A Life Through Books: Guest Post

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Monday, May 12, 2025

Virtual Book Tour: The Midnight of Eights by Justin Newland #historical #fiction #giveaway #guestpost #historicalfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @JustinNewland53

8:16 AM BY EverLeigh 1 Comments

In the Island of Angels Series, Book 2

(Can be read as a standalone)

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 10-28-2024

Publisher: The Book Guild

1580.

Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish, Protestant immigrant who seeks to right the wrongs committed against his family by Catholic Spain, the most powerful nation of the time.

On the way to delivering a message to Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Nelan finds a plough head buried in the ground. It sparks a premonition that shapes his future.

Nelan sets out to find Eleanor, his long lost love. During his search, he meets a Gypsy shaman who prophesies that he’s to become a Fyremaster and play a leading role in the unfolding destiny of the Island of Angels.

In 1588, Nelan meets his destiny on the night of the Harvest Moon off Calais in France. It was midnight when it happened. His mysterious intervention changed the course of the sea battle between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada, and changed England’s destiny.

It was a midnight of eights.

The Midnight of Eights is the final book in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England's coming of age during the Elizabethan era.

In Book 1, The Mark of the Salamander, Nelan is pressed onto the Golden Hind. During the circumnavigation, he embarks on a voyage of discovery of himself, and learns the arcane arts of the salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.

Guest Post

This guest post relates to the historical background of my novel, The Midnight of Eights. The genesis of any single historical event is always multiple, a combine compound of different influences, some obvious, some subtle, So, in this short space, the best I can do is paint some broad brush strokes.

The novel culminates in the repulse of the Spanish Armada, but what led up to King Philip of Spain’s fatal decision to build and despatch a fleet of 130 warships to invade England in 1588 AD?

Let’s start in 1556. That was when Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, abdicated and passed his territories to his son, Philip, who inherited the Netherlands. The Dutch were mostly Protestant, but were now under the control of a Catholic monarch. Philip sent the Duke of Alba to suppress any revolt and impose Catholic rule.

In England in 1570, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth suppressed the Catholic-inspired Northern rebellion and for her troubles was excommunicated by Pope Pius V. In a Papal Bull entitled Regnans in Excelsis, he declared her to be a heretic and “the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime.” Significantly for English Catholics, the Pope released all of her subjects from any allegiance to her and excommunicated any that obeyed her.

In December 1585, Elizabeth and the Privy Council finally responded to the Dutch call for help, and the Queen sent English troops and vessels to support their resistance.

The Papal Bull persuaded many English Catholics to plot against Elizabeth. One was Sir Francis Throckmorton, a Catholic noble. He planned to depose Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, the Queen’s cousin, was Catholic, and a distant heir to the English throne. Francis Walsingham, the Queen’s spymaster, with the help of Nelan Michaels, the hero of the novel The Midnight of Eights, uncovered his plot and had Throckmorton executed at Tyburn in London in July 1584. The Tyburn Tree, a nickname for the gallows at Tyburn, was a prominent site for public executions in London and was given the chilling epithet, ‘the tree that was never green.’

Anthony Babington was the next English Catholic noble to attempt to depose Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. But when her letters to Babington were intercepted by Walsingham’s spies, proving her involvement to depose Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and executed in 1587. For King Philip, Mary’s death was the tipping point. He decided to despatch the Armada and bring England and its heretic Queen to heel once and for all.

During the fleet preparations in Cadiz, Philip ordered his admirals to search for women on board the ships and remove them, in order that God’s will prevailed.

In April 1588, the Pope blessed the Armada emblem, the Madonna, and all the Spanish mariners watched in holy awe as it fluttered high on the masts of the galleons, galleasses and supply ships.

The Armada was not just a fleet of ships. As far as the Spanish were concerned, it was primarily a holy instrument to remove evil from the world.

Justin Newland

28th April 2025

Photo #1: Pope Pius V, courtesy of Wikipedia

Photo #2: The Tyburn Tree, courtesy of Wikipedia

About the Author

JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism.

Undeterred by the award of a Maths Doctorate, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (ISBN 9781789014860, Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.

His second book, The Old Dragon’s Head (ISBN 9781789015829, Matador, 2018), and is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.

Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation (ISBN 9781838591885, Matador, 2019) speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.

The Abdication (ISBN 9781800463950, Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.

The Mark of the Salamander (ISBN 9781915853271, Book Guild, 2023), is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it tells the epic tale of England’s coming of age.

The latest is The Midnight of Eights (ISBN 9781835740 330, Book Guild, 2024), the second in The Island of Angels series, which charts the uncanny coincidences of time and tide that culminated in the repulse of the Spanish Armada.

His work in progress is The Spirit of the Times which explores the traumatic events of the 14th Century on the Silk Road and featuring an unlikely cast of Genghis Khan, the Black Plague, all shrouded in the mystery of a nursery rhyme that begins ‘Ring a-ring a-roses’.

Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin gives talks to historical associations and libraries, appears on LitFest panels, and enjoys giving radio interviews. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Blog Tour Fiction

Virtual Book Tour: BLUE by Walter Jones #books #guestpost #fiction #rabtbooktours @spellboundpic @RABTBookTours

6:53 AM BY EverLeigh 1 Comments

"Until the Lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the Hunt will always glorify the Hunter."

Pamela Edwards McClafferty (Editor)

Fiction

Date Published: May 21, 2024

Publisher: Spellbound Pictures Ltd USA LLC.

BLUE: A Multigenerational Epic of Destiny, Secrets, and Freedom

Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

Spanning five generations, four families, two continents, and three secrets, BLUE is a captivating saga that intertwines the lives of four extraordinary individuals on an urgent mission for freedom.

Meet the Protagonists:

Nicole Johnson: A beautiful Howard University MBA graduate with a vision to build her international advertising/marketing company, Fresh, Inc., in her hometown of Chicago.
Regina Bovine: A stunning artistic marketer and graduate of life's challenges, Regina becomes Nicole's partner in Fresh, Inc., bringing her unique perspective and talent.
Segun Bada: A brilliant MIT graduate who establishes the headquarters of his international conglomerate, Quantum Protection Systems (Q.P.S.), in Gaborone, Botswana.
Sotonye Bada: Segun's gifted brother and a graduate of the Mayo Medical School, Sotonye sets up his medical practice in Gaborone, Botswana, alongside his brother.

Together, their paths converge in an extraordinary saga that takes them across the globe to Chicago, New Orleans, Botswana, Sudan, Ethiopia, Huntsville, Nigeria, Kenya, Washington D.C., and Tanzania. As they unravel the secrets of their ancestors, they discover the reason the ancient oracles destined them to join forces.

A Race Against Time:

With BLUE, a formidable force of evil, threatening to unleash his deadliest powers upon the world before the children born to either join or destroy him reach their thirty-first birthday, Nicole and Regina are drawn back to the African continent, the birthplace of BLUE.

In a final, epic battle, they join Sotonye and Segun to protect the Freedom Code, a legacy for their ancestors, their present allies, and the future generations of their people—and all people. For if one man or woman is enslaved, so is the world.

BLUE: A Riveting Tale of:

Family: Exploring the intricate bonds and connections between generations and families across continents.
Love: Showcasing the power of love in its various forms, from familial love to romantic love.
Destiny: Unraveling the ancient prophecies that foretold the convergence of four lives on a mission.
Freedom: Fighting for the fundamental right of freedom for all individuals and the world at large.

Immerse yourself in this multigenerational epic that will keep you turning pages as you journey alongside Nicole, Regina, Segun, and Sotonye in their quest for freedom and the preservation of their legacy.

GUEST POST

The History of Walter and me, a Work in Progress

In 1989, I met Walter Jones in Chicago. My husband, Mark McClafferty, was then President of Eddie Murphy Productions and had written the story The Kid Who Loved Christmas with Clint Smith,Mark Corry and Lynn Marlin. Script by Sam Eagan. I was on set for a few days with our daughter, Kate, as Arthur Allan Seidelman guided the production. Eddie Murphy was executive Producer, Mark McClafferty was producer with Jack Frost Sanders and Clint Smith and Mark Corry were coordinating producers.

The film starred Cicely Tyson, Michael Warren, Vanessa Williams, Della Reese, Esther Rolle Charlie Murphy, Ben Vereen "=. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099930/

On set, Clint Smith, introduced me to Walter Jones, an Uncle of his through marriage. Walter was an aspiring writer. He was the first Black director of the YMCA. Recently he had left that post to form his own construction company. He was also writing a novel. Walter knew my book was a best seller. Although I was focused on running Pamela Edwards Enterprises where I designed, manufactured and shipped my line of ready to wear fashions from my studio/plant in Los Angeles to Alan Quinn, my sales’s rep on 7th avenue in New York, Walter wanted to talk about writing. I enjoyed the conversation. Walter was a thinker. His conversation was thought-provoking. As I remember the exchange between us, I had one thought on my mind. I wanted to get back to my writing instead of running my Design business. Afterwards I thought I was just being nostalgic. But a few years later all changed.

In 1998, Walter called me out of the “BLUE”. Clint had given him my number. He told me about his life. He had been unsuccessful in his construction business. His mother had been his greatest advocate to write BLUE. He promised her just before she died that he would complete his novel. He kept his word and was calling me.

When I heard about the tribulations surrounding his construction business failure, his change in vocation to work solely on his craft and other personal experiences including the passing of his mother, I told Walter to send me the manuscript although I was working on my own writing and helping Mark run Spellbound Pictures where we had just made a lucrative production deal with Canal+/Ellipse.

I received his manuscript of 1500 pages! We worked together for several years. I moonlighting and he laboring over his novel with the love of a true artist and a desire of an inward feeling that his novel was meant for his people to help future generations rid themselves of BLUE.

Within a few months of BLUE being published, Walter’s son passed away. Walter was devastated. Right after the news, BLUE was on the Bestseller list, but Walter received word he had cancer.

The man sacrificed his life for his beautiful novel, but was unable to enjoy its success. He wanted to be a part of every promotion, but as we geared up, he had relapse after relapse with his cancer. I made two promises to Walter. He and my mother were great friends. She read BLUE three times. A portion of the Profits from Spellbound’s income of BLUE are being donated in both their names to the Cancer Research Organization in New York. The second wish is that I do my best to show the world he had found the importance of overcoming BLUE and hoped by sharing his work others would overcome it too.

About the Author

Walter Jones, a native Chicagoan, (1952 -) has written his first novel.

“Dreams can come true, but it probably won’t happen as you first imagined. No one could have told me a novel I started when I was in my forties would come to fruition in my sixties. Or that I would go from golden boy to ‘I‘m sorry. You are extremely qualified for the position, but we are considering other candidates.’ Or that I would face years of doubt and criticism from relatives and friends.”

The sixth child of Mary Louise Spillman and Russell Donald Jones Jr., Walter grew up in two predominately African American communities, Morgan Park and Chatham. The Spillmans were one of the first African American families to settle in Chicago; they owned homes and businesses and took care of their neighborhoods.

By the mid-1960s, the civil rights movement was in full swing. Housing projects had been built and crime was on the rise. By the time Walter graduated from Chicago State University (psychology), the peace he had known in his youth was a memory.

Walter had high hopes that he could make a difference when he began his career at the Austin Chicago YMCA before becoming the first black executive at Lawson YMCA Metro Chicago. He ended his YMCA career at the historical Black Washington Park. Thereafter, he worked at Habitat Boulevard LLC and then ventured out on his own to found his own construction company.

“Working in public service, I watched my people falling into materialistic, superficial, and destructive traps. I was surprised and humbled to find I was no exception. When my construction business failed, I had to reassess myself and my life. For years I had focused on the image I wanted my children and others to have of me, not on the man I truly was. I began to reflect on the people who had profoundly influenced my life.”

BLUE began to take form as Walter wrote about the African American life of his youth—the beauty, majesty, brilliance, and courage of his people. He suddenly realized he was rebuilding that which he had lost, a love of self and humanity. To support his family, he took odd jobs. Ultimately he joined a security company, where he works to this day.

“As my greatest advocate, my mother read my first draft of BLUE before her death in 1995 and made me promise to complete it. Little did I know she was freeing me from BLUE and showing me how long the path can be to freedom, but I learned, and I am grateful.”

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Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Blog Tour Giveaway

Virtual Book Tour: The Mark of the Salamander by Justin Newland #blogtour #guestpost #giveaway #historical #fiction #rabtbooktours @JustinNewland53 @RABTBookTours

8:58 AM BY EverLeigh 0 Comments

The Island of Angels Series, Book 1

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 09-28-2024

Publisher: The Book Guild

1575.

Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder.

Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan hides in London, before he is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind.

Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes and hordes of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire.

THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.

Guest Post

My historical fiction novel, The Mark of the Salamander, was published in October 2023. It’s the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels, which tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era. Book two is out in October, 2024, and is entitled The Midnight of Eights.

This blog tells the story of the unusual fate of the good ship Elizabeth, one of the fleet of five vessels that set sail from Plymouth in England in 1577 to sail around the world. The fleet was commanded by Sir Francis Drake, while the Elizabath was captained by John Wynter.

This was a voyage into the unknown, because no one on board had sailed around the world before. Only the Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand Magellan, had managed that feat, and that was some fifty years previously.

So, rather than reveal his true intentions, Drake told the crew they were embarking on a trading voyage to Egypt, or the Levant as it was known then. This was to allay any fears the men might have about the real dangers they would face.

But by the time they crossed the Atlantic from Africa to South America, the game was up, and Drake had to reveal the true aim of the expedition.

The little fleet over-wintered in Patagonia, which is towards the southern tip of South America. There, like Magellan before him, Drake had to put down a mutiny amongst his crew, and executed one of the gentleman adventurers, an aristocrat named Thomas Doughty.

Also while in Patagonia, Drake scuttled two of his supply ships before attempting to cross the Straights of Magellan, aka Cape Horn (see image). Because this was the meeting point of the waters of two huge oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, the seas there are notoriously treacherous,

On 20 August, 1578, Drake set sail to traverse the Straights with three vessels, the Golden Hind, the Elizabeth, and the Marigold.

They hit ferocious storms. The Marigold and her 29 crewmen was lost. Aboard the Golden Hind, the crew claimed that they heard the cries of the doomed seamen.

In the Elizabeth, John Wynter passed through the Straits of Magellan, but on 7th October, 1578, a terrible storm arose and they lost contact with the rest of the fleet. Wynter later claimed that he had never lived through such a terrible tempest. Not only did he turn around, but, unbeknown to Drake, who thought he was lost, he retraced his steps and sailed all the way back to England, arriving in Plymouth in June 1580. At first, he received a hero’s welcome, but only because the populace who had come to greet him believed that he was Francis Drake, and had succeeded in circumnavigating the globe.

The rumours about the real reasons for Wynter’s about-turn have rumbled on for centuries. Some claimed that Wynter took advantage of circumstances to head back to England because he could not get along with Drake, a situation brought to a head “… after what happened to Thomas Doughty.” It was said that his decision persisted “full sore against the mariners' minds.

So much for Captain John Wynter, captain of half a circumnavigation.

About the Author

JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism.

Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (ISBN 9781789014860, Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.

His second book is a historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (ISBN 9781789015829, Matador, 2018), and is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.

His third, The Coronation (ISBN 9781838591885, Matador, 2019), is another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.

The Abdication (ISBN 9781800463950, Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.

His latest is The Mark of the Salamander (ISBN 9781915853271, Book Guild, 2023) and is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it tells the epic tale of England’s coming of age.

The second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, charts of the uncanny coincidences that culminated in the repulse of the Spanish Armada and is due to be published later this year.

Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, gives talks to historical associations and libraries and enjoys giving radio interviews.

He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter: @JustinNewland53

Goodreads

Pinterest: @jnewland0711

Instagram

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Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Blog Tour Fiction

Virtual Book Tour: Skinny Dipping in a Dirty Pond by Lis Anna-Langston #blogtour #interview #memoir #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

4:30 AM BY EverLeigh 0 Comments

Literary Fiction / Memoir

Release Date: October 1, 2022

Publisher: Mapleton Press

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

A young girl in a small southern town in the 80’s enlists the help of an unlikely group of friends and family to help her survive an unconventional, sometimes abusive childhood. Often left in the care of a paranoid schizophrenic uncle who lives downstairs and a psychotic uncle upstairs, the narrator stacks up a few heartbreaking observations. When her mother abandons her in favor of her addictions, the girl goes to live with her grandmother but finds happiness cut short when her grandmother dies. Her uncle believes the voices in his head have trapped his mother in a basement across town and as he slowly looses grip on reality, he also looses his ability to take care of her. Taken to a Group Home to live until a case worker can find her a place to go, her mom’s ex shows up and is forced to make a choice.

Praise for Skinny Dipping in a Dirty Pond:

One child's vulnerability and resilience to forces beyond her control make a raw and colorful splash in this tenderhearted memoir.

-RECOMMENDED by the US Review

"Skinny Dipping in a Dirty Pond is highly recommended for fiction readers looking for coming-of-age and family narratives that are anything but ordinary and predictable. Its lively tone packs a punch."

- D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

... I have to tell you that as I enjoyed this great book, I realized no 9 year old could have the thoughts or quick comebacks that Cotton does. Any kid that had to go through what Cotton did would become old way before their time. But in truth, this is mostly a story of Cotton telling about her life but living in the moment. Does that sound nuts? Well, whatever the technique, it worked. It made a story so very poignant that it touched my heart. Lis-Anna Langston created a character you will fall in love with and a book you'll be sad is over when you turn the last page.

- Our Town Book Reviews

Guest Post

A reader in a review commented on how they didn’t know how to feel about a character named Cotton. I definitely understood. We put a lot of baggage on this plant, which has come to define entire periods of American history. Dark times. With that in mind, I thought a post about how the character came to this name was necessary.

I obviously had a terrible relationship with my mother. An addict that cycled through psychosis like clockwork was extremely difficult to live with. She was mentally, emotionally, and physically abusive. As the years wore on, these abuses became more pronounced. She was never pleasant. Nice was not a word I’d ever use to describe my mother. She never liked me. A bastard child she was forced to take everywhere, I only represented the parts of her she hated. This was obvious to me from an early age.

When I was four, Larry drove us down one of those long, flat Mississippi highways. Fields stretched out in all directions, full of strange brown plants. My mother asked Larry to pull to the side of the road. He parked on the shoulder, and my mother told me to get out of the backseat. That made me nervous. My mother never asked me to come near her unless she was going to hit me. I hesitated. Larry wasn’t sure either. I could tell by the look on his face. My mother was as unpredictable to him as she was to me. Still, after a few minutes, he finally suggested I go see what she wanted. By then, she was already out in the fields. Because he had his eye on me, I slid across the black velour seat and got out.

My mother had knelt down in a row and waved me over. I walked slowly, looking around at the strange scraggly plants. When I got close, my mother showed me a cotton plant. It hadn’t bloomed yet, but it had started. The puffy white peeked out around the hard brown casing.

She pulled a piece of Cotton and held it out. “Touch it,” she said.

I did and asked what it was.

“It’s cotton,” she said excitedly.

“Cotton? Like my pants?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“My pants came from plants?” I looked back at Larry, who was close enough to hear us.

“It’s true,” he yelled from the driver’s seat.

I looked around. It was so bizarre to me that fabric grew from a plant. I didn’t yet know of linen, hemp, and flax. The world was a fantastic place. My mother broke several cotton bolls off so I could take them back to the car. I kept them for years. I learned about cotton fields and what they represented from my grandmother. It bothered me that one of the only good memories of my mother was poisoned by the past. Still, I expected it and threw the cotton bolls away. To this day, it remains one of only three good memories of my mother. She was as complicated and poisonous as those cotton fields.

About the Author

Lis Anna-Langston was raised along the winding current of the Mississippi River on a steady diet of dog-eared books. She attended a Creative and Performing Arts School from middle school until graduation and went on to study Literature at Webster University. Her two novels, Gobbledy and Tupelo Honey have won the Parents’ Choice Gold, Moonbeam Book Award, Independent Press Award, Benjamin Franklin Book Award and NYC Big Book Awards. Twice nominated for the Pushcart award and Finalist in the Brighthorse Book Prize, William Faulkner Fiction Contest and Thomas Wolfe Fiction Award, her work has been published in The Literary Review, Emerson Review, The Merrimack Review, Emrys Journal, The MacGuffin, Sand Hill Review and dozens of other literary journals. She draws badly, sings loudly, loves ketchup, starry skies & stories with happy aliens.

You can find her in the wilds of South Carolina plucking stories out of thin air.

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Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Blog Tour Giveaway

Virtual Book Tour: Always Yours, Bee by Mia Hayes #blogtour #nonfiction #memoir #giveaway #guestpost #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

3:00 AM BY EverLeigh 0 Comments

Memoir

Date Published: 3/2/21

Publisher: FinnStar Publishing

"There's a guy. He was hit by a truck."

On a rainy November day, Mia Hayes' husband left for work on his Vespa. Normally, she would have driven him, but Mia was waiting on a phone call with an editor and didn't have time.

She never saw that caring, loving version of her husband again.

The fallout from his accident--Mia's guilt and her husband's PTSD, memory loss, and depression--consumed their lives over the next five years as her laid-back husband changed into an angry man with few memories of their past. Desperate to hold her fragile family together, Mia ignored her own unraveling and plunged into bipolar depression.

As she searched for answers to unanswerable questions, Mia moved her family from San Francisco to Paris, France before landing in a leafy Washington, D.C. suburb where she tried to find a fresh start only to become embroiled in a scandal of her own making.

Through ups and downs, mental illness and bad decisions, Mia struggled with what it means to be a good wife and mother, whether saving her marriage was worth the pain, and understanding that healing is a personal journey.

Always Yours, Bee is a heartbreaking yet triumphant and brave look at a woman, a marriage, and a family falling apart and coming out stronger. Told with clarity and introspection, it captures the terror of losing the person closest to you—yourself.

Guest Post

When the Laundry is Dirty and the Tea is Hot

These are two truths I know: people love gossip, and they love it more when it’s not about them.

I’ve been on both sides of that equation as a novelist who writes fiction about upper-middle class women in a country club neighborhood. My characters deal in gossip, secrets, and maliciousness, and not a single one is likable, and yet my readers love them.

But I didn’t begin publishing those books until eight years after my husband suffered a traumatic brain injury in traffic accident, and my life took a long slide toward rock bottom. At first, my Type-A personality had me running around after him, trying to clean up his messes and protect him from himself. Keeping a “normal” public appearance was my number one priority, and I filled Facebook and my blog with idyllic images and posts of our perfect life as I hid the spiral of chaos surrounding us.

The years that followed James’s accident were consumed by infidelity, a bipolar diagnosis, bad parenting decisions, and so many versions of self-harm and addiction that I’ve lost count. It was ugly, messy, and painful. And honestly, it’s surprising no one ended up dead. People were talking, but I was unaware because no one talked about it with me.

I felt alone.

Eventually, after years of tears and therapy, I realized the characters in my novels were all versions of myself: a depressed woman dealing with infidelity; a mom looking for love; an embarrassed wife trying to figure out who she is. I had been trying to share my story through fiction, but my true story gnawed at me, begging me to be honest with myself and address the stories being told about me.

I needed to tell a raw and emotional story about how mental illness had attacked my family and me but didn’t win.

As I wrote my memoir Always Yours, Bee, my dueling desires to be uncomfortably honest about who I was and simultaneously protective of myself and my marriage resolved. I told my truths and my pain and tore back the picture-perfect social media façade I had nurtured. But after years of hiding what I felt were my faults, I feared how my deepest secrets would be perceived not just by my family and friends, but also the greater public.

And yet, I kept writing, because I believed others who struggled with mental illness or infidelity needed to know that they too could climb out of the seemingly unbearable misery. I wanted to be what I had needed: a light showing where the path to recovery started.

While writing, I realized didn’t need catharsis or revenge; what I had needed was distance to properly reflect on what had happened, and I needed time to make sense of things. Somehow, despite everything my marriage had healed. My children had flourished. And I discovered I wasn’t broken or unlovable.

That was the real story. Good grew from bad.

And so, with Always Yours, Bee, I spilled tea all over the white tablecloth and hung it out dirty for everyone to see. I put a face to the pain of mental illness and infidelity and claimed it as my own. I stopped pretending to be what I thought I needed to be and allowed myself to be authentically messy me.

Because this one thing I know: it’s easier to tell the truth than keep up the lies.

About the Author

Mia is a notorious eavesdropper who lives in Northern Virginia, outside Washington DC, with her husband, sons, two cats, and Harlow the Cavapoo.

She drinks too much green tea, loves traveling, and has mastered the art of procrastination cleaning.

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Instagram: @miahayesauthor

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Friday, January 22, 2021

Blog Tour Giveaway

Virtual Book Tour: The Moreva of Astoreth by Roxanne Bland #blogtour #guestpost #giveaway #scifi #scifiromance #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @RoxanneBland2

9:19 AM BY EverLeigh 0 Comments

Science Fiction/Romance

Date Published: January 5, 2021

Publisher: Blackrose Press

Astoreth, the Devi Goddess of Love, demands complete devotion from her morevs because hearts divided cannot serve.

Moreva Tehi’s hearts aren’t divided. They belong to Laerd Teger.

And the price of her love could be her life.

Book Reviews

"Bland may very well be the Alice Walker of science fiction." The reviewer is Vincent Dublado, Readers' Favorite.

"This is perhaps the most entertaining science fiction novel I have ever read." Rabia Tanveer, Readers' Favorite.

Guest Post

The Story Behind the Story

The Moreva of Astoreth, a science fiction romance, has its roots in a game a friend and I played in college. We collaborated on a story, taking turns. I don’t recall the details of the story—it was more years ago than I care to remember—but it went something like this. A woman, the daughter of a king, is exiled from her homeland in the desert because she refused to marry a man her father had picked out for her. She travels north, seeking a village that will take her in, but all turn her away. After many adventures, she arrives at a village that admits her. The chieftain is enamored, but doesn’t want his people to know since she’s a stranger. The princess genuinely dislikes him. After being at each other’s throats, she eventually falls in love, and the chieftain confesses his feelings. They marry.

The king, now remorseful, gathers his army to look for her. They wander from village to village, but don’t find her. Deciding she must have headed north, he turns in that direction. Still no luck. He keeps looking. Finally, they arrive at the village where she is living. The king demands that she come home. The princess refuses, saying she is now married and will never forgive him for what he’d done. Of course, the chieftain takes her side. The king threatens war. The chieftain accepts, and the story ends with the deaths of our happy couple.

Years later, I read Zecharia Sitchin’s Earth Chronicles series. He posits that ancient astronauts—the Annunaki—from the planet Nibiru came to Earth looking for gold. While here, they created humans to use as workers, and founded the Sumerian civilization. Sitchin has his loyal adherents, and his scholarly detractors. But whether one believes it or not, it’s quite a tale.

More years later, a novel I was writing at the time was giving me fits. I couldn’t figure out where to go next. So, I started playing the “what if” game. “What if he does this? What if she does that?” When I think of something, I noodle it through to see if it makes sense. If it does, I start writing. If not, I keep going. Problem was, I wasn’t getting anywhere. I leaned back in my chair and let my thoughts wander. They settled on my college days, my friend, and the story we’d written. Then I started thinking about Sitchin’s works. Then I had an idea. Could I meld them in some way?

And then, like Athena from Zeus’s head, the story’s outline came to me fully formed. An interesting development because I never outline a story first. Filing it away for future use, I took up my work-in-progress again. But I couldn’t get on with it. The outline I’d created kept knocking at my brain, and wouldn’t let go. I finally put my WIP aside and started writing The Moreva of Astoreth.

Here’s the funny part. I’d planned the story to take place in the spring of the planetary year—four months. I reached summer, and thought I’d finished, time to write “The End.” But my characters had other ideas. They wanted the story to continue. I thought it’d just be a couple of months, something like that. No. By the time they’d finished with me, the story spanned a year—spring to spring, sixteen months.

And they’re happy…for now.

About the Author

Award-winning author Roxanne Bland was born in the shadows of the rubber factory smokestacks in Akron, Ohio but grew up in Washington, D.C. As a child, she spent an inordinate amount of time prowling the museums of the Smithsonian Institution and also spent an inordinate amount of time reading whatever books she could get her hands on, including the dictionary. A self-described “fugitive from reality,” she has always colored outside the lines and in her early years of writing, saw no reason why a story couldn’t be written combining the genres she loved and did so despite being told it wasn’t possible. Today, she writes stories that are mashups of paranormal urban fantasy, romance, and science fiction, as well as other speculative fiction genres.

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