Hillary E. Peak - Wings of Hope - Author Interview

About the Book

The letter said he was dying, that’s all Jules Weinstein knows when she leaves her life in San Francisco and moves to New York City to be with her father. She goes for the remarkable opportunity to really know her father. She never dreamed he had liberated a concentration camp, dealt cards to Bugsy Siegel or saved the life of a Black Panther. Wings of Hope is a road trip through the memories of a man making peace with his life. Little does she know that by getting to know her father, she will find herself. While her father struggles with whether his life was meaningful, Jules discovers that her father’s last gift to her is the ability to reach for her dreams. Her journey teacher her that “the goodbye” is sometimes the most heartbreakingly beautiful part of life.

Author Interview

1. Who is your favorite character?
Jules

2. Why is he/she your favorite?
Because she is who I'd like to be. She's just at the point of figuring her life out, and she has the guts to leave her comfortable, but unfulfilling, life behind to try for her dreams.

3. How did you come to create him/her?
This story is based on my father and his life stories. This character is based on a conversation I wish I'd been able to have with my father. When he was already gone, my mother told me that they had talked about how much I was like him in my desire to do something important with my life. He gave my mother a lot of insight into my drive and ambition--things I really wish he'd imparted to me. So, I made up the conversations I wish we'd been able to have.

4. When did he/she first enter your mind?
Initially, writing down these stories was just a guide for me in sharing them with my daughter as she grew up. The entire idea of the novel kind of took shape as I wrote these stories down. Jules came to me as a venue of sharing these stories. I needed someone for my dad to talk to.

5. Where was he/she given life in the creative process?
Pretty close to the beginning of the process, but she has evolved with the story.

6. What do like the most about him/her and what do you dislike the most about him/her?
What I like most is her guts and determination. What I like least is her lack of confidence in herself and her talent.

***

Wings of Hope can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble.com
Kindle
Smashwords

Price: $9.99 paperback, $2.99 ebook
ISBN: 9781466312197
Pages: 226
Release: December 2011


About the Author

Hillary Peak is a recovering idealist. She became a lawyer to change the world and is still somewhat shocked that didn't occur. Now, her goal is to retire from practicing law and write novels that people love. She is currently a practicing attorney in the District of Columbia. She lives with her family in Alexandria, VA.

Connect with Hillary:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Tribute Books Blog Tour Site

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday

In my mailbox today is: The Color Of Snow (e-book)  by Brenda Stanley

Janiera Eldridge - Soul Sisters - Author Interview

Author Interview

1. Who is your favorite character?
Soul Sister Ani

2. Why is he/she your favorite?
Ani is definitely my favorite character because she is so bold and strong. She does what she wants, when she wants. She’s fiercely loyal and will do anything for someone that would do anything for her.

3. How did you come to create him/her?
At first I was just writing her as a bold character but as I continued writing her I realized she was my alter ego. She does everything I wish I could do and….get away with it.

4. When did he/she first enter your mind?
She popped into my mind as soon as the story line did. I knew I wanted a strong female character in my story so Ani’s personality was born right away.

5. Where was he/she given life in the creative process?
Ani was given life at the very beginning of the story. Her sister Dana came later. She is such a fun character that at the beginning of the book I knew she would be a part of it right away.

6. What do like the most about him/her and what do you dislike the most about him/her?
I love how strong Ani is and how she is not afraid to do what needs to be done. The thing I dislike about her is she will get what she wants at any cost and that can get others in trouble sometimes. She definitely is an enigma!


About the Book

Soul Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani and Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is a vampire. While the sisters have lived peacefully with each other for many years one fateful night will change both their lives forever. When a drunken man tries to attack Dana (the human sister) Ani (the vampire sister) protects her sister with all of her ferocious power.

However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new place as vampire queen.

Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to the vampire world.

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Formats/Prices: $10 paperback, $2.99 ebook
Buy Links: CreateSpace, Kindle




About the Author

 Janiera enjoys feeding her  book addiction when she not writing. She is also a book blogger at Beauty and Books where she mixes being a book nerd with keeping things chic. When not reading or writing she is freelance writing in the entertainment industry. Soul Sisters is her debut novel.

Links to connect with Janiera:
Blog

Twitter

Facebook
Pinterest
Goodreads

#Spectral by @ShannonDuffyLit Twitter Party

CLICK HERE to R.S.V.P.

#Spectral by@ShannonDuffyLit
Twitter Party

Tuesday, July 10, 2012
2-3:30 p.m. Eastern


Follow hashtag #Spectral as author Shannon Duffy answers your questions for 90 minutes live on Twitter.

A great app to use in order to follow the #Spectral hashtag during the Twitter Party can be found at tweetchat.com

We offering at least (1) $50 cash prize to the person who has a receipt confirming an ebook purchase of Spectral and tweets at least once during the Twitter Party.

We'll also be giving away a variety of Spectral swag throughout the event:

• t-shirt
• necklace that has the cover and a butterfly
• bookmark
• pen
• three main character trading cards of Jewel, Roman and Chase that have their pics and stats on them

Free Angel Friday

FREE ANGEL FRIDAY 
Friday, July 13, 2012

Help us lower the Amazon sales ranking of Until Next Time: The Angel Chronicles.

Next Friday, "purchase" your free Kindle copy at:
http://amzn.to/xOQ4eL

Please feel free to spread the word far and wide and let's see how low we can go!

P.S. Be sure to add The Angel Chronicles, Book 2 (coming November 1, 2012) to your Goodreads to-read list at:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15725493-the-angel-chronicles-book-2

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

Q: So other than books... What periodicals do you read? Magazines? Newspapers? Newsletters? Journals? Do you subscribe or do you buy them on the newsstand when they look interesting?

I usually read some magazines that I subscribe to, such as Entertainment Weekly and Vogue.

Natalie Wexler - The Mother Daughter Show - Guest Post

About the Book

At Barton Friends a D.C. prep school so elite its parent body includes the President and First Lady - three mothers have thrown themselves into organizing the annual musical revue. Will its Machiavellian intrigue somehow enable them to reconnect with their graduating daughters, who are fast spinning out of control? By turns hilarious and poignant, The Mother Daughter Show will appeal to anyone who's ever had a daughter - and anyone who's ever been one.

Guest Post

One reason I write is to figure out who my characters really are. Much like real people, they evolve as time goes on—although, given that I don’t spend a lifetime writing a novel (or I try not to, anyway), they generally develop a lot faster than people do in real life.

With The Mother Daughter Show, I started with three main characters who had certain basic qualities: Amanda would be a longtime stay-at-home mom who needs to figure out what to do with herself—and how to earn money—now that her children are grown. Susan would be a hard-driving businesswoman who believes (mistakenly, as it will turn out) that she’s in control of all aspects of her life, including her daughter. And Barb would be the indefatigable parent volunteer, desperate to keep the peace even if it means denying unpleasant truths that are right under her nose.

Those were the broad strokes. Each of these characters became more nuanced as I kept writing. And at a certain point, I felt I had gotten to know them well enough that I needed to know them better. Think of this as the point, in a budding friendship, when you sit down and tell each other your life stories. Except that I was the only one sitting down, and I was telling their life stories. Basically, I wrote a mini-biography for each of my characters: what their childhoods had been like, how they related to their parents (especially, given my theme, their mothers), what they’d done in college and early adulthood. Most of these “facts” never made it into the novel itself, but they informed what did go into it.

The Mother Daughter Show is a satire, and that meant my characters needed to have some flaws. Perfect characters don’t make for good comedy—or for good fiction of any kind. But I felt from the beginning that I wanted my characters to be fundamentally sympathetic. I wanted readers to laugh but at the same time think, “Yeah, I could see myself doing something like that.”

I suppose that’s partly because, as a reader, I prefer books where I can identify—at least to some extent—with the main characters. But it’s also because, as a writer, I have to be able to identify with my characters. When I create a character I delve into myself. And that means that each of my characters—no matter how different they may appear to be from me—contains some strand I’ve found within me.

And perhaps that’s what’s most valuable about fiction: when it works, we can feel a direct connection to people who are—on the surface, at least—quite different from ourselves. And maybe that ability to connect with fictional characters who are not “us” carries over to the capacity to connect with real people with whom, at first glance, we have nothing in common except our humanity.



***

The Mother Daughter Show can be purchased at:
Amazon
Fuze Publishing
Kindle
Nook

Price: $19.95 paperback, $9.99 ebook
ISBN: 9780984141296
Pages: 274
Release: December 2011


About the Author

Natalie Wexler is the author of The Mother Daughter Show (Fuze Publishing 2011) and an award-winning historical novel, A More Obedient Wife. She is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, the American Scholar, the Gettysburg Review, and other publications, and she is a reviewer for the Washington Independent Review of Books. She has also worked as a temporary secretary, a newspaper reporter, a Supreme Court law clerk, a legal historian, and (briefly) an actual lawyer. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.

Connect with Natalie:
Web Site
Goodreads
Fuze Publishing Web Site
Fuze Publishing Blog
Fuze Publishing Facebook
Fuze Publishing Twitter
Tribute Books Blog Tour Site