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Monday, March 12, 2018

Hope and Honor by Marilee Brothers - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Marilee Brothers and her new book, “Hope and Honor”!  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 $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Marilee and to increase your chances of winning!

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


Hope and Honor
by Marilee Brothers

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GENRE: Romantic Suspense with a Touch of Fantasy

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BLURB:

Life is becoming more complicated for soul reader Honor Melanie “Mel” Sullivan. Her boss needs help with his rebellious teen daughter who believes rules are made to be broken and Mel’s current boyfriend, Homeland Security agent Mick Petrov, is becoming an absentee lover, dropping hints about a major decision he faces. To make it worse, Mel’s ex, 3 Peaks detective “Billy the Kid” McCarty wants her back. And those aren’t the only challenges. When a paramilitary group called New Dawn wants her soul-reading skills, Mel meets five-year-old twins who steal her heart. Unwilling to abandon the motherless children, she strikes a deal with the compound’s charismatic leader. Drawn deeper and deeper into New Dawn’s twisted agenda, Mel must figure out a way to save the twins and herself before it’s too late.

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EXCERPT TWO:


My peripheral vision catches sight of a sudden movement. I walk down the steps and turn right until I reach the edge of the building. I peek around the corner and see a little girl pressed against the rough siding. Her dark hair is braided. Her jeans and jacket are too big and look like boy clothes. Her gaze is fixed on the ground. Her thumb is in her mouth. She’s clutching a stuffed rabbit.

I take a step toward her and smile. “Hi. Are you waiting for your dad?”

She nods.

I take a step closer, trying not to spook her. “I’m Mel. What’s your name?”

Without removing her thumb, she mumbles something unintelligible. I take a step close and squat down until we’re eye level.

“I didn’t quite get your name. Maybe if you take your thumb out of your mouth it will work better.”

She lifts her head and I’m looking into eyes identical to those of the little blond boy. Bright and blue. My heart breaks when I look into her soul. Streaked with pale blue accents, it’s a soft shade of pink and bisected with a jagged black line. This little girl has experienced severe trauma.

“I think I saw your dad and brother go into the hall. Am I right?”

She nods. The thumb comes out of her mouth. “Papa and Gunner.”

“Can you tell me your name again, sweetie?”

“I’m Kimber.”

“Do people call you Kim?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. People call me Kimber, ‘cause that’s my name.”

“Got it,” I say. “How about you keep me company until the meeting is over. I’ve got nobody to talk to and I’m lonesome. We could go sit on the stairs and wait together.”

“Not there. No females. We can sit on the bench, though.”

She takes my hand and leads me to a rickety bench a few yards in front of the porch railing. We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes. I’m dying to know more about Kimber, but don’t want to bombard her with questions.

“This is Blossom Bunny,” she offers, thrusting the stuffed rabbit in front of my face.

Blossom Bunny is not attractive. Her fur is dull gray and splotchy. Her long, floppy ears droop down to her skinny legs. Black, beady eyes peer straight ahead atop a little pink nose.

“Very nice,” I lie.

“I love Blossom Bunny. She has zippers in her ears. I keep important stuff there.”
She lays the bunny across her lap, lifts one of the floppy ears and points out the zipper.

“Very cool. It’s good to have a place to keep important stuff.”

She nods solemnly, unzips one of the ears and pulls out stubby pencil, a little rubber ball and a hair ribbon. Seeing her sparse array of treasures makes me sad.

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GUEST POST:

Evolution of My Writing Habits and How I've Grown Into a Better/More Experienced Writer

Thank you, Fabulous and Brunette, for hosting me today. Here is what I’ve learned over the past ten years.

Don't be a Quitter.

Thousands of people start writing books but, somewhere along the way, get bogged down and never finish.

Don’t Expect First Draft Perfection.

The odds against writing perfect prose the first time around are astronomically against you. Nobody, I mean, nobody is capable of writing a final draft the first time around. That’s what re-writes are for.

Don’t Fear Rejection.

 Before I sold my first book I knew the odds were against me. A close family member told me only two percent of books submitted to agents and editors are published. Why did I persist? I admit I have a stubborn streak. When someone tells me I can't do something, the little voice inside my head says, "Oh, yeah?" I wanted to prove I could start and finish a book. And I did. Even today, with ten published books under my belt, old doubts still float to the surface. What if I can't come up with a fresh plot? What if nobody likes my latest book? Fear of rejection is paralyzing. It stifles your creativity and moves you backward instead of forward. So, do what I do. Take a deep breath and kick.

Forge a Relationship With Someone Who Will Make You a Better Writer.

Writing is solitary, lonely business. The Internet has made it less so. Because it is absolutely impossible to be objective about your own writing, join a critique group, find a beta reader or, if you plan to self-publish, hire a competent editor who will go over your manuscript with a cool, dispassionate eye and offer the constructive criticism needed to polish your book. Trust me, it will save you many an embarrassing moment. How do I know this? Because people simply love to point out the error they found on page 44.

Give Yourself a Pat on the Back.

You started the journey. You've made progress. Instead of looking back at what you've written and agonizing over your unpolished prose, take a moment to be proud of what you've accomplished. While you're at it, promise yourself that you will finish. Try to squeeze in a little writing time each day. Before you know it, your book will be done and you will have accomplished what many others set out to do but failed, probably because of one of the roadblocks already described. Writers write. They persist even when discouraged. They finish what they start.

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AUTHOR BIO:


Marilee Brothers is a former teacher, coach, counselor and the author of ten books. Marilee and her husband are the parents of three grown sons and live in central Washington State. After writing six young adult books, Marilee is once again writing romantic suspense for the adult market. She loves hearing from people who have read her books. Feel free to contact her at http://www.marileebrothers.com and sign up for her newsletter The Obsessive Page Turner.

Her author page on Facebook is: www.facebook.com/marilee.author and she occasionally tweets @MarileeB. Check out Marilee’s Amazon page here: http://www.amazon.com/Marilee-Brothers/e/B003RL7EWQ.

Marilee’s blog is Book Blather, http://bookblatherblog.blogspot.com where she features aspiring and published authors as well as some tidbits of her own.

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CONNECT WITH MARILEE:

Website:

Newsletter:

Blog:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

Amazon Paperback:

Barnes and Noble:

Kobo:

Google Play:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Marilee will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.


**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.

7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed getting to know your book; congrats on the tour and I hope it is a fun one for you :)

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  2. Congrats on the tour and thank you for the excerpt and giveaway. I appreciate the opportunity to win.

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  3. Thanks for hosting the giveaway. Congratulations on the book. I hope that I win. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com

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  4. Happy Easter and thanks again for the opportunity to win.

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  5. Congratulations on your tour. Love the cover and sounds interesting.

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