#AudioTour “The Ross Duology: Parallel Lies Book 1” by Georgia Rose

February 24, 2020February 16, 2020 ~ Felicia Denise ~ 2 Comments

Author: Georgia Rose

Narrator: Henri Merriam

Publisher: Three Shires Publishing

Released: Jan. 23, 2019

Series: The Ross Duology, Book 1

Length: 9 hours 20 minutes

Genre: Romantic Suspense

A woman with a hidden past. A new love on the horizon. Will the truth set her free or cost her everything?

Madeleine Ross has meticulously organized her world to leave no trace of her criminal past. After creating a new identity for herself, her only remaining connection to her previous life is the security work she does for a small-town insurance company. But when she starts falling for her handsome boss, Dan, she’s worried letting him in will expose secrets best kept locked away….

As their attraction grows stronger, Madeline’s attempts to keep Dan in the dark go horribly wrong when a dangerous ex emerges from her unsavory past. After her former flame gives her an offer she can’t refuse, she has one choice left: ditch her life as a thief to let Dan in or embrace her shady dealings to destroy her only shot at a happy future….

Parallel Lies is fast-paced romantic suspense. If you like troubled heroines, character-driven action, and powerful emotions, then you’ll love Georgia Rose’s thrilling novel.

Buy Parallel Lies to unlock a secret identity today!

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Georgia Rose is a product of rural England and the countryside setting is the theme running through her books. She loves strong characters and finds developing them incredibly satisfying.

Instructing and working with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines and these can come from a fragment of conversation, via Georgia’s not so surreptitious people watching or most often from her overactive imagination.

Georgia’s busy life is set in a tranquil part of rural Cambridgeshire in the UK where she lives with her much neglected husband and dog.

She loves afternoon tea, the way the word loquacious rolls off the tongue and she sincerely believes inanimate objects have feelings.

She does not care for clowns or kites and can’t understand why adding salt to caramel is seen as a good thing.

She also hates every photo ever taken of her…

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Q&A with Author Georgia Rose

Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
- I not only produce my own books but those of other authors too and while I was at the launch of a client’s book I was chatting to one of the guests who I knew to be an actor and it suddenly occurred to me she might be interested in narrating my books. I asked, she was and we took it from there. She lives in the next village to me and with the huge learning curve, for us both, she has taken the lion’s share and sourced the studio, sound guy and dealt with the mechanics of the whole thing, something I’m tremendously grateful for.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
- I haven’t considered that at all actually. I write in first person which I think lends itself particularly well to being read as you can really get into the character. But as there is something inherently lovely about being read to I’m sure all books can be enjoyed in audio.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- No, it never crossed my mind. I thought it would be prohibitively expensive so concentrated on the ebook and paperback versions.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process?
- I decided to ask Henri to narrate Parallel Lies, rather than my trilogy, as that was a standalone, and I thought if it didn’t work out at least I was only in for one book. At the time I forgot readers were requesting a sequel and I was already trying to come up with the plot for that! So I ended up doing Loving Vengeance too. Henri and I had a couple of meetings to discuss the project and Henri read Parallel Lies first, which she loved, and I gave her a printed out version on A4 paper. She went off to record it then when Loving Vengeance was released we repeated the process.
Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- We discussed a couple of the characters and their accents but otherwise I left Henri alone to do with it what she wanted as she is far more experienced than I. Fortunately I am delighted with the result, although I was tremendously nervous when she first sent it to me!
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- No. People who know me tell me this or that character reminds them of whoever but they are wrong. I wouldn’t base a character on anyone although obviously all your writing is influenced by your surroundings and people you’ve met in your life in some way.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- I don’t! And I’ve really struggled for the last few years. However, I am feeling the enthusiasm again and thoroughly enjoying my current project even though it’s the start of a series. If I look at the whole thing it feels completely overwhelming so I don’t, I simply concentrate on putting one word in front of another and we’ll see where it goes from there.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
- I am not, although on the rare occasion when I have, a long solo road trip for example, I have loved it. I don’t have the opportunity to listen to books at the moment. I work from home and can’t listen when I’m doing that. Then when I walk the dog or drive anywhere it’s generally in silence as I need the quiet in my head to work on the stories I’m trying to write.
What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
- I have never been in a reading slump so that’s not an issue. When I get in a writing slump though I start something new even though I know I shouldn’t. I abandoned a manuscript that is 75% complete at new year as it was getting difficult and delighted in opening up a new blank page instead.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
- A standalone is all round easier to write (until those readers start demanding a sequel!) as the whole story is nicely packed into one book. The downside is that it’s harder to market. Writing a series can become unwieldy and I fear leaving one of those hanging threads behind in my race to the end. However, it is easier to market a series and readers do love being able to read one book after another in one they enjoy.

View the full 14-day tour schedule here!

Plugging you into the audio community since 2016.

#BookBlitz “Anne” by Zarina Macha

February 24, 2020February 23, 2020 ~ Felicia Denise ~ Leave a comment

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YA Coming-of-age

Published: June 2019

Anne Mason has a storybook childhood.

A wealthy father, loving mother, and a beautiful home in Richmond.

But behind the polished windows, Anne’s father brutally terrorizes her mother.

Sent to live with her aunt and uncle, Anne enrolls in boarding school. Though she thrives, the traumas of her past gnaw at her insides.

Will hope and inner strength prevail?

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

Indiebound

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EXCERPT

Picture this. A room with two cosy armchairs and a brown wooden table resting between them holding a small clock, tissues, and minuscule pieces of Celebrations chocolate. The temperature was not cold, and not hot, but that perfect warmth you get from adjusting both the window and radiator heating. In one of the armchairs sat a middle-aged man, bespectacled, foreign — German, perhaps — with a balding patch on his head and weight around his middle. A kind smile spread across his face, his head tilted, garnering the same curiosity as an inquisitive child. In the other chair sat a girl. Fourteen, black hair cane-rolled on top and pulled up into a tight bun. Black hands, black duffel coat, black shoes, black tights. All that shed a silver lining — or a blue one — were the sapphire-crystal earrings hanging from her ears.

The girl was me.

The foreign man peered at the clock. He and the girl had been sitting in the room for forty minutes, the slight utterance of monosyllabic dialogue passing between the two. The girl was staring at the floor, her face expressionless. With only twenty minutes left, the man took his cue to pick up the bowl holding the chocolate and offered one to her. She refused.

“I do like Celebrations,” said the man. “Always a succulent choice.” He was definitely German. “They really melt in the mouth. Maltesers are my personal favourite, though. They’re the most popular, aren’t they?”

I grunted in response. He sighed; not in exasperation, merely in concern. “I know this is only our second session, but it would be nice to hear a little bit from you.”

I uncrossed my legs. It was amazing how interesting your shoes became when you had nothing to say.

“I’m not trying to force you,” he said gently. “I know this has been difficult for you. You have had a lot to deal with recently, and in the past. But that is why I want you to know we are here for you. When somebody close to you dies, it’s the most horrible thing in the world. That’s why we want to help you get through this challenging time.”

I closed my eyes, raising my head to the ceiling.

“How are you feeling right now?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“Anne, you are more than welcome to take your time, but remember, in here, you are safe. No one can hurt you. What we say is confidential, and you can say whatever you like.”

He was right. And yet, the clenching in my stomach wouldn’t stop. It was a reminder that no matter how awful things became, you were still left with the scars.

I spent the remaining twenty minutes in silence. So much had happened in my fourteen years of existence, I was unsure of how to form the words.

That week, I mulled over my previous two sessions and decided I was tired of being a prisoner of my past. I no longer saw the point of keeping myself closed off. Help had been offered to me, so surely now was the time to take it. I could keep the ghosts chained to me, or I could let them be released, freeing myself in the process.

When I returned to Henry — he said I could call him by his first name — that following Tuesday, I was ready to begin telling him everything.

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About the Author

Zarina Macha is an author, blogger and musician born and raised in London, UK. She studied Songwriting and Creative Artistry at The Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. She regularly writes a social comment blog titled ‘The Zarina Macha Blog.’ In her spare time she loves reading and fan-girling over Game of Thrones.

In 2018 she began independently publishing her books through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Every Last Psycho and Anne are her young-adult fiction novels that deal with mental illness, drug abuse, domestic violence and coming-of-age. Art is a Waste of Time and Single Broke Female are her two poetry books.

Around Midnight is her fifth self-published work. It is a young-adult drama about jazz, ambition, and a toxic relationship.

Contact Links

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#CoverReveal “GenderQueer: A Story from a Different Closet” by Allan D. Hunter

February 24, 2020February 23, 2020 ~ Felicia Denise ~ Leave a comment

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Non-Fiction / Memoir / LGBTQ Coming-of-Age / Coming-out Story

Release Date: 3/16/2020

Publisher: Sunstone Press

Derek is a girl. He wasn’t one of the boys as a kid. He admired, befriended, and socialized with the girls and always knew he was one of them, despite being male. That wasn’t always accepted or understood, but he didn’t care–he knew who he was. Now he’s a teenager and boys and girls are flirting and dating and his identity has become a lot more complicated: he’s attracted to the girls. The other girls. The female ones. This is Derek’s story, the story of a different kind of male hero–a genderqueer person’s tale. It follows Derek from his debut as an eighth grader in Los Alamos, New Mexico until his unorthodox coming out at the age of twenty-one on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque. This century’s first decade saw many LGBT centers and services rebranding themselves as LGBTQ. The ”Q” in LGBTQ is a new addition. It represents other forms of ”queer” in an inclusive wave-of-the hand toward folks claiming to vary from conventional gender and orientation, such as genderqueer people. People who are affirmatively tolerant on gay, lesbian and transgender issues still ask ”Why do we need to add another letter to the acronym? Isn’t anyone who isn’t mainstream already covered by ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ or ‘bisexual’ or ‘trans’? I’m all in favor of people having the right to call themselves whatever they want, but seriously, do we need this term?” Derek’s tale testifies to the real-life relevance of that ”Q.” This is a genderqueer story before genderqueer was trending.

Pre-Order Link

Amazon

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About the Author

Allan Hunter grew up partly in Valdosta GA and partly in Los Alamos NM and first attempted to come out as genderqueer in 1980, an endeavor made difficult by the fact that there was no such term for it in 1980. He has used many words and phrases over the intervening years, including “sissy” and “coed feminist” and “straightbackwards”, but currently identifies as a “gender invert” which is a subtype of genderqueer, and colloquially refers to himself as a “male girl”.

He has lived in the greater New York City / Long Island region since 1984. He came to the area in order to major in women’s studies and to discuss gender and related topics, and is the author of Same Door, Different Closet: A Heterosexual Sissy’s Coming-Out Party (published in the academic journal FEMINISM and PSYCHOLOGY in 1992).

Same Door, Different Closet was reprinted twice in subsequent anthologies (Fem & Psych’s own special reader HETEROSEXUALITY in 1993, and Heasley & Crane’s SEXUAL LIVES: A READER ON THE THEORIES AND REALITIES OF HUMAN SEXUALITIES, McGraw-Hill 2002). A second theory paper, The Feminist Perspective in (and/or On) the Field of Sociology was made available for credited distribution and was included in a compendium, READINGS IN FEMINIST THEORY, Ed. S. M. Channa, Cosmo Publications.

GenderQueer is his first serious attempt to write for the market outside of the academic journal environment.

He is active in local and regional organizations where he speaks to small groups about gender issues. He has addressed college women’s studies groups, alternative-lifestyle social groups, and given talks at LGBT centers.

Contact Links

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#PublicationDayPush “Revelation (A Becky White Thriller)” by Jo Fenton

February 24, 2020February 23, 2020 ~ Felicia Denise ~ Leave a comment

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cover

Manchester, 1989

A student, Rick, is found dead in halls of residence.

His friends get caught up in the aftermath: Dan, who was in love with Rick; and Becky, who is in love with Dan.

Their fraught emotions lead them into dark places – particularly a connection to a mysterious Kabbalistic sect.

Will Becky discover who killed Rick in time to save her best friend?

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

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Author Bio

Jo Fenton grew up in Hertfordshire. She devoured books from an early age, particularly enjoying adventure books, school stories and fantasy. She wanted to be a scientist from aged six after being given a wonderful book titled “Science Can Be Fun”. At eleven, she discovered Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer, and now has an eclectic and much-loved book collection cluttering her home office.

Jo combines an exciting career in Clinical Research with an equally exciting but very different career as a writer of psychological thrillers.

When not working, she runs (very slowly), and chats to lots of people. She lives in Manchester with her husband, two sons, a Corgi and a tankful of tropical fish. She is an active and enthusiastic member of two writing groups and a reading group.

Social Media Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

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G I V E A W A Y

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