Tailwinds past Florence

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.
Doug Walsh will be awarding a $25 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.

After getting blacklisted from the venture capital industry, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Vaughan will do anything to avoid telling his wife what happened. Even if it means agreeing to her dream of bicycling around the world. Kara, tired of being married to a workaholic, was readying for a divorce. Now, she’s packing bags of a different kind. Together, they pedal away from Seattle, headed east on the open road across America, Europe, and beyond.

Theirs is a decision that reverberates across centuries, shattering a continuum that bound their souls throughout time, and traps Edward in a battle with a past life over an eternal love.

As the miles roll by, and the couple's sordid secrets begin to surface, the couple encounters several men plucked from history, each one a vessel of Edward’s soul in a prior life. Of them, a 19th century art dealer proves dangerous, believing Kara is his ticket back to the past.

Tailwinds Past Florence is a contemporary love story with a magical twist, landing readers in the saddle of a global bicycle adventure.

Read an Excerpt...

Kara clutched her chest as her breathing returned to normal. It was one thing not to know why he wasn’t at work, it was another for him to be hiding behind the door. What the hell, Edward. She bent to pick up her dropped keys. “You’re home.” It came out more statement than question.

“Long story. Why didn’t you cover your eyes?”

She raised her hands in answer. They held a gym bag, purse, keys, and an envelope she’d somehow forgotten about in the commotion. “You didn’t give me any time,” she said. Then, noticing the map—her map—and the champagne, asked, “What’s all this?”

“This,” he said, grinning like a schoolboy about to receive his first kiss, “is a change of plans.”

Her mouth fell open as she processed what she was hearing. Kara spent months asking him to take time off, hoping he’d see how important the trip was to her, practically begging. She tore the map down after the holidays, after diplomatic overtures had failed. She’d been holding a bomb ever since, delaying the inevitable. Now, with her self-imposed deadline having come and gone, he wanted to do it.

Today? You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought, clutching the envelope, dumbstruck.

“I thought you’d be excited.” His smile drooped.

“I … I am,” she stammered. “I think. You have to admit, it’s a lot to swallow.”

“You still want to go, right?”

Did she? It’d be an incredible adventure, a badge she’d wear the rest of her life. But, to Kara, cycling around the world was a means to an end. Her gaze drifted to the map, the promise held within its Sharpie itinerary. The promise of change, of resurrecting the man she married, her best friend and lover. For three years, it’d be just the two of them, reforging their bond against the anvil of the open road. And if her plan didn’t succeed, if he returned to his workaholic ways when it was over, she’d at least know she tried.


About the Author:

Doug Walsh made his fiction debut with Tailwinds Past Florence, a road-tripping love story with a magical twist, inspired by the two years he spent cycling the world. The novel was a prizewinner in the PNWA Literary Contest. He's also authored One Lousy Pirate, a travel memoir, and over one hundred officially-licensed video game strategy guides. Travel guides to fictitious places, as he likes to call them. Originally from New Jersey, he now lives and plays in the mountains of western Washington.






Web/Social Links


Web: http://www.dougwalsh.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DougWalsh.Author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/doug_walsh75

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougwalshwrites/



Purchase Links

Tailwinds Past Florence is available at the following locations:


Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JNKK79N

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tailwinds-past-florence-doug-walsh/1129769707

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tailwinds-past-florence-1


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Gunfight at the Old Leake Canal

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. GB Hope will be awarding a $25 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.

In Liverpool, England, 18-year-old student and Freerunner, Bodie, survives an assassination attempt and flees for his life. His only thought is to secure the safety of girlfriend, Lily, and reach his journalist cousin, Anthony.



Bodie has stumbled into a diabolical plot from the world's governments to end terrorism, famine and global warming in one swift swoop. So begins a race for survival, joined by a variety of other characters, moving from one set piece to the next, as the world that everyone knows is about to change forever.

Read an Excerpt:



The weather in Liverpool was absolutely wonderful: wall to wall sunshine, and a refreshing breeze. Feeling the unwanted start of a suntan, Bodie walked onto a supermarket car-park, moving towards the entrance doors, while trying to look as nonchalant as possible. He watched shoppers coming and going with their trolleys. He saw one lady loading the boot of her Audi A3, and veered off towards her. The instant that he saw the keys in the ignition, he was in to the driver’s seat and driving the car away, leaving the woman screaming and running futilely after him. Bodie drove out of the car-park, but the tail-gate was still up and it smashed into the height restriction barrier with a massive crash and a shattering of glass.



‘Dammit!’


About the Author: GB Hope is the author of 11 novels of various genres. He lives in Manchester with his Indonesian wife and their two boys.



https://www.amazon.com/Gunfight-At-Old-Leake-Canal-ebook/dp/B01FBG6MFO

https://www.amazon.com/G.-B.-Hope/e/B005D47I8U







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Buzz and Dragon's Shadow

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dara Beevas and Roseanne Cheng will be awarding a 30 minute book marketing consultation to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click HERE to sign up for the GIVEAWAY















This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Allison Morse will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B&N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click HERE to sign up for the GIVEAWAY

Favorite Things to do in Winter

Wednesday Blog Musings

FAVORITE THINGS

I LIKE TO DO IN 

WINTER

Check out other blogs or write one yourself at Long and Short Reviews

My Favorite things to do in the winter.

Well my Favorite things to do in the winter are boring...

I like to sit under my favorite blanket and read.

I like to have the fireplace roaring.

I love to cook comfort foods because winter is a really good excuse for stews and bean soups and chicken and noodles and cabbage and beef, well you get the idea.

I love to put on a big pot of soup. The kind that needs to simmer all day.

And…after a whole day of things that might get done, I like that time to sit together and watch something on Prime or Netflix or tv. Under my favorite blanket again…

How about a few "NOT my favorite things to do in winter…"

I hate to clean house no matter the season. It is difficult to stay under one’s favorite blanket and clean house. 

Laundry has no season that is fun to me.

Walking the dog is really hard in winter; cuddling the dog is not.

Oh and… I still hate to clean house all year round.

Oops I said that didn’t I?  :)

STAY WARM and Find a Good Book. There’s lots of them out there.

I Am More Than My Hair

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Alyscia Cunningham will be awarding a limited edition 2019 calendar for "I Am More Than My Hair" (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY.

From the time we are young, girls are pressured into a set belief of beauty standards. Hair is certainly high on the list and is often labeled as our "crown and glory." Where does this notion fit for a girl with alopecia (the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows; baldness)? This new coffee table book should bring light to the issue.

I Am More Than My Hair: My Outward Appearance Does Not Define Me, is a two-part project, documentary film and coffee table book. The newly published book features 138 portraits of 46 women and the stories of their experience with hair loss, as well as women who cut their hair in solidarity of a loved one.

Read an excerpt...

Amy, 39

Pull-Quote:

I look a little different, but I’m still me — I’m still Amy!

Story:

Never in a million years did I think I would have alopecia.

It started with a small bald spot on the back of my head and, four months later, I was completely bald. I had no choice but to wear wigs and try to go about my life like nothing was wrong. That is so much easier said than done!

I distanced myself from friends and family and avoided social situations at all costs. I did not want people to see me differently. I felt like a completely different person on the outside, and it started to make me feel different on the inside, too. I spent months feeling isolated and depressed, and it started to take a toll on me.

I had an “Aha!” moment one day when I was sick of missing out on life because of my own excuses. I realized I am not my hair! There is so much more to me than my outward appearance.

Yes, I look a little different, but I’m still me—I’m still Amy! I feel like my diagnosis was God’s way of telling me to not be so concerned with what other people think of me and to just get out there and enjoy life! It has been a slow process, but now I don’t let being bald hold me back from doing anything. I go for that boat ride or swimming; I do not mind a windy day, and I get myself to the gym. I am still not comfortable going out in public without my wig, my hat collection has grown tremendously.

Losing my hair has taught me to be a stronger, more confident woman, and I know I can handle whatever curve ball life sends my way! I am more than my hair because my external appearance does not represent all I have to offer on the inside. “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” —Maya Angelou

Read an Interview with Alyscia: https://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/p/what-made-youwant-to-write-this-book-i.html

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Alyscia Cunningham is an entrepreneur, author, filmmaker and photographer who has contributed to the Smithsonian, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and AOL. In September 2013 Alyscia self-published Feminine Transitions, a photography book encompassed with portraits of raw feminine beauty. Her recently published photography book and upcoming documentary film, I Am More Than My Hair, features 138 portraits of 46

females and the stories of their experience with hair loss as well as females who cut their hair in solidarity of a loved one. Alyscia creates these, and future projects, with the consideration of art for social-change.

Alyscia specializes in promoting our natural beauty because she believes the media does a good job of focusing on our insecurities by bombarding us with ads proclaiming that their appearance without enhancements is inadequate or faulty. Her portraits are unaltered by Photoshop and reveal women as they are naturally, without the façade they put on for others.

Her work has been featured on Fox5 News, The Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, APlus, and Proud2BMe. To learn more about Alyscia and her work, visit Alyscia.com.

Alyscia also invites you to view her video introductions to Feminine Transitions, and I Am More Than My Hair.

I Am More Than My Hair book is now available on Amazon and at these retailers: Bluestockings Bookstore (New York, NY) BookWoman (Austin, TX) East City Bookshop (Washington, DC) Politics and Prose (Washington, DC) Sandy Spring Museum (Ashton, MD) Vroman's Bookstores (Pasadena, CA) Women's Museum of California (San Diego, CA)

Social media pages:

Twitter - @alyscia_c

Instagram - @Alyscia Cunningham

Facebook - @Alyscia Cunningham Images

and @I Am More Than My Hair.

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Immortal Girl 5 and Mistress of Desire and The Orchid Lover

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. J.A, Jackson will be awarding a $25  Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

Check out this link to sign up for the GIVEAWAY and read an excerpt

https://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/p/mistress-of-desire-and-orchid-lover.html

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Griffin Stark will be awarding a copy of the book (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

Check out this link to sign up for the GIVEAWAY and read an excerpt

https://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/p/immortal-girl-5.html

Gray Horizon

Thriller

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. CB Samet will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY.

Sworn enemies. A stolen nuclear weapon. And the clock's ticking.

When Dr. Lillian Whyte learns a nuclear weapon is on the loose in Europe, she collides with a ruthless mercenary from her past. Isolated from her husband, a former CIA operative, Lillian tries to covertly help track the weapon. As she he joins the race to stop the bomb, she is drawn into a deadly game of chase. Despite her efforts, those intent on global catastrophe remain one step ahead of her.

As Lillian faces the fears of her past and deadliness of the present, can she secure the future of the world?

Read an excerpt...

“Dr. Whyte,” a guttural voice greeted her.

Her blood turned frigid and her stomach lurched as her heart thudded against her ribcage. As long as she lived, she would never forget that deep German accent—the voice of one of her captors nine years ago in Kenya.

The one that got away.

She was fairly certain Ivan Kleist would have only one reason for tracking her down: revenge.

Springing from the bench seat, she lashed a leg out into his gut. She saw a brief look of surprise on his pale face before she took off in a sprint.

Why now? Nine years he had waited.

The calculating killer had waited until she was out of the United States and away from Sean to corner her. She dashed in the direction of her hotel. Would she be safe in the lobby? In her room?

She slung her purse over her shoulder. Her phone was in the outer pocket, but she would have to slow down to make a call. Not happening. She would not slow until she reached the hotel.

Could she beat him to the hotel? His legs were longer, but she was ten years younger. But he probably hadn’t already logged twenty-six thousand steps for the day, as she had.

From her peripheral vision, Lillian saw an enormous object barreling toward her like a freight train. She barely had time to brace herself before Ivan plowed into her. She felt like she had been tackled by a linebacker. His large arms encircled her as she sailed to the ground. They rolled through the grass, her body encased by his.

He was so large he could probably crush the life out of her with his arms. She gasped for air. He wasn’t crushing her, but his grip was immobilizing.

Grunting, he hauled her to her feet. “Settle down, hase. Little white rabbit.”

Lillian, still dazed and sucking wind after her sprint, hardly put up a fight as he dragged her into an alley. Looking around frantically, her eyes couldn’t focus long enough to see anyone within shouting distance. She clawed at his large hand blocking her mouth from screaming.

Read an Interview by the author: CLICK HERE

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Christina is a practicing physician, mother of two boys and a terrier, and wife to a caring and

supportive husband.


“I grew up reading Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and the Bourne books. I write seeking to create that level of action and intrigue but with female heroines. I love the quote, ‘She needed a hero. So she became one.’ My novels have empowered women overcoming powerful obstacles and the strong men who support them.”

LINKS

Author Website: www.cbsamet.com

Amazon Author Link: www.amazon.com/author/cbsamet 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6012528.C_B_Samet

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/authorcbsamet/ 

Buy Link

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FNYTMNZ/

*Other links pending as book is currently in KU but will go wide Nov 1st.

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What would you do with a Million Bucks

$$$  This is much harder to decide than one would think…at least for me.

My immediate families are in good shape. All grown and supporting themselves. Some of it would still make a nice gift just for the fun of sharing.

My life is settled and I can’t say I am unhappy at all, although no amount of money would cure unhappiness anyway.  

We love to travel and camp but that isn’t impossible now.

See what I mean by difficult? So far I’ve really done nothing but list what I probably wouldn’t do with a million dollars.

There are many legitimate charities I would like to help. A million dollars can only stretch so far, but I think I’d like to help a few where even $5000 is a big donation.

I can’t say that one is more important than another. How in the world could someone say cancer is worse than hungry children, Parkinson’s should come first before Alzheimer’s and so forth? 

Many of the small charities live from day to day and usually only exist because of a few dedicated volunteers, I think that’s who I’d like to help.

 Scholarships and education are important to me too.  

Planning and saving is something every family should be doing. No matter how small or big the amount we have always tried to budget wisely but catastrophic things can happen. We are both already very aware of this. So saving some of that Big Bucks would be important to me.  

So I’ve just now been able to spend about $100,000 in my thinking.

What would you do with the rest? Let me know.  

Check out other blogs or write one yourself at Long and Short Reviews