In Patti's Imagination

Thursday, October 11, 2018

COVER REVEAL -- J.A. DeRouen's WAITING FOR AUTUMN!!!!

Title: Waiting For Autumn

Author: J.A. DeRouen

Genre: Contemporary Romance Cover Design: Mignon Mykal of Oh So Novel Design

Release Date: October 25, 2018

Sebastian

“Race me for it.”

Four simple words. Five desolate years.

Sebastian Kelly believes he isn’t worthy of redemption, of a chance to right his wrongs. But an unexpected trip home, the place he dreads most, calls in question everything he’s come to believe. And who knows, he may find exactly what he’s been waiting for.

Autumn

One broken promise. Two pink lines.

Autumn Norris knew in an instant her life would never be the same. Years have flown by in a flurry of sparkles and dress up, and Autumn has refused to let the anchor of regret pull her under.

Until she lays eyes on Sebastian, and the wave of why, where, and how could you flood her every thought.

Old hurt and new betrayal twist first love into a reluctant partnership, and theirs may be a bond even pigtails and butterfly kisses can’t mend. But the past five years have felt like a lifetime, and Seb is willing to wait as long as it takes.

Because the truth is, he’s always been waiting for Autumn.

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J.A. Derouen lives in South Louisiana with her husband, son (aptly nicknamed "The Professor"), and her furry friend, Scout. She has a bachelor’s degrees in psychology and nursing. When she's not writing or inhaling romance novels by the stack, she works as a women's health nurse. She’s been an avid reader and daydreamer since childhood, and she's never stopped turning the page to get to the next happily ever after.

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AUDIO BLOG TOUR C A Gray INVINCIBLE

Author: C.A. Gray

Narrator: Melissa Thom

Series: Piercing the Veil Trilogy, Book 2

Publisher: Wanderlust Publishing

Released: Sep. 07, 2018

Length: 8 hours 12 minutes

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

The Shadow Lord rises again seeking a weapon of ultimate power. Peter Stewart is a dead ringer for the legendary King Arthur, and because of that, everyone in Carlion believes that he is the Child of the Prophecy, destined to destroy the Shadow Lord. But Peter doesn't want to be a hero; all he wants to be is left alone. Lily Portman also fits the prophecy. Having spent her entire life as an orphan and a misfit, Lily would love nothing more than to be the Child of the Prophecy, so she envies Peter...but she's also developing a crush on him. And it seems to her that he couldn't care less. Isdemus and the Watchers believe that it is only a matter of time before Peter's twin brother Kane betrays them all and frees the Shadow Lord. The winner of the war to come depends on who has the legendary Philosopher's Stone - the only problem is, it has been lost since the days of Arthur. With the help of a skeptical anthropologist, the Watchers attempt to decode the ancient treasure maps that lead them to the heart of Egypt and the dawn of time. Meanwhile, Lily and Peter discover that Peter holds the real key to the mystery...but will they be too late?

By day, C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD) with a primary care practice in Tucson, AZ, and she writes medical books under her real name (Dr. Lauren Deville). She lives with her husband, with whom she maintains a facetiously contentious movie review blog, and travels as often as they can get away. When not writing or seeing patients, she does yoga, drinks red wine while eating dark chocolate, and consumes audiobooks like there’s no tomorrow!

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Melissa has over 17 years’ experience as a voice actor, broadcaster, presenter, entrepreneur & communications consultant. Always fond of spinning a good yarn, she has an English Literature degree & studied acting at Bristol Old Vic & The American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco. Melissa kicked off her career in 1999 as station voice at Surf 107.2, Brighton. She went on to host breakfast for the GWR Group and Sunday breakfast on Galaxy 101 for Chrysalis. Numerous gigs for major brands followed, including Heineken - where she was the main voice for their ‘Found @ Thirst’ annual Caribbean DJ competition for over 4 years. Current clients include Google, Facebook, The Economist and Late Night Tales - a series of artist curated compilation albums.

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I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by C.A. Gray. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

REVIEW
[Flora]

I love this author. She is so talented at having so much learning in such an epic plot. The theme of working together no matter your differences and using your strengths is the only way to survive and of course good versus evil. There is quantum physics, math, science geography and history all wrapped in an Arthurian Legend involving relatable characters. It even taught about reading a map legend. It ends in a cliffhanger and is a bit more sophisticated a read than first book. Peter and his friends and family must join forces with an ancient sect who are trying to educate the public about their having hidden talents as well as saving the world from the evil Shadow Lord. I really loved the dualism of the main characters and their role in the mystery of the legend. While the author does a wonderful job of keeping the reader in the loop from book one, I recommend reading them in order as book two picks up right at the end of book one and does resolve a bunch of mysteries left unsolved by the end of book one. I would recommend this to sixth grader readers and to teachers who want to recommend a great book to keep their students learning while being entertained. The narrator was wonderful. While she speaks with a British accent it will be easy to understand her. SHe does an amazing job reading the ancient language and places. I love the way she using pauses and inflection to show emotions of the characters. I can not wait to listen to the next book.
Rating:
Amazon/Goodreads: 5/5
In Patti's Imagination: 10/10

BOOK ONE

Oct. 4th: In Pattis Imagination The Book Junkie Reads . . . Oct. 5th: Lilly's Book World Adventures Thru Wonderland Oct. 6th: Notes from 'Round the Bend T's Stuff Bean's Bookshelf Oct. 7th: Jazzy Book Reviews Oct. 8th: Haddie's Haven Writers N Authors Oct. 9th: Lynn's Romance Enthusiasm Smada's Book Smack Oct. 10th: The Book Addict's Reviews

BOOK TWO

Oct. 11th: In Pattis Imagination The Book Junkie Reads . . . Oct. 12th: Lilly's Book World Bean's Bookshelf Oct. 13th: Notes from 'Round the Bend Adventures Thru Wonderland Oct. 14th: Lynn's Romance Enthusiasm T's Stuff Writers N Authors Oct. 15th: Jazzy Book Reviews Oct. 16th: Haddie's Haven Oct. 17th: The Book Addict's Reviews

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Thursday, October 4, 2018

AUDIO BLOG TOUR C A Gray INTANGIBLE

Author: C.A. Gray

Narrator: Rebecca McKernan

Series: Piercing the Veil Trilogy, Book 1

Publisher: Wanderlust Publishing

Released: July 19, 2018

Length: 11 hours 46 minutes

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Peter Stewart grew up on a unique version of the Arthurian legends taught him by his father, a harebrained quantum physicist who asserts that anything is possible. But Peter disbelieves anything which cannot be scientifically explained, despite a nagging sense that there is more to the world than meets the eye. Lily Portman is an orphan with a secret: she can see creatures that are invisible to everyone else. These creatures control every human being she has ever met to varying degrees...until she meets Peter and his father. When a mysterious stranger stages an accident which nearly costs Peter and Lily their lives, suddenly Lily learns that she is not crazy after all, and Peter discovers the truth of his father’s stories...including the existence of Arthur’s ancient nemesis, one who calls himself the Shadow Lord, and a prophecy with implications so profound that it will alter not only the course of their lives, but potentially the fate of the world.

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Born in the eighties, her formative years in the nineties, Rebecca's taste in music and fashion never really had a chance. Fortunately, you can't tell these things from her writing or voice over work. Her first novel, Trespasser, is as dark as her neon is bright, and you'd never guess from hearing her that she's narrating science fiction in nothing but unicorn pants. Currently residing in London, Rebecca is passionate about travel, and has a good- albeit sometimes dubious- ear for accents. She graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a degree in something or other, has a background in musical theatre, a past career in burlesque, and is a classically trained opera singer. Oh, and she likes greyhounds. And wine.

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I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by C.A. Gray. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it

REVIEW
[Flora]

Intangible by CA Gray is book one of the trilogy Piercing the Veil. This is a great book with lots of adventure and mystery it is a kind of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones meets the Arthurian Legend. It involves math, physics, science, and history. A great introduction to the Arthurian Tales. I would highly recommend this for student in sixth grade or higher. There are strong female characters with many non-traditional roles. All. the characters are complex and have a mystery surrounding them. Nothing is not important in this plot and the author weaves the tale wonderfully. This is a very entertaining book that teaches along the way. This author did her homework. This is a story that is filled with adventure and reluctant heroes. It has an intense good versus evil feel. It moves very smoothly from present day to ancient times and in between places which makes it a good book for those who are struggling readers, nut need a more sophisticated story. The physics, math, science and history are subtle, but extremely well explained making this a good book for " teachable moments". The author has an excellent way of vividly describing the scenes as they develop throughout this epic plot. The narration is clear she uses different voices dramatic pauses and expresses the emotions of the characters wonderfully. Some of the words in the story are in another language that are very hard to pronounce yet she is able to not only pronounce the words but has the characters learn the language she give mispronouncing and hesitation which only added to the relatablity of the characters. I really like that during the action scenes she seems to speed up her voice to match the urgency felt by the very complex well-rounded characters. The story is taking place in England and the narrator's voice appropriately has an English accent, but is very clear to those unfamiliar with accents. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series and while it does not leave too much of a cliffhanger there are still things that need to be explained or loose ends tied up and great characters that I want to know more about.

RATING:
AMazon/GoodReads: 5/5
In matti's Imagination: 9/10.

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Q&A with Author C.A. Gray

Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Piercing the Veil is set in Norwich, England, because that’s where I studied abroad when I was a junior in college. That experience changed my life, and in many ways I left my heart there. Of course much of it is also set in Carlion, the fantasy world of the former Camelot, too. That was more incidental: they’re British and Arthur is a story everyone is familiar with, so it was easy to borrow! Also, I think all of my main characters have aspects of me in them, because I imagine how I would react in a given situation or how I might say something, and I put that in their heads or their mouths. But I suspect I’m pulling all of my characters from experience, whether it be myself, others, or fictional archetypes. You write what you know.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- The most difficult part of the writing process are those days when I have to make myself write, but I’m really distracted by something else. It’s super hard to focus, and I don’t feel like I’m writing anything worth saying, but I do it anyway. This is where my outline really helps - I brainstorm a world and a general gist of the story, and then I outline the story in broad strokes. Next I outline the nitty gritty, down to what happens in each chapter. Then I write from the outline, in roughly 20 page chunks, editing as I go (whether I’m feeling it that day or not). Enthusiasm comes and goes; writing is a discipline, like anything else.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
- Audiobooks are the primary way I consume fiction! I listen while I drive, work out, cook, get ready for work, etc. Much as I still love physical books, I just don’t have time to read them anymore.
Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
- I love how Rebecca brings the Ancient Tongue to life!
If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
- Assuming I could also come back (I wouldn’t want to live outside my own time forever), I’d go to Regency England because I love the Jane Austen era so much. And I’d go to Renaissance Italy -- I’d love to see whether people realized they were in the midst of such a cultural awakening at the time. And I’d go to Israel circa 30 AD, to meet and follow Jesus in person.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
- All my books are series so far, so I can only speak to that! I tend to come up with epic storylines that are hard to wrap up in a single book. I enjoy series also because it gives me more time to develop the characters and get to know them. But sometimes I enjoy reading a stand-alone book if I’m not wanting to invest as much time, and just want a satisfying ending quickly.
What's your favorite:
- Food: Flourless chocolate cake or chocolate ganache cake from Trader Joe’s. Basically anything dark chocolate, though.
- Song: Right now, “Satisfied” from Hamilton: An American Musical.
- Book: Can I cheat and say the whole Harry Potter series?
- Television show: Most recently, “Sherlock.”
- Movie: Again, can I cheat and say the whole Harry Potter series?
- Band: Artist maybe? Sara Bareilles
- Sports team: I really don’t care but if you twisted my arm, I’d say New Orleans Saints (a family team)
- City: Norwich, England
Are any of those things referenced in appearance in your work?
- Norwich is! It’s the “home base” setting in the Piercing the Veil trilogy.
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- As mentioned before: writing is a discipline, like anything else. You might also think of it as a marathon, rather than a quick sprint… so you have to pace yourself. Create a routine--whatever works for you--and stick to it.
What’s next for you?
- At the moment, I’m working on Jaguar (http://www.authorcagray.com/books/jaguar/), the third book in The Uncanny Valley trilogy. Should release in Fall 2018!

BOOK ONE

BOOK TWO

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