Book Blitz: The Shadow of the Tudor Rose by Wendy Leighton-Porter

A graduate of Exeter University in the early 1980s, I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, before a change of career led me to writing children's fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, I live with my husband and our beautiful Tonkinese cat.

The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max. I'm now working on the 17th book, The Shadow of the Great Fire. The series also includes several novellas that feature Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo adventures. As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I'm hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too. 

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In 1588, a plot to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth the First is about to unfold. At this crucial moment in English history, four visitors from the future arrive in Elizabethan London. 

Twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot, together with their friend Charlie and their talking cat Max, embark upon their next journey into the past as they continue the search for their missing parents who are lost somewhere in the mists of time.

Finding themselves at the heart of a web of conspiracy, can the young time-travellers solve the mystery of the Tudor Rose?

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Character Casting:

The characters in my series of books

There are four main characters in my series:

Eleven-year-old twins Jemima and Joe Lancelot; their best friend from next door, Charlie Green; and my favourite character, Max the talking Tonkinese cat.

Jemima and Joe have lost their parents who vanished in mysterious circumstances. With their parents missing, the twins are sent to live with their father’s brother, Richard Lancelot, a confirmed bachelor. Uncle Richard, a professor of ancient history and archaeology at the University of London, has no experience of bringing up children and, although he loves his niece and nephew dearly, he has a steep learning curve ahead of him. The loss of their parents and their move to London are tough for the twins, and they find it hard to adjust until, one day, they discover something that gives them hope – their parents travelled back in time through the portal of an ancient book, but left behind the key that would bring them home. Jemima now has that key, and so the children embark upon a quest to find them, searching through the pages of history. The twins share a close bond but their characters are quite different. 

Jemima is sensitive and caring but, with a tendency to speak her mind, she has a temper when provoked. She adores Max and is fiercely protective of him.

Joe is more laid-back, but has an impetuous, reckless streak, sometimes acting without thinking.  

  

Charlie, whose parents are divorced, hasn’t had many friends before and was always something of a loner before the twins moved in next door. Exceptionally clever, he’s a bit of a geek and has suffered a lot of teasing at school. His marked resemblance to the fictional character of Harry Potter, complete with round glasses, didn’t help. Since becoming friends with the twins and joining them on their time-travelling expeditions, Charlie emerges from his shell and his self-confidence grows. His amazing brainwaves and encyclopaedic knowledge make him a vital member of the group.

Max, short for Maximus, is an exceptionally large but devastatingly handsome lilac Tonkinese cat with aquamarine eyes. Everyone he meets falls for his charms, but he has a unique ability for a cat. With a magic owl charm that he wears on his collar, he can speak and understand human speech. The character of Max brings an element of humour to the stories, thanks to his grouchy one-liners, his clumsiness and tendency to get into scrapes. There is also something extra-special about Max, but I’m not going to let you into the secret here – it’s too much of a spoiler!

If my stories were made into films, I can just imagine an animatronic version of Max stealing the limelight! 

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Official Book Blitz: Chubbs by Sandra Sorenson-Kindt

Sandra Kindt is always up for a good story, written or verbal, although there is that cookbook she won in elementary school that hasn’t seen the light of day. But the times she’s been caught reading historical novels with a highlighter—because there’s always something to learn—should make up for that. 

After earning an MA in communication, she taught Organizational Behavior at several universities and Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in the corporate world. Her love of writing goes back to the journals she started in the fifth grade, when she fancied herself Nancy Drew. She loves to hang out with her four grown-up kids and six grandchildren. It’s like visiting the best parts of herself. 

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A mangy alley cat isn’t at the top of anybody’s adoption list. Nevertheless, when Grandma Sandy scoops it up into her arms, her heart nudges her to take it home, and she listens. Grandma always trusts her feelings. 

Lots of tender care soon transforms the mangy cat into beautiful, round Chubbs. But when she loses her sight, will she listen to her feelings like Grandma and learn to trust the one who loves her most? 

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Interview With the Author:

What is your book about?

Chubbs: A Blind Cat learns to Trust is a faith-based, inspirational story about a cat who learns to trust her rescuer.  The relationship between Chubbs and Grandma Sandy is a comparison to the relationship we each have with God. Literally blind, Chubbs must learn how to navigate her world just like figuratively blind, we must learn to depend on God’s Spirit to help us navigate our  lives.

Why did you write a children’s book?

I wrote this story to share with my grandchildren and to introduce ideas that could be helpful in our noisy, confused world.

Have you always loved cats?

Definitely. When I was in the first grade, I came home from school and found my cat Calico wildly yowling. She was pregnant, but I didn’t connect the dots between her pain and her condition. I did what made me feel better when I had a stomachache. I took her inside and laid her on a heating pad in my bed. When she began howling again, my dad came in my room and scooped her up in his huge hands and took her to her own bed in the outside storage room.  I followed them and watched with wonder as she birthed three kittens.

What things do you enjoy the most?

I love reading, writing, exploring family history, quilting, and photography. I used to take pictures of  my children all the time when they were young. I also love matinee movies as long as there’s a lounger chair, Diet Coke, and popcorn.

How do you choose what to read or write?

True stories inspire me. Imagining myself in the story offers an experience I may never have otherwise. Chubbs's story is true. Writing about life’s experiences from a spiritual perspective is important to me because I believe that spiritual life and daily life aren’t separate.

What are you good at? 

Sewing and Quilting are in my bones. I began learning those skills when I was ten. Sitting on my Grandmother’s bed, I watched how she effortlessly completed a project that seemed too hard for me. I don’t have her patience. Quilting her way, by hand, did not work for me so I had to find a way to quilt with a sewing machine. My quilting style today is very therapeutic. It helps me focus. I’ve learned to follow directions, and I’ve learned much about life by painstakingly “ripping out” my mistakes and starting over.

That’s another thing I good at—being resilient. If I don’t succeed the first, or second, or seventh time, I rally the courage to try again.

I can do hard things. Life isn’t always comfortable or fun. But I know I am resourceful and determined when circumstances require me to be. And most of all, I know that I don’t have to do hard things by myself. God watches over me when things are hard, and I don’t know what to do.

How do you like to spend your time?

When I need something magical, I visit my darkroom where I can watch images emerge from a tray of chemicals.

To rediscover hope, I play with my grandchildren.

To deepen my faith, I study, pray, meditate, and serve. When I’m serving or studying, I’m reminded that my Heavenly Father is always with me.

If I feel cynical or lack trust, I resolve to be more trustworthy.

To escape, I read. I can transport myself into another time and place and imagine how I might carry on in another world.

                          

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Blog Tour: High Sierra by Adrienne Quintana

When Jasmine Fuentes finds herself thousands of miles from home, forced to hike around in the wilderness of California with a bunch of juvenile delinquents, she’s convinced she doesn’t belong. 

Forage for food, build shelter, make fire—Jasmine sets out to learn what she needs to do to ace the program so she can go home and salvage her summer vacation. But the more she tries to prove she doesn’t need wilderness therapy, the more desperate her situation becomes. Confronted with life and death, she comes face to face with her past and her imperfections. Will Jasmine ask for help before it’s too late? 

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Adrienne Quintana is the author of Eruption as well as several children's books. When she isn't writing, Adrienne enjoys running, hiking, and matchmaking (Are you single? She probably knows someone perfect for you.) 

She lives in Arizona with her husband and four children, who give her love, support, and plenty of good material for Instagram.   

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Excerpt

When we stopped in front of the Curry Village Pizza Patio, I didn’t want to get off with everyone else. How much community service would I be sentenced to if I hijacked the bus?

“C’mon, guys,” Pizza Face called, “real food.”

It was no use. I had to go. The court had already given me my freebee. A hijacking would definitely go on my permanent record. But standing up wasn’t as easy as you’d think. My legs were shaky, and my pack felt like it was full of boulders.

Because it was, actually.

The chain gang had almost reached a set of stairs on the side of the building when I was just barely stepping off the bus. A sign pointed customers of the Pizza Patio up the stairs. I didn’t think I could eat due to my depressing life, but the smell of fresh bread and Italian seasoning changed my mind.

“The restrooms are down here,” Backwoods Barbie said, looking directly at me. “Why don’t we go wash up? Whoever gets done first can order. What do you guys like? A combo?”

“No mushrooms,” Emphysema said.

“Or olives,” Michaela added.

“Or green peppers,” said Quiet Wolf.

“So just pepperoni?” Abercrombie laughed. “Sounds good. I’ll get us a table.”

We followed Backwoods Barbie inside, dropping our packs next to hers in a narrow hallway outside the restroom. I guess she wasn’t worried someone would steal them. I shrugged. If somebody was stupid enough to want them, they deserved what they got.

I barely recognized myself in the tiny bathroom mirror. My face was pretty clean, but dirt covered my bare neck and the front of my shirt. I felt strangely sentimental about the existence of paper towels, as I did the best I could to clean myself off. And running water. How could I have taken it for granted? It was so beautiful.

Michaela and Emphysema went to join the boys upstairs before I was finished, but Backwoods Barbie stayed behind with me.

“Can you believe you’ve hiked over fourteen miles in the last three days?” she asked. “Doesn’t it feel amazing?”

I glared at her out of the corner of my eyes. Was she saying that because she thought I’d never done anything physically hard before? Okay, maybe I hadn’t hiked like this, but it wasn’t like I’d just been sitting at home on the couch.

“How are you feeling?” she asked when I didn’t respond to her first stab at conversation. “You’ve been so quiet all afternoon.”

“I don’t have anything to say,” I told her. The paper towel I’d been using to scrub fell apart, so I took another from the dispenser.

“You’ve had a tough day,” she said, “but I’m impressed. You never complain, and you really pushed through, even after you fell.”

I stopped scrubbing at the dirt on my arm.

Glad you brought that up. Just in case I’d forgotten. I blew out a breath and started scrubbing again. Couldn’t she just go away and leave me alone?

“You’re the only one who decided to carry your rocks all the way down, you know.” she continued.

So we were going to talk about the rocks. Now I understood. She wanted to know why I hadn’t given them away.

“Firewalker said we could give them to him whenever we wanted…” I shut the sink off. “I didn’t want to.”

“Fair enough,” she said, smoothing her ponytail. “I just wonder why anyone would want to carry around extra weight when it’s so easy to give it up.”

Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking I was too self-righteous to admit I had problems. Wadding up the paper towel, I threw it in the trash with a vengeance.

“Carrying extra weight is what I do.” I charged past her, through the door. “Skinny people rarely understand.” Slamming my hands against the door, I stormed out. But the door didn’t swing closed behind me as I’d expected.

“Jasmine,” Backwoods Barbie called, following me into the hallway, “wait.”

Ignoring her, I pushed open the glass door.

“You’re forgetting something,” she said.

Forgetting what? Was she going to pass on some annoying Miwok wisdom? Or maybe she wanted to apologize for being skinny. I didn’t really care.

This day just needs to be over. I continued on up the stairs without looking back.

Customers stood in line under the green and white striped awning, waiting to order at the window. Others sat at hexagon shaped picnic tables with green umbrellas. My group took up two tables in a corner near a tall tree. Its branches pushed over the railing, encroaching on the umbrella’s space.

“Where’s Monica?” Pizza Face asked, before I even sat down.

I shrugged and sat at the other table, next to Noah.

“Look at that,” Quiet Wolf said, nodding toward a family that was just pulling apart a large Hawaiian. My mouth began to water as soon as I saw the stringy cheese. The sight and smell of it temporarily erased my disgruntled attitude toward life while the primeval desire to eat real food consumed me.

“How long until ours will be ready?” I asked.

“They said fifteen minutes, but that was about ten minutes ago,” Pizza Face answered.

I expected someone to acknowledge Backwoods Barbie when she came up the stairs. She should have been right behind me. What was taking her so long?

I was starting to get nervous about what she might be doing. Did it have something to do with me? My question was answered all too soon.

“Monica?” Michaela stood up and looked from the stairs to me and back again. Everyone else stood too, except Noah. We both turned around to look at the same time.

Backwoods Barbie trudged up the stairs sandwiched between two packs—hers slung over her shoulders and mine in front with her arms wrapped around it like a jumbo paper grocery bag. Abercrombie rushed over to meet her, taking my pack. Everyone else turned their stink eyes on me. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

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Monster Mash Countdown Blitz Day One: Emma's Dilemma by Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

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Horrors! Emma's favorite Gothic novel seems to have come true...but reality is not as fun as fiction. The only man she's ever loved is home from war, but he has changed in a terrifying way. Unless Emma's wild imagination is wrong, the love of her life is a vampire! Now she must decide if she can love a creature of darkness, or reveal his secret and lose him forever.

This tongue-in-check novella plays with themes of paranormal fiction, but stays in the realm of clean and wholesome historical romance while exploring the power of trust and love.

Dance with a duke, outwit pirates, save a kingdom, and fall in love. Believe in happily ever after.

Praise for Donna Hatch:

“Donna Hatch is one of the masters of clean romance with electric tension and smokin’ hot kisses.” ~ Reading is My Super Power Reviews

“Written with heart and depth, Donna Hatch’s books are absolute must-reads for any fan of swoon-worthy historical romance.”  ~ Sarah M. Eden, USA Today best-selling historical romance author

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Top Tens List:

Donna’s Top 10 Favorite Things to do

Go for long walks with a friend

Have a tea party

Go to the beach

Build sandcastles

Watch the sunset

Visit gardens

Make ice cream

Hike with my family

Play miniature golf

Read a good book

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Great Summer Reads: Love on a Limb by Laurie Lewis

Laurie (L.C.) Lewis will always be a Marylander at heart—a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies. Her ninth published novel, her first romance novella, Sweet Water, was inspired by a visit to Oregon’s magnificent coastline, and time spent with Mother Eugenie, upon whom the character Mother Thomasine is based. 

Laurie’s women’s fiction novels include The Dragons of Alsace Farm (2016), Awakening Avery (2010), and Unspoken (2004), written as Laurie Lewis. 

Using the pen name L.C. Lewis, she wrote the five volumes of her award-winning FREE MEN and DREAMERS historical fiction series, set against the backdrop of the War of 1812: Dark Sky at Dawn (2007), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2008), Dawn’s Early Light (2009), Oh, Say Can You See? (2010), and In God is Our Trust, (2011).

She is currently completing a political suspense novel planned for a summer 2017 release, a re -release of a romantic comedy, and she’s working on another historical fiction novel for a 2018 release. She loves to hear from readers.

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Matthew Grayken is young, successful, and dying, which is why he’s about to propose to a total stranger. He isn’t interested in love. He needs a caregiver, a companion, and someone to be his legal voice when he can no longer speak for himself.

Lonely, compassionate nurse Mikaela Compton is intrigued by Matt Grayken’s tender request, but when their friendly marriage turns into love, she rejects the inevitability of Matt’s death and prays for a miracle instead.

Mikaela succeeds in reigniting Matt’s will to fight, but his body is losing the battle, and her determination to save him causes her to betray the fundamental promise she made him--to help him die peaceably.

Their last hope at saving Matt's life will require a sacrifice from each of them, and force them to decide how far out on a limb they're willing to go for love.

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Snippet:

         

“I love you, Matt.” The words were spoken in a whisper, so light and airy that they tickled his lips. “Just finally be mine. Give me these arms to hold on to. This shoulder to lay my head on. This mouth that speaks honesty to me and gives me kisses. These are enough until you’re well. Just knowing you love me is enough.”

Each word had been followed by a touch that left him weak in the very best way. It took some doing to position their bodies so Mikaela could rest her head upon his chest without causing him pain, but the sensation of her against him was less painful than her absence. 

He drank in the heady scent of coconut in her hair, and felt life pump through him with the rise and fall of her breaths. He loved the press of her forehead against his throat and knew in that moment that he had been a prideful fool, squandering precious months on the silly notion that he could bar this woman from fully claiming his heart.

The tree lights’ glow softly burned through the first traces of dusk. Small lights brightening a darkening night. He wondered if that was why Mikaela set the tree up early, to remind him that even when they couldn’t hold back the darkness, they must hold on to the light.

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