Book Feature: Undertow by KR Conway @sharkprose @NereydaG1003

Undertow (Undertow #1)

by K.R. Conway

Release Date: 10/18/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Luckless Eila is unknowingly the last of her kind: Rare. Gifted. Breakable. Stunning Raef is her kind's historic enemy: Soulless. Lethal. Lost. A legendary death 160 years before would set their lives to collide, forcing a beautiful killer to become a savior, a simple wallflower to become a warrior, and ruthless destiny to become a death sentence.

SUMMARY:High school senior Eila Walker knows that good luck skips over her like an Easter Bunny on Speed. So when she inherits her grandmother's million-dollar Cape Cod home, she is downright shocked. And yeah, her new town isn't perfect: the cheerleaders are heinous clones, the local undertow can kill ya, and her Great Grams was supposedly fried by lightning in the harbor square. Still, Eila is hopeful her luckless days are in the past . . . until history decides to repeat itself.

A self-proclaimed loner and previous-social reject, Eila thinks she's hit the jackpot when drool-worthy Raef O’Reilly becomes her friendly, yet weirdly protective shadow. But being hauled beneath the waves by an unnatural undertow slams the brakes on bliss – especially when Raef storms to her aid with coal-black eyes and iron-like strength.

Eila, entirely freaked, demands an explanation and Raef comes clean, revealing that neither of them are average humans but rather the genetic remnants of an angelic pissing-match gone wrong. Eila supposedly can channel the power of human souls, while Raef is quite adept at stealing them. Even worse, the legend about her ancestor isn't such a myth, since Eila’s grandmother was one kick-ass warrior until her lightning-like power backfired. A power that is written all over Eila's DNA.

Now sought by Raef’s own family for her destructive ability, Eila must trust him to watch her back. But when a quest for information goes terribly wrong, Eila is suddenly left with only two options: become a weapon for the enemy or follow in her Gram’s fearless footsteps to save those she loves. Unfortunately she needs a willing enemy to ignite her suicidal energy and the only one she trusts has been guarding her butt and scorching her lips.

Excerpt:


I forced myself to control my chattering mouth, well aware that something may be in the water with us. I managed to breathe the warning into his soaked hair, my body vibrating from the violent shivering.

“Sssomthing’s in the waterrr.”

“Not anymore,” he replied darkly, but my frozen mind couldn’t process his words.

He swam quickly through the current to the edge of the river, towing me effortlessly in his arms. He tried to get me to my feet on the riverbank, but I crumbled under the throb of my ankle. “Can you stand?” he asked, latching onto my waist to support my weight.

I shook my head. “Hit my ankle,” I gasped.

He instantly gathered me into his arms and I clutched him tightly, as he ran along the river’s edge back to the parking lot and my Jeep. It was as if I weighed nothing. I never knew he was so strong. I felt exhausted, succumbing to a fatigue that I never knew existed and my chest seemed tight. I was shaking so badly that I thought my teeth would break. Raef ripped off one of the soft-sided windows from my 4x4 and reached through to unlock the door. He set me down on the passenger seat and I wrapped my arms around me, trying to contain the little heat my body was vainly attempting to produce. Raef climbed in the other side and looked at me shivering uncontrollably.

“Strip down to your underwear. Your clothes are going to speed up hypothermia,” he instructed, handing me the blanket from the backseat. I started to strip, too freakin’ cold to be self-conscious. “Where are your keys?” Raef demanded urgently, as he searched my soaked jacket.

I pointed toward the river, my shaking preventing me from speaking clearly. Without hesitating, he grabbed the drive column just below the steering wheel and ripped the cover off, hot-wiring the Jeep to life in mere seconds.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18301716-undertow?ac=1

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FSOCHOK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1AR19AE6FWNH90MMJGD3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630083502&pf_rd_i=507846

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undertow-kr-conway/1117255469?ean=9780989776301

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/undertow-26

What readers are saying:

WOrkS of FiCTioN – “All in all Undertow is a great book that not only keeps you guessing, but doesn’t let you set it down. I loved the characters and their interactions and definitely hoping for a continuation of their story.”  

Reading Diva – “This series takes paranormal somewhere I haven’t been as a reader and I can’t wait to spend more time at the Cape or wherever Eila’s journey takes her. Do I recommend this book? Yes, Yes, Yes, and YES!” (TOP PICK winner)  

Book Talks by the Library Lady – “I could not put this one down!  Even when I needed to put it down, I had to almost immediately pick it back up.  It took mere hours for me to read this entire book and I am truly ticked that Eila's next story won't be published until July 2014.  I don't want to wait for this story to continue! This is an addictive read.”

About the Author

I have been a journalist for 15 years and serve on the Board of Directors for the Cape Cod Writers Center. I also drive a 16-ton school bus because I am ENTIRELY NUTS. In addition to working jobs that should come with a warning label , I hold a BA in Psychos (Forensic Psych), torment the tourists about Jaws, and occasionally jump from the Town Neck bridge in an attempt to reclaim my youth. I live on Cape Cod with two smallish humans who apparently are my kids, my fishing- obsessed husband, two canines (adept at both flatulence and snoring), and a cage-defiant lovebird that sleeps in a miniature tent. Nope - that's not a type-o. The bird is quite the indoor camper.  

***Author Links***

http://capecodscribe.com/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212275.K_R_Conway

http://www.twitter.com/sharkprose

http://www.facebook.com/pages/KR-Conway/510814265666213

***GIVEAWAY***

2 – Signed print copies of Undertow (US only)

1 – ebook of Undertow (INT)

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Blog Tour Hosted by:

YA Bound Book Tours

An Unlikely Goddess Book Trailer

It's cold, raining, snowing and sleeting and I just spent the last four hours fighting people at the grocery store. Between the holiday this weekend (Thanksgiving, for those of you not in the U.S.) and the mass hysteria that a little rain mixed with snow equals the apocalypse, insane people have flocked to the stores in droves. They're stocking up on the mandatory toilet paper, kitty litter, milk, and, due to the holiday, turkey, stuffing and booze.

Needless to say, it was a madhouse. Which is why I am so glad to come home, curl up with a cup of hot cocoa, and share with you this fabulous book trailer for the award winning AN UNLIKELY GODDESS by Mohana Rajakumar.

Winner of the SheWrites New Novelist competition 2011

Sita is the firstborn, but since she is a female child, her birth makes life difficult for her mother who is

expected to produce a son. From the start, Sita finds herself in a culture hostile to her, but her irrepressible personality won’t be subdued. Born in India, she immigrants as a toddler to the U.S. with her parents after the birth of her much anticipated younger brother.

Sita shifts between the vastly different worlds of her WASP dominated school and her father’s insular traditional home. Her journey takes us beneath tales of successful middle class Indians who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s.

The gap between positive stereotypes of South Asian immigrants and the reality of Sita's family, who are struggling to stay above the poverty line is a relatively new theme for Indian literature in English.

Sita's struggles to be American and yet herself, take us deeper into understanding the dilemmas of first generation children, and how religion and culture define women.

AMAZON

CHEERS!

We Have A Winner!!!

Month9Books editor, Courtney Koschel, has picked a winner! Woo-hoo! To celebrate, and keep you in suspense just a tad longer (yes, I am evil), here are some balloons.

And now... 

The winner is...

Joan He

YA light scifi: INGENICIDE
65k

In the year 2089, education has been reinvented; prodigies run rampant in every imaginable work field. Before the "Genocide," a violent movement designed by Normals to topple the meritocracy, sparked in the US, 16 year old Sibyl Kenschild only wanted to be a Space Manipulator and design rooms that evoked the deepest stirrings of human emotion. But when the the bullets go off at the post-graduation dance, she realizes that it'll take not a Space Manipulator, nor a prodigy, but a traitor to survive.

Please send the query, first 50 pages, and a one page synopsis (ending included) to Courtney Koschel with the words "Three, Two, One, Pitch Contest Winner" in the subject of the email.

CONGRATULATIONS!

And thank you to all that participated! I am always impressed with the quality of work we get here when we run these contests. You guys are awesome. Really.

Guest Post: Why I Love Genre Mash-ups, by Krystle Jones

TGIF! And to celebrate the end of the work week, and the beginning of a four day weekend for me (not that it matters to you, in any way, but I'M stoked :-)), we have Krystle Jones here to discuss why she loves genre mash-ups.

But first, Krysle's YA Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy, THE RED SECTOR CHRONICLES, is now available! Here's a little about the story.

The strength of Sloane’s heart is about to be put to the ultimate test.

After the Eclipse – the night vampires began openly slaughtering human victims – everything changed. Out of fear, the government salvaged what remained of the human population and enclosed them in massive, security-laden cities called White Sectors, while marking the vampire infested territory as Red Sectors.

When seventeen-year-old Sloane McAllister’s twin brother disappears, she seems to be the only one who thinks he isn’t dead, and she vows to stop at nothing to find him. Gathering her courage, she braves the Red Sector to search for clues to his whereabouts. By chance, she encounters Aden, a handsome, charismatic vampire with a hidden agenda. He turns Sloane against her will and whisks her away to his underground city. Enemies quickly become friends as Sloane struggles against her attraction to Aden, and resists her growing loyalties to the creatures that ruined her life.

But the vampires themselves are the least of her problems. A war is brewing between the humans and vampires, along with a growing web of deceit and betrayal. And before it’s all over, loyalties will be tested, hearts will be broken, and no one’s lives will ever be the same.

Amazon                   Smashwords

Why I Love Genre Mash-Ups

By

Krystle Jones

It’s not enough for me to write in one genre – I have to have 3-4 in my novels. Okay, maybe that’s a bit excessive. I try to stick to no more than three, because otherwise, you might not please any readers if they go in expecting one thing out of a book and find out it’s something totally different. But I do think a lot of books have one predominant genre and one or two supporting genres, and to me, that adds more richness to the story.

I think maybe my love for genre mash-ups comes from my love of a bunch of different genres. I love to read – and write – soft sci-fi, epic fantasy, horror, contemporary love stories, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and so on. As long as it entertains me, I’ll give it a shot. My “favorites” shelf is filled with books from a bunch of different genres, and a little bit of that leaks out of me when I write, I think.

Though I wasn’t thinking about it at the time, there’s also a good marketing aspect to mashing up genres in your stories. I didn’t fully realize this until I came across this article about Charlaine Harris’s Sookie books. (Sorry, can’t remember the name of the article!) If you’ve read the Sookie books, they have a blend of cozy mystery, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy. As a result, Charlaine pulled in readers from not one, but three different genre pools, thus increasing her audience. Her publisher sends her to book conventions ranging from romance, to sci-fi/fantasy, to mysteries. Needless to say based on her success, the genre-mashing thing isn’t all bad. =)

On the off-hand, genre-mashing can backfire if the “feel” of the story is too weird for the audience to grasp. Genres are there for a reason, and I think each genre has its own feel. It’s jarring when you’re reading along, and all of a sudden, the story veers off into a totally different genre. It can change the whole atmosphere of the story, and make it a bit like wading through mud trying to finish it. So if you’re going to genre-mash, take care to make sure one genre stays predominant, your “main flavor.” Let the others be your seasoning.

About the Author

Krystle Jones was born and raised in the small, southern town of Tullahoma, Tennessee. Reading and writing have been lifelong passions of hers. In addition to being a novelist, she is also an award-winning flutist, and moonlights as a voice actress. Her voice can be heard in the popular online game, Alice is Dead 3. 

Author Links:
website
twitter
facebook
goodreads

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Three Two One Pitch Contest Official Entry Post

This contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who entered. We will announce the winner as soon as our judging editor has made her decision.

So you think you can pitch? Well, it's time! The Three-Two-One pitch contest takes place today and tomorrow (Wednesday and Thursday), November 20th and 21st. Are you ready? Great!

But before you begin posting, take one last look at the rules and regulations:

The Three-Two-One pitch contest goes like this:

THREE - Pitch your story in only three sentences.

TWO - Two days to enter: November 20th and 21st.

ONE - One awesome editor—Courtney Koschel of Month9Books—will judge and pick a winner.

This contest is open to completed and polished manuscripts in the genres of speculative YA and MG.

To be eligible, you must:

• Follow this blog - go ahead and click "Join this Site" or the Bloglovin' button on the right if you haven't already
• Follow Dorothy on Twitter
• Follow Elizabeth on Twitter
• Follow Sandra on Twitter
• Spread the word! Tweet, Blog, or mention on Facebook about the contest linking back to this post

To enter, leave a comment in the comments section in the following format:

• Name and Email
• Title of Manuscript
• Genre
• Wordcount
• Three-sentence Pitch

Remember, no run-on sentences! Each person is allowed two entries. I will turn off comments on Thursday night at midnight.

Good luck, everyone! Can't wait to read your pitches! Ready, set, go!

Interview with Shalini Boland

We are participating in a Book Blitz for Shalini Boland and her YA Dystopian novel, THE PERIMETER, and today she stopped by for an interview. 

The Perimeter:

In this fractured world, a sinister force is coming for Riley, and the only things keeping her safe are a perimeter fence and the people she loves. As her life is threatened, she must make impossible choices. But help comes from the most unlikely of places, and all Riley needs to know is: who can she really trust?

Meanwhile, a repentant killer searches for peace and salvation, but what he gets is the exact opposite. Now he’ll have to make the hardest decision of his life.

The Perimeter is a darkly captivating dystopian tale of adventure, danger, love and redemption that will have you on the edge of your seat and up at night turning the pages to find out what happens next . . .


Outside Series:

Set in the near future, these three heart-stopping novels follow Riley as she overcomes the murder of her younger sister by tracking down the killer across a post-apocalyptic Britain. At the same time, she is forced to take on the might of a twisted regime intent on conquering the nation. The series is packed with action, suspense, drama and dystopian adventure.

Sounds exciting! So, let's get right to the questions, shall we?

Where and when do you like to write?

I’m not great at writing first thing after I wake up as I’m not a morning person. But any time after 10am is good. After the school run, I’ll shop, clean, tidy, run errands etc. and then I’m ready to work. I’ll usually sit in the lounge with a coffee and fire up the laptop. But my best ideas usually come to me after midnight, just as I’m getting ready to go to bed. Not sure why that is. Maybe because my brain is more relaxed.

Do you have specific writing habits?

Coffee and chocolate when I first sit down, but apart from that, not really. I use my Paperblank notebooks to scribble ideas, and use my laptop to write the story.

What writing session is complete without coffee and chocolate? 

Do you have any hobbies?

Erm … no. Writing is my work and my hobby. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing - other than spending time with my family. Lately, I feel like I have less and less time for anything else.

Outside is a YA post-apocalyptic series. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

Set in the near future, it looks at what might happen if society-as-we-know-it collapsed. It follows the story of Riley who lives safely behind the Perimeter Fence. After her sister is murdered, she decides to brave the ‘outside’ to track down the killer and she persuades her neighbour, Luc, to go with her.

In addition to its post-apocalyptic setting, Outside is also a coming-of-age love story with a heap of adventure and some unexpected twists along the way. Book 2, The Clearing, is darker and more sinister. And in Book 3, The Perimeter, the tension ramps up even further with a ton of suspense and action.

Did any real world event inspire your post-apocalyptic vision?

Yes. The 7/7 bombings in London gave me the initial idea for the setting. After 9/11 and 7/7 I wondered what would happen if the bombings didn’t stop. What would become of the western world? I remember it as quite a scary time.

Who is your favourite character in the book and why?

My favourite character is Riley as she acts with bravery despite being terrified most of the time. She’s lived a life of privilege, but shows great guts and determination after her sister’s death. It would have been easy for her to wallow in her grief, but instead, she’s pro-active.

Writing her from a first person perspective allows the reader to see her fears up close, but as the series progresses, she finds more courage and ways to deal with all the trials and adversities she must face as she braves the ravaged world.

What was the hardest part of the book to write?

There are two storylines running through the novel and it was quite tricky to make the sequence of events tie up in the right place. The story also has a few major twists and it took me several attempts to get the reveals right. I hope I did it justice in the end.

Fave Book?
The Bronze Horseman, Paullina Simons or The Red Tent, Anita Diamant

Fave Movie?
True Romance or Overboard, depending what mood I’m in.

Fave TV Series?
The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica

Thanks for joining us, Shalini! 

Learn more about Shalini Boland and her novels at the links below.

Goodreads
US Amazon
UK Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
iTunes


Trailers
Book 1 Trailer
Book 2 Trailer

----

Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband and two noisy boys. Before children, she was signed to Universal Music as a singer songwriter. Now, writing novels has hijacked her life and she is usually to be found with a laptop welded to her fingers and the house in a permanent state of neglect.

Author Links:
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter
Pinterest

Book Blitz: Reap by Christina Channelle @channellewrites

Reap

by Christina
Channelle

Release Date: 10/11/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Foreign, or rather unfamiliar, would be the word I would use to describe how I felt.

Faintly, I could hear the glimmer of voices surrounding me in this dark haze, caressing my ears like skin against silk. I felt like I was in a cocoon of sorts, protectively enveloped, quietly drifting in some far-off place. I wanted
to stay that way forever.

But we all know that what you want never really seems to happen in the real world.

Something’s not right in Mia’s head.

The first thing is that her name isn’t Mia. In fact, she has no clue what her name is—who she is. All that she knows is that she’s not like the ones who found her: Dante with his kind blue eyes, Amy with her child-like demeanor, James with his questioning gaze.

And Briggs.

The one she cannot decipher no matter how hard she tries.

As Mia tries to fit in with these people, a strange occurrence is amidst
outside. And as she finally remembers who she is …

Well, let’s just say that things get a little more complicated.

(YA Paranormal Romance Novella)

Available from: (only $.99!)

    

About the Author

A dreamer, Christina Channelle holds two degrees in health
sciences but has always had a passion for writing. You will find her reading
other young adult novels, or typing up a new story on her computer. When not
writing, Christina spends her free time at the movies, listening to music, or
eating sushi. She's a reality TV junkie and has a close relationship with many
characters on TV that have been a topic of many heated discussions among
friends. She resides in Ontario, Canada.

Her next project is the YA Paranormal Romance, REAP, to be released October 11,
2013.

Author Links:

   

*GIVEAWAY*

3 - Ebooks of Reap with bookmark (INT)

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Giveaway: Selina Fenech's Emotionally Charged and Artwork

Yesterday we told you about Selina Fenech's epic fantasy, Memory's Wake, and it's fantastic artwork. Today, as part of the blog tour, we've got two fun giveaways for you. First, enter using the Rafflecopter giveaway below to win an ebook copy of Selina Fenech's novella, Emotionally Charged.

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Look for the winner announcement on this post after the close of the giveaway!

Then, there is Selina' Fenech's giveaway, where you can enter to win three posters of the fabulous artwork from Memory's Wake.

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Review: Memory's Wake, by Selina Fenech

Her memory may have been stolen, but her tale is unforgettable.

Complete with excellent illustrations, Memory's Wake draws you in until you forget yourself in the story of Memory, a girl who seems to have been ripped out of the mundane world and thrust into a world of the fae, dragons, magic, and a girl with a secret, on the run.

In classic adventure style, they set off on a high-stakes quest, to reunite Eloryn with the only family she knows, and to help Memory find herself. With turns of fate that echo well loved fairy tale themes, Memory's Wake is an immersion in the world of possibilities.

Surprisingly, Memory's Wake has made me feel unusually thankful for the mundane predictability of the humdrum day to day life. We can't gain consciousness halfway into another realm, hit the ground sore and confused, but hit it running nonetheless. No, that sort of relentless fleeing and then dogged determination is reserved for the young and the fictional, and Fenech captures the energy as well as the depletion well.

Available on Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and Kobo.

Review: Dead Dreams, by Emma Right

When Brie O'Mara decides to strike out on her own at eighteen, rather than stay under the wing of her religious and overprotective family to forge her own path to realizing her dreams,she may have made a mistake that could kill more than just those dreams. Dead Dreams, the first book in Emma Right's New Adult psychological thriller series, raises questions and the hair on the back of your neck.

Throughout, Right keeps readers holding their breath and tense through heavy foreshadowing and Brie's painful naivete. Dead Dreams surprised me in a good way. Although I didn't feel particularly close to Brie, I caught myself reading in full nerves mode, waiting for the inevitable turn. Though at times the story begins to get bogged down in tiny details, we all know that the details are what solves the mystery.

Because the story is told from the prospective of the main character with hindsight, Brie often clues the reader in as to what s/he should be looking for in the upcoming chapter, drawing attention directly to clues and details, which makes it easy to keep up with the story. However, if you're the type of reader who likes to stumble on the important clues without being fed them, that may detract from the story.

What I found the most interesting is the dialogue throughout the text between Brie and her mother's pastor, dealing with the nature of dreams and prophecy in Brie's daily life. The layering of types of dreams and the interpretation of those dreams within the scope of Brie's distance from the faith of her family made for an interesting angle from which to view her choices.

All in all, it was a quick, tense read that left me with a lot of questions. Unfortunately, they will have to wait for the second book in the series.




Dead Dreams is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Book Blast: Illuminating Gracie by Lisa C Temple

Tour Schedule

Illuminating Gracie by Lisa C. Temple

As an old woman's lifeless body lies on a cold stone floor, her soul stands before an angel who offers her a miraculous opportunity: the chance to do it all again. But that is easier said than done. In order to change the path her life has taken, she must put aside years of self-loathing and pain, so she can help the young girl she once was become the woman she should have been.

At 17 years old, Grace Bennett is a bitter young woman. Though blessed with a loving family, looks and brains to spare, she hides her light under a bushel, spending most of her time in the darkness of her mind with little more than sarcasm and self-pity to keep her company.

But things are about to change for Grace. While delivering food for her family's bed and breakfast, she turns onto a desolate dirt road and drives straight into her destiny.

It's on this isolated country lane that the damaged girl meets a strangely familiar old couple and two mysterious young men. Together the group fights the demons that surround Grace, and they teach her what it means to let her light shine.

"Illuminating Gracie" is, at once, a metaphorical tale of the fight between good and evil and a spiritual saga of one girl's journey from darkness into the light. If you liked "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," you will love the story of Gracie.



Excerpt:

Because he was an angel, Lochedus carried the power of life and death in his touch. With the wave of his hand, he could calm an angry sea or rain down terrible destruction on the heads of the guilty. He could grant peace to the troubled and visit devastating disease on the deserving. But no matter how hard he tried he could not, that night, pull himself from the depression that threatened to tear him apart. It had taken the touch of a small boy to do what a mighty angel could not and the far- reaching fallout from the child’s selfless act would echo throughout eternity.

Through the years, Lochedus had checked in on the boy, quietly keeping vigil – never speaking, only watching. Not one time did the boy acknowledge his existence or seem to see him again. Not even in his darkest hours did he call out for help. That is, until tonight. The boy, now an old man, didn’t beg for his own soul, but for the soul of another – the one he loved most in the world. And now, the angel would move Heaven and Earth – and Hell if he had to – to help the one to whom he owed so much.



Praise for Illuminating Gracie:

"A well-paced fantasy story of redemption and self-improvement." ~Kirkus Review (Sept. 1, 2013 Magazine)
"Just the right amount of love story to the action packed plot line left this book a perfectly balanced read." ~Maryann (Amazon “Top 1000” Reviewers)

"The story also contains little mysteries that keep you turning the pages, as gems of insight turn up along the way. It is a story of hope and redemption, and a beautiful request of each of us to let our light shine brightly." ~Kimberly Raadt Higgins (Amazon Review)

"On a personal level, I can relate to Grace in so many ways. As I read, a lot of memories and feelings from my teenage and young adult years have come flooding back, some a little painful, others fun and exciting, even hopeful. Yet it also has me contemplating where I am today as a middle-aged adult; am I who I thought I would be, who I want to be?" ~N.J. Collar (Amazon Review)

"The plot is masterfully drawn and keeps the reader guessing until the end. This book tells the story of the fight between good and evil in a young woman's life. It is brilliant in its use of humor and emotion to draw the reader into the characters." J. Pitts (Amazon and Goodreads)



Author Lisa C. Temple

On thirty-nine Senior scrolls, the Headmaster of author, Lisa C. Temple's, small, private school wrote "Good Luck and best wishes for a prosperous future!" On the fortieth and final scroll, which was Temple's, the Headmaster penned the words, "Lisa, I can't wait to see to what use you put your unusual talents!" Temple spent the next 30 years trying to assuage her former leader's curiosity - and her own.

She sold BMWs in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, and hillbillies (as a booking agent) in Nashville, Tennessee. In an effort to escape the enforced servitude of the Junior League, she even attended and was graduated from law school and passed the Alabama State Bar exam in 2002. Through it all, she battled problems and illnesses, many of her own making. But, it wasn't until her father - her hero - was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS), that Temple found her true calling - the "talent" that she finds joy in putting to use.

"Illuminating Gracie," is loosely autobiographical and born from a desire to, if only, metaphorically right the wrongs of Temple's own past. It tells the story of a miserable old woman who is given the opportunity - by an angel - to go back in time and help the young girl she once was become the woman she should have been. "Illuminating Gracie," is the first book in a four-book series. The second book, "Instigating Gracie," is due for release in December 2013.

Temple laughs when saying she has a loving and complicated husband she deserves, and a wonderful son and two loving stepchildren that she does not. She also shares her life with her beloved pets: Pomeranian, Phebe; Bordernese, Flash; and Tabby cat, MInx.









BookBlast Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/13/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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