BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - BECOMING LADY LOCKWOOD, INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER MOORE

Hello and welcome on FLY HIGH!,  Jennifer. It’s a great pleasure to have the chance to present you and your new spellbinding novel,   Becoming Lady Lockwood to my readers, since they are always so interested in historical fiction!  Could you tell us something about your heroine,  Amelia?

Amelia is independent and resourceful. She has no problem digging in when there’s something to be done. She’s not squeamish or spoiled. She thinks she has a plan for her life, but her tyrant father has other things in mind.

She is a colonist who grew up on a sugar plantation, so she doesn’t quite fit in with the ton of London. Her clothes aren’t the right style, her manners aren’t refined. But frankly she doesn’t care about that sort of thing.

She has a good heart and while she’s wary and proud in the beginning, she learns to trust the captain and officers and even the seamen aboard the ship.

Is she inspired by any other literary heroine you admire?

Lizzie Bennett, of course, but also I like Sheridan from ‘Until You’ by Judith McNaught. For some reason I picture Amelia looking like the actress the who plays Snow White on Ever After. Sort of plucky and happy. Bright blue eyes.

AND, THEN, THEY COME BACK ...

I know,  I've been often very critical to my students here at FLY HIGH! Who can forget my disappointment while in Dublin or Malta on school trips! There are posts here and there about school and about my constant sense of frustration or disillusionment, if you click on the tag school. To be honest, there are also rare ones in which I write about successful moments, lessons or activities, but as I just said, they are pretty rare. 

What I want to discuss today is a part of my job I still feel quite uncomfortable with. To be a teacher includes a very stressful task,  which is to  assess  and evaluate, and that is what makes everything so complicated in terms of relationship. If only I could give my lessons and avoid tests, marks, reports and final decisions that would make my job perfect. Education without evaluation. This must sound irrational or utopian to many of you,  but that would make everything much, much easier, you know. Will the students learn, anyway? I'm sure they will,  somehow.

BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY - THE HUSBAND MAKER BY KAREY WHITE

The Husband Maker by Karey White

 Charlotte’s a girl with nicknames. She may not love being called Charles or Chuck, but the hardest nickname to take is the one she was given in college, the one that’s followed her now for too many years. They call her “the husband maker” and sadly, it fits. Every guy she’s dated since high school has become his next girlfriend’s husband. Not hers. Not three girlfriends down the road. The next. Is she doing something wrong or is she just cursed? When Kyle Aldsworth enters the picture and sweeps her off her feet, Charlotte begins to hope that maybe she's not destined to be single forever. A senator’s son with political aspirations of his own, Kyle's wealthy, handsome, and in need of a wife. Will Charlotte be disappointed yet again, or will she finally be able to make a husband for herself?

Get your copy of The Husband Maker for just $3.99!

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Excerpt

I’d always heard the view from Top of the Mark was exceptional. When San Francisco Life listed the top ten places to view the skyline at night, Top of the Mark was ranked number three, so when the invitation to Harrison’s wedding arrived, I finally had an excuse to take in the view for myself.

MOTHER & SONS

Today is my son's birthday. 23, a young man.  Don't worry, I'm not going to bother you with my memories of when he was just a baby in my arms, how fast time has passed, how kind a boy he is and neither I'll post a picture of him blowing at candles. Even less I wish to start crying on how old that makes me feel. Not. at. all.

It is just a special day which brought some special thoughts to me.

I have been thinking about what to be a mother to sons means. And my idea is that it is quite different from having daughters, at least, with my indirect experience,  it seems different. With my two sons, I sometimes lack the understanding I've got with my nieces, for instance, or the different relationship they have with their mother, my sister.

WRITERS & ACTORS - A HALF SERIOUS, HALF BORING REFLECTION ON WHY I AM FASCINATED BY THEM

Richard Armitage as John Proctor in The Crucible

There are two kinds of people I am particularly fascinated by, writers and actors. Not for the glamour surrounding them. In fact, I'm not interested in the extremely popular ones, the very famous. Honestly, I'm more attracted to their jobs, than to their popularity or personal life. I consider good acting and good writing the result of meticulous craftsmanship, artistry and, only rarely, art. I'm particularly drawn to these two categories of people, widely known or not,  since their professions are somewhat magical to me. 
They've got the power to create life, to give life through words.

I know actors use their whole bodies, so , let's say, mostly through words. Most of an actor's job is based on words, and they are very often essential to the achievement of the main goal: a successful performance. 

Meeting author Fabio Stassi 

Writers and actors create life through words, they give life to characters, and characters do not only represent people, they are people once the actors lend them their bodies and voices.

I love to think  that , more than stories, actors and writers create personae (persons in Latin, characters in English)  and they,  the characters, interacting, contribute their story. They are not mere fiction, they are not unreal. They live,  and they live on long in certain cases,  in our minds and hearts. Longer than the human being who created them. 

As for actors, once they are in a movie, for instance,  they never actually die. The go on living in their characters, in those frames. They go on giving them life and voice. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see ... in Shakespeare's words.

BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY - MATT ARCHER REDEMPTION BY KENDRA C. HIGHLEY

Matt Archer: Redemption

“There’s more to me than you know…” 

 When Matt Archer’s sister, Mamie, said those words to him three years ago, he had no idea how prophetic they were, or what this would mean for his family. Now, he knows. And it changes everything, bringing the war right to Matt’s doorstep. In the epic conclusion to the Matt Archer series, the endgame is near. Betrayed by an enemy, the wielders have been called off the hunt by their own government, despite increasing reports of paranormal activity—and deaths—worldwide. Matt is forced to sit on the sidelines, knowing that proving monsters exist means revealing who—and what—he is. Soon the world will know his name…which will only make his job harder. Matt’s only hope resides with a man he barely knows—his father. If Erik Archer can put together the final puzzle before the monsters do, maybe they’ll have a chance. Maybe. Mystery, tragedy and the power of family combine as Matt races to win the war and save the people he loves. There’s just one thing he’s afraid of… It might already be too late.  

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JULY KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY

Enter to win 1 of 2 great prizes both values at $229. Winner’s choice of a Kindle Fire HDX or $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 Paypal Cash! The first prize is available via the rafflecopter below. The 2nd is available only to bloggers who post about this giveaway. You can find info on how to enter the 2nd giveaway in the rafflecopter.

Win a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash ($229 value)

LONDON - THE CRUCIBLE EXPERIENCE

After all these years, at last 

I know you've been reading  all those excellent reviews the show has been getting after press night and I don't dare compete with them. This is just my totally biased account of an incredible adventure, the one my friends and I shared going to London to see The Crucible and, of course, Richard Armitage. Can you imagine how thrilling it might have been meeting him and, above all, seeing him in action on stage? I bet you can, if you know me at least a little. And can a dream come true meet expectations? Yes, unbelievably so, in my case. Even surpass them. Before you go on reading, here are a couple of due warnings: 1. you'll find some spoilers here and there 2. you may suffer from sudden fits of envy or jealousy. Sorry. 

FREEBIE! SPELL CHECK BY JULIE WRIGHT - GRAB YOUR COPY NOW!

Spell Check by Julie Wright 

 A skeleton is rattling its way out of the closet marked “FAMILY SECRET! KEEP OUT!” Allyson Peterson believes that being hanged by the Salem High Witches is the absolute worst thing that can happen. But when her powers, wrested from the trolls of ancient Sweden, manifest themselves, she realizes that a prank hanging by vindictive cheerleaders is the least of her worries. Ally accidentally sends her parents to the jungle to fight anacondas, turns her brother into a mute, and curses the entire cheerleading team with an illness that has no cure, proving that her spells need a little checking. Her Swedish grandmother shows up to help her through the worst part of all—surviving the Troll Trials and saving the guy of her dreams from a vengeance that has festered through-out generations. The power is in her, if she can just get the magic right.  

Grab your copy on Amazon

Author Julie Wright

 Julie Wright (1972-still breathing) was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She's lived in LA, Boston, and the literal middle of nowhere (don't ask). She wrote her first book when she was fifteen. She's written sixteen novels--nine of which are traditionally published. Julie won the Whitney award for best romance in 2010 with her novel Cross My Heart. She is agented by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger Inc. She has one husband, three kids, two salamanders, one dog, and a varying amount of fish (depending on attrition). She loves writing, reading, traveling, hiking, playing with her kids, and watching her husband make dinner. She used to speak fluent Swedish, but now speaks only well enough to cuss out her children in public. She hates mayonnaise.

Website

BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY - UNCOVERING COBBOGOTH BY HANNAH L. CLARK

Uncovering Cobbogoth by Hannah L. Clark

 Norah Lukens needs to uncover the truth about the fabled lost city of Cobbogoth. After her archaeologist uncle’s murder, Norah is asked to translate his old research journal for evidence and discovers that his murder was a cover-up for something far more sinister. When she turns to neighbor and only friend James Riley for help, she realizes that not only is their bitter-sweet past haunting her every step, but James is keeping dangerous secrets. Can Norah discover what they are before its too late to share her own.

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  Praise for Uncovering Cobbogoth

"With a fascinating protagonist in Norah Lukens, a fully realized, never before seen fantasy world, and a fast paced, compelling story, Uncovering Cobbogoth establishes Hannah L. Clark as a major new voice in American fiction. The richness of the story and the scope of the world she's created screams for a film adaptation. This is a fantasy novel for everyone, even readers not usually drawn to the genre. Highly, highly recommended!" -Bryce Clark, author of Red Shirt Kids