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Author Interview Cross Roads Tour

11/29/2014

I'm interviewing Donald Wilson II today, author of YA urban fantasy / adventure "Cross Roads". Welcome to my blog, Donald, and thanks for responding to my questions.

Q: Please tell us about yourself.

I am a guy who has always loved writing and reading. I love writing slightly more though. I'm also a huge sports fan and proud native New Yorker. I've been writing since I was eight years old and always wanted to be an author.

Q: Tell us about your book.

Cross Roads is about 16 year old Shawna who has raised herself on the streets of New York. She draws the attention of a sinister group of beings that are intent on killing her. Only one group can save her and they're known as the Acolytes. Forced to relocate, she undergoes rigorous training in order to join this covert group. Along the way she makes new friends, gets into teenage high jinx and finds love. Her new life seems to be going great until she is discovered and forced to put her training to the test.

Q: What inspired you to write Cross Roads?

Many of the strong women in my life inspired me to write this particular story. They have been so positive and have overcome so much adversity that I wanted/needed to write a story with a strong female lead.

Q: How much time per week do you spend writing/editing your work?

I don't have set hours for writing. I have to be inspired to write so some days I may write for a couple of hours and others I may have a marathon day of writing. Some days are so busy that I can't get a single word on page. Those are my least favorite times.

Q: If you could meet three authors, which authors would you choose?

That's a tough question. I would want to meet John Green. I think he'd be cool to hangout with. I'd also like to meet many of the authors I've met online like Mark Shaw who created the amazing #IndieBooksBeSeen movement that I'm an avid supporter of. George RR Martin would be my final choice (I guess – LOL!). His works are amazing.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

I'm currently working on the Cross Roads sequel that will be out in 2015. This one will have more action than the previous book.

About The Book

Title: Cross Roads

Author: Donald Wilson II

Genre: Young Adult Action Adventure / Urban Fantasy

Published August 2014

260 pages

Print and e-book

Blurb:

Shawna is not a typical teenager. Not only is she homeless and surviving in New York City on her wits and talents, but she is also the target of the Doma, a demonic race who appear human. She believes that there is nothing remarkable about her, so why are they trying to kill her?

After barely escaping with her life, Shawna must ally herself with the only group capable of stopping them and keeping her alive.

Under the tutelage of Decker, and his personal assistant Gibbs, Shawna begins her intense training to become a member of this covert group. They relocate to a small, rural town and Shawna manages to find friendship while gaining the attention of a charming and handsome young man.

Shawna’s new life is interrupted when her enemies discover her location and she is forced to put her training to the test. Shawna comes to a deadly crossroads that will alter her life forever … if she can survive.

Buy Link: http://www.donaldwilsonauthor.com

Also available at Amazon & BN.com

Author Bio

Donald Wilson II has been writing from a young age and has been published in numerous publications. When he is not hammering at his computer and creating new stories or catching up on sports news, he can be found traveling across globe. He lives in Westchester County, NY with his family and is currently working on book two of the CROSSROADS series.

Links

http://amazon.com/author/dwils2

http://www.crossroadsbookseries.com

http://www.twitter.com/dwils2

http://www.donaldwilsonauthor.com

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Release Day Party The Bleaklisted Books

11/28/2014

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Wooohoo! A release day party today :) I love hosting these! And today the lucky book releasing is "The Bleaklisted Books" by author duo Donna M. Brown and David Brown.

Book Excerpt

What happens?

Some spy is told to carry out an assignment in East Germany to uncover a double agent but he falls for someone prior to this and love ultimately messes the operation up.

Reason for bleaklisting?

Proper spies don’t fall in love. Wimps they are!

What should have happened?

Eric is sent on an exclusive mission into East Germany to assassinate a double agent. Before setting off he is approached by an air stewardess named Fiz who fancies him but he turns her down. She does warn him that it’s cold in East Germany and gives him some cough syrup.

Suspicious of the bottle labelled poison with a skull on it, Eric tosses the syrup and completes his mission. When he returns home to England he has a runny nose and is coughing a lot. Fiz realises he has seen through the poison expertly disguised as cough syrup and she runs away. She is shot and killed by a traffic warden who believes her car is parked on double yellow lines. Eric ends the novel by nipping to the pharmacy for some genuine cough syrup.

Special instruction

Make available at MI5, MI6, CIA, B&Q and M&S and rename The Spy Who Came Home with a Cold.

* * *

Mr B compares the stories

Dear me, Charlie, I thought you’d like John le Carré’s 1963 Cold War Novel. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold does deal with Communist East Germany where Alec Leamas is sent, under the pretence that he is defecting, and with the intention of locating Mundt, suspected of being a double agent. Alec has a romance with Liz which ultimately throws a spanner in the works. There isn’t anything about cough syrup thankfully and as with Charlie’s other efforts, this one is likely to disappear into the ether. My apologies to Mr le Carré for this despicable alternative to his story.

About The Book

Title: The Bleaklisted Books

Authors: Donna Brown, David M. Brown

Genre: Non Fiction: Humour/Pets & Animals

Blurb:

My mini-irons,

I urge you to embrace the goose-spell of Animal Farm and you will find sanctuary when our difficult war is over. I will add, of course, that given that conquering the world means a long, long, long, long, long war, I will permit you to read another book every now and again.

Just remember which books are bleak-listed; e.g. Barry Potterer, 100 Years of Silly Tudor, Prude and Perjury, The Hungary Olympic Games, The Chronicles of Nerdia and Of Mike and Ben.

In the meantime, here is a list of books I have vetted and will reconsider for approval if the appro… apprap… proper changes are made. Read this manyule carefully mini-irons.

Your Cat-tain

Charlie Brown

About the Authors

Donna: Donna is a longtime book lover and sometime book reviewer and has devoured books from an early age. She writes short (or long) stories as and when inspiration hits and is married to fantasy author David M. Brown (Fezariu’s Epiphany, A World Apart). She was also co-contributor to David’s book, Man vs Cat, a humorous look at life with six rambunctious rescue cats.

Donna has lived in many different areas of the UK over the last 30-something years but has remained in Yorkshire for the past decade. She ardently disputes the misnomer that ‘It’s grim up north’. You can find Donna on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads, or visit her and her husband’s shared blog: B-Lines and Felines.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/_mrs_b

Website: http://books.donnambrownuk.com

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/donnambrownuk

Instagram: http://instagram.com/donnambrownuk

David: David Brown could be considered a fantasy fanatic, especially since he has spent the last 10 years developing a 47,000-year history for his fictional world of Elenchera. When converting his obsession into literary form, David commits himself to a rigorous writing and editing process before his work can meet his approval. Combined with the critical eye of his wife and a BA Hons in History and English, David’s dedication leads him to his goal of inspiring readers through heartfelt stories and characters.

Although David is inspired primarily by fantasy fiction, he also finds his muse in the form of anime, world cinema, history, and biographies. His own books, Fezariu’s Epiphany and A World Apart, combine aspects from worlds both old and new into compelling tales of a world not soon forgotten., David himself certainly does not lack a spirit of adventure; in fact, he left his job in 2007 in order to spend a month travelling. Second only to meeting and marrying his wife, David counts this as one of the most amazing experiences of his life.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/elenchera

Facebook: http://facebook.com/tweedling

Website: http://elenchera.com

Blog: http://blog.elenchera.com

Feline Central

Twitter: http://twitter.com/felinecentral

Facebook: http://facebook.com/felinecentral

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Interview I Woof You From The Bottom of my Heart

11/28/2014

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I'm interviewing Kathy, author of children's picture book "I Woof You From The Bottom of my Heart".

1) What’s your name?

My name is Katerina Vassilakis (Kathy for short)

2) Where are you from?

I'm originally from Brooklyn, NY but currently live in Seaford, NY

3) Can you tell us about your family?

I come from a Greek Orthodox family. I have one older sister. I've been married for 4 years with an 18 month old daughter named Sophia and I can't forget Bella my 6 year old dog.

4) What do you do for a living?

I graduated from college with an accounting degree. Worked in the corporate world for 10 plus years and now am a stay at home mom which is the hardest job of all.

5) Do you have any hobbies?

My hobbies are photography, writing, reading and spending quality time with Sophia.

6) Do you have any pets?

I have a Japanese Chin named Bella.

7) How old are you?

32

8) What challenges do you face?

The challenges I face are trying to be the best mom I could be but also following my dreams and passions.

About The Book

Title: I Woof You From the Bottom of my Heart

Author: Kathy Vassilakis

Genre: Children’s Book

The idea to write this book came from my daughter and my dog. This book was written to show children how special a bond and friendship they can have with their dog. Dog’s are wonderful pets and love us unconditionally. They will protect and love us no matter what. Children deserve to learn that at a very young age and grow to love all animals. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character

Author Bio

Personal Biography of Kathy Vassilakis

Kathy Vassilakis used to work in the corporate world. She majored in accounting from Brooklyn College and followed her dream to work in corporate accounting for 15 years until she became a mom.

Being a mom was her dream all along and she left accounting to raise her beautiful daughter Sophia. She’s been writing stories for her daughter for quiet some time and decided to write her first children’s book of many to come I Woof You From The Bottom Of My Heart.

The idea to write this book came from my daughter and my dog. This book was written to show children how special a bond and friendship they can have with their dog. Dog’s are wonderful pets and love us unconditionally. They will protect and love us no matter what. Children deserve to learn that at a very young age and grow to love all animals. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character.

Growing Up

I grew up in Brooklyn NY. I was the second child out of two. I have one sister named Joanne and always had animals. We had many dogs throughout my childhood from Pomeranians to Chows. I also had ducks, roosters, chickens, bunnies and many more animals. I was and still am a huge animal lover.

My love of books started when my mother used to read wonderful stories to my sister and me every night. She always tried to teach us both languages Greek and English. My parents were born and raised in Greece so Greek was their first language. Most of the stories she read to us were in Greek but that started my love for reading and writing. I learned both languages and am now fluent in writing and reading Greek which I am very proud of.

Family

I’ve been married now for five years and have one beautiful daughter. My daughter Sophia is 17 months old and she is my whole world. I also have a Japanese Chin named Bella. My husband, Greg, has always supported and believed in me, and my family will always be my inspiration.

Creating I Woof You From The Bottom Of My Heart

I have spent twenty years writing stories and brainstorming ideas for children’s books with my family. I came up with the characters Sophia and Bella after my own family. I was inspired by my daughter and the relationship she has with Bella and created I Woof You From The Bottom Of My Heart to teach children ho special a bond they can have with their dogs.

Compassion for animals is greatly connected to goodness of character this is the motto of the book. All animals deserve to be loved, respected, and treated right.

After a lot of hard work and many sleepless nights, I was finally able to publish my first book: I Woof You From The Bottom Of My Heart. To me, finally seeing my book in print and being able to share it with the public has made all the late nights and long hours worthwhile.

Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

B&N

Reader’s Favorite Review

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Author Interview Vanished From Dust Tour

11/27/2014

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I'm interviewing Shea Norwood today, author of YA paranormal mystery "Vanished From Dust".
Author Interview

Q: Please tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in a small, isolated community in the middle of the West Texas desert. As an avid reader, I soon discovered my love for writing and creating fictional worlds to immerse my readers (and myself).

Q: Tell us about your book.

Vanished from Dust is a completely fresh concept with an original plot. In the beginning, readers are drawn into the mystery of Eric’s phantoms and in later chapters submerged into a thrilling ride as Eric and his friend fight to survive the phantom world.

Q: What inspired you to write Vanished From Dust?

I actually started Vanished from Dust over a decade ago, but lost interest in the direction of the plot so it was put aside and forgotten. I rediscovered it after sorting through some old boxes and rewrote all the parts that didn’t work. The concept for the story began when I wondered what it would be like to be trapped on the other side of the mirror and is loosely based off my hometown.

Q: How much time per week do you spend writing/editing your work?

Unfortunately, not as many hours as I’d like at the moment! I’m completing a second Masters degree in a few weeks so school has taken up the majority of my writing time. I’ll be spending at least 2-3 hours a day in the near future.

Q: If you could meet three authors, which authors would you choose?

Stephen King, Dan Brown, & Dean Koontz

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on the sequel to Vanished from Dust titled The Illusion of Home, as well as two separate novels in the New Adult and Adult genres.

About the Book

Title: Vanished From Dust

Author: Shea Norwood

Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery

This book is the first in a series.

A CHILL RUNS THROUGH HIS SKIN AS THE PHANTOM APPEARS.

HE SEES THEM EVERYWHERE . . .

Eric Stark is not insane. Or at least he doesn’t think so. He wishes everyone in Dust, Texas, felt the same way. But that’s not going to happen since the whole town thinks he’s crazy. Why didn’t he keep his mouth shut?

No one understands. Eric is alone as he battles his sanity in a town of tormenters. Suddenly a new friendship emerges after the new kid, Kyle Barrett, moves to town.

Eric reluctantly reveals his secret. Is it a curse or a gift? He isn’t certain, but with Kyle by his side he finds the courage to seek the truth.

They soon realize that something sinister is descending on the residents of Dust.

Is it caused by Eric’s phantoms or is it something else? Is it connected to the mysterious death of hundreds of townspeople over sixty years ago? One thing is certain—only Eric and Kyle can save them.

They set out on a heart-pounding adventure and find themselves transported to a disturbed and deserted version of their small southern town. They quickly discover that this new world has mysteries of its own to uncover. What they find could prove more than they bargained for, and it only leads to more questions. Eric and Kyle must face a horrifying fact—they may never get out alive.

“We’re gonna die here,” Kyle muttered.

“I don’t believe that,” Eric said. “And neither do you.”

Will they survive their encounter with these dark and mysterious beings?

Will they find a way back home?

Or will they be lost forever?

The Vanished from Dust series is perfect for anyone who craves a hair-raising thriller packed with mystery and suspense. This paranormal story for young adults can be compared to Stand by Me, mixed with Odd Thomas, and a twist of The Dark Tower.

Author Bio

Shea Norwood is a West Texas native that currently lives in the DFW area with his wife and son. He’s an avid reader and enjoys the craft of writing. The fictional town of Dust is loosely based on a small town south of Odessa, TX.

Links Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mVJSre

FB: http://on.fb.me/1pxjF3Q

Twitter: @sheanorwood

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Author Interview Cross Roads Tour

Release Day Party The Bleaklisted Books

Interview I Woof You From The Bottom of my Heart

Author Interview Vanished From Dust Tour

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