Fabulous and Brunette
Welcome to FAB Lovelies!
A Lifestyle blog that focuses on all things from fashion to beauty; fitness to weight loss; recipes to coupons; books to movies; travels to entertainment; and everything in between.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Nick Before Christmas by K. L. Brady - Book Tour - Book Sale - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
The Serendipity of Catastrophe by Lisa Fellinger - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
The Serendipity of Catastrophe
by Lisa Fellinger
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GENRE: Women's Fiction
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BOOK BLURB:
A mother defeated by anxiety. A daughter determined not to become her mother. Can one month in Europe reunite them?
Anita Lorello is paralyzed by grief. When her husband dies in an accident the night before a long-awaited retirement trip, she’s devastated by the loss of her partner and once again shelves her dream to finally visit Europe. But when her estranged daughter agrees to accompany her nearly a year later, Anita is eager for the opportunity to repair their relationship.
Carrie Lorello’s life is crumbling. After a night of clouded judgment ends in her being fired, her mother’s offer of a one-month paid vacation seems like her best option. But she refuses to get caught up in her mother’s irrational worries and critical comments, and under no circumstances is she to learn what a failure Carrie’s proven to be.
Desperate not to lose her daughter again, Anita fights to conquer her anxiety and become the mother Carrie always wanted. But as Carrie’s life grows more and more complicated, her mother is the last person she wants to confide in.
Without anyone else to hold them together, can Anita and Carrie overcome their differences, or will the secrets between them derail their trip and destroy their relationship for good?
The Serendipity of Catastrophe is an emotionally compelling work of women’s fiction. If you enjoy travel stories, complex mother-daughter relationships, and lovably flawed characters, you’ll love this hopeful story of resilience and second chances.
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EXCERPT THREE:
Anita turned and set her eyes on the ride, its rainbow-colored seats impossible to miss. Victor never would have expected her to go on the Ferris wheel, but somehow it seemed like exactly what she needed to do to move forward, to prove to herself she would no longer allow anxiety to rule her life. To most, it may have been a simple carnival ride, but to her it was so much more.
The line was shorter than Anita expected, and soon she was next up. The young girl ahead of her climbed into a bright green bucket with her father, and her mind drifted to Victor and Carrie all those years ago.
“Next,” the operator called out.
Anita walked to the next open bucket, this one sunshine yellow, and climbed in. With a small lurch, the wheel took off, propelling her slowly into the air. Instinctively, she closed her eyes, then forced herself to open them. She didn’t come this far to ride with her eyes closed. Besides, it made her more nauseous not to see where she was going.
At the top of the wheel, she looked out across the amazing city she’d spent the past few days exploring and falling in love with. Although this Ferris wheel was smaller than the one in London, being up on a mountain made it seem as though she was higher off the ground than she was.
“I did it, Victor,” she whispered.
She smiled as the wheel lifted her up and around once more. She had done it. She made it to Europe, made her way to Tibidabo on her own, and conquered her fear of Ferris wheels.
But there was still work to be done.
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GUEST POST:
Overcoming Writing Obstacles
Writing a book is challenging. Beyond learning the craft of writing and how to tell a good story, finding the time and mental energy to sit down and write an entire book, then revise it countless times can be a mental battle.
For me, my biggest struggle initially was finding the time to write. I started by getting up early in the morning to write before work, but when my work schedule changed and I began going to the gym in the mornings instead, I had to figure something else out. So, I started writing on my lunch breaks. Every day, I’d go to the library, or sit in my car, or go to Starbucks on my lunch and spend the hour writing. I treated it like a second job. Some days I wouldn’t feel like writing, but when I pulled out my computer and opened my manuscript, my brain knew it was time to work.
But then my world was turned upside down. In 2020, my son was born, and I decided to start my own business as an editor and book coach. Any time I had for my own writing was now eaten up by being a mom or building my business. My manuscript sat untouched for months. Even though I desperately wanted to write, I didn’t have the energy at the end of the day to do so.
Eventually, I remembered how I had so much success before: by treating my writing like a job. I needed to give the same level of commitment to my own creative work as I did to my actual work. My time was even more limited now and some days were entirely unpredictable with my little one around, but I made an effort at the beginning of each week to schedule in writing time as appointments with myself in my schedule, and I made every effort to ensure I kept those appointments with myself. Of course, mom life meant some would be missed, just the same as with any other job, but I tried to reschedule that time where possible or gave myself grace when I just had to miss the writing time altogether.
Progress might have been slower than I was used to, but I finished the book. And I have another one in progress. When people tell me they wish they could write a book, but they don’t have the time, I always encourage them to start anyways. Sure, you might not have the time to write a book as quickly as you’d like, but you can still make slow progress. And I truly believe that making slow progress towards your dream is better than putting those dreams on hold indefinitely.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Lisa Fellinger writes contemporary women's fiction with lovably flawed, relatable characters. When she's not writing her own stories, she's helping others achieve their writing dreams as a book coach and developmental editor. She lives in Buffalo, New York with her husband, son, and fur babies.
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CONNECT WITH LISA:
Website:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/lisafellingerauthor
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lisafellinger_author
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BOOK BUY LINK:
Books2Read:
https://books2read.com/u/ml6kpq
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Lisa will award a $20 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner's Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
Seven Days at Mannerley by Audrey Schuyler Lancho - Book Tour - Blurb Blitz - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Our Lives In Between by Billie Kowalewski - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
Friday, April 19, 2024
Pursuit of Innocence by Bethany Rosa - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
Thursday, April 18, 2024
The Fallenwood Chronicles by Leslie D. Soule - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!
The Fallenwood Chronicles Series
Books 1 - 4
by Leslie D. Soule
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BOOK SERIES BLURB:
The Fallenwood Chronicles is the ongoing story of Ash Kensington, a young woman who finds herself transported into a fantasy world, where she must take up arms in a battle of Good vs. Evil, against the Dark Lord Malegaunt. Tragedy strikes her life in the real world, but she finds friends in Fallenwood, like her mentor Will Everett, a talking cat named Greymalkin, and a court jester named Terces.. Working together, they battle against the odds as Ash faces attacks from the world and from within. Eventually Ash finds the strength within herself, to attempt the fight against Malegaunt, against overwhelming odds, come what may.
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EXCERPT TWO:
“A dark, difficult, dangerous path lies before you, Ash Kensington.” Ash’s heart grew heavy. In truth, she knew that she was destined to some terrible, dark fate. For so long, her life was filled with sadness and doubt, and one horrible thing after another. What else can I hope for? “But Ash, you must not lose hope. Our world needs you, and you must learn to be strong, so you can find the power within yourself to change things for the better. Prove that you are stronger than your Fate. Prove that you are worthy of this life that you have been given. William Everett has agreed to guide you, and there will be others in this realm that you must learn from. But your future, your life—everything from this point on is up to you. For you have been granted a precious gift—to return to the place and time you left in coming here, once your quest is through.”
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GUEST POST:
The Background Of The Fallenwood Chronicles
So let us begin at the beginning. I’ve always written myself stories, as a matter of habit, ever since I was little. I never questioned what I was doing, back then, as I typed away on my StarWriter word processor – I just did it, imagining quests and strange characters and scenarios that never were. And eventually I hit upon a character – Ash. She came to me first, as a character I could loosely base on myself, and then I wanted to give her friends. As a child and teenager, I had this cat named Bogey, and he would always sleep at the foot of my bed every night, and was the sweetest little creature I knew. [Photo of Bogey is below]
He was named Bogey because my stepfather was an avid golfer, and that’s who named him. So it seemed natural that I should give Ash a friend who was a cat. The cat character was going to be based on Bogey. And at the time, I’d been reading MacBeth, and there’s one part where the witches say, “Come, Greymalkin”, and I knew that that’s what I wanted to name him. So there we had Ash and Greymalkin. And the story grew from there.
The various characters that show up in the Fallenwood Chronicles, all have little pieces of me in them, though some of them are based on real people, like Will Everett.
Victor Hugo wrote that, “A writer is a world trapped in a person.”
And so it was, with me. I never expected to write four novels that would become a series. In fact, Forgetting Fallenwood (book 2 of the series) was something of an experiment. Could I transport Ash back to the real world? Have her follow me through my state job, and see how she would react? And why did my own world seem to fall apart when I tried to act the way society says you should? I demanded answers of the universe.
Well, Forgetting Fallenwood flowed effortlessly from my imagination. Where Fallenwood had taken years to write, I wrote book 2 in about six months or so. But critics were not so kind. I did not receive words of praise, for book 2. While I managed to avoid the topic of suicide that the first book took on, I still managed to write a book that received negative criticism. So I shelved my writing career for years on end. I thought I was a bad writer. And I didn’t touch the Fallenwood series again for quite some time.
But then I realized, that writing isn’t about sunshine and roses. It’s about “writing clear and hard about what hurts”, like Hemingway said. It’s about bleeding your heart onto the page. So I determined that I would keep on going, and write as clearly as I could, about all the ways in which the world had come to hurt me. Book 1 (Fallenwood) is about Death and coming to grips with it. Book 2 (Forgetting Fallenwood) is about Identity and loss of memory. Book 3 (Betrayer) is about Betrayal. And Book 4 (Retribution) is about Revenge.
So there you have it. At the end of the day, I’m proud of having written the Fallenwood Chronicles, despite whatever negative feedback has come along with it.
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AUTHOR BIO & LINK:
Leslie D. Soule received her M.A. in English from National University. She is a scholar, artist, citizen journalist, and martial artist. She has been an established writer for a decade, and has novels published by Melange Books, Terror House Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Nat 1 Publishing. The Fallenwood Chronicles is her 4-book fantasy series and features the novels Fallenwood, Forgetting Fallenwood, Betrayer, and Retribution.
Twitter handle:
@Fallenwood1
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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS:
Book One - Fallenwood:
https://www.amazon.com/Fallenwood-Leslie-D-Soule-ebook/dp/B00OJR1KEA
Book Two - Forgetting Fallenwood:
https://www.amazon.com/Forgetting-Fallenwood-Leslie-D-Soule-ebook/dp/B00HOXV4OW
Book Three - Betrayer:
https://www.amazon.com/Betrayer-Fallenwood-Chronicles-Book-3-ebook/dp/B073RRKRGM
Book Four - Retribution:
https://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Fallenwood-Novel-Leslie-Soule-ebook/dp/B08D6T81QM
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Leslie will awarded a $25 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner's Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.