany @ The Cover by Brittany
• November 12th – Jaidis @ Juniper Grove
• November 13th – Ladies @ My Home Away From Home
• November 14th – Daniel @ Parenting from a Child’s Point of View
• November 14th – Jennifer @ Phenomenal Reviews
• November 15th – Laurie @ Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews
• November 16th – Darcia, Maria & Michael @ BestsellerBound Recommends

Good luck in the giveaway!

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

If you’ve been around awhile, you’ve heard me talk about BestsellerBound. This is an indie author group I started a couple of years ago. The authors are a super talented bunch. They’re also the nicest, most supportive friends I could ever hope to have. We’ve been putting together short story collections and handing them out free to anyone who wants to read them. It’s the BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology series and I’ve recently uploaded Volume 4 to my site!

 Contents:

Dusting Wars by Jaleta Clegg

Gaul is Divided by Sharon E. Cathcart

In Tartarus by Gareth Lewis

Michaela by Maria Savva

Pinkberry Squirrels by Magnolia Belle

The Ghost of the Dresser by Susan Helene Gottfried

Westwood by James Sophi

A Mile In My Shoes by Darcia Helle

The Very Useful Milkweed by Jill Warren

Hurting the One He Loved by Sydney S. Song

You can download the PDF, ePub and/or Mobi/Kindle files on my free downloads page: www.QuietFuryBooks.com/freedownloads.html

You’ll also find the first 3 volumes of this series and a few more freebies on this page. There are no signups, nothing you need to do or join. Just click, download and enjoy!

You can also find the series on Smashwords. Volumes 1, 2 and 4 are on my profile page: www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DarciaHelle

Volume 3 is on Maria Savva’s profile page: www.smashwords.com/books/view/107763

Volume 4 should, by now, also be available on Amazon. Please note that it will be 99 cents there, as we are not allowed to charge nothing for our ebooks when we publish there. We have to manipulate the system by reporting it free on other sites like Smashwords. Hopefully, you’ll be able to download it free directly from Amazon soon.

These stories encompass various genres and writing styles. They’re short enough to read one during your lunch break, while you’re in a waiting room, or any time when you need a short break from reality. I hope you’ll download all four volumes, share them, and enjoy them!

Thanks for reading.