Song of the Boriccua by Olivia Castillo - Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway

Song of the Boricua

by Olivia Castillo

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GENRE:   Fiction

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BLURB:

Puerto Rico an island of contradiction, serves as an enchanting backdrop following three generations of women.

Elena:  Resilient and ambitious, but trapped by duty to her children.

Maria:  Passionate and headstrong, but married to a man she does not love. Josephina: Optimistic and romantic, but in love with an alcoholic.

Isabella: Clairvoyant and spiritual, but denies her heritage and roots.

Like the land these women are held hostage, unfulfilled and unable to find their happiness. Each generation like the land is cursed. Can they defy the powerful bond of the curse and free themselves to find love everlasting?

New Author, Olivia Castillo, like the jibaros of the past weaves a tale of sorrow and joy. Castillos' fiction is timely, offering a glimpse into the islands rich history and offering insight into the story that has plagued women for all of time, the search for true love and acceptance of self.

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EXCERPT

Elena

Bayamón, Puerto Rico, May 1937

During those late-night hours, the old fort was deserted, with the exception of a few amorous couples who embraced in dark corners, not caring if they were seen. From the top of El Morro, she would stare out in awe at the vast, black, beautiful sea, waves breaking along the rocks, stars bright above her.

The melody of the coquí kept her company and she promised herself and God that someday she would finish school. The spirit of her grandmother’s Taino ancestors filled her and she felt at peace, knowing that her grandmother was watching over her. One balmy night as she was coming back from one of these walks, she was startled by a low whistle behind her.

Regretting that she had ignored her mother’s warnings about being out so late, she swiftly removed her shoe to use as a weapon. She spun around to see who the culprit was and what she saw left her speechless.

An older, sophisticated man smiled at her, white teeth flashing in the dim Spanish streetlamp.

He was impeccably groomed, from his black brillian- tine hair and thin, polished mustache down to his shiny black patent-leather shoes. He was dressed in a white suit, with a white fedora cocked down over one eye.

She stood there, dumbfounded. Her experience with men had been limited to her father and a handful of childhood crushes. The man looked her up and down like a cat ready to eat a canary.

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I asked Olivia  

Where are five places you might visit for inspiration for your books? 

Here are her answers:

I would visit Eze in South of France, Paris, Tuscany, Morocco, and India.

I love to travel. I have been blessed to visit many amazing and beautiful places in the world. Some of the places that I have had the fortune to visit are Eze, Paris, Tuscany, Morocco, and India. The first three I have visited; the last two are still on my bucket list.

Eze is first on my list because it is one of my favorite places in the world. I visited in 2012 with my husband who at the time was my fiancé. 

We had to climb steps to get to our hotel, the Relais and Chateau. It was high on the cliff and ascending up we went through an old medieval, cobblestone village. The day was exceptionally clear and beautiful. When we got to the top it was breathtaking. It felt like a dream with the crisp air and brilliant azure ocean before us. I would have loved to have lived there for a year and do nothing, but write.

Paris would be my next favorite place. It is one of the most romantic places in the world. The streets are filled with festive Parisians everywhere. The arrondissement, Montmartre, was particularly amazing. Music was everywhere, and artists were busily painting and selling their works.

Tuscany is another inspirational place. I stayed in the beautiful town of San Gimignano in Florence, Italy. If I were to go there to write, every morning I would open my wooden shutters and listen to the church bells ringing.

The other two, Morocco and India, sound breathtaking. I’ve read about the lemon scented nights in Morocco and of course in India there is the most romantic palace in the world, the Taj Mahal--the palace made for love, made in love. How can one not be inspired?

These are all the places that would inspire even the least creative person.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Olivia Castillo is a New York native. After going to the prestigious Fiorello H. Laguardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, she went on to study graphic design at Otis Parson's College in Los Angeles. Along with being an entrepreneur, she is the mother of three children, and grandmother of two. When not writing or spending time with her family, she travels the world and paints. Song of the Boricua is her first novel.

Author website and blog:  www.oliviacastillo.org

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/songoftheboricua/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/oliviacauthor

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/oliviacauthor/

Buy on Amazon now:  https://amzn.to/2P63Wh9

The book will be on sale for $0.99.

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Olivia Castillo will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saving Nary by Carol DeMent - NBTM and Giveaway

Saving Nary

by Carol DeMent

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GENRE: Fictional

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BLURB:

A Finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Saving Nary explores the losses, loyalties and secrets held within families broken by war and genocide. This compelling novel presents a palette of unique characters who struggle to make sense of the events that led them to America, even as they ponder the bewildering culture and lifestyle of their new homeland.

Refugee Khath Sophal lost everything when the Khmer Rouge swept into power in Cambodia: his livelihood gone, his family dead or missing; his sanity barely intact from the brutality he has been forced to witness.

Now resettled in the Pacific Northwest, Khath treads a narrow path between the horrors of his past and the uncertainties of the present. His nights are filled with twisted dreams of torture and death. By day he must guard constantly against the flashbacks triggered by the simple acts of daily living, made strange in a culture he does not understand.

Then Khath meets Nary, a mysterious and troubled Cambodian girl whose presence is both an aching reminder of the daughters he has lost, and living proof that his girls, too, could still be alive. Nary’s mother Phally, however, is another matter. A terrible suspicion grows in Khath’s mind that Phally is not who or what she claims to be. A split develops in the community between those who believe Phally and those who believe Khath. And those, it seems, who don’t really care who is right but just want to stir up trouble for their own personal gain.

Khath’s search for the truth leads him to the brink of the brutality he so despises in the Khmer Rouge. His struggle to wrest a confession from Phally ultimately forces him to face his own past and unravel the mystery of his missing daughters.

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EXCERPT

As the sun rose, Khath sat cross-legged in a lotus position in the small Buddhist temple nestled below Khao I Dang Mountain. The barbed wire perimeter fence separated the mountain from the refugee camp, but the mountain lent its power to the area nonetheless. Pra Chhay and two other monks chanted the Heart Sutra, a prayer of enlightenment, the rhythmic drone rising and falling in a soothing and familiar hum as the scent of incense hung heavily in the hot, humid air. About thirty refugees sat on the straw mats covering the wooden floor of the bamboo temple. The lips of many were moving as they softly chanted along with the monks.

Khath’s lips remained still, his heart empty. If asked, he would not disavow the teachings. He believed the teachings, yet the words of the Buddha had lost the power to move or to comfort him. He felt somehow distant from the teachings, as though they controlled behavior on a different world from the one he inhabited. It was a very lonely feeling.

The monks chanted on, a background hum that began to irritate Khath. He might as well be listening to the drone of mosquitoes as he toiled on the dikes under the watchful eyes of the Khmer Rouge, their guns aimed and ready, afraid to brush the insects away from his face lest he be beaten for not putting full attention into his work.

Observing the others in the temple, Khath envied them their faith. Pra Chhay often said there were two levels of Buddhism, one being the simple devotions taught to uneducated villagers; the other consisting of the higher practices and theories studied by the scholar monks.

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I asked Carol about how she did her world building and here is her answer.

To build a world that feels authentic to readers, I try to climb into the skin of my characters and experience that world through their senses and emotions. What do they experience and what is their reaction to it?  In Saving Nary, the world inhabited by the protagonist, Khath, ranges from a refugee camp in Thailand – hot, dry, dusty, crowded, primitive – to the cool conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest.  I use my own experience with these environments to help describe them, and also look at pictures and watch movies if I am unable to physically go to those environs. I close my eyes and remember:  the hot prickly feel of humid, tropical heat pressing against my body…the astringent smell of a pine or fir forest, the scratch of blackberry vines against my skin, the taste and sensation of eating of fresh pineapple dipped in a mix of sugar, salt and hot chili pepper, the call of a blue jay or crow flapping overhead.  Remembering to represent and engage all the senses makes a setting feel whole.  Being able to contrast familiar worlds and unfamiliar worlds for the reader adds even more depth. Using metaphors and similes can be a great technique to employ here.

For Khath, there is yet a third world that he navigates throughout the book – the world of flashbacks, mental images so strong that his body reacts physically to them.  To build this world, I visited Cambodia’s sites of torture and took many pictures so that I could remember and describe them accurately.  I sat quietly in these locations and imagined the horror and felt shivers crawl across my skin and bile creep up my throat.  I read historical accounts and first person narratives so the scenes would be rendered accurately.  And I imagined times in my own life when I had been frightened, in pain or bullied to bring to mind the sensations that can accompany those situations: the pounding heart, the clenched fists, the acrid taste of fear. 

As an author, planned immersion in a certain amount of sensory and emotional stimulation related to our story will enliven the words we put on the page. Much like an actor often learns a new skill to be able to perform a scene realistically, so does an author get his or her hands dirty at times to be able to describe a world authentically.  Submitting to this process (within reason, of course!) is essential to writing scenes and describing a world that the reader can enter into and experience.  Having a good set of beta readers with experience in the situation can be very useful, too, as they give a thumbs up or thumbs down to settings and events.

Readers can send me emails about their experience in reading Saving Nary through my website, www.caroldement.com or at caroldement@comcast.net.

Thank you for inviting me to post on the Mixed Bag Blog! 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Carol DeMent worked in the field of South East Asian refugee resettlement for seven years, and completed master's level research into international refugee resettlement policy. She lived for two years in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer and has traveled extensively in South East Asia. Her first novel, Saving Nary, was a  Finalist in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Nary-Carol-DeMent/dp/1522982906https://www.amazon.com/Carol-DeMent/e/B01CRJ1EVA

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15089080.Carol_DeMent

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Carol DeMent will be awarding $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Snakes Can't Run by Ed Lin - Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway

Snakes Can't Run

by Ed Lin

After you read about the book be sure to read Ed's post on World Building.

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GENRE:   FICTION/Mystery & Thriller

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BLURB:

Set in New York City in 1976, Snakes Can't Run finds NYPD detective Robert Chow still haunted by the horrors of his past and relegated to tedious undercover work. When the bodies of two undocumented Chinese men are found under the Brooklyn Bridge underpass, Chow is drawn into the case. Most of the officers in his precinct are concerned with a terrorist group targeting the police, but Chow's investigation puts him on the trail of a ring of ruthless human smugglers who call themselves the snakeheads. As Chow gets closer to solving the murder, dangerous truths about his own family's past begin to emerge. Steeped in retro urban attitude, and ripe with commentary on minorities' roles in American society, this gritty procedural will appeal to fans of George Pelecanos and S.J. Rozan.

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EXCERPTS 

The mind is a funny thing. After I got on the wagon and fell in love with a girl, I started seeing my father out in the streets. I didn't literally see his ghost walking around, but I'd see his nose in profile on another guy's face. Sometimes I'd be walking behind someone who had his slouchy shuffle, his spotted ears, or the back of the head that looked like an elderly porcupine with spikes gone soft and white.

One time, a hand reached out to my shoulder and touched me exactly where he used to touch me from his chair after dinner to ask me to get him a beer from the fridge.

Of course it wasn't my father. It was an older guy who wanted to know if I was the guy whose pictures used to be in all the Chinese newspapers. The man was almost completely bald and had two light brown spots on the top right of his head that looked like an imprint from a woman's high-heeled shoe.

He called me the Sheriff of Chinatown. I tried to get away from him as soon as possible, but he was one of those people who liked to say good-bye and then ask another question just when you're about to part. The guy ended up grabbing both of my hands twice before I was able to make the corner and get away. I checked that my wallet was still in my pocket, though, just in case he had been working me with a partner. I guess he was genuinely glad to meet me.

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Ed's Take on World Building

I’ve been accused of doing more world-building than plotting out a mystery. That may be valid because I think the separation of “good guys” and “bad guys” as characters is so dumb. We all have a subjective morality. We all believe in karma to a degree. We read about some kid being bullied and share it online and we share the story thousands of times on social media. The bullied kid becomes this presence that everybody wants to build up and protect while the bully is demonized a thousand times over.

Of course it’s wrong that anybody is bullied but the story takes on a archetype in which we deny the bullied her own complexity and bully is denied her own nuanced existence. Maybe the victim really enjoys shoplifting and online porn. Maybe the bully lives in an abusive home and power plays are the only way she knows how to relate to people.

I enjoy exploring the complications, the strange destinies that all the characters need to fulfill. I can’t remember who said it, but there’s an adage that there’s no such thing as a simple, isolated crime. In Dog Day Afternoon, for example, the bank robbery was supposed to pay for a sex-reassignment operation, and to get two siblings out of foster care. Life is strange, and mysteries today should accommodate as much as of the messy and absurd as possible while remaining an intelligible story. Moreover, it has to be believable, while real life doesn’t have to be.

I feel like we are all alive to do good things for the people we love, if not everybody. This may or may not come at the expense of people we either don’t know or don’t like. Fiction is a zero-sum game. There is a poetic justice that a reader is acutely aware of. I want to make complex characters, put them in nuanced situations and have readers feel the thrill of almost getting away with “it.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ed Lin, a native New Yorker of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards and is an all-around standup kinda guy. His books include Waylaid and This Is a Bust, both published by Kaya Press in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Snakes Can't Run and One Red Bastard, which both continue the story of Robert Chow set in This Is a Bust, were published by Minotaur Books. His latest book, Ghost Month, a Taipei-based mystery, was published by Soho Crime in July 2014. Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung, and son.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertchow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ed-Lin-80513225734

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edlinforpresident/

Website: http://www.edlinforpresident.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/112827.Ed_Lin

Buy Links: https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-123754/ed-lin-1

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Ed Lin will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dark Genius by H. Peter Alesso - Book Blast and Giveaway

Dark Genius

by H. Peter Alesso

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GENRE:  Fiction

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BLURB:

To the insatiably curious—science is the greatest adventure. So, when scientists at CERN announced the discovery of the ‘God’ particle in 2012, all the world wondered, “How did they find it?”

A decade later, despite his past academic failures and egregious family circumstance, Andrew Lawrence embarked on a journey of discovery, competing against rival scientists to be the first to solve the greatest unsolved mystery of the universe—dark matter—and win the ultimate prize; the Nobel. 

Emma Franklin, a PhD candidate at Harvard, developed software for detecting particle reactions using a quantum computer. To the amazement and excitement of the scientific community, her work revealed two possible bumps in the energy curve that were not predicted by any established theory.

At MIT, Lawrence created a model that predicted the scattering processes of a dark matter supersymmetry particle. Though his early work was disparaged, he improved his theory and found that it predicted the data Emma had discovered. Their professional collaboration deepened into a personal relationship, but when critical data was stolen, Emma found evidence that incriminated Lawrence. Though she withheld the impeaching material from the authorities, she felt she could no longer trust him.

Despite their troubled partnership, and notwithstanding the complexities of nature, Lawrence and Emma persevered against the egos, jealousy, and envy of rivals, on their exhilarating quest to find the ‘Holy Grail’ of physics

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EXCERPT

In one well-lit corner, Professor Stanley Prost sat at his desk studiously examining a computer screen. His long straight nose, jutting prominent chin, and carbon black eyes, gave the appearance of a man not to be trifled with. He held his hand to his brow, masking his eyes, as if to conceal his innermost thoughts. However, his red pitted skin and the twitchy lips destroyed any semblance of a distinguished pose. His overweight frame and slumped shoulders made him look like a bloated figure despite his close-cropped hair and clean-shaven face. An expensive, but ill-fitting suit, hung like a sack over his body leaving an overall appearance of discomfort.

While Prost rapidly slid his finger across the computer screen, Lawrence stood waiting like a statue. He let his gaze wandered to the scene visible from the window—scampering students making their way on their personal college adventure.

Finally, without extending his hand, or looking directly at his visitor, Prost ordered, “Sit.” 

“Thank you, Professor,” said Lawrence in a clear strong voice, despite a peculiar stir of emotions—doubt, tension, apprehension. He had prior experience with this man—with unhappy consequences.

Prost leaned forward and curled his lip as he spat out the words, “Your postdoc appointment was made by the Professor Lloyd—during my absence—without any input from me.”

Lawrence’s eyes darkened to match his tousled hair, but he remained quiet for what seemed a portentous moment. He clenched his teeth and was self-conscious of a bead of sweat on his brow.

Prost waved his right hand in the air and said, “I took no pleasure in the failing grades I gave you, some years ago. Your dismissal from MIT was unfortunate, but I wasn’t the only professor who was disenchanted with a prodigy who skipped classes, took exams cavalierly, and disrupted class with impertinent questions.”

Lawrence shifted in his chair, uncomfortably.

I’m to be rebuked for the sins of the past.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

As a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of supercomputers, workstations, and networks. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of ten books.

http://www.hpeteralesso.com/images/pete2.jpg

Email: h.alessocomcast.net

Website:http://www.hpeteralesso.com/Default.aspx

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/413852.H_Peter_Alesso

https://twitter.com/hpeteralesso

https://www.amazon.com/H.-Peter-Alesso/e/B001HCY45M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1482982330&sr=1-3

The buy link for Dark Genius:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075HVG2Z9

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack Campbell

Space Opera/Military Science Fiction

The Lost Fleet: Relentless is the fifth book in the six book Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. Read my October 8, 2008 post on the Lost Fleet series.

The fleet lead by Captain John Geary is within 3 jumps of Alliance space. The action starts with a stop to free Alliance prisoners of war. Geary has destroyed much of the Syndics fleet but finds that there is a large reserve flotilla that has been moved to block his way. There are still people in the Alliance fleet that do not like Geary and are trying to destroy him. All of this adds up to continued action and adventure. Jack Campbell keeps this series moving at a fast pace.

ACE published The Lost Fleet: Relentless by Jack Campbell in 2009.

The previous books in this series are:

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless
The Lost Fleet: Fearless
The Lost Fleet: Courageous
The Lost Fleet: Valiant

The Lost Fleet: Victorious comes out in 2010

John Hemry writes the Lost Fleet books using the name Jack Campbell. The Starks War series and the JAG in Space series were written using John Hemry. Both are available as an eBook package or as individual eBooks from Baen. I have read both. If you like The Lost Fleet check out his other two series.