Dark Places Promo

Posted on September 13, 2015 by The Page Unbound

DARK PLACES

by Reavis Wortham

At the tail end of 1967, the Parker family once again finds it impossible to hide from a world spinning out of control. Fourteen-year-old Top still can’t fit in with their Center Springs, Texas, community or forget recent, vicious crimes. His near-twin cousin Pepper, desperate to escape her own demons, rashly joins the Flower Children flocking to California―just as two businessmen are kidnapped and murdered in the Red River bottoms on the same night a deadly hit and run kills a farmer. Constable Ned Parker wonders if these crimes are connected, but he goes after Pepper, leaving the investigation in the hands of Sheriff Cody Parker. Parker hires Deputy Anna Sloan, an investigator with an eye toward detail as everyone is eyeing her. Yet it is instinct that propels her after killers through a world nearly forgotten, the hunt’s backdrop one of continuous rain, gloomy skies, and floods. When she’s ambushed, the investigation accelerates into gunfire, chases, and hair-raising suspense. What of Pepper? Out on Route 66, the Mother Road to California, a man named Crow isn’t what he seems. Lies, deceptions, and a band of outlaw motorcyclists proves to the Parkers that no matter where you turn, no matter what you do, the world is full of such darkness that even grandmothers are capable of unspeakable deeds.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON ~ B&N ~ KOBO

Poison Press

As a boy, award-winning writer Reavis Z. Wortham hunted and fished the river bottoms near Chicota, Texas, the inspiration for his fictional Center Springs. Reavis Z. Wortham’s critically acclaimed debut novel, The Rock Hole, was listed in a Starred Review by Kirkus Reviews as one of their “Top Mysteries of 2011.” Burrows, the second novel in this critically acclaimed series received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly, and The Library Journal listed it as One of Nine Historical Mysteries for the Summer of 2012. Vengeance is Mine, Book 4, was listed by True West magazine as one of their Top 5 Modern Westerns of 2015. A retired educator of 35 years, Reavis and wife Shana live in Frisco, Texas.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Sept 1 – TexasBookLover

Sept 2 – Feather Pens,Tartan Dreams

Sept 3 – Books and Broomsticks

Sept 4 – My Book Fix

Sept 5 – The Crazy Bookseller

Sept 6 – MissusGonzo

Sept 7 – Novel Reality

Sept 8 – Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books

Sept 9 – Texas Book-aholic

Sept 10 – Bookishjessp

Sept 11 –Hall Ways

Sept 12 – Because This is My Life, Y’all

Sept 13 – The Page Unbound

Sept 14 – All For Love of the Word

Sept 15 – Book Crazy Gals

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Hail of Fire Book Promo

Posted on September 7, 2015 by The Page Unbound

Lone Star Literary Life Blog Tours

presents

HAIL OF FIRE

Randy Fritz

Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster is an intimate account of the third worst wildfire in modern U.S. history, and the most destructive in the history of Texas. It is a memoir of what happened to Randy Fritz, an artist turned politician turned public policy leader, and his family during and after the Bastrop County Complex fire in September 2011. Combining a searing account of the fire as it grew to apocalyptic strength with universal themes of loss and grief, Fritz gives a first-person account of the emotional turmoil that comes with rebuilding one’s life after a calamitous event.

The wildfire itself was traumatic to those who witnessed it and suffered its immediate aftermath. But the most significant impact came in the months and years following, as families grieved, struggling to adapt to a new world and accept the destruction of an iconic forest of internationally acclaimed great natural beauty—the Lost Pines. Neighbors once close worried for each other, while others discovered new friendships that transcended the boundaries of race, class, and family lineage. Fritz struggled as his wife and daughter tried to make sense of their losses. He never imagined the impact this disaster would have on them individually and as a family, as well as the visceral toll he would pay in the journey to make sense of it all.

Hail of Fire is an unflinching story of how a man and his tight-knit family found grace after losing everything. Fritz’s hard-won insights provide inspiration to anyone on the search for what truly matters, particularly those who have undergone an unexpected and life-changing event and those who love and care for them.

HARDCOVER BOOK DETAILS

Price: $24.95

Pages: 256

Size: 6 x 9

Published: Jun 2015

ISBN: 9781595342591

EBOOK DETAILS

Price: $24.95

Published: Jun 2015

ISBN: 9781595342607

BUY LINKS:

Amazon ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ TU Press

Praise for HAIL OF FIRE

“If you’ve ever loved a tree—or a person—do yourself a favor: read this book, because at its core love in all its splendor and sadness is what it’s about.” — Jan Jarboe Russell, author of The Train To Crystal City

“The power of the book is in the recovery…. [Fritz] finds “mindfulness and acceptance” and the strength to make a fresh start in a place with haunted memories.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Randy Fritz has written a mesmerizing account of the Bastrop fire, the worst in Texas history and one of the worst ever nationally. The heart of Hail of Fire is how an everyday citizen survives the angst and awfulness of a natural disaster. Highly recommended!” — Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

“A roller coaster ride…. brutally honest, intimate and affecting.” — Austin American-Statesman

“In this painstakingly written story of ruin and renewal, Fritz eloquently reflects on how the events of the Bastrop fire of September 2011 and their aftermath transformed him, his family and the lives of their closest friends and neighbors.” — San Antonio Express-News

“As Fritz and his family deal with shock, instability, and the stress involved in trying to move forward, their perseverance and strength, and that of those around them, demonstrate that life definitely can rise from the ashes.” — Booklist

“Though the title of his memoir of the 2011 Bastrop wildfire might suggest that readers will be placed right in the middle of one of the worst conflagrations in Texas history, this Lost Pines resident is more interested in what followed: the displacement of his family after the loss of their house, and the fraught debate over whether to rebuild or walk away from their longtime home.” — Texas Monthly

“Every time a fire destroys a family’s home, the media shows up right away to cover the disaster and report what’s happened. But not very often does the media ever tell you what happens after the fire because most victims don’t have the emotional strength to speak out while the smoke is still in the air. This story is told through the eyes of Randy Fritz who experienced the third worst wildfire in modern U.S. history. He tells the story of grief, loss and how his family rebuilt their lives after the calamitous event.” — San Francisco Book Review

Fritz is at his best when he recounts the impact the fire had on his own psyche, with raw reflections on the difficult time he had coping and how his depression became difficult for his family. — Foreword Reviews

At least seventy thousand wildfires happen every year in America, and most regenerate healthy forests, culling underbrush, improving the soil, and unspooling the life resting inside pinecones.

Some of them shed their better natures, mutating into something dangerous enough that heavy equipment and elite firefighters must be called in. Of those, only a few turn into criminals, taking lives and destroying homes.

But in the modern era, there have been only two wildfires, both in California, more vicious and pitiless than the one that changed my life after nearly killing me.

With the tag-team help of a malicious sun that baked Central Texas dry for months and a tropical storm that uncoiled from the Gulf of Mexico with a hateful wind instead of rain, the fire that ravaged Bastrop County—my home for more than thirty years—on a holiday weekend in 2011 left behind a scorched and violated landscape shaped like a giant teardrop.

The fire started in two separate locations as people were returning home from church or finishing their lunches. In each case, a dead tree on private property blew into a power line, and the resulting sparks lit the bounty of fuel on the ground—a desiccated carpet of pine needles and twigs that were like gasoline vapor waiting for a match. 

The wind curling off Tropical Storm Lee’s dry side energized the embryonic flames. In short order, as they skittered along the ground, vaulted from tree to tree, and sprinted from house to house, the fires began shooting off flaming pieces of bark or wood, like the sparks of a campfire, except the embers weren’t innocent or nostalgic.

As these fiery hailstones prepped the drought-stricken forest for the arrival of each fire, yet another one began five miles southwest of the first two before the event was an hour old. By the time the conflagration crossed Highway 71—one of the major arterials connecting two of the nation’s largest cities— they had merged into a colossus, and a thousand homes were burning or about to be.

The teardrop-shaped fire destroyed more homes, and upended more lives, than any other fire in Texas history. It reached a level of intensity that fire experts have scientifically confirmed only a handful of times before.

TRINITY UNIVERSITY PRESS LINKS

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Tumblr ~ Instagram

Blog Tour Schedule

Sept 4 – Books and Broomsticks promo

Sept 5 – The Crazy Booksellers promo

Sept 6 – TexasBookLover Author Q&A

Sept 7 – The Page Unbound promo

Sept 8 – Because This is My Life, Y’all promo

Sept 9 – Bookishjessp Author Q/A or guest post

Sept 10 – My Book Fix Review

Sept 11 – Texas Book-aholic Review

Sept 12 – Missus Gonzo Review

Sept 13 – Hall Ways Review

Randy Fritz is the former chief operating officer of the Texas Department of State Health Services, the state’s public and mental health agency. He helped coordinate the state’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and led the team that implemented the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Texas. Fritz lives in Bastrop, Texas, with his wife, Holly, and their youngest daughter, Miranda.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

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The Neptune Challenge Review

Posted on September 6, 2015 by The Page Unbound

The Neptune Challenge
by Polly Holyoke
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (May 19, 2015)
Genre: YA/Middle Grade
352 pages
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Book Summary

Genetically engineered to survive in the ocean, Nere and her friends are recovering from their long, treacherous journey to refuge and settling in at Safety Harbor. Despite its name, plenty of dangers still lurk just outside the colony’s boundaries. When two among them are kidnapped, the remaining Neptune kids and their loyal dolphins must set out on a mission even more perilous than their first: infiltrate the kidnapper’s fortress to save their friends and steal away a vital scientific secret that may save the world and its oceans. Fighting terrifying mutated creatures and teens, will the Neptune kids find a way to save their friends, themselves, and their underwater world? The stakes couldn’t be higher in this thrilling sequel to the award-winning The Neptune Project.

About the Author

The Neptune Challenge is a story filled with intriguing sci-fi elements and a fast paced adventure! Nere and her friends, genetically altered to survive the seas, have survived the journey to Safety Harbor and now live comfortably with her friends and others from the project within it’s cave-like underwater structure. But it doesn’t last long! Soon two of her friends are kidnapped by the enemy. Nere does what she can to ensure that she and her comrades are on the rescue mission to save her friends. But there’s so much more at stake. The world beyond the sea is destroyed by global warming. The ground scorched, the land inhabitable. Perhaps the sea plankton can do some good in helping to restore the world. The only problem is that the plankton resides in the kidnappers undersea base. To get to it, Nere will have to be caught in order discover where it’s being kept. Little does she know that Dai, her friend and crush from The Neptune Project would be amidst enemy hands, and even worse, that he happens to be one of them. Will Nere be able to rescue her friends, save the plankton, and return to Safety Harbor?

There is so much to love about this book. One thing in particular is that this book is definitely an enjoyable read no matter the age. Sure there’s a slight love story, but it’s mild and cute. The adventure is definitely the forerunner in this novel. Polly Holyoke has created such a magical world and such a wonderful story line filled with lovable characters that has you turning the pages until you realize you’ve finished the book.

I simply loved all the “mutants” in this. The mutant sharks, the mutant octopus, and several others. Children’s DNA is basically coded with sea animals to give them the ability to live in the water. Nere and her friends from The Neptune Project were genetically coded with dolphin and whale DNA. But the children from the high-tech undersea enemy base are coded with sharks, octopus, and other scary sea monsters. My favorite villain in this is definitely Wasp. I’m not entirely sure what sea monster she was altered after, but she is definitely poisonous and evil! And my goodness I just really liked her even though she was bad. She’s just a very well written villain! I also love the fact that Nere and a few others can communicate with dolphins and whales. Just how amazing would that be!

Nere and Dai were wonderful too! Nere is always there to help her friends when they are in need and to do what it takes to make sure everyone survives. Dai is a complicated character that has his on demons to deal with. Not only is it hard for him to deal with who he is, but also who his father is, and ultimately, the person he wants to be.

The Neptune Project and The Neptune Challenge are, in my opinion, a great read for anyone. It’s a fast paced read, filled with adventure, mystery, slight love story, and such an amazing, creative world. Definitely be sure to check it out! It can definitely be a book you can read and enjoy with your kids!

If you are interested in reading this book be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of this post!

Also don’t forget to check out the first book in the series, The Neptune Project.

Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | indiebound

Polly Holyoke

Polly Holyoke is a former teacher and loves reading, camping, skiing, scuba diving and hiking in the desert. She lives in Plano, TX with three rescue dogs, two spoiled cats and a nice husband who tolerates piles of books all over their house. Her debut middle-grade novel,The Neptune Project, was published by Disney/Hyperion and was selected to the 2014-15 Texas Bluebonnet Master List along with state reading lists in Maryland and Ohio. It was also named one of Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of 2014. Her second children’s book, The Neptune Challenge, was released May, 2015.

Blog Tour Schedule

Aug 24 – Books and Broomsticks – Guest Post

Aug 25 – Because This is My Life, Y’all – Promo Post

Aug 26 – Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books – Promo Post

Aug 27 – Texas Book-aholic – review

Aug 28 – TexasBookLover – Guest Post

Aug 29 – All For the Love of the Word – promo post

Aug 30 – Bookishjessp – promo

Aug 31 – Feather Pens, Tartan Dreams – Promo Post + Author Q&A

Sept 1 – A Novel Reality – review

Sept 2 – Book Crazy Gals – Guest Post + promo

Sept 3 – The Crazy Bookseller – review

Sept 4 – Secret Asian Girl – review

Sept 5 – My Book Fix – review

Sept 6 – The Page Unbound – review

Sept 7 – Hall Ways – Author Q&A

Giveaway Details: Polly Holyoke is hosting a giveaway for one signed copy of The Neptune Challenge and one dolphin necklace. The giveaway is opened internationally.

GIVEAWAY:

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Death on Paradise Creek Book Promo

Posted on August 25, 2015 by The Page Unbound

Death on Paradise Creek
by Dianne Smithwick Braden
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Release Date: November 12, 2014
205 Pages

Death on Paradise Creek is a murder mystery seasoned with heartbreak, adventure, a little romance, and a touch of humor. It is the first in a planned three book series.

The Paradise Creek Inn is open for business in rural Wilbarger County Texas. Business is slow except for the occasional parties for family or friends, until a prestigious actor becomes stranded on the property. Suddenly Lizzie Fletcher and her family are booking parties and events left and right – a dream come true.

Things quickly change when the hired hand makes a gruesome discovery. Sheriff Wade Adams and his team are called to investigate. While evidence is being analyzed, another body is discovered. Long kept secrets revolving around these discoveries begin to unravel.

Death on Paradise Creek is a 60,929 word, 205 page murder mystery set in Wilbarger County Texas.

Paperbacks are $15.95 and ebooks are $6.99

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Black Rose Writing | iBooks

Chapter 6

Lizzie woke Saturday morning to the smell of coffee brewing. She hadn’t realized how much she missed waking up to that smell. She always had coffee after she got to work. She went downstairs to find Ellen and Lois sitting at the kitchen table.

“Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Granny,” she said as she planted a kiss on each woman’s cheek. “Where’s Daddy?”

“He had to get started moving the cattle to the east pasture. He said he’d be missing a lot of work since we’ll be in town for Jan’s festivities later this week,” Ellen explained.

“Lizzie, sit down; I want to talk to you about something,” Lois said.

“Okay. It sounds like something serious Granny.”

“Well, it is in a way. Is your job in Chicago the kind of job you always dreamed about?”

“No, it isn’t. It’s a work my way up the ladder and pay my dues kind of job.”

“Would you still like to run your own inn?”

“That has always been my dream, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.”

“Alright then. I have a proposition for you. I’m getting too old to live in that great big house all alone. You’re parents and I have been talking about this, and we want to see what you think. We’ll turn the house over to you. You can renovate it and make it into the inn you’ve always dreamed of owning.”

“But Granny…”

“Now, let me finish,” Granny interrupted.” I’ll move in here with James and Ellen. You’ll manage the inn. I’ll fund the renovations, within reason mind you. Your parents and I will help when you need it. The old place needs fixing up anyway, and I see no reason to fix it up only for one old lady. It will become a family business.” Granny paused for a moment, and then said, “Well what do you think?”

Lizzie didn’t know what to say. She wanted to jump at the chance to design and run her own inn.

Dianne Smithwick-Braden is a native Texan raised in rural Wilbarger County on the family farm. She is a graduate of Vernon High School and West Texas A & M University. She currently resides in Amarillo, Texas with her husband, Richard. She has been a high school science teacher in Amarillo since August of 1990.

Dianne is an avid reader of fiction but murder mysteries are by far her favorite genre. Death on Paradise Creek is her first novel. She has already begun work on a sequel.

Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Google+

Texas Association of Authors | Facebook | Website

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Diverted Heart Book Promo

Posted on August 23, 2015 by The Page Unbound

Diverted Heart

by Beth Ann Stifflemire
Publisher: Waldorf Publishing
Publication Date: August 15, 2015
230 Pages

Texas summers are no doubt some of the hottest you’ll find. The heat encountered during this summer is not at all what Taylor bargained for. She’s at a crossroads between childhood and womanhood, rummaging through the emotions of first love versus passion. Two young men tangle a web of needs and desires in her heart. The summer before college begins, Taylor is thrust from her childhood home in Houston to an inherited family farm on the outskirts of Schulenburg, Texas. Eric, her first love, has gone states away to play college football. Low-spirited and merely trying to get through an expectantly boring summer, she is nearly run off the road by her new country neighbor, Maxwell. Ruggedly handsome, devilishly charming and everything Taylor seeks to avoid, Maxwell does something to her emotions she’s struggling desperately to interpret, as they spend the summer filled with each other. Boundaries are tested and the scales of lust tip despite hesitations. A final decision must be made. Did she ever truly love Eric? Is Maxwell simply a lustful thought, or is there more to uncover beneath the surface? One thing is for certain, this summer will change Taylor in every possible way: mind, body and soul.

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | IBOOKS | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

Against the quiet that’s consumed the entire run, a loud rumble a short distance away instantly distracts me. Hearing the annoyingly loud noise quickly approach, I step to the roadside just as a large, lifted white pickup truck flies past, sending dust in every direction. What the hell? I cough as the dust lifts, ready to shoot a middle finger into the air and choose a few colorful words for whatever jackass has just passed, when the truck comes to a halt with lit lit-up brake lights. Oh hell. This isn’t good. Abduction comes to mind as the truck slowly backs up in my direction. Should I run? Would Judge attack if I needed him to? My heart is beating gigantic palpitations in my chest.

The truck slows to a stop so the tinted window of the driver’s side is even with me, then rolls down, emitting the sound of some twangy country song—Silver Wings I think—that’s playing on the radio. The driver is now visible, and I am startled by an unexpectedly good-looking guy, slightly older than me, by the looks of him. He has a wide, all-pristine-teeth grin, dark blonde, yet sun-kissed, hair cut short but a bit unruly, and rich, dark eyes with flecks of hazel in them.

“Hi there, pretty lady.” ,” The the stranger speaks with a rugged voice and a sultry drawl.

I don’t know whether to read him the riot act for his crazy, asinine driving, or stare in awe at his surprisingly handsome features. I decide on the smartass route.

“What the hell is your basic malfunction? You could’ve creamed me if I hadn’t heard you coming.” Judge sits calmly at my side, but perks up his ears with the sudden raise in my voice. “Whoa, sassy.” He lifts his hands above his head as if under arrest. “I apologize, young lady. It’s not everyday people decide to take a walk on these country back roads.”

He returns his hands to the steering wheel. I quickly glance over the vehicle, noticing a large, black, duffel-like bag in the back of the truck. It makes me nervous.

“What is that?” I point at the black bag peeking out of the bed of the truck.

“What?” He looks surprised. “Why don’t we just start with, Hi, my name is Maxwell Bara, Max to most. Yours?”

I feel slightly—slightly—bad for my ill manners, so I momentarily reciprocate. “Taylor.” I strive to give away no hint of emotion, feeling my lips struggle to hold a hard line and not shift into a smile.

“Oh, she has a name…Taylor. Beautiful name.” He grins, again revealing his salacious smile.

“Boy, you come on strong, don’t you, Maxwell?” I try hard to hold my ground.

“Like I said, most people call me Max, but Maxwell works, too.” He presses his lips together. I can see he’s not accustomed to his full name, and it beckons my devious side.

“Well, Maxwell, would you like to answer my question?” I point again to the back of the truck.

“Oh, the bag again.” He glances back at it and then to me, and offers a mischievous grin. “That’s where I hide the bodies.” ,” he half laughs, half acts serious.

“Huh?” I don’t know how to take his answer, shifting my attention once again to Judge. “Well, this is my dog, Judge. He’s very protective, so you may want to steer clear.” I, of course, announce this as Judge rolls over on the ground to have his belly rubbed. Lovely timing, Judge.
“Uh, huh….terrifying. But he’s a good-looking dog anyway.” Max props himself up slightly to see Judge out of the passenger window. After taking a gander at my dog’s antics, his eyes travel the length of my body before meeting mine.

Blog Tour Schedule:

Aug 17 – Because This is My Life, Y’all

Aug 18 – Texas Book-aholic

Aug 19 – TexasBookLover

Aug 20 – Books and Broomsticks

Aug 21 – My Book Fix

Aug 22 – The Crazy Bookseller

Aug 23 – The Page Unbound

Aug 24 – Feather Pens, Tartan Dreams

Aug 25 – A Novel Reality

Aug 26 – Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books

Beth Ann is a wife, mother, blogger and book lover from Texas. Her passion is writing stories that draw a reader into a world where they can become the characters and experience a gamut of emotions. When she’s not writing, she loves to be home with her family and two yellow labs. In addition she’s a sucker for super sappy romance movies, loves trying out Texas wines, is an avid hot tea drinker and enjoys checking items off of her ever-growing bucket list.

AUTHOR LINKS:
Website | Book Site | Blog Site | Facebook | Twitter

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Rosco Jack of Gateway Farm Promo

Posted on August 22, 2015 by The Page Unbound

In Rosco Jack of Gateway Farm author Ken Bangs chronicles the struggles of a castaway puppy abandoned at the gate of his farm in the piney woods of East Texas. The story celebrates the classic struggle of the less advantaged against the obstacles of life that challenge even those who are best prepared.

The story has its roots in Ken’s experience in caring for disadvantaged and at risk children in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

After serving 35 years in law enforcement and public safety, the last 25 as the Director of Police, Security and Student Safety Services for the Plano ISD, Ken retired to Gateway Farm near New Boston and established a home for these children. Here he gave them a home, encouraged them to believe in themselves and their ability to make a life for themselves and worked to foster a hope for the future in each child.

Over the years, he watched success after success for those who caught the vision and refused to surrender to their life’s circumstances.

Then came Rosco. Dumped at the front gate in the middle of the night this three-pound runt evaded predators, outlasted the night and made his way to Ken’s house. His struggle was just beginning. Life was hard for the pup. But he refused to quit and eventually achieved his goal, a place alongside the big dogs of the Gateway Posse.

Rosco Jack is the perfect blend of fantasy, drama, humor and learning. It is a great read for the young, young at heart and for all those who love to root for the underdog.

BUY LINK:

http://www.amazon.com/Rosco-Jack-Gateway-Farm-Bangs-ebook/dp/B00KOF8Z0S

Blog Tour Stops

Aug 17 – Bookishjessp

Aug 18 – My Book Fix

Aug 19 – All For Love of the Word

Aug 20 – Books and Broomsticks

Aug 21 – Hall Ways

Aug 22 – The Page Unbound

Aug 23 – Texas Book-aholic

Aug 24 – Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books

Aug 25 – Because This is My Life, Y’all

Aug 26 – The Crazy Bookseller

Ken Bangs is a native Texan who grew up in the then small town of Plano. By the time he was ten years old he knew for a certainty that he wanted to spend his life as a police officer. Following high school graduation Ken joined the Dallas Police Department and was walking a beat in downtown Dallas at the age of 19.

Ken spent 35 years in law enforcement and public safety the last twenty five as the Director of Police and Security Services for the Plano ISD. After retirement Ken and his wife Trudy moved to a farm outside of New Boston Texas where they established a home for children who were in the care of the Texas Child Protective Services. For the next ten years they devoted their lives to these disadvantaged children. An ordained minister Ken also served as the Senior Pastor for Regions Christian Center in Texarkana.

A veteran of the United States Army Military Police Corps, Ken holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice, a M.S. in Human Relations and Business Management and a Doctorate of Ministry in Christian Counseling.

Ken and Trudy have been married 45 years and now live in McKinney, Texas

More about Ken and his books here:

http://www.amazon.com/Ken-Bangs/e/B00KMEEQ8Q

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Easter’s Lilly Book Promo

Posted on August 9, 2015 by The Page Unbound

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE

BLOG TOURS

presents

EASTER’S LILLY

Judy Serrano

It was Easter Sunday; the day Lilly’s life went from safe and comfortable to dangerously unfamiliar. Her transformation takes her from a small town girl having an affair with a low ranked gangster in the Montiago crime syndicate, to a woman of grace and fortitude married to the head of the organization.

Lilly tells the story of her life — and the lives of her children — with childlike innocence, yet she’s desperate for security and companionship. The hint of forbidden love and betrayal that ultimately puts brother against brother adds to the suspense and intrigue. The syndicate engulfs the Montiago family as they turn each other inside out over the love of a woman. Easter’s Lilly is an inspired journey from the idyllic to the darker side of self-discovery. Read as the over-privileged brothers embark on their journey that twists and turns down the road of unbridled passion in the first book of the series.

AMAZON BUY LINK

BARNES AND NOBLE BUY LINK

Judy’s books are available in print in Hastings

and Roma’s Books in Rockwall, Texas,

and anywhere ebooks are sold.

Judy Serrano holds a Master of Arts in English from Texas A&M University, Commerce. She is the owner of Make Cents Editing Service, and was an adjunct professor at a local college. Currently she teaches high school English and is a freelance writer for certain on-line publications. Judy also writes romantic suspense and paranormal romance novels. She is the author of The Easter’s Lilly Series,The Linked Series, and Ivy Vines, Visions.
Although originally form New York, Judy resides in Texas with her husband, four boys, four dogs and now two cats. She sings and plays guitar when she has time and enjoys singing with her very musical family in church when she is able.

Author of The Easter’s Lilly Series, Linked

and Ivy Vines, Visions.

www.JudySerrano.com

Believe.com

Amazon.com

Dallas Parenting

Dallas Book Reviews

Blog Tour Schedule:

Aug 6 – Books and Broomsticks

Aug 7 – A Novel Reality

Aug 8 – Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books

Aug 9 – The Page Unbound

Aug 10 – Texas Book-aholic

Aug 11 – Because This is My Life, Y’all

Aug 12 – TexasBookLover

Aug 13 – My Book Fix

Aug 14 – Bookishjessp

Aug 15 – The Crazy Bookseller

blog tour services provided by

www.lonestarliterary.com

Pretty Enough For You Promo

Posted on August 7, 2015 by The Page Unbound

Lone Star Literary Life Blog Tours

presents

PRETTY ENOUGH FOR YOU

by Cliff Hudder

Ne’er-do-well immigration attorney Harrison Bent can’t imagine why the wealthy and mysterious Maggie Leudecke wants him to solve her eminent domain problem. If he didn’t have an angry wife to placate, an inscrutable stalker to identify, an obsessed girlfriend to escape, and a murder to solve, a successful outcome to the Leudecke case might revive his career, pay for his autistic son’s special school, and—most important of all—help convince his young paralegal, Chloe, that the afternoon she spent with him in a cheap motel wasn’t an error in judgment, but the beginning of something profound.

If only he had some clue as to what he was doing …

Praise for PRETTY ENOUGH FOR YOU

“I can think of no one writing today who has so beautifully put into vital relationship officious history and literary fiction with such provocative and thoroughly entertaining results. This is a stunning debut by a master storyteller.” — Wendell Mayo, author of Centaur of the North, In Lithuanian Wood, and B Horror and Other Stories

“I don’t recall many historical novellas or novels abounding in comedy. Another distinctive technique is the pseudo-footnotes. They remind me of Nabokov’s footnotes in Pale Fire.” — Robert Phillips, author of Spinach Days, News About People You Know.

From the book: I know myself. That’s the good news. That’s also the bad news. For example, I knew I was not equipped to deal with the Leudecke case. I also knew I wouldn’t turn it down or hand it off to somebody better suited. But, seriously, what background did I have in eminent domain? Or with Mexican drug dealers? Or dead Mexican drug dealers? None. And I knew it.

CLIFF HUDDER earned an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Houston. His work has received the Barthelme and Michener Awards, the Peden Prize, and the Short Story Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. His novella, Splinterville, won the 2007 Texas Review Fiction Award. He teaches English at Lone Star College-Montgomery and lives in Conroe, Texas.

Author Website: www.cliffhudder.com

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Texas A&M Press | B&N | Texas Review Press Catalog

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