Literary Addicts End of Summer Event and Giveaway!

Welcome to Literary Addicts End of Summer Event Brought to you by the following authors
Join our Virtual Book Party Friday August 1 – Friday August 15 to chat with the authors, find great books to read, and win some cool prizes


A Tragic Warrior Lost in Two Worlds... The war in Iraq ended for Lieutenant Freddie Williams when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once he was a skilled gamer and expert in virtual warfare. Now he's a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he's inhabiting two separate realities. The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse--and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic that Freddie enters when he sleeps.

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The Sea of Dreams spat me out with no memories, no idea of who I was or what my purpose might be. When Captain Bo, dream killer extraordinaire, arrived, I took a chance to explore. On the road of discovery, I tripped upon dreamplanes floating dead in a graveyard, scared children attempting to survive their dreams turned nightmare, strange guardians, rogue Dreamlanders, and ships with hearts of silver. I learned more about Dreamland than I ever thought possible. But people are dying. They're disappearing. Dreamland is twisting, shifting, ripping. I don't know how best to help, how to save those I've met, who have wormed their way into my heart. If only I knew who I was, what I'd been born to do. Then I found out. I know who I am. I wish I didn't. Dream Killer is geared for fans of Once Upon a Time.

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Sometimes the safest distance between two hearts is no distance at all. Kidnapping a baby wasn’t something Hope ever dreamed she would do. But she’s been burned by the legal system before, so when the court places her friend’s child into the custody of an abuser, she takes matters into her own hands. She steals the baby and fakes her death, hoping to make a clean getaway. She planned every detail, except one. Her high school sweetheart and best friend, who left her years before, sees her at a gas station. Hope thinks all is lost, until he offers to help them.
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Erinn Wolf needs to reinvent herself. A once celebrated playwright turned photographer, she's almost broke, a little lonely, and tired of her sister's constant worry. When a job on a reality TV show falls into her lap, she's thrilled to be making a paycheck--and when a hot Italian actor named Massimo rents her guesthouse, she's certain her life is getting a romantic subplot. But with the director, brash, gorgeous young Jude, dogging her every step, she can't help but look at herself through his lens--and wonder if she's been reading the wrong script all along. .
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Annie Crow Knoll-Sunrise is the story of a place where people come to restore their spirits, heal their pain and reclaim their lives. Annie is a determined young woman who is left to run her family's property after the death of her parents. Managing fourteen summer cottages with only the help of a family friend, she struggles to survive on her own. When she meets Drew, a young college professor, Annie thinks she's finally found a love she can trust. But years of conflict and pain destroy their bond and leave Annie alone again, unless she can find lasting peace and passion in the most unlikely arms.
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Imagine an island that offered a couple an erotic fantasy for their benchmark 40th Birthday. And if this milestone was the one time to step out on a ledge and take a risk, would they dare participate in a multiple partner sexual encounter? When Don Nightengale, a budding hotelier, husband and father, successfully gambled the answer an astounding yes and opened a mysterious sex-fueled cabaret in the catacombs of an ancient slave castle in Cuba, his former life as a suburban Long Island insurance executive ended. Seeking a taste of his carefully crafted masquerade, revelers from around the globe arrived in droves. But Don couldn't have his cake and eat and it too. To fulfill his dream of building the world’s most spectacular resort, he partnered with men he ordinarily would not have and convinced his wife that this was the road to success and happiness.
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Elena is a survivor--and no stranger to the cruelty that lurks in the shadows of society. Caught up in the search for a missing student, she must face the increasing violence head on and find the strength to overcome her own past. Time is running out. Too many children have recently been reported missing, for this latest disappearance to be a coincidence. Invitations for a special auction have already been sent and buyers are gathering. Elena's fierce determination to save a young girl sets off a chain of events that leads to the same man who orchestrated Elena's own vicious kidnapping. Will justice triumph in Elena's crusade to save other innocent victims from the same fate she was forced to endure?
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To what lengths will a man go for the woman he loves? Reed Dartmouth will learn the answer to those questions time and time again throughout his relationship with Jade Montgomery. When he first meets her as a young, gentle boy the heartache from losing his mother only a year before is still fresh and painful. Jade is different from anyone else he’s ever met; tough, sassy, and even a bit cruel. But she’s also the same as he is: she knows what it’s like to lose a parent. Their friendship begins and a bond like no other is formed. Time passes and Reed learns that not only are Jade’s parents dead, they were murdered and she’s made an oath to one day bring them justice. No matter the price.
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When a crippled young lord rescues a girl falling from a tree, it reveals a secret about himself and his mother's side of the family that could put him at the center of a war with beings he thought only existed in fairy tales. Tristan Gareth Smyth lived his entire life stuck at home at Waverly Park and left behind while his Grandfather makes trips to London, all because of his blasted wheelchair. Then an American heiress falls in his lap, literally, and he must find a way to keep her at a distance to protect not only his secret, but everyone around him from an assassin sent to kill him.
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Look out, Venice Beach--the Wolf women are all together again. But when 70-year-old Virginia arrives with her teacup Chihuahua and unshakeable confidence, she senses trouble. Erinn is keeping secrets--like being broke and out of work--and Suzanna is paying too much attention to the wrong man--a Latino dance instructor who nearly broke her heart once before. Virginia's ready for the third act of her life, and she intends to make it rousing and romantic. Now she just has to convince her daughters to throw out their old scripts. If life has taught Virginia anything, it's this: there's more than one way to a "happily ever after"...
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What happens when the heart and soul divides? Chosen by the Myst, her royal prophecy traces back over a thousand years. Leader of the Valkyrie, part human and part supernatural, Auriel bridges the invisible gap between Earth and Midgard demanded by the Laws of the Nine Norse Realms. She alone prevents Ragnarok from wiping away those she loves. There’s only one problem: he forgot. Liam Skyland is a hybrid werewolf with a death warrant. The bastard son of the lycan King narrowly escaped death as an infant. The world shifts, and Liam loses four years of his life. All he remembers is that she is coming.
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One woman, three men, and a beach romance as unpredictable as the riptide. . . Being a widow at the age of forty-four was never in Jude Hawthorne’s plans. After her husband’s death, she’s left with her family’s beach restaurant and two nearly-grown children. The last thing she’s looking for is another chance at love. However, if her husband’s best friends, the Posse, have anything to say about it, love is just what she’s going to get. The Posse is determined to take care of Jude, and when they decide the best way to do that is for one of them to sweep her off her feet, three begin to vie for her affections. But only one can reach her heart. In a story of friendship, loss and second chances, Jude will learn her life is far from being over.
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A potion gone wrong, or right? Single, unemployed, and in charge of her very own pet zombie, Ella Perry is cooking up trouble, and it's raining men. Ella has spent years searching for a cure for a zombie named Freddie. However, when an experimental concoction takes an unexpected turn, she gets a glimpse of the life she's been missing by hanging out with the undead. Zombies, Angels, and Pixies. Oh my! Don't miss out on the first book in the new "Sexy Witches" series.
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After a night of celebrating with friends, Emily Warren is attacked by a colleague. She’s fortunate to escape the rape attempt but now suffers from terrifying nightmares, although she’s too ashamed to tell anyone. Her family suspect something and enlist Bill, an old friend of hers she’s not seen for a number of years, to try to find out what’s wrong. Under the pretext of a white-lie, he invites her out to his farm, where she will have to be careful she doesn’t reveal that her attacker is still in contact and threatening to finish what he started. This isn’t her biggest secret, though. Bill must never learn that she’s loved him since high school. Bill has two weeks to find out what is frightening Emily, but must also be careful she doesn’t discover how much he loves her.
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Book ONE in the stand-alone EMBRACE YOURSELF series. A poignantly humorous New Adult romance with a twist. Embrace your awkward. Be unique. Change your fairytale ... If you are looking for a happy book about beautiful people, this is the wrong story. If you are looking for a narrative without emotion, without regrets, and without mistakes, this is definitely the wrong story. This is by no means an uncomplicated tale about uncomplicated people. It is by no means sweet or light. This story is ugly. This story is complicated. This story is emotional. This story is tragic.
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 These wonderful authors are sponsoring a $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway (and several other giveaways in the rafflecopter) Please support them by buying their books. Fill out the form below to enter.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway --

In the End by Breanna Bright Spotlight!

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Permuted Press (July 21, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1618683063
• ISBN-13: 978-1618683069
• 
  

The house on Drunk Horse road has everything, a good price, Victorian charm, a secret passage, and a rich history. But it also has a secret. Something watches from the shadows, and it is more than a ghostly haunting. The young owners, Alice and Thursday, struggle to defeat the creature, but victory comes with sacrifice, especially when Death itself intervenes.

Breanna Bright is currently a graduate student in southeast Missouri. In The End is her debut novel.

Permuted Press
Goodreads

Earth Enchanted by Brynna Curry Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway!

Earth Enchanted by Brynna Curry Blurb: 
Writer Liv Corrigan has the worst luck with men -- her telepathy tends to make them run for the hills. When she meets widower and ex-cop Jack Roarke, she decides to keep her talent hidden. Things are looking up until their third date crashes and burns as the man who murdered Jack’s wife turns out to be after him too. Injured, Jack retreats with Liv to his house under armed guard. But with Liv’s mysteries rapidly coming unraveled, a diamond-thief killer to stop and passion in the air, the safe house is anything but safe for their hearts! Excerpt #2 – First meet between Hero and Heroine Jack scanned the bookstore as he sat in the hard metal folding chair, at the small table, and wrote. He thought his hand would fall off. Whoever said writing wasn’t real work had to have been crazy. He knew things about two hours’ worth of people their mothers probably didn’t know. Mandy Lou something or other had a granny who thought he was grade A and she was his number one fan. She didn’t look old enough to be allowed to read his brand of horror, but she had two copies of each of his books. Jack had politely—he hoped—shrugged off the forty invitations to dinner, fourteen offers for coffee, and two very indecent proposals for ‘wild, hanging from the chandelier sex’ to quote one lovely fan. All in all, a long day barely described it, but he’d seen people and observed, that was for sure. If it helped with the new book, it might have been worth it, and then again maybe not. Ellie dropped by to see how things were going, and then promptly ran away when he tried to beg out. He didn’t like being maneuvered, and Ellie was a champion at it. Entertaining the notion of strangling her got him through the second hour, but considering he needed a good editor, he changed his mind. The line grew shorter. While he juggled the newest Hastings baby on his knee, which the boy’s proud papa had insisted on, Jack inscribed a message in the front cover to Mrs. Hastings, another number one fan and the mother of six children all under ten. How does she have the time to read at all? His message to her read, “Mrs. Hastings, I’m your number one fan. You rule. Jack.” Mentally saluting her efforts, he passed back junior, and sent them on their way. He automatically reached for the book a slim hand offered. Eyes down on the cover of what he’d created, he said the same thing he’d told countless others. “Hi, who should I make this out to?” “Just sign it to Olivia Corrigan, fellow mystery writer.” Her voice alone lifted his eyes to meet hers, a musical lilt that teased of mist and bogs, faeries and leprechauns. She was dressed professionally, but he could easily imagine her calling up a wild wind or casting spells. She was only about 5’4” and slim, claimed black Irish coloring. He saw a flash of what might have been a premonition, but after blocking the gift so long he couldn’t hold on to it. Did he smell rain? Candles or lightning? But the sun was shining. For a moment he just stared, couldn’t speak , and was certain he knew her but couldn’t remember where from. “Is something the matter?” He quickly signed her book, before he forgot that was the reason for their meeting in the first place. She was the last in line, and he was free. Thank God! Sorry, muse, position filled. “Jack Roarke, it’s a pleasure, Miss Corrigan.”  

Series Buy Links (Now only $.99 each) 

Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo│Kensington 

About the Author: Brynna Curry was born south of the Mason-Dixon Line. After living all over the southern states, she finally landed in North Alabama where she lives with her husband and their three children. Growing up, books fueled her dreams and imagination, ultimately becoming her salvation during the hardest times in her life.Writing is her passion, but she enjoys the fun of sharing those stories with others by reviewing books and working in publicity. When she isn’t writing or promoting, she’s often found haunting the library for new books to read or just spending an quiet evening at home with Jackie watching old westerns on TV. Although her wizards, shifters and vampires are as real to her as anyone, she insists love is the truest magic and with it every day is another wonderful adventure.
  
Brynna’s Links: 

Website│Twitter│Facebook│Street Team│Goodreads 

Excerpt:

Excerpt from Earth Enchanted: Elemental Magic Book One

Jack scanned the bookstore as he sat in the hard metal folding chair, at the small table, and wrote. He thought his hand would fall off. Whoever said writing wasn’t real work had to have been crazy. He knew things about two hours’ worth of people their mothers probably didn’t know. Mandy Lou something or other had a granny who thought he was grade A and she was his number one fan. She didn’t look old enough to be allowed to read his brand of horror, but she had two copies of each of his books.

Jack had politely—he hoped—shrugged off the forty invitations to dinner, fourteen offers for coffee, and two very indecent proposals for ‘wild, hanging from the chandelier sex’ to quote one lovely fan. All in all, a long day barely described it, but he’d seen people and observed, that was for sure. If it helped with the new book, it might have been worth it, and then again maybe not.

Ellie dropped by to see how things were going, and then promptly ran away when he tried to beg out. He didn’t like being maneuvered, and Ellie was a champion at it. Entertaining the notion of strangling her got him through the second hour, but considering he needed a good editor, he changed his mind.

The line grew shorter. While he juggled the newest Hastings baby on his knee, which the boy’s proud papa had insisted on, Jack inscribed a message in the front cover to Mrs. Hastings, another number one fan and the mother of six children all under ten. How does she have the time to read at all? His message to her read, “Mrs. Hastings, I’m your number one fan. You rule. Jack.” Mentally saluting her efforts, he passed back junior, and sent them on their way. He automatically reached for the book a slim hand offered. Eyes down on the cover of what he’d created, he said the same thing he’d told countless others. “Hi, who should I make this out to?”

“Just sign it to Olivia Corrigan, fellow mystery writer.”

Her voice alone lifted his eyes to meet hers, a musical lilt that teased of mist and bogs, faeries and leprechauns. She was dressed professionally, but he could easily imagine her calling up a wild wind or casting spells. She was only about 5’4” and slim, claimed black Irish coloring. He saw a flash of what might have been a premonition, but after blocking the gift so long he couldn’t hold on to it. Did he smell rain? Candles or lightning? But the sun was shining. For a moment he just stared, couldn’t speak , and was certain he knew her but couldn’t remember where from.

Giveaway:

$10 Amazon or B&N gift card to be given away on 10/1 during the kickoff of 31 Days of Halloween

1 digital copy of series

3 digital copies of Earth Enchanted

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

 

Extraordinary Rendition by Paul Batista Spotlight!

DESCRIPTION

When Ali Hussein, suspected terrorist and alleged banker for Al Qaeda, is finally transported from Guantanamo Bay to the US mainland to stand trial, many are stunned when Byron Carlos Johnson, a pre-eminent lawyer and son of a high-profile diplomat, volunteers to represent him.  On principle, Johnson thought he was merely defending a man unjustly captured through Rendition and water-boarded illegally. But Johnson soon learns that there is much more at stake than one man’s civil rights.

Hussein’s intimate knowledge of key financial transactions could lead to the capture of—or the unabated funding of—the world’s most dangerous terror cells.  This makes Hussein the target of corrupt US intelligence forces on one side, and ruthless international terrorists on the other.  And, it puts Byron Carlos Johnson squarely in the crosshairs of both.

Pulled irresistibly by forces he can and cannot see, Johnson enters a lethal maze of espionage, manipulation, legal traps and murder. But when his life, his love, and his acclaimed principles are on the line, Johnson may have one gambit left that can save them all; a play that even his confidants could not have anticipated. He must become the hunter among hunters in the deadliest game.

Written by no-holds-barred-attorney Paul Batista, Extraordinary Rendition excels not only as an action thriller, but as a sophisticated legal procedural as well; tearing the curtains away from the nation’s most controversial issues. Provocative. Smart. Heart-pounding. A legal thriller of the highest order.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Batista, novelist and television personality, is one of the most widely known trial lawyers in the country. As a trial attorney, he specializes in federal criminal litigation. As a media figure, he is known for his regular appearances as guest legal commentator on a variety of television shows including, Court TV, CNN, HLN and WNBC. He’s also appeared in the HBO movie, You Don't Know Jack, starring Al Pacino.

A prolific writer, Batista authored the leading treatise on the primary federal anti-racketeering statute, Civil RICO Practice Manual, which is now in its third edition (Wiley & Sons, 1987; Wolters Kluwer, 2008). He has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The National Law Journal.

Batista's debut novel, Death's Witness, was awarded a Silver Medal by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). And his new novel, Extraordinary Rendition, is now being published—along with a special reissue of Death’s Witness—by Astor + Blue Editions.

Batista is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Cornell Law School. He’s proud to have served in the United States Army. Paul Batista lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.

REVIEWS  / ADVANCE PRAISE

“Batista does it again when international intrigue collides with murder in Extraordinary Rendition! A high -priced Wall Street lawyer gets the shock of a lifetime...  law school never prepared him for this!  It's a fast ride--buckle up!"

--Nancy Grace, Attorney, TV Personality and New York Times Bestselling Author of Death on the D-List

Goodreads

Amazon

A Weaver's Web by Chris Pearce!

Please join me and welcoming Chris Pearce to Celticlady's Reviews!

A little bit about the book A Weavers Web

Synopsis

Handloom weaver Henry Wakefield, his wife Sarah and their five children live in abject poverty in the Manchester area of the UK in the early 19th century at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Henry hates the new factories and won’t let his family work in them. He clashes with Sarah, a factory agent, a local priest and reformers, and son Albert runs away. The family are evicted and move to Manchester but are even worse off, living in a cellar in a terrace and have another little mouth to feed. 

Henry’s love of money overrides his hatred of factories and he starts one of his own, but it is beset with problems. The Wakefields eventually become quite wealthy, but Henry holds the purse strings and this has a devastating effect on the family. Albert is caught stealing and is transported to New South Wales. Her baby’s death, Albert’s unknown fate and society parties become too much for Sarah, who hears voices and is taken to the lunatic asylum. Son Benjamin faces eviction from the family home for having a baby with an orphan girl too soon after their marriage.

Family members, including Sarah who has got out of the asylum and Albert who has returned to England unbeknown to Henry, have had enough and seek revenge.

Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H52SEEK

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00H52SEEK

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00H52SEEK

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Chris_Pearce_A_Weaver_s_Web?id=-hlJAgAAQBAJ

Kobo Books: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-ww/books/A-Weavers-Web/jHgKZNwqjkybm8qWDO3mcw?MixID=jHgKZNwqjkybm8qWDO3mcw&PageNumber=1

Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/a-weavers-web/id775610928?mt=11

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19480963-a-weaver-s-web

Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/books/37259856/A-Weavers-Web

Librarything: https://www.librarything.com/catalog/ChrisPearce

My blog: http://chrispearce52.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.pearce.56614

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=158976490&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

About Chris

Chris Pearce was born in Surrey, UK in 1952, and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He has qualifications in economics, management/marketing and writing/editing. He worked as a public servant (federal and state) for 25 years and in the real world for 12.5 years.

His inspiration for writing A Weaver’s Web was a postgraduate creative writing course he topped from 30 students in the mid 1990s. After unsuccessfully targeting many literary agents, including one who compared his manuscript to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, he decided to publish it as an ebook.

He also has a non-fiction book (print only), Through the Eyes of Thomas Pamphlett: Convict and Castaway, which he plans to publish as an ebook later in 2014. He is writing a book on the history of daylight saving time around the world and has some notes towards a novel set 80 years into the future.

His other hobbies include family history and tenpin bowling.

Chris and his wife live in Brisbane, Australia.

Chris has graciously answered a few questions for me!

 Tell me about your book. How did you come up with that (story, angle, idea)?

A Weaver’s Web is a historical novel that could also be described as a family saga. It is set in the Manchester area of the UK in the early 19^th century, the time of the Industrial Revolution. Henry Wakefield is a handloom weaver and his occupation is disappearing due to the new factories. He and his wife Sarah and their five children live in abject poverty in Middleton, a village not far from Manchester. Henry wants to make more money but hates the factories.

Soon they are evicted from their cottage to make way for a new factory. They move to the city where they are even worse off. Finally, Henry’s desire to make money overcomes his hatred of factories and he starts up a cotton mill. He and his family become quite well-off but this leads to a whole new set of problems for the family. Finally, family members have had enough and seek their revenge.

The idea for the novel came out of the first chapter of a non-fiction book I wrote on an Australian convict, Through the Eyes of Thomas Pamphlett: Convict and Castaway. Pamphlett became a brickmaker in early 19^th century Manchester before he was convicted of stealing and transported to New South Wales. I became very interested in the appalling living and working conditions at that time in Manchester and decided to write a novel about a family that went through this dreadful time.

I wanted to come up with a realistic look at life in the Industrial Revolution period, the hardships, the misery and the huge amount of change going on to people’s lives as thousands moved from their villages in the countryside to the larger towns and cities as society moved from agriculture based to manufacturing based. I used real places (such as Middleton and Manchester), real events (such as the reform meeting at Middleton in December 1816 and the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in August 1819) and some real people (such as Samuel Bamford and Henry “Orator” Hunt).

 How did you get interested in writing this particular genre (historical novels, mysteries, sci-fi, children's books, etc.)?

I’ve always had an interest in history and how things happened a long time ago. I think we can learn a lot from history and am disappointed when I see it watered down in the school curriculum. I find the Industrial Revolution a particularly interesting time, as that kind of combines history with my background in economics.

Manchester, UK was the place where the Industrial Revolution started. Manufacture of linen cloth and wool in Lancashire cottages goes back to the 13^th century. Cotton and other fabrics were made there from the 16^th century and by the 17^th century, cotton was the most important industry in the area. A series of inventions in the 18^th century led to the emergence of factories as the large machinery couldn’t fit in cottages. The cottage industry couldn’t compete with the more efficient factories and people’s lives were turned upside down as they had to seek work where the new factories sprang up.

The other influence for me was Charles Dickens. At a time when novelists were writing about aristocrats and the well-off, Dickens was writing about the lives of ordinary people and how they eked out a living whatever way they could. He more than anyone else brought their plight to the notice of the public and the authorities.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

I had already done quite a bit of my research for A Weaver’s Web when I researched the life of Australian convict Thomas Pamphlett for my non-fiction book on this person. In pre-internet days, I spent many hundreds of hours in dusty old libraries in Sydney and Brisbane. Part of that research involved ploughing through records, old books and journal articles on Manchester where Pamphlett became a brickmaker, including working and living conditions, health, education, crime and so on.

For the novel, I did extra research on things like social change and upheaval, the challenge to the establishment, early labor and reform movements including the Peterloo Massacre, as well as the cotton industry, the factory system, how the poor lived and the well-off, asylum and jail life, gambling, prostitution, childbirth, illness, death, marriage, opportunities, society parties, bribery, orphans, disability, punishment, crime, and society and attitudes in general, all in the context of the early 19^th century.

What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

The typical working day for me used to be full-time work for the Queensland government and then part-time writing and other bits and pieces in the evening and at weekends. That all changed a couple of years ago when I was one of 14,000 to draw a short straw in a purge of the public service by a new state government. Now I mainly write books from home. I’m also into family history. I post comments to online newspaper articles on politics, business and government. I tenpin bowl once a week in league.

I’m not a noted early riser, but I do tend to work into the night quite often. I like to check and action emails first and do admin things. I’m doing quite a bit of promotion for my writing, and A Weaver’s Web in particular, at the moment such as seeking reviews and doing quite a few interviews. Actual writing comes later in the day. I have a room set up at home as a study and do all my writing and related work there. I don’t really set a daily writing goal as such. Every day is different. When I was writing the novel, I didn’t set myself a target of so many words per day or anything. It depended on where I was up to. Some days I would just edit a chapter or two.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I guess starting off is the hard part. If I’m stuck, I find it’s good just to write something and I can edit it later or change it altogether. I like to have a plan, although it might not be detailed and I might change it several times, but an overall plan helps the writing process too. The hardest part of writing A Weaver’s Web was the editing process and just making the whole thing sit together. I edited some parts a dozen or more times before I was happy.

What’s the best thing about being an author?

Being my own boss is good and not having to report to someone in some hierarchy at a large organisation which I spent most of my working life doing. I didn’t mind the people so much, but the whole set up just seemed to be so inefficient much of the time. As an author, I don’t have to pursue pointless tasks. I can just get on with the job at hand. The other good thing is the hours. I don’t have to start or finish at some set time.

It’s good being an indie author too as I can write what I want to and not what some literary agent or publisher wants me to write. And I don’t have to have my work rewritten or heavily edited by some editor. I can sort out all this myself, although I did get a professional appraiser to go through an early draft of the novel.

What are you working on now?

I am sorting out my non-fiction book on the Australian convict, Through the Eyes of Thomas Pamphlett: Convict and Castaway, ready for conversion into an ebook later this year. It is currently a printed book only. Pamphlett is best known for being lost with two others for seven and a half months in the Brisbane area in 1823, the year before Brisbane was founded. Explorer John Oxley found them and they showed him the Brisbane River. He put in a report to the governor and the new colony at Brisbane was established the following year. Pamphlett committed another crime and served seven years at this colony, which may never have been founded had Oxley not rescued him. Australian eBook Publisher will do the actual conversion and distribution to the book sites, as they did for my novel.

I’m writing a book on the history of daylight saving time around the world. Daylight saving time is one of the most controversial issues of our time and there are some great stories to tell. I’m also writing a novel set about eighty years into the future.

What advice would you give aspiring writers? 

Write because you love it and don’t give up your day job. To make a heap of money, you generally have to click with some literary agent and publisher who will push it like hell. This was always a long shot but is happening  less and less as the publishing world moves from print to digital. Also, there are 80,000 new ebooks published a month so don’t expect miracles with sales.

I think I would still try about 20 literary agents most relevant to your work or maybe some traditional publishers if you’ve written a non-fiction book (although whether it’s best to go agent or publisher can vary between countries). You just never know what they might take on. You can be lucky, or unlucky. They seem to be taking on fewer and fewer new authors though. Some writers may prefer to go indie and publish an ebook rather than pursue agents or publishers, which can be rather frustrating.

But don’t just put your ebook onto Amazon and the others and expect things to happen. There are no magic solutions to getting sales. Basically, you’ve got to get yourself and your book or books reasonably well known by being active on social media, joining sites such as Goodreads, seeking book reviews, and so on. What works for one person might not work so well for another person. Often you’ll get sales and you don’t really know where they have come from.

Do you have any favorite authors or favorite books?

I think Charles Dickens would be my favorite author. As I said above, he brought the plight of the average, downtrodden 19^thcentury person to the attention of all and sundry. I like his stories, characterisation and descriptions, and just the realistic way he portrays life. I find reading about poor folk more interesting than reading about the aristocrats and well-off.

I do have two favorite books apart from Dickens’ books. These are Irwin Shaw’s Rich Man, Poor Man and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. These are the only novels I have read twice.

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

I’ll have to think about this one. I’m not sure. Perhaps it would be something like: If you had your time again, would you choose a different path? Well, perhaps I would. After school, I went into accounting and lasted four years. In hindsight, I might have preferred journalism. I’ve always liked writing. After doing journalism for a decade I so, I might have tried a transition to book writing over the following 5-10 years, but to keep doing a bit of journalism as well. I would have liked to have written a dozen or so books by now, instead of two and two more in progress.

But I’m quite okay with the way things went. I enjoyed university studies as these involved a lot of research and writing. I mainly did economics and management/marketing plus some writing courses. Most of my jobs involved a lot of research and writing too. I was in the public service for 25 years in two stints (both federal and state) and a large financial institution for six years. I think I preferred this work to accounting, and motel management which I did for two years.

If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?

I doubt I will ever write an autobiography. I don’t think there has been nearly enough to go in it that would be of much interest to a wider audience. Perhaps I would call it An Ordinary Life. I have done a lot of things that have interested me, such as book writing, family history, university studies (six and a half years full-time equivalent), some interesting jobs in the public service and elsewhere, seeing family and friends, and my weekly tenpin bowling league, but these would hardly warrant a book. I’d rather write about other people and things.

Thank you so much for stopping by Chris!!

Plagues of Eden by Sharon Linnea and B.K. Sherer Spotlight!

Product Details

• Series: The Eden Thrillers
• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: Arundel Publishing (September 6, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933608129
• ISBN-13: 978-1933608129

The Wheel Spins. Chaos is Unleashed. DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN… 72 HOURS AND COUNTING. The race is on to stop a madman bent on unleashing the ancient plagues of Egypt against the modern world. Tel-Al-Balamum, Egypt. The dig of an ancient temple is decimated by fiery hail from the heavens. And that’s only the beginning. Buenos Aires. Paris. West Point. The countdown has begun. Only Army Chaplain Jaime Richards, along with rock star Mark Shepard, can stop the catastrophe and save the mysterious Sword 23 from the clutches of a psychopath... if they can find the true mastermind in time.

Sharon Linnéa is the author of the first installment of the Movie Mystery series,These Violent Delights, as well as co-author of Arundel’s bestselling thrillers,Chasing Eden, Beyond Eden, Treasure of Eden and Plagues of Eden.  She has written biographies Raoul Wallenberg, The Man Who Stopped Death and Princess Ka’iulani: Hope of a Nation, Heart of a People, which won the prestigious Carter G. Woodson Award, as well as the nonfiction book Lost Civilizations.
For more information, visit www.sharonlinnea.com and like her on facebook.
For more information, visit www.sharonlinnea.com and like her on facebook.

B.K. Sherer is the bestselling author of the riveting Eden Thrillers series, which she co-authored with friend and fellow writer, Sharon Linnéa. B. K. holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University. A Presbyterian minister, she currently serves on active duty as a chaplain in the United States Army. Her work has taken her to Argentina, Somalia, Korea, Costa Rica, Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. To learn more about B.K. Sherer, visit her Biography page, and be sure to visit the 'Recent Works' page to find out more about her bestselling books. Author of the Eden Thrillers: Chasing Eden, Beyond Eden, Treasures of Eden, Plague of Eden.

Goodreads

My Thoughts
Plagues of Eden is one of those books that you absolutely have to read to the end. A strong cast of characters, a that is exciting and suspenseful plus corrupt and destructive group of people who are out to destroy civilization as we know it.

I found this book to be very suspenseful and a real page turner. This book is the fourth in the Eden series, even though this was the first I have read in this series, the authors writing and recapping the storyline of Army Chaplain Jaime Richards was enough for me to understand the story. Can Jaime and her rock star friend Mark Shepard find the evil people in time to stop them from leashing the ancient plagues on mankind? Read the book to find out! You will not be disappointed if you love an action packed story with a bit of romance thrown in.