[Author Interview + Series Spotlight] The Cobbogoth Series by Hannah L. Clark

Title: Uncovering Cobbogoth - Amazon
Author: Hannah L. Clark
Published:  May 13th 2014 by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
Synopsis:

Norah Lukens needs to uncover the truth about the fabled lost city of Cobbogoth. After her archaeologist uncle’s murder, Norah is asked to translate his old research journal for evidence and discovers that his murder was a cover-up for something far more sinister.

When she turns to neighbor and only friend James Riley for help, she realizes that not only is their bitter-sweet past haunting her every step, but James is keeping dangerous secrets. Can Norah discover what they are before its too late to share her own?

Title: The Lemorian Crest (Book 2 in The Cobbogoth Series) - Amazaon
Published: August 23rd 2015 by KinStone Publishing, LLC

We are SUPER excited to be kicking of The Cobbogoth Series Blog Tour today. We thought it'd be fun to have Norah give a little glimpse into her world in a fun way, through the legends and fairytales she was told as a child. So we hope that this little foray into the Cobbogothian civilization gets you excited to check out this series.  

Hello, my name is Norah Lukens. Thanks for having me on Page Turners today. As you know from my story, Uncle Jack told me a ridiculous amount of myths and legends growing up. He was pretty much relentless, so if you’ve heard of a legend, then chances are excellent that I’ve probably had to memorize it. As a kid, I was convinced telling these stories to me was my uncle’s own special brand of torture, but it turns out he was actually trying to prepare me for something extraordinary in the best way he knew how.

While you and I have probably heard most of the same myths, legends, and fairytales as bedtime stories and such, there are a set of legends Uncle Jack told me in secret that you probably don’t know—legends about the lost civilization of the Cobbogothians.  I’m excited to share with you my most favorite of the bunch, especially since I’ve just discovered that Uncle Jack’s theories about myth and history being intertwined is actually true.

Author Interview

• What are three things that as a writer you absolutely cannot live without?


Bottled water, my space heater, and SweetMint Orbit gum.


• Did you have any mind blocks while writing these books and what were they?


Um. . . yes. They included pretty much all of Uncoveirng Cobbogoth. J But thankfully, by the time I started The Lemorian Crest, a wise writer friend told me his secret to working through blocks. He said that when he was stuck on something, he would make sure it was the last thing he thought about before he went to bed. Nine times out of ten, his subconcious would have it all work out for him by the time he woke the next morning.

This actually works, by the way. No joke.


• Friendship in The Cobbogoth Series - Talk a little about how important friendship will be for Norah in The Lemorian Crest.


Without spoiling anything for those who haven’t read Uncovering Cobbogoth, I will say that friendship has pretty much evaded Norah her whole life. She’s a pretty lonely soul, and has been an outcast for as long as she can remember. This is because of the way she looks and the things she can do. When she finally begins to understand why she is the way she is toward the end of Book 1, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for her, and friendship happens to be one of them.

GIVEAWAY TIME

Hannah is generously offering a $120 gift card (Amazon, B&N or iTunes) to one lucky winner! This giveaway is being hosted by the blog tour and is NOT a PTB hosted giveaway. Please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway is open internationally. Also be sure to read all terms and conditions on the widget below before entering.
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[Author's Note] The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

The Summer After You and Me

by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?

Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it's not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. 

They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.

Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?

AMAZON | GOODREADS 

author's note: facts & more!

Greetings from the Jersey Shore—the real one! Long before non-natives arrived to film a “reality” show in a small oceanside town with less than a mile of beachfront, the 130 miles of coastline known as the Jersey Shore has existed and thrived in my home state. Our beaches stretch along the Atlantic Ocean from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May at the southernmost tip and include more than 40 towns, each with its own unique vibe and history. In doing research for THE SUMMER AFTER YOU AND ME I learned lots of cools facts about this place that I know and love—facts that I’d like to share with you. So forget what Snooki told you and read on! The Jersey Shore has a long, proud history.

1. Sandy Hook boasts the oldest working lighthouse in the country. Its beacon was first lit on June 11, 1764 and it’s still in operation today.

2. The first vacationers at the Jersey Shore were Native Americans, who arrived at the coast seasonally to fish and collect oysters and shells.

3. The seaport at Elizabeth is the largest in the east and the third largest in the country.

4. Asbury Park has long been associated with legendary bands and musicians, but it has an even longer history as a resort town with its first hotel opening in the 1870s.

5. A little further down the coast, Long Branch, which was once known as the “Hollywood” of the East Coast, was also the oceanfront destination for seven presidents—Chester A. Arthur, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, and Woodrow Wilson.

6. Cape May, at the very tip of New Jersey, has the distinction of being the oldest seaside resort in the United States.

7. Salt water taffy was first produced and sold at the Jersey Shore in the 1870s.

8. The streets on the Monopoly Game board are named after those is Atlantic City.

9. Atlantic City also boasts the longest boardwalk in the world!

10. Fred Astaire made his theatrical debut in Keyport when he was a child. Legend has it he wore a top hat and tails for the first half of the performance and a lobster costume for the second.

11. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island? Ours. They’re not exactly at the shore, but they’re in our waters.

12. “Down the Shore.” No matter which direction you’re coming, when you’re headed to the beaches in New Jersey, you’re going “down the shore,” the place where as Bruce sung in Jersey Girl, “everything’s alright.”

About this author

Jennifer Salvato Doktorski is the author of the YA novels, How My Summer Went Up in Flames (Simon Pulse 2013), Famous Last Words (Henry Holt and Co., 2013), which was a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, and the forthcoming The Summer After You and Me (Sourcebooks Fire, May 2015). 

Her first paid writing gig was as an editorial assistant for the North Jersey Herald & News, where, in addition to developing a life-long passion for coffee and news, she wrote obituaries for eight months. She also worked as a speech writer, bank teller, ghostwriter, bookkeeper in a lampshade factory, pet shop clerk, and music zine editor.

She lives with her family in New Jersey and spends her summers “down the shore,” where she dreams of taking surfing lessons and observes sea life while keeping her toes in the sand.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter

[Spotlight/Author Interview] Rowan by Christina Channelle

Title: Rowan (Blood Crave #2)

Author: Christina Channelle

Genre: Young-adult fiction

Published: April 26 2013

Publisher: Christina Channelle

Dark. Night. Death.


Things Rowan has been trying to avoid for the many years since she was first turned. Her choice: to sleep away the darkness; it beats having to deal with the craziness of life. Or rather, death. However soon after awakening, she stumbles upon a lone figure whose presence is shrouded with mystery.


She assists him in his search for answers making it even more difficult for Rowan to forget her past. She realizes she can’t hide forever as she is literally being sucked back into her chaotic world: a world where both fallen angels and vampires exist, manifested on earth as lapsus and lamia.


Not particularly … friendly with one another.


Rowan struggles to resist her hunger as a demon vampire while dealing with unwanted desires for a fallen angel from the past: a relationship that could only spell trouble. Not to mention the unresolved feelings she still has for a loved one from long ago. While all of this is happening, they must all seek the hidden evil that hunts them—for there’s an ancient fighting to wake up and destroy everything Rowan holds dear.

Author Interview

First things first, tell us something about yourself. Something we won’t find on your author bio!

Hmm. Well, I am deathly afraid of birds to the point where I could break out into a full-blown panic attack. I have no idea where this phobia comes from but you will never catch me watching The Birds.

Without giving away too much, which part did you like writing about the most? Which has the hardest part to write about?

I enjoyed writing the banter back and forth between the main characters. It was fun and made me wish they were real, lol. The hardest thing was probably one particular scene between Rowan and another character. I didn’t know how intimate to make it—my younger cousin might read this! I wrote the whole thing out, then nixed the entire idea, wanting to leave it to the reader’s imagination. Then I put some of it back, then re-wrote the whole thing again. It took awhile…

What book/s sparked your love for reading?

The first novel I remember reading as a kid was a book by Richie Tankersley Cusick. I can’t remember the title at the moment. That sparked me to read practically every book in the young adult/kid section of the library. I remember taking out up to 30 books at a time, reading them all, and swapping them for another 30.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

No. I always enjoyed reading and that gradually led to my desire of wanting to write my own stories. It just felt natural.

What is one thing that you absolutely cannot be without!

My iPhone! I know, it sounds horrible but I’ve become so attached to it. I can read books whenever I want, jot down notes for stories I’m working on, browse the web when I’m bored, text my friends, play games. I do everything but talk on the phone.

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.

Outside of writing, she enjoys movies, music, and has recently embraced a new-found love for sushi.

She resides in Ontario, Canada.

 Website / Twitter / Facebook

[Spotlight/Author Interview] The Wanted Bride by Sylvia McDaniel

The Wanted Bride

Sylvia McDaniel

She’s a Runaway Bride

Valerie Burrows is running from a wedding, her attorney fiancé and the law. Pampered Valerie takes a bus to nowheresville, where she learns her cash and credit cards have been stolen. Left with only her designer clothes and luggage she takes on a new identity and must learn to be self-reliant. She swears off men, especially attorneys, only to find the one man who refuses a one night stand and wants a relationship.

He’s Looking For A Wife

Matt Jordan, the Colorado Crusher, is the most successful liability lawyer in the state. After the death of his brother-in-law, he realizes he’s ready to settle down with a family of his own. His only requirements are intelligent, great-looking, wants more than a hook-up and doesn’t lie. After witnessing the lies his father told his mother, he demands complete honesty. Yet Valerie Brown shows him sometimes in order to find yourself, you must become someone else. Even if that means lying.

Author Interview

How did you get started writing?

All my life I have been a voracious reader.  One day I read a particularly bad historical romance and thought, I could do a better job.  So I bought a typewriter (yes, this was before home computers) and started a book.  I quickly learned that it's not as easy as it appears, but I finished that novel that terrible first draft and realized I loved writing.  At that point, I began the journey to learn how to craft stories. Along the way, I met some fantastic writers who not only taught me the craft, but some were my critique partners who helped guide me on this journey.  It took me three books and eight years before I published.  I published nine historicals with a major New York Publisher before I decided to go straight Indie.

Tell us about your current book.

My book, The Wanted Bride is a runaway bride story. My heroine is an only child who has received everything she wanted and never had to work hard in her life. But that’s about to change.

What is your favorite part of writing?

I love to storyboard an idea, so that I have the necessary map to take me on the journey. Then I sit down and I let the fingers fly on the keyboard, while the movie plays in my head.  I'm sort of the stenographer at his point, just getting the story down on paper. I hit roadblocks and things change along the way, but to me this is the best part of writing, just letting the story flow onto the page.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

My least favorite part of writing is the last draft.  At this point, I've edited the story 3-4 times. Usually around draft 5, I have everything the way I want and I'm going back through to make certain that the scenes work, end on a hook, setting, grammar, etc.  By the last draft, I'm ready for the story to end and to start thinking of a new project.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

Right now, I'm working on the first draft of a Christmas novella that is about the matchmaking mother in my Burnett Brides series.  I thought she deserved her own story.  So Eugenia Meets Her Match is what I’m currently working on.

What is your typical day like?

I get up at six am, ride the elliptical for twenty minutes and then I'm off to the computer.  I work on the computer for an hour and then get ready for the day job.  The day job is working for a small insurance agency, where I take care of commercial insurance for clients.  I'm home at five thirty and back on the computer until supper time.  Eat a quick bite and then back on the computer until about nine o'clock, when the body wears out and the eyes start to see double.  I sit downstairs and watch several taped TV shows, until I crash into bed about eleven o'clock.  

How has your experience with self-publishing been?

I absolutely love self-publishing. I'm learning as I go, but I know that I don't have the time to do everything, so I am hiring out editing, cover design and formatting.  That being said it's really important that you find someone who is good at the formatting.  I’m in charge of my own destiny and if I fail, it's no one's fault but my own.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

I was scared to try. I also didn't want to be seen as someone who was "vanity" publishing. It took me hearing from at least three people that this was the future and how successful they were before I decided to put out my backlist.  Now, I doubt I ever sell to another New York Publisher. I'm not a New York Times Bestseller yet, but I'm doing okay and I'm publishing again. I'm hearing from readers again. I'm back doing what I love and I'm not waiting for an editor or agent to send me a rejection letter any longer.  Now I'm working at my pace, not a publishers pace.  I'm happier than I've been in years and it just feels right for me.

What if you found out five minutes before you walk down the aisle, that your best-friend is pregnant by your fiancé? Everyone is seated in the church when Valerie goes running out the door, jumps in his vintage corvette to escape until the car breaks down in downtown Dallas. 

I won’t tell you what she did, but there’s a reason it’s called The Wanted Bride.  If you like sassy heroines and tales of women who change, then you’ll enjoy The Wanted Bride. 

About the Author

Sylvia McDaniel and her very supportive husband Don, the love of her life, live in Texas with son Shane, Putz the klutzy dachshund and Ashley our shy dachshund. During the day, she works for a small insurance agency, helping clients with their commercial insurance coverage. The weekends are spent working out in the garden until the temperature climbs above ninety degrees. Currently, she's written fourteen novels. Her novel, A Hero's Heart, was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Sylvia is the President Elect of Dallas Area Romance Authors.

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www.sylviamcdaniel.com

@WriterSylvia

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