Exiles by L.J. Ambrosio (VET, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

EXILES

by

L.J. Ambrosio

 

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GENRE:  Literary Fiction/Coming of Age

 

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BLURB:

 

In this final chapter, Ron's story concludes from Reflections on the Boulevard (2023). Michael's wish was for Ron to exile himself in the heart of Paris with its beautiful culture and citizens as they protest and fight for the soul of the city. Ron's journey is met with life-affirming friendships and lessons along the way. The final book in the Reflections of Michael Trilogy, which started with A Reservoir Man (2022).

 

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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

 

The morning arrived, and Ron and Julia anxiously awaited Lily. A knock on the door and there was Lily with Louie. They began to move the baggage out when Julia loudly said Rhonda needed to be walked.

 

Louie volunteered to walk Rhonda, his new friend. Ron told him he had to pick her up and take her to the park and then put her down.

 

“Why?” asked Louie.

 

“She cannot walk on all those cigarette butts on the sidewalk. She cries as if she is walking through fire. Just take her downstairs, and we will put her into the car. Hey, watch out, she is blind in one eye.”

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio taught at 7 Universities. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.

 

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GIVEAWAY 

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Presenting the Marriage of Kelli Anne & Gerri Denemer by PD Alleva (VNBtM, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT ADULT title

I have the pleasure of sharing a guest post from author PD Alleva, who answers my question...


ELF: Which author(s) has/have been the most influential to you and how or why?

PDA: Three writers come up most often when answering this question. Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and Dan Brown, three writers who are masters in their genre and have had such strong impacts on the writing world. All three have had equal impact on my writing career during various stages in my life. Hemingway in my late teens and early twenties, Stephen King during my late twenties and into my thirties and Dan Brown pushing that envelope up until and including current times.

Why Hemingway? Well, let’s be honest the man knows how to write and its really just as simple as that. His subtle nuances and minimalist approach is classic, not to mention he’s one of the great American writers of all time.

Stephen King: The Shining is a true masterpiece of horror literature and his ability to put out book after book is an inspiration. The best writing advice ever is from Stephen King’s memoir On Writing, which is just as entertaining as any of his novels. He exhibits the true nature of what it takes to be a writer including his discipline with writing 10-20 pages a day and to always keep the momentum going, despite any sort of writers block that may develop along the way. If you’re going to take advice from an author, get it from the best. Despite genre or whether you like the man and his novels, he’s a proven commodity.

Dan Brown: His intelligent thrillers not only keep the reader wanting to learn more about his characters and plot, but also force the reader to actually think about the content, question the status quo, seek alternative points of view and he wraps it all up in a neat little package of fiction expertise. Aspiring authors can receive more than a few tips from Dan Brown’s writing and accomplishments.

Writers are looking for success. Success comes in two ways, sales and respect. All three of these authors have achieved both in grand fashion.

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Presenting the Marriage of Kelli Anne & Gerri Denemer

by 

PD Alleva

ADULT title

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GENRE: Literary Fiction/Romance/Dark Fiction

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BLURB:

The Denemer's had it all: Fame, fortune, family, and the American Dream. But tough times have landed on their doorstep— Gerri's acting career is mired in controversy, financial decline is strangling the family bond, and his marriage to Kelli Anne is on the rocks. He'd rather die than face another catastrophe, something the Devil is more than eager to assist. On the night Gerri attempts to end his suffering, his plan is thwarted by a voice in his smart TV, pulling him into a dimension where past, present, and future collide, and the fate of the human race hangs in the balance. But Gerri is not alone. The Devil's minions are nipping at his heels and Kelli is right behind them, determined to save her family and put right what has gone wrong. Will they be successful? Is the bond between husband and wife strong enough to defeat evil? Will they prevent World War III or will evil's plan triumph? Presenting the Marriage of Kelli Anne and Gerri Denemer: A Horror Story, is a tour de force thriller of dark fiction, romance, and horror in an epic battle between good and evil.

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EXCERPT

He ran to the house, struggling through the wind that sought to push him over, to deter him from entering that house.

“No, Gerri,” the chaperone hollered. “Do NOT go in there!”

But Gerri quickened his pace.

The chaperone was in front of him.

He turned to go around him.

The chaperone was in front of him.

He jerked to the left, running at max speed.

The chaperone was in front of him, pushed Gerri to the ground. Picked him up and clasped Gerri’s shoulders with an iron hand.

“It’s not allowed, Gerri.”

“What’re you talking about? I just want to go home.”

The chaperone laughed. He started pacing, circling Gerri with his hand on Gerri’s shoulder.

“What do you think, Gerri, hang yourself and you get to go back home? No, no, no, Gerri. Look around you. You’re not even close to home!”

“What? That can’t be!”

“Between worlds, Gerri! That’s where you are. What’s in that house is nothing. Nothing more than the slither of energy you left, the portal of death with the stink of fear. You’re not welcome there. Not welcome at all.” He slipped his hand off Geri’s shoulder. Stepped an arm’s length away from him.

“No, no, no, this can’t be! This can’t be.”

“Oh, yes, Gerri, it can, and it is.”

The chaperone paused.

“It’s best that you come with me Gerri.”

Gerri screamed, “Where did I go wrong?”

The chaperone stiffened.

He turned to the house and paused.

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

P.D. Alleva is an author, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist specializing in trauma, addiction and mental health. He is the author of several books, including fiction novels, Indifference and A Billion Tiny Moments In Time…, Seriously Twisted; These Gods of Darkness (Poetry), Let Your Soul Evolve (1st and 2nd ed), and Spiritual Growth Therapy: Philosophy, Practices and Mindfulness Workbook (non-fiction). He has developed behavioral protocols for addiction and mental health and teaches mindfulness, Buddhist meditations and manifestation techniques to his patients as a means and alternative to using pharmaceuticals. He is currently in private practice with his wife, Lisa. He lives with his wife and children in Boca Raton, Florida.

Follow the Author:

Instagram: pdalleva_author

Twitter:      pdalleva_author

Facebook:  @Paul Alleva

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GIVEAWAY


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The tour dates can be found here




 

Let's Stalk Rex Jupiter! by Allison Spector (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY)

It is my pleasure to share a guest post from author Allison A. Spector

I Write Because I’m a Middling Actor

by

Allison Spector

I write because I’m a middling actor. Other people’s words have a strange taste, and they don’t sit well in my mouth. They come out garbled, regurgitated, and unconvincing. I prefer to speak my own.

I write because my gait is awkward and my legs and clumsy and if I tried to dance, I would certainly trip over your shoes. But if I scribble my thoughts on a napkin at the table as I watch you dance, you’ll know I was enjoying myself.

I write because it takes days, weeks, months for me to draw, paint, or sketch anything half as powerful as the poems I can whip up with a flick of my fingers in a few minutes, or hours.

I write because even though I feel awesomely beast when I play the electric uke—I don’t think my neighbors, or cats, appreciate the melodic screeching.

I write because words fill my heart, and dance in my brain, and flow with colors and sound, and vibration.

I write because in writing I am able to breathe, able to think, able to dream.

I write because when I write, my soul flutters with happiness.

I write because you’re reading these words.

You.

Right here, right now.

And I thank you.

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Let's Stalk Rex Jupiter!

by Allison A. Spector

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GENRE: Humor, literary fiction, with elements of magical realism

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BLURB:

Trouble’s brewing in the Evergreen Jungle. When controversial author Rex Jupiter plans a visit to a Bellingham bookstore, news of his arrival attracts the attention of the mysterious Paladin, who plans on leading a mob of rioting housewives against him. But the Paladin has competition. Sleuth-extraordinaire Marian Krause has her own bone to pick with Jupiter as she scrambles to solve the death of a woman who has stolen her identity. Rex may think he has the situation under control, but when the wrath of the local Druids is incurred, pitchforks and torches may be the least of his concerns.

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EXCERPT

“You…you saved me!” Phil stammered in disbelief. His head reeled with delirium as he stared at the wiry, tanned, vaguely mustachioed, brown-haired girl with the interconnected eyebrows, and he immediately thought of a young Frida Kahlo. Which was kind of awesome because Frida Kahlo was his favorite twentieth-century Mexican artist.

And even better, this girl was like some kind of acrobatic superhero. One who swooped to the rescue on a rope!

Spider-Frida!

The thought that such a person existed make Phil's brain fog over with awe. Or maybe it was the blood that had rushed to his head during his rescue. Also, there was the adrenaline of the attempted-suicide-turned-love-at-first-sight. Or maybe it was just his seasonal allergies. Whatever it was, Phil just couldn’t stop wheezing.

Abbie, too, appeared a bit overwhelmed. She fought back the temptation to mutter some too-cool-for-school rejoinder like “you’re welcome, kid” or “you can let go of me now.” But none of these suited the occasion. Thus, she simply lay on the rocky riverbank in the arms of the stranger she had just saved from imminent death. They were both soaking wet and grinning—happy to be alive.

And they should have been pleased with themselves.

It was not easy to unhook oneself from a harness and travel to shore with a rather large male in tow. She was glad for the lifeguard training she had taken during her Aquatic Superhero Phase. Phil had helped, too, with his half-hearted doggy paddle.

Yup, they were a good team.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Allison Spector was born and raised in the hedonistic playground of the Jersey Shore, but finds herself oddly allergic to spray tan.  She is a proud graduate of Goucher College, and started her environmentally-focused career in Washington DC in 2005.  She moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2008, and fell in love with its beauty and people.  Allison is currently on a Midwestern Adventure and is determined to live as much life as possible—to accomplish her dreams one at a time—and to nurture her loving family, and blaze a trail of wit, whimsy, and eccentricity wherever she goes.

Twitter

Website

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GIVEAWAY

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The tour dates can be found here


 

The Diamond Grenade by Daniel Julian (VBB, excerpt and GIVEAWAY) GFT

The Diamond Grenade

by Daniel Juliane

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GENRE:  Literary Fiction

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BLURB:

The Diamond Grenade is the story of a family line and a revolution told in five novellas - a complex tale told simply.

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EXCERPT

Book I: A Father’s Fate

At one point, on the banks of a confluence where two rivers ran together like closing thighs, there was a certain boatman. This boatman, name of Gur, had a fine long pole (not too bendy, not too strong) with which to move his long wide boat upon the water. Gur slept with his pole, lest it go missing. Then one evening while he was ferrying a few paying passengers from one put-in to the next, Gur’s pole got stuck in thick river-bottom mud and muck and he lost his grip and the pole sank out of sight. Cursing, Gur leapt into the water and dove for the pole. Long minutes passed and Gur’s nubile daughter Guri, at the prow of the boat, began to wail. Gur did not come back up. They found him later downstream. This is how the girl Guri became a very young boatman with a shoddy pole.

The thing about Guri is that she knew everybody. All the fares on her boat. They didn’t necessarily know each other all too often, but everybody knew Guri. And somehow she knew everybody back. She just had a mind for it. Who went with whom and how the families fell out. Names. All the names Guri knew. But only one name made her sing: Tuc. Tuc drank and threw dice, but early in their acquaintance he’d made bold to say that Guri would make a good mother. This observation of Tuc’s about Guri had won her over, so she sang his name in the dark. One syllable songs are short, but carry on the water.

Guri’s favorite disgruntlement was that there was no word for girl boatman. It was poling-upriver hard to get more than a grunt out of half her older passengers, because they didn’t see clear to it being right for her to be doing a man’s job. Tuc suggested ‘boatwoman’, but Guri allowed as how that was more the busty mascot off the bow of a ship than a person who poled for a living. Tuc took to riding with Guri quite frequently. Then one night, he brought her a new pole, and it was a good pole.

Not long after the new pole, Tuc convinced Guri to elope with him a ways downriver to a town where he had prospects. When they got there, they traded the boat and pole for two goats. Guri was better with people than with animals, so Tuc tended the herd while she met and memorized every person she could find. Soon she had so much work taken in to do for folks that what with going to the big, clean houses to perform services in between times, and attending in good turn to the day’s worth of all the waiting piecemeal work filling their modest house, Guri was too busy to make a baby.

Guri got fed up with being too busy to make a baby and made a baby. Tuc split. Guri’s popularity made her fatherless child the ward of the town. Everybody parented him. That’s why he grew up angry. His name was Gur, after his grandfather. Boy did he have a chip on his shoulder about being told what to do. Everybody told him when and where to jump. Only Guri could make him ask how high. Usually his answer would be jump why? The thing about having a whole village full of parents is that they are going to contradict each other and some of them are bound to be weird people.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

As in medical school, praxis then practicum: I saw one, did one, taught one… now I do one after the other. One novella after another I mean. And they’re good. I saw novellas while acquiring my Bachelor's Degree in English Language and Literature/Letters with a minor in Psych at Indiana University in the mid-nineties, I taught and did novellas a few years later while pursuing a Master’s of Arts in Lit. at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and I have done a fancy set of five well here now (as I pursue an AAS in Accounting at a community college, btw). For more about me, check out my website.

Try not to evict me from my little party of self-congratulations about this piece.

A set of five good serial novellas. Hope you find the time to enjoy them.

Please help spread the word.

Find texts through:

http://blurbraffle.weebly.com/blurbs

The book is free and can be downloaded here

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GIVEAWAY


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Chicken Soup and a Shot of Jack by Clarence 'Poet 402' Barbee (VNBtM, guest post and GIVEAWAY) GFT

I have the pleasure of having a guest post from author Clarence Barbee, who answers the question...


 

What do you think is the strongest attraction about the genre(s) you like to write in?

CB:  The genres that I mostly write in are literary fiction and poetry.  I love literary fiction because there is a story that has to be told.  Usually it’s of a personal nature, or experience, and honest experience tells the greatest story.  I’m not sure if poetry fits into the same genre, but it’s different with poetry.  Poetry allows for language to be explored, to be tasted, to be performed with all the feeling and emotion the language allows.

There is something magical about a story.  It takes us on a journey, and who doesn’t enjoy sitting down and hearing a story?  The best stories are always honest; it has the grit of the unknown, the waves of suspense, and the cleansing last breath of completion.  Literary fiction is also about learning lessons.  Through many experiences we as authors, (and moreover humans) go through things in life, which are tragic or triumphant.  In going through these things, we learn about ourselves, how we interact with others, how to better interact, and what not to do in certain situations.  Literary fiction becomes the handbook in some instances, with much better language, better emotion, and better understanding.

Poetry has been called the language of love, but can easily be the language of frustration, hate, misunderstanding or information gaining.  I’ve been writing poetry for around…20 years (but I’m really not that old).  The thing that keeps me writing it is that it captures “the instant” so well.  Poetry is emotional if nothing else; it defines our feeling within words chose, how they fit onto and into the page.  The arrangement is like musical notes, showing what good architecture sounds like.  Sometimes I think we forget the aesthetic value that poetry has.  We get wrapped up in the reading without looking at the poem—sometime, if I am able to scan a poem, and it looks good, it entices me more to want to dig in and read it.

The strengths that lie in literary fiction are, even though it is rooted in fable, there is an uncertain, but storied truth within its sculpted words.

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Chicken Soup and A Shot of Jack

by Clarence ‘Poet 402’ Barbee

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BLURB:

Chicken Soup, and a Shot of Jack is a strikingly impressive work of literary fiction from new author Clarence Barbee.  The writer weaves his form of prose, delighting readers with thought provoking lessons on how to balance the good and bad in life.  The book offers common sense values filled with humorous stories and tales.  

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EXCERPT

So why now, are we all not outraged, are we all not asking questions, and fighting, together?  Is racism still that strong, is the white supremacist structure still firmly in place, has the economic development of the African-American community risen so high there are too many economic elitist to give a damn?  It must be Facebook and Twitter, because I do not see the liberal white college students there in Missouri and New York, on the front-lines like they were in Mississippi, and we were during the 99% protest.  Why were the 99% protest called protest, and the protest in Missouri called riots?

--From the essay Black Lives Matter

Amazon buy link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Clarence Barbee has been writing and performing poetry for over a decade.  He has produced 9 spoken word albums, under the pseudonyms Nabraska and Poet402.  Clarence is now working on self-publishing books of essays and short stories.

In his professional life he has worked with, educated, and supported many children.  Clarence believes in keeping an eye on political planes and social occurrences such as changes in world leadership, and social inequalities.  These actions of men are a huge curiosity to the author; he believes in writing about them, and discussing them, so solutions can be made.

Clarence has taken these experiences and written about them extensively. He asks, “Who doesn’t want to be happy,” then goes about the business of finding the answer.  Please take some time to join him on this journey as they are set through words, sometimes with music, and always taken with a grain of salt.

Links

Website

Twitter:  @former402poet

Facebook

YouTube

Blog

Soundcloud

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