Virtual Book Tour Dates: 5/13/14 – 5/27/14
Virtual Book Tour Dates: 5/13/14 – 5/27/14 Genre: Literary Fiction Blurb: What is love? Is it a possession, something to confine and put on display? Is it declarations for the whole world to hear, or is it a precious space within the heart? After a tragic event in which agents and parents keep them apart, Frankie and Alex maintain a long distance love affair throughout the turbulent Sixties, away from the prying eyes of the press and the fans. Separated, their love breeds strength to overcome obstacles that once held them down. Individually, they blossom creatively and their talents soar to new heights. Within the secrecy of their relationship, they learn greater lessons of love, lessons not defined by society, but by the heart and the soul. A true lover knows what the other needs and will often make great personal sacrifices for the well-being of their lover. Sometimes the strength of love is being able to say goodbye. Excerpt: Frankie couldn’t help it; she was so excited to be alone with him. “So, how was your incredible and inspiring trip?” Alex sat down across the table from her with a bowl of fruit loops and a cup of tea. “Where to start? Australia was out of this world. Heard some incredible Aborigine music, and then a mad Aussie got me wasted. India was a spiritual hell hole, and I spent most of my time with the chattiest of Hindus, but a real nice fellow. South Africa, my guide, Cebo, was a crazier driver than you.” “Crazier than you?” Frankie asked with a smirk. “Crazier than you,” Alex restated strongly and laughed. “I jammed with a Zulu band, and they gave me the name Luyanda.” “Sounds like a girl’s name,” said Frankie. “Shut up. It’s very manly. It means love to grow,” he said. Frankie looked at Alex curiously. “Love to grow? Your love is still growing?” “Yes, apparently I am blossoming, like a budding flower,” he said with a smile and batting of his eye lashes. “Girl,” teased Frankie. Alex playfully kicked Frankie under the table. “Smarty,” he said and munched on a heaping spoonful of Fruit Loops. “Peru was a bit sad.” “Why was Peru sad?” questioned Frankie with a mouthful of cornflakes. “I saw this young man play guitar. He reminded me of myself years ago, but untouched and not jaded. His soul and his playing were pure. Not only have I lost that, I’m afraid I never had that. It made me think my entire life has been a waste.” He gazed at Frankie. “What do you see when you see meplay?” Frankie sat back in her chair, thought for a moment and said, “Myself.” The answer stunned Alex. “You see you?” Curling her knees to her chest Frankie rocked forward. “Yes. I see you in me. I feel you in me. I feel your nervousness and anxiety. I feel what you play. It touches me, and I understand it all.” She could tell by Alex’s expression that her words made an impact, and she continued. “Alex, you‘re very talented. You need to start believing in yourself. You have traveled the world to discover music, but you don’t realize music has been inside you the whole time.” Alex laughed. “Leave it to Frankie Freud to figure me out.” “I’m going to start charging you,” she teased. “Well, in that case, I do have a present for you.” said Alex and reached for his bag. “Check this out.” He pulled out the boomerang clappers and slapped them together. “Boomerangs as musical instrument, cool ‘eh?” Frankie leaped from her seat and grabbed the boomerangs from his hands. “Wow! Are these for me?” she asked excitedly and danced around the kitchen wildly clapping the boomerangs. Alex tugged the boomerangs from her hands. “No, they’re for me.” “So I don’t get boomerang clappers,” she said with a pout. “No, I have something else for you,” he said sternly. He pulled out two jewelry boxes and rattled them both to hear the contents of what was inside. “Here, this is for you,” he said handing Frankie one of the boxes. “Who is the other one for?” she asked. “Sarah,” Alex replied flatly. Frankie didn’t respond; she suspected the answer. She carefully unwrapped the paper and unfolded the tissue paper to find a beaded design hanging from a safety pin like ribbon. She glanced at Alex curiously. “It is a Zulu love letter. I made it for you on the plane to Peru, spilled beads all over the cabin floor. Anyway, the bead colors tell the story of love,” explained Alex. “What does it say?” asked Frankie. Alex patted his lap and Frankie joined him. He pointed to each bead and explained, “The black beads mean heartache, the turquoise means I lose hope you will marry me, the red means longing and the green is jealousy.” “Doesn’t sound like such a nice love letter,” said Frankie. “But you see it’s all surrounded by the white beads that mean hope and the brown beads is like giving new life,” explained Alex. He put his arm around her waist. “The letter as a whole reads, despite all the heartache, impatience, longing and jealousy. I have hope that we will have a new life together.” Buy Links: About the Author: Mahima Martel’s main focus in writing is love within drama, or dramatic love. She is fascinated by the human condition and what drives people to do what they do. Mostly, she found it is love, or lack of love that motivates people, whether it is to inspire to greatness, or to the depth of depravity. Her first published book, The Insurrectionist tells the story through the eyes of a terrorist. The Saying Goodbye series looks deeply into a long standing celebrity love affair undiscovered by gossip columns and tabloid press. It asks the questions, “What really goes on behind the scenes of celebrity relationships and the fan stories we all love to hear about. Mahima Martel is a news junkie and loves researching and digging deeper into many news and historical stories. Author Links: Giveaway: The author is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and two print copies of Saying Goodbye, Love is Learning to Say Goodbye. The giveaways will run 5/13/14 – 5/27/14. Make sure to enter them both! The Goodreads' giveaway is open to residents of the US/CANADA/UK/AU. The Rafflecopter giveaway is open internationally!
0 Comments
As some of you may know, I'm a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club. They have regular author spotlight features. Today it's the turn of sci-fi author, Nicholas Rossis. Guest Post:Women in History: Truth Stranger than Fiction
“People ran around her, shouting and screaming. Sol could not move under the weight of the guard and raised her head to seek her brother. As she did, a second arrow passed so close to her eye that its feathers scratched her eyebrow. Blood flowed from the wound, half-blinding her. In the distance, a man nocked a third arrow to his bow. Her second guard lunged at him, followed by other men with drawn weapons. Her eyes widened at the sight of her brother’s young body lying on the ground, life oozing out of him, while her mind desperately tried to make sense of it. A growing pool of blood formed under his body, soiling the ground.” # The world of Pearseus, my epic fantasy series that takes place on a remote planet, is one largely ruled by women. The story is narrated through its protagonists, who include Sol and Styx. Sol is a supreme political manipulator who manages to reach the top through her intellect, cunning and persuasion. She uses her power to grow the city of Anthea into one of the main powers on the planet. The second main faction is led by Justice Styx. She is a woman who will stop at nothing to grab and hold power, and guilty of the most horrifying crimes, defending her actions through her unshakable belief that they are for the best of her people. Finally, the First, the planet’s indigenous population, worship a deity called the Lady and follow the teachings of an oracle called simply the Old Woman. # Although these larger-than-life characters are fictitious, they do have their real-life counterparts. The main story arc of Pearseus follows that of Herodotus’ description of the wars between Greece and Persia in the 5th century BC. I grew up less than half an hour from Marathon, the scene of the final battle between the two, and read as a child Herodotus’ tale of the mad Persian king Astyax, who committed the unspeakable crime of having his General’s son murdered and fed to his father during a banquet. A deed as evil as any described by the Grimm brothers centuries later, and with an equal impact on my young imagination. Sol, on the other hand, is an amalgamation of Solon, Athens’ first law-giver, and Peisistratos, a cunning politician who usurped power and used it to end decades of civil strife. His reformations lay behind Athens’ classical glory, helped by Solon’s wise laws. Solon is considered a hero of classical Greece, but only after growing up did I realize the lengths to which he went to ensure his triumph over his political opponents. Our heroes invariably do not shine quite so bright when examined closely. Could any of these characters have been women in reality? Sadly, the prevalence of women on Pearseus bears no resemblance to everyday life in antiquity. In Athens, women were little more than property. They had no voting rights, nor were they allowed a life outside the home. As soon as a girl reached puberty, she was locked up until she got married. After that, a woman’s place was at home, raising her children and taking care of her husband. What would get people arrested nowadays, was common practice back then. Strangely enough, it was the prostitutes who enjoyed freedom. Much like the famous courtisanes, their 19th century French counterparts, or the Japanesegeishas, these were women of exceptional beauty, skilled in oratory and philosophy. In the deeply chauvinistic Athenian society, men freely fraternized with them at the famous symposia, or dinner parties, before returning to their home and loving wives. Prostitutes were highly educated, had the right to possess property of their own and often escorted kings and philosophers. Their clients included legendary Pericles and Socrates; cities built temples in their honor and showered them in gold. This, in a city where it was considered a deadly insult to the husband if his wife was caught even conversing with another man. # While researching Pearseus, I was surprised to find out that there was another outlook to women. Sparta, thinly disguised as Scorpio in my books, was a nation of warriors that practiced a policy of unprecedented equality. Girls were encouraged to participate in sports, often naked, and were fed better (yes, girls were not even fed properly in other cities). What’s more, they were taught to read and write; a practice that led a baffled Athenian to observe: “teaching women to read and write is as ridiculous as feeding a snake more venom.” An enlightened Sparta and a misogynous Athens – could this be true? Women in Sparta were allowed to own property, argue in public and even take a second husband if their first one was away at war for too long. In Athens, they could not even leave their home unescorted. Before you consider Sparta a great city to live in, and wonder just why Athens got so popular, you have to consider that any deformed child was left on the mountain of Taigetos to die of exposure or be eaten by the beasts. At the tender age of seven, boys would leave their home and move into military schools. They would train as soldiers for the next ten years, then move into barracks. Only once they reached the age of thirty did they become full citizens and the right to a household of their own. As an Athenian observed, “life in Sparta is so unbearable, that it’s no wonder they’re so eager to end it in battle.” Obviously, he was not thinking of the lives of Athens’ wives at the time. # Still, all things considered, the lot of women was better in militaristic Sparta, and I think that makes sense for a city in a constant state of war against its neighbors. Likewise, in a world where humanity starts anew with less than 5,000 people and almost immediately sets up its ancient habit of picking wars, I cannot imagine there being an opportunity for Athens’ misogynous practices, and I had no qualms describing a world where men and women fight side by side and rule the world as equals. Sol and Styx are strong, driven women who are ready to do whatever it takes to reach their goal. As for real antiquity, despite its romantic reputation, it only serves to remind us how far we’ve come. When it comes to woman’s tumultuous place in society, truth is once again stranger than fiction. Pearseus, Year 18: The Schism (Book 1): www.amazon.com/dp/B00FXOJQA8/ Pearseus, Rise of the Prince (Book 2): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FYRKLPI |
AuthorMichelle Abbott lives in the UK and hates describing herself in 3rd person. My BooksSubscribe to my blogArchives
July 2018
|