Promo Post and Giveaway - Grooming Mr Right by Tonya Kappes

 

Blurb:

Luvie Beiderman is blindsided when she is fired from her junior fashion design job in New York City and is forced to move back to her small town in Kentucky. . . under her parent's roof. Being home isn't so bad, after all, Luvie started Primp My Pet Mobile Pet Spa and is dating one of her client's owner, hunky Jase Nelson.

When Luvie is offered her dream design job in New York City, she is forced to make a decision between a career she's always dreamed of or the new life she has created in her hometown with the man she loves.  

Tonya Kappes has very kindly come to the blog today to talk about herself and her writing.
 

JB: What attracted you to writing in the first place?

TONYA: The idea that I could tell a story.

JB: What genre are you most comfortable writing?

TONYA: I consistently write in two genres: romance and mystery. I love them both. Once I finish a romance, I have to have a break and I get a chance to do that by starting a new mystery.  

JB: How has your upbringing influenced your writing?

TONYA: Every novel of mine is set in a small town, I grew up in a small town. Every novel I write has to do with a strong family unit, my family is thick as thieves. I guess you could say that I want everyone to experience the love of a small town and the love of family that I did.

 JB: Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?

TONYA: Everywhere! It might be an overheard conversation, a situation, or just an idea that pops into my head.

JB: Do you have any writing rituals or listen to “mood music” when you write? Where is your favorite place to write?

TONYA: I do have some type of white noise going on in the background. Most of the time it is music. I love to write in my office or on my back porch starting at 6:00 am.

 

JB: What’s your favorite place in the entire world?

TONYA: My parent’s house. 

JB:Fame or fortune, which would you prefer?

TONYA: Fortune! 

JB: What was your favorite part of this book to write? Which part was the hardest?

TONYA: I love writing the coming of age of the protagonist. I love developing that storyline. The hardest part was when my protag realized what was truly important in her life and what she believed was never the case.

 

JB: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?

TONYA: Actress. 

JB: If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?

TONYA: I do have an outside career. I’m a Child Intervention Therapist. I guess you could call it my part time job where I work two half days a week. I love working with children and their families to become the best person they can be. 

JB: If you could live inside the world of a book would you choose?

TONYA: I would have to pick Whispering Falls from the Magical Cures Series. It’s a magical place with talking crystal balls, fairy dust, and fairy god-cats~how fun is that?

 JB: Give your fans three fun facts that they may not already know about you.

TONYA: I’m addicted to Red Hot candy. I order a large diet coke with extra ice in a stryofoam cup every single time I go to McDonalds. AND I’m scared of the dark.

 

JB: Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?

TONYA: Hands down, chocolate. 

JB: If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

TONYA: Pen, paper and my hubby.

 

JB: Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

TONYA: It’s 285 pages that is filled with fun, love, laughter and coming of age. 

JB: You just made the USA TODAY BESTSELLERS list with TWO novels in the same week. WOW! How did that feel?

TONYA: AMAZING! Nothing short of amazing! I was shocked with one, but two…..le sigh. The Perfect Ten is a box set collection of nine other bestselling authors that we put together in order to reach more readers and cross-promote, so I knew it would be well received by readers. But STRUNG OUT TO DIE! To make the list on my own is a dream come true. I couldn’t be more honored and grateful for it. I’m still giddy over it. 

JB: So what’s next for you as an author? Any last words?

TONYA: I’ve got another book coming out in a brand new mystery series, A GHOSTLY UNDERTAKING. Plus I just had two novels debut on USA TODAY Bestseller list, and I’m excited to see where that goes. 

Thank you so much Tonya for visiting the blog today! Tonya has very generously offered an e-copy of Grooming Mr Right to one of the blog readers. So, leave a comment and your name will be drawn out of my lucky hat!

 

Author Bio

 

Tonya Kappes

 

"A GHOSTLY UNDERTAKING is hauntingly good read with authentic Southern Charm." Heather Webber Author.

 

Tonya Kappes strings together the perfect blend of family, friends, and fun." Author Misa Ramirez.

 

"Full of wit, humor and colourful characters, Tonya Kappes delivers a fun, fast-paced story that will leave you hooked!" Bestselling Author, Jane Porter.

 

USA Today Bestselling Author, Tonya Kappes writes humorous cozy mystery and women’s fiction that involves quirky characters in quirky situations. Not only have her novels made the USA Today bestsellers list, but they are an Amazon Top 100 author, Amazon Movers and Shakers, and International bestsellers.

Splitsville.com, the first novel in the Olivia Davis Mystery Series, is a double finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Mystery and Humorous Categories.

Carpe Bead ‘em is 2012 winner in Amazon’s eFestival of Words in the Women’s Fiction Category.

A Charming Crime, the first novel in the Magical Cures, is the 2013 eFestival of Words in the Fantasy Category Winner.

A New Tradition the Indie Romance Convention 2013 novella of the year.

When not being the princess, queen, and jester of her family of three teenage boys, an adoring husband, and three fury kids, she travels to various writing groups as guest speaker on “How to Market and Promote Your Novels Effectively,” where she is known as a marketing guru.

 

Become a member of Tonya's STREET TEAM! It's a gathering place of readers who love Tonya Kappes nevels and Tonya gives away monthly prizes! To sign up for Tonya's STREET TEAM, newsletter, view book trailer, and upcoming news, check out Tonya's website, Tonyakappes.com.

And be sure to stalk her on Facebookand Twitter!

 

Also by Tonya Kappes

 Carpe Bead ‘em

The Perfect Ten Box Set

An Olivia Davis Paranormal Mystery

Splitsville.com

Color Me a Crime

Color Me Love Short Story

Bluegrass Romance Series

Grooming Mr. Right

Grandberry Falls Series

The Ladybug Jinx

Happy New Life

A Superstitious Christmas

Never Tell Your Dreams

A Divorced Diva Mystery Series

A Bead of Doubt Short Story

Strung Out To Die

A Magical Cures Mystery

A Charming Crime

A Charming Cure

A Charming Potion Short Story

A Charming Wish

A Charming Spell

Small Town Romance Short Story Series

A New Tradition

The Dare Me Date

 Non-Fiction

The Tricked-Out Toolbox~Promotional and Marketing Tools Every Writer Needs

You can purchase her novels at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Createspace (print)

Google Books

Indiebound

Kobo

Smashwords

 

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

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyakappes11

Author Website/blog: http://www.tonyakappes.com/

Goodreads author/book page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4423580.Tonya_Kappes

Link to Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/tonyakappes/boards/

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Children's Book Spotlight - The Fairy Bell Sisters by Margaret McNamara

The Fairy Bell Sisters

The first in a brand new book series of stories inspired by everyone’s favourite fairy Tinker Bell from the book Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie

Before Tinker Bell flew to Never Land and met Peter Pan she lived on Sheepskerry Island with her fairy sisters – Clara, Lily, Rosie, Silver and Squeak the baby. The young fairies go to fairy school and love tea parties, dressing up and exciting adventures. Young readers will love the enchanting stories and beautiful illustrations in this charming new series.

The Fairy Bell Sisters:  Silver and the Fairy Ball

Every fairy on Sheepskerry Island is excited about Queen Mab’s fairy ball. Everyone, that is, except Silver. She’s too young to go – it’s so unfair!

Like any good fairy, Silver tries to look on the bright side. But her secret plans turn into an awful mess. Worst still, none of the fairies realise that Silver isn’t the only uninvited guest…

The Fairy Bell Sisters:  Rosie and the Secret Friend

It’s summer time on Sheepskerry Island, which means the Summer People will arrive for their holidays. That’s when the fairies must take great care not to be discovered by humans. But when Rosie the fairy meets a little girl called Louisa it’s hard to stay hidden. Louisa really needs a friend and Rosie trusts her. It’s fun having a human friend, but how can Rosie keep a secret from her own sisters, and what will they do when they discover the truth?

 

These are beautiful little books that every little girl will adore! I know my own daughter certainly did. Pink and sparkly with beautiful covers. What's not to love about them! With lovely little illustrations inside and easy to read text and short chapters and exciting adventures, these books are a must for the princess in your life! There are a number of books in the series to check out.

 

                                                

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Free Book Promo - The Priest by Monica La Porta

 

 

"The Priest by Monica La Porta is FREE today"

 

"The Ginecean Chronicles are a glimpse into a world that is the mirror image of ours. Ginecea is dominated by a matriarchal society where men are enslaved and heterosexual affection is considered the ultimate perversion.  But love always find a way, because society can't rule over the matters of the heart."

"Mauricio and Rosie, the slave and the president's daughter. A poignant love story."
"The Priest: Love Conquers All."

 

Download to your kindle – free until 14th September.

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Monica La Porta's Website

 

Tweet to Monica @momilp 

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Author Interview - Annabelle Blume

Brook Cottage Books is delighted to welcome the lovely Annabelle Blume. Thanks so much Annabelle for enduring the interrogation interview.

 

JB: I love the title of the book! How did you come up with the title and was the book originally called something else or did you play about with a number of other titles?

Annabelle: Thank you! Melted Tears was always the title, though I wasn’t sure I loved it in the beginning. As for choosing it, I wanted something that implied growth on Cressenda’s part. Frozen Heart was such a perfect description for her emotional state in the first book, I spent a lot of time thinking about where she was in the second book – what she’d learned and how she’d changed.  

JB: Tell us a little about you inspiration for your book. Can we look forward to another in the series?

Annabelle: Initially, I though Beckett and Cressie’s story was done at the end of Frozen Heart, but so many readers asked for more, wanted to know what happened next, that I knew I had to explore their future together. Plus, I knew Beckett wasn’t the type to leave well enough alone.

I would definitely like to write more in the Outlier Series. Cressie and Beckett’s story is in a good spot, which leave me the option to explore the stories of the others, like Teagan and Guard Tallion.   

JB: From start to finish, how long did it take you to complete Melted Tears?

Annabelle: It took me 4 months to have the Melted Tears manuscript ready for submission to Inkspell. Then Rie, my editor, and I spent a couple weeks fine tuning.  

JB: Did any of the characters suddenly develop in a different way than you had originally planned or did you stick pretty much with what you had planned for each of them?

Annabelle: Guard Tallion took on a whole new arc I hadn’t seen coming, but it couldn’t have been any other way.  

JB: Do you have a publication day ritual and does it include champagne?

Annabelle: I don’t have a ritual, but I like your idea. Can I steal it?  

JB: Your book covers are stunning. Tell us a little about who designs your covers?

Annabelle: Najla of Najla Qamber Designs does my covers with Inkspell Publishing. She is amazing. I haven’t seen any other cover artists whose work even comes close to hers.  

JB: Lots of authors tell me they write every day. Are you that type of writer or do you write when inspiration strikes?

Annabelle: I definitely do not wait for inspiration to strike. When I write it is intentional. I carve out hours in my day and I write deliberately and with purpose.  

JB: Tell me 3 good things about being a writer and 3 things that suck!

Annabelle: Oh, whoo...man, that’s hard. I’ll tell you a story about the time when my writing dream came true.

About 6 months ago or so, a man I know came to me and asked if I had any copies of my book on hand. He explained that his daughter was in a bad place, falling apart over an ex-boyfriend who wasn’t worth the sock fuzz between her toes and floating somewhat aimlessly now that she was out of high school. He wanted her  to read Frozen Heart because he believed Cressenda was exactly the type of woman she needed to get to know. A character she could be inspired by and learn from.

          I was floored. 

          My writing dream had come true. I gave him a signed copy with a personalised dedication to his daughter and a set of signed book marks and wouldn’t take a dime in exchange. He had already paid me far more than money every could.

          As for what sucks? That’s easy.

          1.People assume you’re going to be rolling in dough as soon as your book is published, which isn’t true at ALL.

          2.The reactions you receive when you say you write romance fit in to one of three categories – the haters, the lovers, and the pervs. The pervs are the most annoying.

          3.Someone once said to me, “Anyone can write a book these days.” That’s the sentiment floating around out there. It’s insulting on levels even I don’t have the words to describe. I usually respond with, “I look forward to your best seller any time now.”  

JB: You have a sociology degree. What made you decide to study this particular subject and is there another area you’d like to study?

Annabelle: Sociology is the summary of reality to me. How we think, feel, behave, etc is all influenced by the society in which we live. I loved studying Sociology. Sometimes I wish I had followed through with my teenage plans to be a geneticist, but in this era of GMO foods, I’m rather glad I didn’t follow that path and end up under Monsanto’s dark cloud.  

JB: You write for Vitacost.com also. How did you get involved with this site?

Annabelle: Initially, my ability to talk about sex, openly and honestly, without being too clinical or too crass was what got me the job. The Bombshell Mommy started out completely focused on sex, self esteem, and relationships. Sadly, there are still plenty of very prudish people out there and after wading through tons of backlash, we transitioned to an overall “Bombshell” lifestyle blog, focusing on natural and green approached to health and beauty.

JB: What’s next for you? Do you have any new projects in the pipeline or are you busy enough!?

Annabelle: I’m working on a New Adult Urban Fantasy. This will be my first full length novel. I am terribly excited! 

JB: If you could have any other job in the world what would it be or would you stick to doing what you do now?

Annabelle: I’ve always wanted to be a host on QVC. Yes, I’m serious. It’s okay, you can laugh. It seems like the best gig ever. I mean, all you have to do is talk about how awesome a product is and have really big hair. The big hair might be a tough transition for me, but I think it’d be worth it.  

JB: Any advice out there for any budding writers?

Annabelle: My only advice is the mantra of Chuck Wendig: Finish Your Stuff (well, he uses more colorful language, but you catch my drift). Seriously though, if you don’t finish anything you’re not a writer, you’re a typist. Writers tell stories from beginning to end. Learn how to follow through with your story arc and your character arcs. Even if you think it’s complete and utter crap, the very act of getting to the end of a story is magical.

Thank you for having hosting me today. It’s been delightful! 

 

About Annabelle Blume

 

 

Annabelle is a Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy Romance author, that is, when she's not checking homework or begrudgingly cooking dinner. Wife, mother, and creator of alternate worlds, Annabelle has a penchant for that which is outside the norm. Her Sociology degree has given her the ability to construct worlds that exist only in her head and translate them passionately to the page. The time spent studying individuals, interpersonal relationships, and particularly, women, within the constraints of our society led to Annabelle's unabashed ability to talk about sex as it fits into our modern lives.  

She's also the author/personality of The Bombshell Mommy at Vitacost.com, where she expounds her knowledge of being a vixen clad in sweatpants. A serial book monogamist, Annabelle is deeply devoted to the literary love of her life until the next amazing book falls into her clutches and she obsesses anew.

Annabelle’s official author page www.annabelleblumebooks.com

You can reach her on Twitter @AnnabelleBlume and stay up-to-date via her author Facebook page

 

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Genre: Sci-Fi Romance

Novella
Release Date: August 2013

Two lovers face off against a government determined to keep them apart. It’s only brave if it’s hard.   

 

After a decade of being alone in the wilderness, Cressenda is still adjusting to life with the man of her dreams. When Beckett hatches a plan to break her parents out of The Affinity prison work camps, Cressenda must make the biggest sacrifice of her life; trading her freedom for her parents’. Cressenda’s fortitude is tested at every turn, from surviving the conditions of West Fallen work camp to believing in Beckett’s dedication to their plan and their love, even when it looks like all hope is lost. With the help of a unlikely ally, Cressenda learns to stop fighting against her fears and embrace the power of fighting for her dreams.

 

Will trusting Beckett to take down The Affinity be the ultimate show of faith or a fatal mistake?

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Children's Book Spotlight - Bing : Get Dressed, By Ted Dewan

 

 

 

Celebrate the messy energy, joyful surprise and miniature wonders of toddlers’ everyday life with this playful picture book by award-winning creator Ted Dewan. With short texts, bright artwork and appealing characters, Bing teaches us all that whatever happens it’s just a Bing thing, an ‘oops moment’ and nothing to get upset about.

In Bing: Get Dressed, Clever Bing has mastered putting on his clothes, with a little help from his constant companion Flop, but he’s struggling with the right order. And when he’s fully dressed, uh-oh, he has an accident. Don’t worry, Bing. It’s no big thing. Just get dressed all over again! That’s the Bing thing…

 

 

This is a lovely little book and the illustrations are very sweet, bright and big! Perfect for inquisitive minds and tired parents! Written with pre-schoolers in mind, it makes learning about getting dressed fun! And, lets face it, its not always easy to convince wriggling kids that its a good idea to get dressed.  With an easy to follow story-line and short, snappy sentences, younger kids will adore the very lovable Bing! It's a funny story about getting dressed that teaches children an important life-skill and also teaches that its ok to sometimes get it wrong too! Children learning without even realising it! I loved this little book as did my almost 3 year old Godson! He squealed and laughed the whole way through it. There are lots of other books in the series too that are well worth checking out!

Here are some of the books available! There's lots more in the series!

 

                   

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