The Falcon Flies Alone by Gabrielle Mathieu - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Gabrielle Mathieu and her new book, “The Falcon Flies Alone”!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Gabrielle and to increase your chances of winning!

This book is on sale during the tour for ONLY $0.99!!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

The Falcon Flies Alone

by Gabrielle Mathieu

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Historical Fantasy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

As the sun rises on a quiet Swiss mountain village in 1957, runaway Peppa Mueller wakes up naked and stranded on the roof of her employer’s manor, with no idea how she got there. As she waits for help, she struggles to piece together fragmented memories of the previous night. Did she really witness the brutal massacre of a local family? Did she kill them? Her fear of sinister house guest Dr. Unruh fuels her panic—as do electrifying flashes of a furious falcon, trapped inside her.

Wanted for murder, Peppa flees the police, intent on finding out if there’s a scientific explanation or if she’s just going mad. Her godfather, world-renowned chemist Dr. Kaufmann, risks his career to help her. In the meantime, Peppa fights her attraction to the handsome priest from India who offers her shelter. With their help, she not only finds Dr. Unruh but places herself at his mercy. His experiments may be the reason Peppa now shares her body with a bloodthirsty bird of prey—but the revenge she plans could kill them both.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT ONE:

I thought talking would be a relief, but it wasn’t. When I finally stopped, exhausted by the effort of reliving that dreadful night, I had a knot in the pit of my stomach.

Da and I wanted to help troubled people with Paxarbital. Now I’d become one of them, a murderer suffering under hallucinations.

I raised my face to meet Stefan’s clear blue eyes. I saw no condemnation. “I told you I killed Hans Wäspi. Isn’t confession supposed to be good for the soul? I don’t feel any better.”

“Only God can forgive your sins. I can’t.”

Three dead. At least. “What about the woman who brought us our drinks?”

“Anita Eugster? No one’s seen her. They’re looking through the ruins of the kitchen for her bones.”

Despair descended over me, and I had to fight an urge to scream. I splashed my face with cold water, biting my lip to fight the pain inside.

“They found me on the roof this morning.” My voice sounded hollow. “Did you hear?”

Stefan moved away from me a bit, rubbing his hands as if he was cold. I understood. I’d like to get away from myself too, if I only could.

I dug my nails in my palm. I would not be weak. “We really were poisoned. I could prove it.”

“I saw your wings, Patrizia.”


“My name is Peppa.”


“You turned into an angel.”


I rubbed my eyes. What I needed was a lab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GUEST POST:

I’d love to talk about how the book cover came about for The Falcon Flies Alone, because it’s also a story about working with a new group of people, the people in our publishing co-op, Five Directions Press.

To start with, I have to tell you that I’d been flogging that novel to agents everywhere. I made lists and lists of agents, looked up their other authors or their favorite bands, referenced those in my e-mails. I guess no one was seeing dollar signs about a female Swiss chemist in the fifties, even though I was envisioning Mad Men meets Orphan Black (Two terrific shows by the way.) By the time I came across Five Directions Press, I’d already had a challenging encounter with a cynical lawyer who wanted to publish my novel in return for global rights, some of which hadn’t even been invented yet. I turned him down, and resigned myself to self-publishing. I found an artist via an internet site, and the two of us discussed a cover where my heroine Peppa is descending into the dank and scary basement where the experiments take place.

In meantime, Five Directions Press invited me to join them. In return for my editing services, C.P. Lesley would format the book for publication, and Courtney J. Hall would design the cover, with my input. But I already had this other artist, so I tried to get them to agree to accept our idea. Because it’s a co-op, and they’re supportive women, they went along with it, and kept their misgivings private. When I got the file from the artist though, I had to admit that what had looked so great in a thumbnail size, looked like a terrible Photoshop job on closer inspection. Nothing was in proportion; the model’s head was obviously pasted onto another body, and a glove fastened to the wall looked like a waving hand. It was a disaster. After I then turned to a local photographer, because I was still enamoured of the gritty, dank cellar, C.P Lesley and I had some brisk exchanges. In meantime, Courtney had designed this beautiful appealing cover, but I just couldn’t see it.

Because I was so used to having to do everything myself.

Three years of trial and error had exacted their tribute. I was stubborn, and I would persevere, but I couldn’t accept that I was actually going to get help without me having to push and push for something good.

I couldn’t accept a gift, I’d been trying so long.

Luckily, after some tweaks, the current cover emerged, and we all agreed it was a go. In meantime, I commissioned my website designer to use the chilly original concept, although I have to admit it wouldn’t have made a good book cover. You can take a look at my depressed Peppa in the cellar at http://gabriellemathieu.com/category/blog/. Can’t you just hear the Cure playing in the background?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:

Gabrielle Mathieu lived on three continents by the age of eight. She’d experienced the bustling bazaars of Pakistan, the serenity of Swiss mountain lakes, and the chaos of the immigration desk at the JFK airport. Perhaps that’s why she developed an appetite for the unusual and disorienting. Her fantasy books are grounded in her experience of different cultures and interest in altered states of consciousness (mostly white wine and yoga these days). The Falcon Flies Alone is her debut novel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONNECT WITH GABRIELLE:

Website:

www.gabriellemathieu.com

Insider’s Scoop Blog:

http://gabriellemathieu.com/category/blog/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/gabriellemathieuauthor/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/AuthorGabrielle

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/GabrielleAuthor

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7719854.Gabrielle_Mathieu

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31188498-the-falcon-flies-alone

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Gabrielle-Mathieu/e/B01IT42JZC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO:

**The Falcon Flies Alone is on sale on Amazon Kindle for ONLY $0.99 during the book tour!!**

Amazon Kindle:

http://amzn.to/2oTNKSt

Amazon Paperback:

http://amzn.to/2oDJ1VH

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-falcon-flies-alone-gabrielle-mathieu/1124129366

Gabrielle Mathieu Website:

http://gabriellemathieu.com/falcon-flies-alone/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Gabrielle will be awarding $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.