Jersey Diner by Lisa Diane Kastner - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Lisa Diane Kastner and her new book, “Jersey Diner”!  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 $50, a $25 and a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Yep – that’s right!!  There will be THREE lucky winners!!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Lisa and to increase your chances of winning!

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

Jersey Diner

by Lisa Diane Kastner

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

GENRE: Commercial Romance

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

BLURB:

Lauren has a dead end job as a waitress at the Oaklyn Diner. She becomes ecstatic when the diner is chosen to be the focal point of an upcoming movie, *Jersey Diner,* starring Jonathan Pearce. When filming ends she moves to California to start a new life with him. Lauren quickly discovers that all that she thought was real and true are in question.

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

EXCERPT ONE:

“Before me the television hummed. The remote felt heavy and big in my hands. With the next channel came my favorite interview show. The host, Lawrence Corran, spoke with Jonathan. I couldn’t believe it. They played a rerun of my favorite episode.

The two men were on a stage with a black backdrop. On a table next to them stood glasses filled with water. Lawrence, a small man with a receding hairline, thick horn-rimmed glasses, a goatee, and a rounded jaw, sat across from Jonathan. Jonathan lounged in his high backed chair. If someone else sat in the chair, it would have been overpowering, but he looked confident, relaxed. Mama used to call him a young Sean Connery. His thin black sweater provided a hint of the muscles underneath it. A grey suit jacket hung from his shoulders. The creases in his black suit pants followed the bend of his knees. I wanted to reach in and touch those creases. He glowed with each move and every word. He crossed his legs and formed a pyramid with his fingers.

       

“Wasn’t that screen test for the next day?”

       

Jonathan looked embarrassed by the question. “Yes. They said they could use someone with my looks and then sent me home.”

       

I moved closer to the screen.

       

“How long after that test did you get your first part?”

       

“Six months.”

       

“Now. See students? Don’t get discouraged if they don’t call you back immediately. Even Jonathan Pearce waited to get his first part.” Lawrence flipped to the next note card.

       

“I was an extra in a military movie called, The Edge of Life.”

       

My lips moved in time with his.

       

“I had one line. I said, ‘Sir, yes sir.’” His eyes crinkled with a touch of a smile. I had heard this story a dozen times.

“Again, students. Not only did he have to wait six months but he also had a very small role.”

       

“After that my next role wasn’t for another year. I took night classes and got a job as a construction worker.”

       

“That’s how you stayed trim.”

       

“I wanted to spend my money on classes so I needed a job that would maintain my physique.” Jonathan turned, looked at me and leaned in. “Lauren. Lauren? How are you doing?”

       

I looked around the living room. I felt self-conscious in my clothes. I tied the knot in my robe tighter and pointed to myself as if another Lauren sat next to me.

       

“Yes. I wondered if you needed anything?” he said.

       

I hesitated for a moment. My throat dried up as I tried to respond. “I-I-I’m fine.”

       

Jonathan rested back in his chair, tension eased from his shoulders. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I’ll be in town soon. We can get together for coffee.”

       

Did Jonathan Pearce ask me out on a date? “I’m sorry? I mean. Sure. That. Would. Be. Great.

” I reached my hand out to touch the screen. To see if I could be there with him and test if this was real. My fingertips reached the screen’s edge. The static electrified them, covered them in a fuzzy haze that spread up my wrist and traveled down my arm. It prepared me to become one with the images before me. Ready me to become one with Jonathan.

I prepared to break through the barrier of static, glass, and electricity, when Jonathan said, “Lauren, you better get to bed.”

He nudged my shoulder. “I gotta go now. Don’t forget. Coffee.” He winked. “Lauren. Lauren?”

His voice changed to emulate my father’s tone. Now that’s a gross thought. Someone shook my shoulder a little more. A fog broke free from my mind. It forced me to wake up. The television shone before me, my father clicking off the static filled screen.

“You should head to bed now.”

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

GUEST POST:

Who Inspired Your Love for Books?

When I was a child, my father was a radio personality who had a bad habit of getting fired.  Before Howard Stern was Howard Stern and exclaiming expletives, my father accidentally said the F-bomb on the air (He thought the mike was turned off). Sadly, the station’s general manager was listening and promptly fired him. This resulted in long stretches of him working dead end jobs and overnight gigs in between his true passion which was being On the Air. He had a long stretch as a paperboy which at least allowed him to put food on the table and pay our basic bills. He was a very hardworking and proud man.  He didn’t want food stamps. He wanted to earn every dollar himself.

Meanwhile, my mom was a social worker who disappeared for a year, returned and then disappeared again for another year. Later she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia so her random flights from home were typically instances in which she had an episode. We lived in Camden, NJ which at the time was the murder capitol of the United States.

Needless to say, I needed escapes from my day-to-day life and one of the main escapes was in books. I voraciously read the books I was assigned. I wandered through the school library in search of stories and of worlds that would catapult me away from the world I lived in. The genre didn’t matter. What mattered to me was the story and characters that engaged me. I read The Count of Monte Cristo in one weekend. The same with several other books. If there was an extra book assignment, I raised my hand because it meant that here was another world I could enjoy.

My parents and my stepmother encouraged me to write. Being such an avid reader, writing seemed like a natural progression. My mother bought me huge sheets of paper on which I drew comics and wrote stories. My step mother gave me a white journal with gold leafing. Although I never embraced writing a diary, I did embrace writing songs, poetry, and random snippets of stories.

As I got older, my father taught me how to write Associated Press style and the upside down pyramid (both are classics for journalists), which I found invaluable when writing for school.  When I reached high school, my teachers encouraged me to write stories and poetry.

Although I was a journalist for a bit, I had dropped my creative writing pursuits until after completing my masters degree. Literally the day I completed my final presentation, I rushed home and wrote a short story. I felt compelled to write. Unsure of my abilities, I made a pact with myself – I would revise the short story and submit it to a conference to obtain feedback.  If the feedback was horrible then I would stop writing.

I submitted it to the Philadelphia Writers Conference. The second day, the instructor pulled me aside and said he needed to talk to me. I was terrified. I thought he was going to kick me out of the class. Later that day, we met and he told me I was a natural writer and that I needed to write. He had rarely seen such a gift for storytelling and use of words. I nearly cried.

Throughout my life, someone acted as a beacon for me to continue writing.

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

AUTHOR BIO:

Lisa is a former correspondent for the Philadelphia Theatre Review and Features Editor for the Picolata Review, her short stories have appeared in magazines and journals such as StraightJackets Magazine and HESA Inprint. In 2007 Kastner was featured in the Fresh Lines @ Fresh Nine, a public reading hosted by Gross McCleaf Art Gallery.

She founded Running Wild Writers and is the former president of Pennwriters, Inc. (www.pennwriters.com). She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University, her MBA from Pennsylvania State and her BS from Drexel University (She’s definitely full of it). Her novel THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS was shortlisted in the fiction category of the William Faulkner Words and Wisdom Award and her memoir BREATHE was a semi-finalist in the nonfiction category of the same award.

Lisa presented at a TEDx in Seattle on The Power of Connecting. And presented at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) on the “You Sent Us What?” panel.

Born and raised in Camden, New Jersey The Redness migrated to Philadelphia in her twenties and eventually transported to Los Angeles, California with her partner-in-crime and ever-talented husband. They nurture two felonious felines who anxiously encourage and engage in little sparks of anarchy.

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

CONNECT WITH LISA:

Website:

lisadianekastner.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/fieryredone

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/lisadkastner

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/60shadesofred

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8421230.Lisa_Diane_Kastner

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34409588-jersey-diner

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Diane-Kastner/e/B00C4JMN7I

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

BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO:

**Jersey Diner will be on SALE for ONLY $0.99 during the tour!!**

Amazon Kindle:

http://amzn.to/2qhpzBR

Amazon Paperback:

http://amzn.to/2oUlBdK

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jersey-diner-lisa-diane-kastner/1125794772

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/jersey-diner

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

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Lisa will be awarding a $50, a $25 and a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winners (three winners) 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.