The Indie Express: June 2020

Monday, June 29, 2020

Southern Historical Feature: Once in a Blood Moon by @DorotheaBonneau #blogtour #bookreview #giveaway #southernhistorical #southernfiction #historicalfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @PublishingAcorn

Southern Historical

Date Published: June 11, 2020

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

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Heaven Hill Plantation, upriver from Georgetown, South Carolina, 1807: Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Degambia is the daughter of a wealthy African American planter and a social-climbing mother who can pass for white. Balancing on the tightrope between girlhood and the complicated adult world of Low-Country society is a treacherous undertaking.

Early Reviews

Alexandra is a tenacious heroine who’s easy to root for, and the author elegantly articulates her precarious position between white and black society. Overall, this novel explores issues of equality and personal freedom in thought-provoking ways.

Sharp writing, an original plot, and a strong female protagonist make for an engrossing read.

-Kirkus Review

This tale of desperation, injustice and courage is a much needed addition to our grasp of our nation's history. A 5-star reading experience. Highly recommend!"

Laura Taylor – 6-Time Romantic Times Award Winner

Review

Oh how needed this book is right now.

Dorothea Hubble Bonneau has created a powerful Historical Novel. So many important and controversial topics are covered.

Alexandra is such a wonderfully created lead. She is strong and willful, yet naive at the same time. It was something the author managed to balance.

Ups and Downs, there is so much going on within these pages and you will not be disappointed.

About the Author

Dorothea Hubble Bonneau is an award-winning novelist, produced playwright and optioned screenwriter. Inspired by a quest for justice, her work is informed by her love of family, nature, and the literary arts.

Dorothea is a member of Author’s Guild, Women in Film, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Aspen Summer Words Alumni, and Historical Writers of America.

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Twitter: @DorotheaBonneau

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Friday, June 26, 2020

Women's Lit Feature: The Voice of Reason by Kat Clark #blogtour #bookreview #giveaway #womenslit #womensfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @PublishingAcorn

Women’s Lit

Date Published: June 1

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

There’s nothing like young love. But from the beginning, Amy’s wealthy, opinionated parents disapprove of Josh Everett. Josh is a high school drop-out working for his father’s modest construction company, when Amy becomes pregnant during her senior year of high school.

Her parents begrudgingly throw a lavish wedding for her and Josh to avoid the scandal of an unwed and pregnant teenage daughter. Freed from her parents’ expectations, Amy begins to thrive as a wife and mother. But Josh and Amy’s simple love story endures an unwanted plot twist when Josh is struck by mental illness and begins suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations.

Confused and scared, Amy does her best to hold her little family together. When his symptoms escalate and Josh lands in a locked hospital ward, Amy’s parents see an opportunity to sabotage the relationship. Unless Amy divorces Josh and returns home to them, they will move to take custody of the couple’s young son.

An embittered legal battle ensues, and Josh and Amy are thrown from hospital to court room. Time is running out as Josh grapples with what’s real and the couple searches for an accurate diagnosis. In order to save their family, they must face the biggest obstacle in their relationship and fight together against everything – and everyone – determined to tear them apart.

Review

I really loved this book. The characters were so fun and easy to be with. I was engaged by the story throughout and couldn’t wait to see what happened in the end. I could easily picture it all and I now want to visit these characters.

Emotional and yet heart-warming. Love and Loss and determination. It's full of so much and I highly recommend it!

About the Author

Kat Clark is an award-winning writer with a degree in psychology and a passion for storytelling. She found writing on a frigid winter night while holed up with a crying baby, a travelling husband, and a precocious three-year old.

Kat has been a stay-at-home mom to her two sons for eleven years. She also homeschools and advocates tirelessly for awareness of and accommodations for special needs. Her free time is spent volunteering with various church ministries including working with children with a variety of needs. Her personal experience with mental illness and her previous work with the chronically mentally ill population sparked her determination to remove the stigma from mental illness.

Kat is a contributing author for The Mighty website. She also shares a You Tube channel (Sonny Mom INC.) with her son and a blog with her sister-in-law at www.killingjunecleaver.blogspot.com. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two children, two large, obnoxious dogs, and two cats who hate each other.

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Thursday, June 25, 2020

Non Fiction Feature: ONE by Mirav Tarkka #blogtour #nonfiction #wellness #selfhelp #review #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Non-Fiction / Wellness Guide

Date Published: March 3, 2020

We are all looking for balance and happiness in life. Today’s society certainly isn’t making it any easier to achieve that elusive blend of health, success and well-being.

ONE is the ultimate wellness guide on balance between Body and Mind, a winning combo of 22 therapists, handpicked by Mirav Tarkka, on the subject of improving your well-being. Accessible, easy to read and full of practical tips this is book is a must have, a perfect mix of storytelling and hands-on advice on getting to live the life you deserve.

The book talks about different areas of life; nutrition, creativity, sexuality, stress, communication, power finding and creating and lots more are covered to give you a comprehensive insight on the connection between body and mind.

Review

This is proof you can have input from many minds and do it successfully. I think everyone included in this was well represented and provided valuable insight without going against what others say. It's great to have different voices speak on similar things and see how they all relate. Very well put together and empowering and inspiring!

About the Author

Mirav Tarkka is the bestselling author of Undefeatable, founder of Pepper Coaching and host of ONE – the online wellness tv show. She is the brainchild behind ONE the ultimate wellness book written by 20 different experts. A book on the balance between Body and Mind explained from different angles. From how to live life orgamiscally, to releasing your chakras, Chinese medicine, nutrition and the power of words are just some of the subjects covered in the book.

Through her life, Mirav has had her fair share of breakdown moments. She had to rebuild her life from scratch many times while dealing with a roller coaster of emotions, wars, challenges and pain, but she kept going - no matter what.

Through her own profound personal journey, she discovered the power of the mind to be not less important than that of the body. Mirav then created a method which combines strengthening the body while sharpening the mind, in order to help people around the world use their true, raw, authentic power, unleash their inner strength while working on their mind muscles so that they can enjoy every aspect of life to their fullest potential.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

email mirav@peppercoaching.online

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Amazon

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Short Stories Feature: Six Word Wonder by Doug Weller #promo #shortstories #literary #fiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @realdougweller

Short Stories, Literary Fiction

Date Published: June 18, 2020

“Six words to tell a story.

Not three, or eight, or twenty.

You may ask - is six enough?

Well, trust me, six is plenty.”

A collection of over five hundred stories, each one exactly six words long. Some stories are funny, some poetic, some vulgar, and some are a little disturbing. Each story has been lovingly crafted to amuse and entertain you in six words.

Doug Weller’s Six Word Wonder is a social media sensation, with over 10,000 followers on Instagram.

Now, for the first time, Doug brings his best tiny stories together in one collection.

Unlocking the cage, she stepped out.

Cupid. Tomorrow, aim for his head.

Home alone, but toilet just flushed.

Baby loves whining. Mother loves wine.

…reader. I’m a very gifted mind…

I poured two glasses… then remembered.

Take a moment out of your hectic schedule to enjoy these Six Word Wonders.

About the Author

Doug Weller is an emerging thriller writer and creator of the Six Word Wonder.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Memoir Feature: Living Among the Dead by Adena Bernstein Astrowsky #promo #memoir #nonfiction #giveaway #history #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @adena_astrowsky

Biography/Memoir/History/Nonfiction/Jewish Studies/WWII

Date Published: March 3, 2020

Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers

This is the story of one remarkable woman's unimaginably horrific journey through the rise of the Nazi regime, the war, and the aftermath. Her story is narrated by her granddaughter and the book is interwoven with beautiful passages of poetry and personal reflection by the survivor, Mania, as she used writing as a medium to deal with the effects of the war. Most Jews did not die in concentration camps. Instead, they were murdered in their lifelong communities, slaughtered by mass killing units, and then buried in pits. Mania lived in labor camps and witnessed these inconceivable sightings while doing everything within her power to subsist. Although she was the sole survivor of her family, Mania went on to rebuild a new life in a new country, with a new language and new customs, always carrying with her the losses of her family and memories of the brutality she witnessed and lived through. Nearly eighty years post liberation of the Holocaust, we are still witnessing acts of cruelty born out of hatred and discrimination. Living among the Dead reminds us of the beautiful communities that existed before WWII, the lives lost and those that lived on, and the importance to never forget these stories so that history does not repeat itself.

About the Author

Adena Astrowsky has dedicated her career to helping the most vulnerable of our society. She did this by prosecuting child sexual abuse cases and domestic violence cases within the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. She became the local expert concerning the prosecution of domestic violence related strangulation cases and taught extensively on that subject. Currently, she handles post-conviction cases on appeal and foreign extradition cases. Adena taught Sunday School at her temple for eight years, and in her last two years she co-taught "Character Development Through the Studies of the Holocaust." Adena contributes articles to MASK (Mothers Awareness on School-age Kids) Magazine, often writing about children's safety, drugs, law and order, etc. Once a month Adena volunteers at a local Scottsdale library with her therapy dog, Charlie, as part of the Tail Waggin' Tales Program. Adena has also chaired events to raise money for the Emily Center of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Adena’s greatest role, however, is as the mother of three very active children. She, and her husband, Brad, are kept very busy with their respective dance, theater, music, and athletic activities.

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Website

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Twitter: @adena_astrowsky

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Poetry Feature: Human Kindness Shortfalls by Edmund F. Byrne #promo #poetry #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @efbyrnejdphd

Poems, Poetry, Social Issues

Published: May 29, 2020

Publisher: Austin Macauley

Diverse indications as to failure of humans to find and follow pathways to peace.

Human Kindness Shortfalls is a collection of poems that vary as to topic but all address some problem or issue regarding which kindness is in short supply as we too often resort to harmful efforts at controlling who and/or what is allowed to prosper.

These poems deal with family matters, government misbehavior, human flaws, war, ecology. The overall theme is how we humans fail to live up to our potential in dealings with others in which we too often act indifferently, even hostilely.

About the Author

Edmund F. Byrne is a retired philosophy professor who has taken up poetry after years of publishing books and articles in his professional field. For twenty years, he was a section editor for the Journal of Business Ethics and more recently, has reviewed books critical of ‘Just War Theory’. At IUPUI, where he taught, he has established a Peace and Global Justice Award. Edmund also published a memoir entitled Remembering My Self.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Self-Help Feature: F-Bomb Affirmations by Natalie Stokell #blogtour #bookreview #giveaway #selfhelp #nonfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Self -help

Date Published: 20.4.20 20th April 2020

Publisher: Change Empire Books

F-Bomb Affirmations is the self-help book for people who are fed the f•ck up with the same old stories keeping them from reaching their dreams and goals.

In this insightful and entertaining book, self-proclaimed affirmation queen Natalie Stokell breaks down the brain science of why we achieve some of our goals but not others. In 11 easy-to-read chapters, you’ll learn:

• How beliefs are formed from a neuroscience perspective and how these beliefs filter your view of the world

• How to discover what stories are keeping you from reaching your goals, so you can push through these blocks and make some epic sh•t happen in your life

• How your brain works so you can start rewiring it for success and reach your goals faster

• What goals trigger your ‘not good enough’ stories and how to shift this so you can begin to feel worthy to receive

• Why swearing is actually good for you and how you can use it as an effective mindset tool

• How to create affirmations that actually work, so you can use them with confidence and create the life you were meant to live

By the end of F-Bomb Affirmations, you’ll understand how your brain works and how to work it. You’ll have five keys to supercharge your affirmations – and you’ll discover how to immediately start applying these keys to the things you want to be, do, and have in your life.

Everything is possible. Your dreams are within your reach. And you’ve got what it takes.

You are one f•cking incredible human.

Review

Natalie Stokell, thank you for writing this book. My goodness, I didn't realize how much I needed it until long after I was finished. It has stuck with me. I love the wit and humor, I love the straight to the point, not skirting around things way it was laid out.

The ultimate goal of this book is to give you confidence in yourself and show you YOU CAN. I think Natalie delivers on that over and over again with her words throughout the book.

Books like this are needed. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, it's real and honest and for that I am thankful!

About the Author

Natalie Stokell lives and plays on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, with her partner, their two children, nine chickens, and seven alpacas. She has a master’s degree in psychology and has used affirmations for years to create the life of her dreams. Her affirmation recordings on SoundCloud have had over 219,317 plays. In this kickass book, she shares all her tips so that you too can change your life. You can find out more and connect with her at www.fbombaffirmations.com.

Contact Links

Facebook @fbombaffirmations

Blog

Instagram @fbombaffirmations

Sound Cloud

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Non Fiction Feature: Dear Lyme Disease by Wendi M. Lindenmuth #promo #nonfiction #selfhelp #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @LindenmuthWendi

Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Chronic Pain

Date Published: 4/21/20

This book is a must-read for anyone who lives with Lyme Disease, chronic pain, and illness and is still seeking answers and support.

In 2015, Wendi’s life drastically changed when she was diagnosed with Lyme disease and other life-threatening infections. She was once a competitive athlete, enjoyed the flexibility and freedom of her life to being bedridden. She shares her struggles along with her celebrations of living with Lyme disease and chronic pain.

As you read this book, Wendi guides you through each chapter taking you from theory to practice learning alternative healing tools and engaging in experiential exercises to start implementing a new way of thinking, living and finding your “new normal” and hope again.

If you are struggling with Lyme Disease, chronic illness, and pain, you will learn to forge a new relationship with your body, mind, and soul and learn new tools to optimize your life despite your limitations.

About the Author

Wendi M. Lindenmuth BS, MPH, is an Author, Energy Medicine and Alternative Healing Specialist and an Intuitive Healing Artist. With over 25 years of experience in teaching, medical and public health, and healing, she helps people suffering from Lyme Disease, chronic illness and pain find relief from their symptoms and limitations and start creating a life of hope, strength and purpose again. She lives in Dresser, Wisconsin with her husband and 2 dogs surrounded in the tranquility of Wisconsin Interstate park.

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Monday, June 22, 2020

Young Adult Sci-Fi Feature: ZON by Maureen A. Miller #promo #releaseday #youngadult #yascifi #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours @MaureenAMiller

BEYOND Series, Book 5

(Can be read as a stand alone)

Young Adult – Science Fiction - Adventure

Date Published: June 22, 2020

From USA TODAY bestselling author, Maureen A. Miller, comes this young adult cosmic adventure.

With a father from the planet, Ziratak, and a mother from Earth, Zon's challenges are galactic. Zon doesn't possess superpowers, though. If anything, he's a bit of a klutz.

In Ziratakian folklore, the tale of the Temple of the Monarch has been passed down for generations. As legend has it, a series of miniature globes lead to the temple’s gate.

Folklore…nothing more.

Except, Zon knows of a cave with small globes in it. And with one clumsy mishap, he triggers the gate–opening a portal to other worlds.

A trip through this vortex transports him to Earth, where the first human he encounters is a young woman with challenges of her own.

This is a brand new saga, and a new generation. There is no need to read the BEYOND series. However, for readers of the series, you will enjoy this continuation of the epic science fiction adventure.

About the Author

USA TODAY bestselling author, Maureen A. Miller worked in the software industry for fifteen years. She crawled around plant floors in a hard hat and safety glasses hooking up computers to behemoth manufacturing machines. The job required extensive travel. The best form of escapism during those lengthy airport layovers became writing.

Maureen's first novel, WIDOW'S TALE, earned her a Golden Heart nomination in Romantic Suspense. After that she became hooked to the genre. In fact, she was so hooked she is the founder of the JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE website.

Recently, Maureen branched out into the Young Adult Science Fiction market with the popular BEYOND Series. To her it was still Romantic Suspense...just on another planet!

Find more about Maureen at www.maureenamiller.com

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