BOTM - Controlled {Wattpad}

Controlled

Author: RainySkky

Genre: Teen Romance / Horror

Wattpad Book Blurb:

Sophia Anderson is your normal teenager, going to a normal highschool, having great, supportive friends, and can't wait to graduate and go to college. With her mom always on business trips for a job that pays more than enough, Sophie is usually left to fend for herself. All she has is her dog, Naomi.

Ricky is a murderer, who stalks young women, learns about them, then becomes obsessed with them. If they refuse, or fake their love towards him, he brutally kills them. Then, after he sees Sophie coming out of the movie theaters one night, he instantly becomes obsessed. He begins stalking her, watching her through her window, following her at night, and learns more and more about her everyday. He feels the need to control Sophie, to make her his. The last thing Sophie wanted was a stalker. He plans on kidnapping her, taking her away where he will have her all to himself. Will Sophie realize she is being followed everywhere she goes, and someone knows everything about her? Or will it be too late?

Author Links:

Wattpad

Interview

1. Please tell the readers a bit about yourself.

Well, I love writing, and I love coffee almost as much as writing. I'm a Leo, so I'm a particularly proud person. My mom is my biggest inspiration when writing. She's so supportive and she's practically my best friend. When I get out of high school, I plan on attending the University of South Florida to study psychology. That was my big inspiration for Ricky's character. Crime shows are practically fuel for writing most of my stories (i.e. Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, etc.). I hope in the future I become a best selling author.

2. What types of books do you write?

Mainly, I love horror books. I love the thought of being terrified. I don't know why, it's just appealing to me. I also enjoy romance, but that's just because I'm a hopeless romantic. 

3. How many books have you written?

So far, I've written 8 books, including short stories. Only 3 of those books are long, though. In addition to the Controlled series, I also wrote a student/teacher romance novel. It seems to be more popular that Controlled, however Controlled was my start. 

4. What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?

I'm looking forward to The Fault in Our Stars. The book will always be better but I can't wait to see the movie. As for books, I'm not sure. I'm so behind on reading I don't have time to wait for any!

5. What type of books do you enjoy reading?

I love romance and horror stories, and the occasional mystery here and there. 

6. If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Oh that's a hard one.

1. Probably a dog.

2. A guitar.

3. A blanket. 

7. Are you considering a sequel?

Yes, I have already written one actually, and I'm thinking about expanding on a third one. Maybe having it revolve around Ricky's life more (there's already a short story on that but I know a lot of people want me to expand on it). 

8. What inspired you to become a writer?

Well, honestly, reading did it for me. Every time I was reading a book in middle school, I would picture it in my head or ways I would change the story line and morph it into my own. Before writing a book, I picture it as a movie in my head and write it from there. For Controlled, it was just my love of the show Criminal Minds and the love of psychology and how they try and determine how a person's mind worked when it came to murderers and all that kind of stuff. I grew obsessed with it and that's when I went to my friend and proposed my idea for Controlled. She loved it and gave me the starting support I needed to create it. Once I uploaded it to Wattpad, I was shocked when people were actually starting to like it and I ended up getting #1 horror book for a time. That's when I decided I wanted to be a writer; because of how people made me feel when they told me how much they loved something I created. The feeling is unbelievable.

Controlled Scavenger Hunt

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Cover Reveal: Red the Were Hunter by Rebekah Ganiere

Red the Were Hunter

Farielle Series, Book One

by Rebekah Ganiere

Expected Release Date: May 1, 2014

Publisher: Fallen Angel Press

Book Summary:

What if you were the key to an ancient prophecy that would begin to heal your lands, but fulfilling your destiny meant you had to turn your back on everything you'd been taught to believe in?

Redlynn of Volkzene, member of the Sisterhood of Red, is heartbroken to find another village girl taken and her best friend slain by werewolves. Defying the head of her order, she sets out to kill the beast she believes responsible.  The King of the Weres-- But there are worse things in Wolvenglen Forest than the wolves.

Adrian, reluctant heir to the throne of Wolvenglen, and his band of wolf brothers are bound to protect the humans; especially the Sisterhood. Finding Redlynn unconscious in his woods, awakens in him a passion he's never before experienced and a protective instinct that has him ready to turn on his own men. Problem is, a female is that last thing he wants in his life.  

But all is not as it seems in Wolvenglen Forest and when the mystery of the missing girls is solved, Redlynn and Adrian must move past their inner demons to find the happiness they both so desperately desire.

About the Author:

Rebekah grew up on both the east and west coasts and currently lives in the Los Angeles area. From the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to The Stand by Stephen King, Rebekah immersed herself in other people's made up worlds. She began writing in junior high and then found she liked pretending to be other people's characters in high school. Lettering in drama she went on to study theater in college as well. After college she continued acting till becoming a mom. Ultimately, she ended up going back to writing her characters down instead of acting them out, so she could stay at home with her kids.

Rebekah is a member of Romance Writers of America and is a board member of both the Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal and her local Los Angeles chapters.  When she isn't spending time telling the lives of the characters constantly chattering inside her head, you can find her with her husband and four children; reading comic books, gaming, at the movies or taking care of the menagerie of pets. A dog, a rabbit, two bearded dragons, and three tortoises. Wonder woman, the escaped snake, has yet to be located.

Author Links:

Website ¦ Twitter ¦ Facebook ¦ Goodreads ¦ Youtube

Cover Reveal Organised By:

Book Blast & Giveaway - Life in the Palace by Catherine Green

Life in the Palace

by Catherine Green

“We need to talk,” Tal said. Then I knew it was going to go badly. ‘We need to talk’ is the conversational equivalent of walking into your basement without turning on the light, on a dark and stormy night, when a known psychopath is on the loose. You might as well cut to the chase and slit your own throat.

Chloe Diaz assumed three things: that when Tal said that she was one of The People sent from heaven to maintain the cosmic balance, it was code for ‘I’m a pamphlet distributing, incense burning, religious weirdo;’ that the gorgeous Seth Wilks would never be her soul mate and that she’d never have to choose between them. Chloe was wrong.

Now the future of the world is in her hands, but what if price is too great to pay?

Download a FREE copy now!

Amazon ¦ Barnes & Noble ¦ Smashwords

Chloe on Facebook ¦ Seth on Facebook

This is a brief description of the plot:

After a lifetime in the shadow of her sister, Chloe is severely phobic of the chronically cool. Seth is everything she avoids; a pre-med philosophy major who works in a bar, plays in a band and is so good looking that grown women stare at him in the street. But it’s hard to say no to your soul mate. Thinking she’s maxed out her supply of destiny, Chloe settles down to enjoy the happily-ever-after.

Tal says that she’s one of The People sent from heaven to maintain the cosmic balance. Chloe assumes this is code for ‘I’m a pamphlet distributing, incense burning, religious weirdo.’ Actually Tal’s main extracurricular activity is fighting the forces of Oblivion. The People never need to hide what they are because no one ever believes them. Until Chloe does.

Chloe sets out to help Tal and The People as much as she can as an outsider. Seth says as long as no one wears their underpants on the outside Chloe can do what she likes. What he doesn’t say is that he’s also one of The People, although non-practicing. But as the Final Battle draws nearer, Chloe realizes it’s time for Seth to go collect his regulation sword. The only thing standing in his way is her. Seth says he’ll give up his place in heaven to stay with her. Chloe must choose between Seth’s soul and her own happiness.

Praise for Life in the Palace

An interesting take on the paranormal romance genre. …..While other books in the genre have unrealistic buy in to the acceptance of someone from the outside entering a "new world" Life in the Palace handled it from both the main character looking in and the dwellers of the Palace looking out at this person trying to enter their world. …….I am so happy to hear that there are more books in the series! – Yonit on Goodreads

I loved this world that Catherine Green created. I happily lost myself in the life & deep love between Chloe & Seth …..I loved the attention to detail, the fleshing out of the world around them, the obvious growth of all the characters... Even the heartbreaking choices made at the end. Book two I cannot wait to read! – Ebon Darkmyth on Smashwords

Loved it, great story line, fun characters and after reading it and thinking deeply about the duality of our lives, it made my prayers come alive! – Rebecca Wittenstein on Amazon.com

This book introduces you to a whole host of characters that you want to meet in real life. ….The action keeps you reading, while the budding love between Seth and Chloe makes you breathless. A great read. – Cypora Cohen on Amazon.co.uk

Tour Schedule

Author Catherine Green

Catherine Green writes fantasy books featuring religious characters in a brazen attempt to make the people in faith communities seem less weird. She lives with her husband, children and three marginally neglected goldfish. When she's not writing, or pretending to be one of her characters on Facebook, she has been known to cook dinner.

Author Links:

Website ¦ Goodreads ¦ Twitter ¦ Facebook

***Giveaway***

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash.

Ends 5/15/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway - Lore: Tales of Myth and Legend Retold

Lore: Tales of Myth and Legend Retold

by Brinda Berry, Karen Y. Bynum, Laura Diamond, Jayne A. Knolls, Theresa DaLayne, Cate Dean

Release Date: 03/2014

Summary from Goodreads:
A collection of six folklore retellings that will twist your mind and claim your heart.

SHIMMER: A heartbroken boy rescues a mermaid... but is it too late to save her?

BETWEEN is about a girl, a genie, and a ton of bad decisions.

SUNSET MOON: Eloise doesn't believe in Native American magic--until the dreamcatcher spiders spin her down an unknown path.

THE MAKER: An incapacitated young man bent on revenge builds a creature to do it for him.

A BEAUTIFUL MOURNING: The story of a Maya goddess torn between duty and love, and the ultimate sacrifice she must make to achieve true happiness.

THE BARRICADES: When a human girl risks everything to save the life of an Eternal prince, will their feelings for each other change the world they know, or tear it apart?

Buy Links:

Amazon ¦ Barnes and Noble ¦ Kobo ¦ iTunes

Excerpt from Sunset Moon by Laura Diamond

Eloise doesn’t bother sneaking in. Her mom’s probably passed out from drunk anyway. 

She pads to her room, flicks on the light, drags the duffle from her bed and lets it slam to the floor. The next nine months of her life are in there, reduced to a few bits of clothing. She kicks off her shoes and wanders to her desk, gaze locked on the photo of Micah and her. Her vision blurs with fresh tears. This was their last night together, and he’s being such an ass. He should be thanking her for what she is doing. So should Jimmy. 

She picks up the frame and removes the picture, then carries it to the bathroom. The sour odor of beer clings to her like a heavy reminder of her fight with Micah. She tucks the photo into the wooden mirror frame on the medicine cabinet and turns on the tub faucet.While the tub fills, she peels off her damp shirt and throws it in the hamper. She tugs off her jeans, then her underwear. Naked, she shivers, though the house is warm, stuffy even, from the mid-summer night’s air. 

Her tremors aren’t from being cold. They are from a vacuous emptiness that hollows out her insides, turns her heart to ice, and chips away at her soul with each ragged breath. 

She grips the sink with both hands and steadies herself. The gush of water echoes in her ears, sloshes in her skull, and drowns her mind. Her head pounds from the surge of blood coursing through her brain with the rapid beating of her heart. The row of bulbs blazing above the medicine cabinet stabs her in the eyes, coring out her orbits. 

It’s too much. She needs something to take the edge off. 

Now.

Author Bios:

Brinda Berry:

Brinda Berry lives in the southern US with her family and two spunky cairn terriers. She's terribly fond of chocolate, coffee, and books that take her away from reality.  She doesn't mind being called a geek or “crazy dog lady”. When she's not working the day job or writing a novel, she's guilty of surfing the internet for no good 

Find Brinda at www.brindaberry.com .

Karen Y. Bynum:

Dragons, unicorns, genies…oh my! NA/YA author, coffee-lover, olive-hater, tea-drinker, music-listener. Random becomes me. Easily distrac— Blog

Laura Diamond:

Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and multi-published author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. When she’s not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer, and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion.

Jayne A. Knolls:

Jayne A. Knolls lives and works in New York City.  The Maker is her first published work of New Adult Fiction. Jayne can reached at JAKnolls@optonline.net

Theresa DaLayne:

My name is Theresa DaLayne and I’m a new adult author with Bloomsbury Spark, an amazing digital imprint of Bloomsbury publishing. Website

Cate Dean:

Hi there - thanks for checking in. My name is Cate Dean, and I write romantic suspense and paranormal, with some action packed YA paranormal and fantasy thrown in. I love to write, and I have been doing it most of my life. I've made up stories in my head for as long as I can remember, and I am thrilled to be able to write them down and share them with you.

If you want to be the first to know when the next book is released, or be in on some fun, exclusive contests and giveaways, join my list here: http://catedeanwrites.com/join-my-list. You can learn more about me and my books at my website: http://catedeanwrites.com

***Giveaway***

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Book Blitz Organized By:

BOTW - WEEK 49 {Wattpad}

Unseen

Author: Amberkbryant

Genre: Teen Fiction / Paranormal

Wattpad Book Blurb:

Clara has been alone her entire existence. People pass through, but no one can see or touch her and she cannot leave the grounds of the nondescript hotel she calls home. She doesn’t know how she came to be there, nor does she understand exactly what she is or why she’s different, but Clara does know one thing—she wants to be seen. 

After running away from his abusive father, Nolan lands a job at Clara's hotel. Trying his best to fly under the radar, Nolan hopes to attract as little attention as possible while he raises enough money to find his long-absent mother. Depressed and heartbroken, Nolan wants only to be invisible. 

Despite opposing goals, the two share a palpable loneliness. But there is little hope that they’ll share anything beyond that, until the morning a barrier separating their planes of existence is breached, and for the first time, Clara’s unseen world is made visible. As Nolan is drawn into Clara’s reality, he must decide whether the love of one person is worth crossing into a world that may never let him back into his own.

Click here to read the book.

Just Friends

Author: E_girl7

Genre: Teen Romance / Short Story

Wattpad Book Blurb:

It has almost been three years since they met. They were normal, ordinary friends then. That day changed her life... but now her heart is broken, shattered into pieces. What exactly happened..? Things were just not the same without him. (Based on true life events)

Click here to read the book.

The Door of Shadows

Author: ZoeCopeman

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Wattpad Book Blurb:

Camilla Waters has fought knights, tricked trolls, and saved dragons, well, in her head at least, but she never once thought any of it would happen in reality. But all that changes when an old elf pops out of the crack of her foster parent's living room wall. Enslaved since his youth, the elf has one last task to fulfill until he is granted his freedom. When Camilla jumps through the rift between worlds, the elf finds himself on a journey to return her home. 

With the help of two dwarves with nothing to lose, these two unlikely partners must embark on an adventure through a place much more dangerous than our own. After years of searching, the queen has found the door to the shadow realm. And as a secret unfolds before her, Camilla discovers she may just be the only one who can stop this world of fairytales from plunging into darkness.

Click here to read the book.

The Unusuals

Author: Mayakakos

Genre: Teen Fantasy / Adventure

Wattpad Book Blurb:

Jamie Smith was never a normal girl. All her life she was training and running from The Government. Everything changes when everyone except her and five other Unusual are left to fend for themselves. Jamie Smith must now over come not only running from the Government but also betraying best friends, prophecies and the fear of losing everyone she loves...

Click here to read the book.

BOTW - List #49 {Wattpad}

BOTW WEEK 49:

Blog Tour Guest Post & Giveaway - Anne of Cleves & Catherine Howard by D. Lawrence-Young

Tour Schedule

Anne of Cleves

It is winter 1539. King Henry VIII is galloping through the night to Rochester to meet a young woman. Just arrived in England from Germany, Anne of Cleves is destined to become his fourth wife. He has never met her before. He has only seen her portrait – the portrait of a sweet, demure and innocent young woman. The impatient and lovesick king must see her before their marriage. But this rushed and unplanned rendezvous will shock them and the country both. It will also lead to some completely unexpected and fatal results. 

In D. Lawrence-Young’s well-researched novel, we learn of the strong passions and the deadly politics when the romantic plans of a frustrated Tudor king go badly wrong.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ Amazon UK ¦ Amazon IN ¦ Amazon CA ¦ Amazon AU

Catherine Howard

This historical novel has it all: sex and romance, violence and war, infidelity and intrigue.

Catherine Howard, the Duke of Norfolk’s niece, is raised in the very free atmosphere of her grandmother’s palace. Here she becomes aware of her own sexuality and the exciting effect she has on the men at court around her.

She is also an unknowing part of her uncle’s devious plan to obtain more influence with the king - he pushes her onto the newly-divorced and lovesick King Henry VIII who is looking for a fifth wife.

Meanwhile, John Butcher has become a guard in the dreaded Tower of London. He guards the king, witnesses the executions of Anne Boleyn and Thomas More and takes part in the fighting in Ireland. However, when he returns to London, his meeting with Catherine Howard, the king’s fifth queen, produces unexpected and dramatic results.

In D. Lawrence-Young’s second Tudor novel we learn how Catherine Howard’s passionate nature mixed with the murky, deadly politics of the Tudor court and a furious king produce a classic story of passionate love, disappointment and revenge on a royal scale.

Buy Links:

Amazon US ¦ Amazon UK ¦ Amazon IN ¦ Amazon CA ¦ Amazon AU

Guest Post: How and why I write historical novels

I have always liked learning history, even when I had to suffer three of the world’s most boring history teachers in high school. Fortunately, when I went home and told my parents about what I had studied, my father would ask pointed and cynical questions about the heroes or the events we had concentrated on that day. In that way, I learned that there was more than one way in which I could relate to a specific historical hero or incident.

Another spin-off of this was, that when I became an English teacher, I would pepper grammatical examples I wrote on the board with historical events. In this way I hoped that this potentially dry subject would be more interesting. Using examples such as “If Henry VIII had not fallen in love with Anne Boleyn…” or “If the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler had succeeded…” I hoped made learning the conditional structure more exciting.

From this use of English and history grew my desire to write complete historical novels. This desire was helped in that I feel I don’t have to specialize in dealing with one particular era or country. Therefore I have been able to write about Australia in Sail Away from Botany Bay, about Israel in Six Million Accusers, about Anglo-Saxon kings in Of Plots & Passions, about Tudor queens in Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard as well writing about the 1605 Gunpowder Plot in Gunpowder, Treason & Plot. In addition, I have also written novels about the two World Wars - Of Guns & Mules and Of Guns, Revenge & Hope. And of course I had to write about Shakespeare and Marlowe. These two Elizabethan playwrights became the subjects of four other historical novels. 

When it comes to the actual writing, this and the necessary background research is the best part. In terms of writing this means selecting the most suitable vocabulary and style; not repeating the same words too often and making sure that what I write flows well and is credible and accurate. Even though I am writing fiction, I cannot allow mistakes such as ‘the American Declaration of Independence of June 4th, 1777’ or ‘After the Confederate victory at Gettysburg…’ to creep in. Therefore I work hard to ascertain that if I do include an historical fact, it is completely accurate. This means I have to check my sources very carefully. As an example of this, I once phoned a friend in England who is an expert on trees to ask him about which sort of trees grow in the New Forest, the site where King William II was accidentally (?) shot to death by an arrow.

Finally, it is probably because I was a teacher for many years as well as being a long-suffering student, that today I work hard to choose interesting topics for books and then to write about them in the most ‘page-turning’ way I can. I love reading and learning about what happened in the past and I want you to do the same.

About the Author

D. Lawrence-Young takes the often pompous and frequently silly “Shakespeare Authorship Controversy” and turns it into a fast-paced page-turning detective story. All the nooks and crannies of rival candidates and claims are traversed in interesting locations and often funny encounters. The SAC has got under the Shakespeare-loving and teaching David Young’s skin and he has turned this irritant into a pleasure to read and from which there is much to learn.

Author Links:

Website ¦ Goodreads

***Giveaway***

5 Kindle or ePub copies of  Anne of Cleves & Catherine Howard up for grabs.

Ends May 8 (midnight GMT).

International giveaway.

Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. The winner will be posted on this page after the winner responds. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.

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Bookvie: In Secret - out February 21, 2014

  

Who's in it:

Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Felton, Oscar Isaac

What's it all about (book blurb from Goodreads):

One of Zola's most famous realistic novels, Therese Raquin is a clinically observed, sinister tale of adultery and murder among the lower classes in nineteenth-century Parisian society.

Set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy haberdasher's shop in the passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, this powerful novel tells how the heroine and her lover, Laurent, kill her husband, Camille, but are subsequently haunted by visions of the dead man and prevented from enjoying the fruits of their crime.

Zola's shocking tale dispassionately dissects the motivations of his characters--mere "human beasts", who kill in order to satisfy their lust--and stands as a key manifesto of the French Naturalist movement, of which the author was the founding father. Published in 1867, this is Zola's most important work before the Rougon-Macquart series and introduces many of the themes that can be traced through the later novel cycle.

In Secret Official Trailer

Movie Stills:

Blog Tour Guest Post - Startup by Glenn Ogura

Tour Schedule

Startup
by Glenn Ogura

Book Description:
Set in California’s Silicon Valley, STARTUP follows a young idealist/entrepreneur, Zack Penny, as he strives to achieve his dream of creating a new company that will launch an international revolution in technology through the creation of wallpaper-thin displays that will completely surround a viewer. Zack works for a highly successful company called Display Technik, run by CEO Allen Henley, whose vision is based on a success-at-all-costs philosophy.  Zack sees Henley as a mentor, but Zack’s philosophy favors high morals and values over Henley’s ruthless, end-justifies-the-means model of doing business.

Zack’s dream takes root one morning when he discovers an important paper has been taken from his office. Someone has exposed Zack’s secret plan to break away from Display Technik and start his own company. Henley gives Zack another chance to pledge his loyalty to the firm, but Zack resigns instead, more determined than ever to realize his vision. Soon, the optimistic if naive Zack steps into his new facility with high hopes for success. Henley, however, has already launched a plan to destroy Zack, his company, and Zack’s relationship with Henley’s daughter, Mary Anne.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Guest Post - Startup: The Villain

Thrillers are often villain-driven plots. The audience becomes more engaged as the villain’s behavior becomes more cutthroat, ruthless and deadly. Think no further than Hannibal Lecter in Thomas Harris’ classic novel and movie Silence of the Lambs. Although as a civilized society, we should be appalled by the cannibalistic behavior, the audience listened with morbid fascination as the villain calmly discussed eating a census taker’s liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Eating dinner with my family, I would eat pork sausages (bangers) with ketchup and soy sauce that would turn my wife’s stomach ill and cause an early exit of the kids. No fascination at the dinner table. No probing questions of the odd combination. Just shaking heads and scowls of disapproval.

Take the award-winning book and film No Country for Old Men. The cold-blooded killer Anton Chigurh waited for Carla Jean to return from her mother's funeral (is this sick irony or what?) and proposed to toss a coin for her life. The audience watched the coin tossed up and down into Chigurh’s hand. I have also tossed a coin, not for someone’s life of course, but for which bedroom the kids get when we bought a new house. You’d think this would be pretty important to a couple of teenagers but I remember the indignant behavior of the kids, not believing I would leave it up to chance on who gets the larger room. I mean, this is compelling drama—right?

Remember the scene in Marathon Man where the former Nazi SS dentist from Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell, drilled into Dustin Hoffman’s character’s healthy tooth, repeatedly asking, “Is it safe?” The audience froze in anticipation. Personally I loathe the dentist. When I was kid, the dentist injected a painkiller needle—as long as a stiletto-- into the soft underbelly of my cheek and suddenly the room started to spin around in my head until I emptied my lunch (most likely the ketchup and soy sauce-laden sausages) into the lap of the once-smiling dentist and his fresh-faced assistant. Guess the reaction of my ex-dentist? Believe me. No frozen anticipation there.

When I wrote the business thriller Startup, I wanted to create a deliciously evil villain. Startup is a story about an idealistic young man Zack Penny who starts his dream company but that dream turns into a nightmare, spoiled by his ex-mentor Allen Henley who sets out to systematically destroy Zack, his company, his friends and even his girlfriend, who happens to be Allen’s daughter. Now I’m not sure this ruthless behavior matches cannibalism, a gambler’s vice or over-zealous dentistry but judging from the book reviews, I would say that Allen Henley is a true villain, secretly admired and reviled at the same time. One reader wrote to me that she couldn’t finish the book because she was too appalled by Henley’s actions.

So what is it about villains that compels the audience to be so absorbed by their ghastly behavior? And why is my behavior, although tame by the standards of the earlier mentioned villains, hardly gets even an acknowledgement from my family? 

And while we reflect on those questions over a glass of Chianti, would you please pass the ketchup and soy sauce?

Praise for Startup

Kirkus Reviews has hailed STARTUP as “a solid business thriller … reminiscent of John Grisham’s THE FIRM.”

“STARTUP is an intriguing and suspenseful good-versus-evil story set in the cutthroat Silicon Valley culture. STARTUP will appeal to readers who want to root for the little guy.” - ForeWord Reviews

About the Author

Glenn Ogura earned a degree in electrical engineering from Queen’s University in Canada. He is currently the executive vice-president for a New Hampshire-based laser micromachining company. Glenn lives with his wife in California.  In addition to his love of writing and talking technology and the study of business ethics, he plays tennis. Startup is his first novel.

Author Links:

Website ¦ Twitter ¦ Facebook ¦ Goodreads

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop - Book of Choice or Amazon Gift Card

Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

April 17 - 24th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

Several blogs are taking part, so there's lots of amazing gifts to be won. Check out the rules of the other blogs. I will choose a winner within 5 days following the end of this contest. I will contact the winner via email. Winner will also be announced on this page.

***Giveaway***

My giveaway is for a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a Book of Choice (up to $10) from The Book Depository.

Ends April 24th (midnight GMT).

Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. The winner will be posted on this page after the winner responds. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.

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Book Blast & Giveaway - The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace by T.D. Wilson

The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace

by T.D. Wilson

Book Description:

Book one of The Epherium Chronicles Hope. Captain James Hood of the Earth Defense Forces remembers what it felt like. Twenty-five years ago, it surged through him as a young boy watching the colony ships launched by mega-corporation Epherium rocket away. He, like so many others, dreamed of following in the colonists' footsteps. He wanted to help settle a new world—to be something greater.

Then came the war...

Hope. During years of vicious conflict with an insectoid alien race, it was nearly lost. Though Earth has slowly rebuilt in the six years since the war, overcrowding and an unstable sun have made life increasingly inhospitable. When mysterious signals from the nearly forgotten colony ships are received, Hood is ordered to embark on a dangerous reconnaissance mission. Could humanity's future sit among the stars?

Hope. Hood needs it now more than ever. As secrets about the original colonists are revealed and the Epherium Corporation's dark agenda is exposed, new adversaries threaten the mission, proving more dangerous to Earth than their already formidable foes…

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Praise

From Laura (5 star reviewer on Amazon) "I was shocked about how fast the author sucked me into a new world, a world that I am impatiently awaiting the next in the series. I read from another reviewer that it would make a great television series and I would have to agree with that reviewer."

From Kathryn Svendsen of Kathryn's Shelf Full of Books Blog (4 star review) : "It was a delight to read. Mr. Wilson did an excellent job of introducing each of the many characters involved in this large crew. There were many people to keep track of, and like a movie we found out a bit about the character of each one as we went along." 

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Excerpt

“I have an idea about that,” Hood said as he opened a channel to Engineering. “Mr. Whitaker. I need that shield of yours.”

Whitaker responded slightly out of breath. “Sorry, Captain. I can’t give it to you. That second rock that smacked us caused one of the reactors to scram, so we shut it down. Until we get that stable and some more juice in the batteries, I can’t power it up.”

Hood muttered under his breath as he pounded his fist on his chair. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he closed the channel. “Alright, our ace is out of commission,” he told Sanchez, “and even with the best of my contingency plans, we are going to have to do this the hard way.”

“You have multiple contingency plans for this?” Sanchez asked as he pointed to the viewport and the many asteroids floating nearby.

Hood looked at Sanchez and raised a single eyebrow.

“Forget I asked,” Sanchez said.

About the Author

T.D. Wilson was born in 1968 in Troy, Ohio and has been an avid fan of science fiction and fantasy from a very young age. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and has supported the systems and networks in several of the largest Supercomputing data centers in the world. His early thirst for adventure in reading began as he explored many of the great stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As his reading scope expanded, Mr. Wilson was fascinated by strange new worlds from the magical of Middle Earth and Narnia to the far reaches of space in Star Trek and Babylon 5. As a science fiction author, he strives to integrate a realistic flavor to his worlds by providing his readers a feel for the real science in science fiction. A topic he loves to discuss with his friends and readers. Mr. Wilson still lives in Ohio with his wife and their two sons.

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***Giveaway***

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash.

Ends 5/15/14

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