BLOG TOUR ~ Guns, Ration, Rigs, and the Undead By K.E. Radke

Guns, Ration, Rigs, and the Undead

By K.E. Radke

Edited by Audrey Moran

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic

Date of Publication: May 1st 2018

Pages: 239

Prepping was his way of life.



Lincoln realizes it’s every man for himself when the big cities are swarming with the military and the law disappears in the tiny town of Dessarillo, Texas, causing chaos to erupt. People Lincoln’s known for years were attacking their friends and family with their minds set on eating them limb by limb. He’d been prepared for this exact moment, waiting for disaster to strike so he could take a front row seat to society’s self destruction.



As an outcast, he learned to rely on no one. Until he unexpectedly finds his life in the hands of his neighbor, Wyatt, the man proving to be trustworthy. Together they try to carve out a safe place while people are turning into flesh eating monsters, decaying from the inside out, and destroying humanity one bite at a time.

Purchase through Amazon

Author Interview 2 - 6/27

1. How did you end up with the title of your book?

          

           It came to me in the middle of a hike in the Rocky mountains as I was watching Sasquatch. Okay I lied, the real story is a little more boring. My husband actually came up with it. We made a list of the main things a prepper would need for the zombie apocalypse and then had a word play game trying to top each other. Don't tell anyone he won 😉

2. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

           Definitely a pantser. For all the nubes out there that means I write without pants….I’m kidding....or am I? 🙄 There isn’t an outline I follow, I write down scenes as they come to me and see if I can fit them together like a puzzle. I was never good with rough drafts in school. I'd write the paper first then fill in the blanks on the rough draft later.

3. How would you say your story stands out from the crowd?

          The humor and the cursing, and I'm gonna brag about characters a bit. A lot of zombie apocalypse books have to do with the military, my main character, Lincoln, is a survivalist. His main goal in life is to survive what the world throws at him and he's shunned for it. There’s a power shift to the one person they outcasted.

4. Which three words would you use to describe this book?

     

         Bloody, gorey, fun!

5. Which character are you most like?

         I actually wrote Samuel and Renee after my husband and me. I imagine that's what we’ll be like 20 years from now. As you read through the book they are extremely sarcastic with each other but the devotion and love is obvious in their actions.

6. Do you have any advice for writers trying to get published?

          Don't give up. Understand not everyone will love your book. Build a team of positive people around you. For heaven's sake try not to read your reviews. (Even though I do, I know I should take my own advice. I suggest emergency alcohol.) Pick traditional or self publish and stick with it.

Settled in Southern Nevada, Kendra spends her time trying to convince her two Yorkies to stop staring at her while she eats. She is a proud spouse of a Veteran and mother of two boys. When she’s not writing about the next adventure for her readers, she’s traveling on her own.



Check out her blog keradke.wordpress.com

         

June 25th |  The Page Unbound |  Review

June 25th | Books & Broomsticks | Author Interview

June 26th | Just Books | Excerpt

June 26th | The Faerie Review | Review

June 27th | Sci-Fi & Scary | Excerpt

June 27th | A Booklion's Hideaway | Author Interview

June 28th | Rebecca R. Cahill | Guest Post

June 28th | Queen of My Fairytale | Review

June 29th | Descendant of Poseidon Reads | Guest Post

June 29th | A Striking Viper, Caught in a Tangled Web | Excerpt

Book Tour Organized By

BLOG TOUR ~ A CORNISH SECRET BY EMMA BURSTALL

Summary: 

Be careful what you kiss for...

Esme Posorsky is an enigma. For as long as people can remember, she has been part of community life in the quaint Cornish fishing village of Tremarnock, but does anyone really know her? She is usually to be found working in her pottery studio or at home with her beloved cat, Rasputin. But when an old school friend turns up with a secret from the past, nothing will ever be the same again.

Meanwhile teenager, Rosie, is excited to find a bottle washed up on Tremarnock beach with a message from a former German prisoner of war. While the rest of the village is up in arms about a new housing development, she sets out to find him. Little does she know, however, that her discovery will unleash a shocking chain of events that threatens to blow her family apart.

Tremarnock may look like a cosy backwater, but some of its residents are about to come face-to-face with tough decisions and cold reality...

Buy links:

Amazon:mybook.to/ACornishSecret

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2L3ISWI

iBooks: https://apple.co/2M5a1cy

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2JxvYSX

KATHERINE’S BOOK UNIVERSE questions

A Cornish Secret by Emma Burstall

1.   What inspired the book's plot?

About two years ago I went on a memorable walking holiday with some girlfriends. We trudged for miles in the footsteps of the ancient pilgrims along the famous Camino in Northern Spain towards the shrine of the apostle St James, ending up at the grand Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The symbol of the scallop shell can be seen all along the road and has come to represent many things, including the numerous paths leading from all over the world to this one destination.

The trek was hard work but also great fun. Of course we talked as we walked, and learned things about each other that we hadn’t known before. To our surprise, we also found the walking curiously meditative. Our brains seemed to clear of day-to-day worries as we focused on putting one foot in front of another while listening to each other’s stories.

When I got home and found that a section of the Camino crosses from one side of Cornwall to another, I was incredibly excited. I did the walk myself, looking out for the scallop symbols along the way, and decided that I wanted two of my Cornish characters to set out on a journey of discovery that would change their lives. Lots of things happen in A Cornish Secret, butthis is where the plot really began.

2.   Which was the easiest character to write? 

Esme. She appears in all my previous Tremarnock books but only as a minor character. However, from Day One I had a very clear idea of her in my mind and she interested me a lot. She’s clever, artistic, creative, kind, self-contained and a bit quirky. She embraces community life but also stands slightly apart with an unexplained sadness at her core that she does her best to disguise. It was this that I set out to explore in A Cornish Secret. I loved turning her from the slightly shadowy figure of the previous novels into an intricate, rounded human being.

3.   Which was the most difficult character to write? Why?

Liz. I love her dearly but without giving too much away, she goes through a tricky time and sometimes behaves quite badly. In real life, I don’t think people always act in the way you expect them to. We all go through difficult experiences that can make us unpredictable, and Liz is no exception. Writing about her in this book felt a bit like trying to raise a wayward child. I wanted her to do one thing but she kept having other ideas!

4.   What's the best thing about being an author and how and when did you become one? 

I love being able to create imaginary worlds inhabited by people I find interesting and whom I’d like to meet. The great thing is that I also get to determine ultimately what happens to them. Novelists are in the unique position of being able to settle issues and problems that might seem unsolvable in the real world and to bring together people who might never normally be reconciled. I’m also in the business of entertaining, of course, and when a reader tells me that my story has made then laugh, cry or touched them in some other way, well, that’s really something!

I started my career as a cub reporter on a local newspaper then moved to national newspapers and women’s magazines. I always wanted to write novels and about ten years ago, I finally took the plunge and wrote my first, Gym and Slimline.I was lucky enough to find an agent straight away and a book deal soon followed.

       5.  How do you take a break from writing? 

I find exercise a brilliant way to unwind. I go on long walks, jog and do a bit of Pilates and yoga. I also love watching films and going to the theatre as well as socialising with my friends.

6.   What is your favourite book? 

This is so difficult! The truth is, I have lots of favourite books, including George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Jane Austen’s Emma, Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. As for contemporary fiction, I’m a big fan of Jojo Moyes, especially Me Before You, Adele Parks, Harriet Evans and Jill Mansell. Oh, and I love Liz Fenwick too. If I had to pick just one book, I’d probably say Bleak House, because it’s so full of humour and compassion, but I’d really rather not have to choose at all!

7.   How do I start out if I want to write a bookshop into my work in progress to make it realistic? 

My advice is to begin by creating a picture in your mind of what your bookshop looks like – its corners, carpets and colour schemes, the way the light falls, the feel of the fabric on the chairs, the smell of the books on the shelves. You need to bring all your senses into play to make a place come alive. Next, spend some time in a few proper bookshops, looking at what the staff do and asking questions about the ups and downs of their jobs. That way, your descriptions will seem more real. You should probably drop them an email first, though. I find that most people are happy to help with research if you approach them in the right way.

8.   What are your tips to creating believable plot and characters?

      Think about your own life experiences, those of your friends and acquaintances and people you’ve read about in newspapers and magazines. Sometimes what      might seem far-fetched actually happens, and can form the basis of an enthralling plot.  In terms of character, I try to remember that no one is perfect, everyone is made of light and shade, good and bad. Think about your character’s defects as well as his or her strengths and slowly build up the layers until you have a protagonist who seems so real they could walk off the page and shake your hand.

About the author

Emma Burstall was a newspaper journalist in Devon and Cornwall before becoming a full time author. Tremarnock, the first novel in her series set in a delightful Cornish village, was published in 2015 and became a top-10 bestseller.

Follow Emma

Twitter: @EmmaBurstall

Facebook: @emmaburstallauthor

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BLOG TOUR ~ THE ACCUSATION BY ZOSIA WAND

Summary: 

Who would you choose if you had to - your daughter or your husband?

Eve lives in the beautiful Cumbrian town of Tarnside with her husband Neil. After years of trying, and failing, to become parents, they are in the final stages of adopting four-year-old Milly. Though she already feels like their daughter, they just have to get through the 'settling in' period: three months of living as a family before they can make it official.

But then Eve's mother, Joan, comes to stay. Joan has never liked her son-in-law. He isn't right for Eve; too controlling, too opinionated. She knows Eve has always wanted a family, but is Neil the best man to build one with?

Then Joan uncovers something that could smash Eve's family to pieces...

Buy links:

Amazon: mybook.to/TheAccusation

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2KtZHsK

iBooks: https://apple.co/2J5i5If

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2sps98A

Love Books Group

Interview Questions April – July 2018

1.  What book from your childhood still has a place in your heart today?

Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. I loved the magical characters that lived in the tree, the different worlds that arrived through a passing cloud in every chapter and the dynamic between the siblings and their visiting cousins in each book.  I would like to adapt the books into a family show for Lancaster’s Williamson Park summer promenade production one day.  I did an adaptation of Hansel and Gretel and Other Tales from the Forest  a few years ago and it was great fun creating a story that worked on several levels, for adults and children.

2.   Which fictional character stayed with you long after you finished the book?

Zenia, from Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride.  She was darkly compelling and all the more intriguing because we were introduced to her from the point of view of other characters and not from her directly.  Rather like Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca.

3.   Can you tell us a little about your journey with your new release?

My daughters are adopted, so I have an inside eye on the adoption process.  It is often misrepresented in the press and certainly in television drama.  I wanted to tell a story where the social worker was a competent, sincere human being and not a clichéd scapegoat to provide a thrilling plot point.  The threat in my novel comes from the most unlikely source.  I was also interested in exploring that wonderful, but vulnerable time, when the child you are adopting is settling in and you are beginning to form a bond.  Legally, you are not yet their parent and for Eve and Neil, with a limited local support network, this puts them in a precarious position when an accusation is made. The future of their family is in jeopardy.

4.   Do you get an emotional connection to your characters?

There is a part of me in every character I create.  I have to imagine myself as them and get right inside their heads.  It’s a little like being an actress, without having to face an audience.  I have to really know them, as well as I might know close family.  By the final draft I know them well enough to put them in any situation and I will know precisely what they will do.  I don’t always condone their behaviour or admire it, but I do understand it.

5.  What was your favourite read of 2017?

Truly Madly Deadly by Liane Moriarty.  My brother sent me the box set of Big Little Lies as a gift and I was gripped.  I rushed straight out and bought The Husband’s Secret and Truly Madly Deadly.  These novels are delicious.  The delightful characters are enticing and familiar.  She explores the underbelly of contemporary family life.  Behind the domestic bliss everyone has secrets.  Her observations are sharp and hilarious and the dilemmas she poses always leave me thinking – what would I do in that situation?  It’s my ambition to write like Liane Moriarty.  My next novel will have three points of view to allow me a little more distance and give more scope to have fun.

6. If your book came with a theme song what would it be?

Maternal love – what it is, how it manifests itself, what we perceive or expect it to be.  Who deserves to be a mother?  At what point does maternal love become toxic? 

7.  Is the genre you write your favourite to read?

I like books that explore complicated family dynamics.  Blended families, step families, unusual families of any kind.  The thriller aspect isn’t essential, but I do like a novel to have a good pace to it.

8.  If you could ask your readers anything, what would you want to know?

What lingered.  I read a lot of books and enjoy them, but frequently forget them as soon as I’ve started the next one.  Some linger.  It’s to do with characters and how compelling they are, how individual, whether or not they get under your skin.  I strive to create characters that linger.

     9. What are you working on now?

The Treehouse is a novel about a group of friends who, as teenagers, were involved in a tragedy when Mark fell to his death.  No-one really knows exactly what happened that night. Now in their early forties, Marks’s sister returns to challenge the status quo and force them to revisit that time.  Old secrets resurface and the stakes are high.

About the author

Zosia Wand is an author and playwright. She was born in London and lives in Cumbria with her family. She is passionate about good coffee, cake and her adopted landscape on the edge of the Lake District. Her first novel, Trust Me, was published by Head of Zeus in 2017.

Follow Zosia

Twitter: @zosiawand

Facebook: @zosiawand

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Website: www.ariafiction.com

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Facebook: @ariafiction

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Twitter: @HoZ_Books

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