Blog Tour: Worthy of this Great City by @asmikemiller

 Literary / Satire

Date Published: October 2016

 Publisher: JAM Publishing

Ruth Askew, a minor celebrity, is spouting some highly incompetent philosophy about the end of virtue. Con Manos, a journalist, is attempting to uncover a political scandal or two. Add some undistinguished members of City Council, an easy listening radio station, a disorganized charity, a prestigious Philadelphia newspaper, and any number of lawyers and other professional criminals. In Worthy Of This Great City the compelling stories of two stubborn individualists intertwine in a brisk, scathing satire that invites you to question everything you think you think about today's most discussed issues: populism and elitism, the possibility of truth, the reach of profound stupidity, and the limits of personal responsibility in these post-truth, morally uncertain times.

Author Bio

If you know my website and Twitter addresses (asmikemiller.com and asmikemiller, respectively), you must realize Mike Miller is only an author name. It's not a matter of privacy 

or secrecy; anybody can find me with minimal effort. It's about keeping things separate. My writing is about what appears on the page. It's not about my personal politics or religion or history. 

Worthy Of This Great City is a B-game book. I'm ambiguous about this, being interested in money like most people, but I don't want to compete with a slick professional cover or smooth editing so I've stuck to a sort of reasonable, human middle ground. I value those things for what they are, of course, but I see them as artifacts, part of a system of publishing that fought like hell for a week's worth of shelf space, that fought to catch the eye, not the mind or heart. 

As my character Con Manos says: "It's a revolution, isn't it?" I say: Why fight on the side of the enemy? Why imitate and thus perpetuate a business model that stifles originality? Just to show you can? Unless, of course, you're fighting to attract the eye, not the mind or heart.

I've played a joke with this novel - my first, incidentally. Played with the idea of narration and who can be speaking after all. It's all very literary.

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Blog Tour: Spooning Daisy by Maggie McConnell #interview

Contemporary Romance (RomCom)

Date Published: June 7, 2016

Publisher:  Kensington (Lyrical Shine)

It’s a long way from Seattle to Otter Bite, Alaska. But if one woman can survive the trip-and the locals-she just might find what her heart has been searching for. Her mango chutney is exquisite; her blueberry sauce is to die for. But right now, Chef de Cuisine Daisy Moon is a woman without a kitchen-and without a fiancé. Unceremoniously dumped from her place of business and her relationship, Daisy sells her belongings, plus a few of her ex’s, and packs her bags. Maybe smashing all the china in her former restaurant was a bad move. Stripped of her Golden Spoon for “un-chef-like” conduct, she is now blacklisted all over Seattle. Her sole job offer is from Wild Man Lodge…in Otter Bite, Alaska. Too bad Daisy can’t even get out of Dodge without incident. By the time she boards a ship for Alaska, she’s got a trail of new troubles behind her, and suddenly Otter Bite is sounding pretty good. But the vessel turns into her own personal Titanic when a series of close encounters confirms her terrible taste in men-including one very good looking bad luck charm named Max Kendall. She vows to dedicate the rest of her days to chowders and brulée. Yet even Alaska isn’t far enough away to shake the memories of the sexy shipmate who rocked her cabin-and her world. Thank goodness she’s done with surprises-but they may not be done with her…

Interview

What is the hardest part of writing your books?

Staying on course. I’m a fool for details; I love to put in trivia tidbits and obscure information readers may not know, but might find interesting and maybe even a little educational. For instance, Daisy and Max have a short, fun conversation about the Roman emperor, Caligula. Probably not something you normally see in romance (unless it’s a romance set in 37AD Rome).

What songs are most played on your Ipod?

I don’t have an iPod. But I do listen to music the old fashioned way. Adele, P!nk, Lady Antebellum, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble’, Celine Dion, Lionel Richie to the “oldies”: BeeGees, Fleetwood Mac, Richard Harris, Fifth Dimension, James Last, Melissa Manchester, even some opera with Kiri Te Kanawa. I love music.   

Do you have critique partners or beta readers?

I have a wonderful critique partner. Many years ago, I was part of a six-seven member group and slowly whittled that down to a three-member group, and now it’s just two.

What book are you reading now?

I’m reading two books, depending on my mood. Mrs. Chippy’s Last Expedition, which is a true story about the cat who was part of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Antarctica expedition. And Withering Heights which is an Ellie Haskell Mystery and contains some romance between Ellie and her hunky husband.

How did you start your writing career?

I’d always had an interest in writing and considered it as a possible major in college—many years ago!—but took a different route. However, even as I concentrated on my career in business, I took graduate courses in fiction, creative writing, and screenwriting—a huge help for dialogue—and eventually, wrote that first book. I went to RWA conferences and entered the Golden Heart (my romances have twice been finalists) and just kept going from there.

Tell us about your next release.

I return to Otter Bite, Alaska, for Embracing Felicity, the second book in the Otter Bite RomCom series. Felicity is part Alaskan native (Alutiiq) and she owns a curio shop in this seaside village. She’s also a staunch animal lover and environmentalist and might even be a mermaid…

Ian MacIntyre is her romantic interest and someone we briefly met in Spooning Daisy along with his 10-year-old daughter, Emily. 

The first chapter is included at the back of Spooning Daisy, or readers can find it on my website, along with a plot teaser.

Golden Heart nominee Maggie McConnell spent her childhood overseas as the daughter of US diplomats. Attending college in Illinois, she earned a BA in Art and an MBA while working at the local humane shelter. At 26, she packed her dog and cat into a Ford truck and drove the Alcan Highway to Alaska, where she spent 23 years exploring The Last Frontier in a single-engine Cessna. A vegan and animal rights advocate, Maggie provides a sanctuary on her Arizona ranch for all creatures great and small, but her immediate family includes dog Molly, cat Sara, horses Quinn and Teena, and an ever-growing dynasty of chipmunks. Every year, like the Gray Whale, Maggie returns to Alaska.

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Valentine's Day Blast! Over 30 Authors + a $50 Gift Card Giveaway #romance #valentines #giveaway

WELCOME TO THE VALENTINE'S DAY BLAST! 

We joined together with many Authors to bring you a list of Romance Books available for you to read this Valentine's Day! 

Click on any of the below book covers to be taken to the page that has more information on the novel as well as the Buy Links!

Before you leave, don't forget to enter the Giveaway!!! 

 

 

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www.readingaddictionvbt.com

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Blog Tour: A Fistful of Love #review

Motivational, Spiritual, Self Help & Psychology 

Date Published: September 24, 2015 

Publisher: Black Lotus Press

A man was sitting with his friends in a local inn. After a couple of drinks, he asked his friends, “Do you love me?” “Of course, we do,” they replied. “So do you know what I need?” No one answered. “If you don’t know what I need then how can you say you love me?” To love and to be loved is the most basic human need. No wonder we are attracted to people who give us attention, care about us, and love us. Yet, love also remains the greatest challenge in most relationships. Why? A Fistful of Love is a collection of insightful, thought-provoking nuggets of wisdom appreciated by millions around the world. This book is full of humour and narratives most beautifully woven into learnings of life that will make you stop and think. A must read.

Review 

This was a memoir that will really keep you invested the entire time. Not everything will apply to you and your situation, but you will ultimately enjoy it just the same. 

The author does a great job of drawing on experiences with the culture to add to the detail and make the novel authentic. 

I think that overall the thing that I took with me from this novel was the fact that there is still good in people and humanity. Often times in the news you only see the bad and I think that this novel really helps instill hope in the future of mankind and gives you way to see that in others and in yourself. 

Author Bio

Om Swami is a mystic living in the Himalayan foothills. An advanced yogin, Swami did thousands of hours of intense meditation in complete seclusion in Himalayan caves and woods. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA from Sydney, Australia.

Prior to renunciation, he founded and ran a multi-million dollar software company with offices in San Francisco, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney and India. An Australian national of Indian origin, Swami completely renounced business interests a few years ago to pursue a full-time spiritual life. 

Swami’s memoir, If Truth Be Told; A Monk’s Memoir, was released by HarperCollins in December 2014. The memoir has had three print runs since then and has sold over ten thousand copies within six months of its release.

He is the bestselling author of Kundalini: An Untold Story. A Fistful of Love and If Truth Be Told: A Monk’s Memoir.

Swami’s blog, omswami.com, is read by millions all over the world.

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Week Blitz: Fallen Star Series #giveaway and #excerpt

New Adult

Date Published: February 7,  2017

Working for a cranky, old hermit in an isolated house sounds like Ruby’s idea of heaven – but her boss isn't quite what she expects.

Tex is a fugitive from the rock and roll world – a tragedy abruptly halted his career. No one knows why he quit, no one knows where he is.

The two of them live in the same house, avoiding each other, until Tex screws up, endangering their lives and forcing them to move into close quarters. Suddenly, the idea of human contact seems more appealing, if only with each other. The sanctuary they have built is enough for Ruby -- the man she grows to love is Tex the hermit, not Tex the rock star -- but the outside world encroaches.

She thinks their fledgling love can’t shine brighter than the rock dream but can Ruby bear to let Tex go?

EXCERPT

Our gazes met and, for a moment, it felt like I could see right into his soul. What I saw there was not the same pain I felt but the mirror image of it, something different but connected. A thread twisted between us and it seemed we were fated for something bigger. Then I broke away, unable to handle all the sludge being stirred up inside me.

He didn’t sing, he just played a melody that sounded like hearts breaking and things deep inside dying. I wondered why he played that to me. It was too raw and too painful. Maybe somewhere, wrapped inside that music were the real reasons he’d stopped playing. In that moment, I felt I understood something essential about him. That he had been broken deep inside and somehow the broken parts of him matched the broken parts of me. I wanted to hold him tight but I wasn’t a person who could do that. Instead, I just sat and listened.

About the Author

Candy J. Starr used to be a band manager until she realised that the band she managed was so lacking in charisma that they actually sucked the charisma out of any room they played. “Screw you,” she said, leaving them to wallow in obscurity – totally forgetting that they owed her big bucks for video equipment hire.

Candy has filmed and interviewed some big names in the rock business, and a lot of small ones. She’s seen the dirty little secrets that go on in the back rooms of band venues. She’s seen the ugly side of rock and the very pretty one.

But, of course, everything she writes is fiction.

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Blog Tour: Triangle of Hope with my #review

Contemporary Fiction

Date Published: December 1, 2014

 Publisher: Pacific Books

Life grinds you down, but there's always hope--and sometimes it can come in the strangest of ways....

After being battered by life's cruelness, three unlikely friends find themselves drawn to a small Irish town seeking something--anything. Finding solace in one another, their quest throws them together and they make a courageous stand.

Clint Westerly was a success until a choice he makes blows his world all apart. Tanya Wilshire is broke and hell-bent on committing to her mother's final deathbed request. 84-year-old Seamus Harrington needs to right an ancient wrong before time runs out.

Together, this unlikely trio of unexpected allies forms a Triangle of Hope against all odds, their disparate stories uniting for a thrilling conclusion that will leave the reader breathless.

If you love feel-good reads with happy endings, then TRIANGLE OF HOPE is for you. It is "a book that will stay with you forever." - Wanda Hartzenberg, Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers

It is a "fantastic read that will pull at your heart." - Lauren Alumbaugh, Goodreads librarian

SEMIFINALIST FOR THE 2015 KINDLE BOOK AWARD IN LITERARY FICTION

 Review Tour

There are a lot of moving parts to this story. Its a new world, so you have to get the setting and descriptions and backstory from the get-go. 

Then there are a ton of characters you are introduced to along the way. I loved the way that even with all of this, Michael Meyer's way of writing seemed effortless and really flowed so smoothly. I never felt overwhelmed or bogged down with detail, yet I also felt like I knew everything I needed to know. That is a huge testament to his writing ability.

The story itself is fast paced and captivating. The characters are well developed and multi-dimensional. I loved how compelling they were. A great Novel! 

As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, he now lives in Southern California wine country with his wife, Kitty, and their two adorable rescue cats.

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