Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Taylor
Hohulin and his new book, “Tar”! For
other stops on his 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 Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Taylor
and to increase your chances of winning!
This book is on SALE
during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!
See below for more details.
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Tar
by Taylor Hohulin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Post-Apocalypse/Science Fiction/Horror
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Brendan Cobb calls it tar, but there might be as many names for
it as cities left standing.
To
some, it’s known as filth, or blight. Others call it the Black God in
reverential whispers. Whatever name it takes, the effects are the same. Cities
left in ruins. People turned into monsters. Living infections with no known
cure. The best anyone can do is avoid it, but even that gets harder the more it
spreads.
Brendan
survives this waking nightmare by trading salvage for shelter and for repairs
to his cybernetic arm, until a newcomer arrives, convinced Brendan is the key
to ridding the world of tar once and for all. Reluctantly, Brendan and his
mechanic join the newcomer on a journey across the desolate highways of a
ruined world, where he learns the true history of the tar…and of the dark power
inside him, which grows stronger every day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT THREE:
The
driver of the black car twisted his wheel hard, and the weaponized tires rolled
toward Brendan’s head at ninety-five miles per hour. Samson slammed on the
brakes, and the seatbelt bit Brendan’s collarbone. Tires squealed, and Samson’s
car fell back a split second before the black ones collided. The spiked tires
sparked and shredded each other. The vehicles tangled, swerving about the
highway in tandem. Samson hung back to avoid danger, but he couldn’t do it for
long. Another car loomed behind them.
And
so Samson lifted one hand off the wheel.
As
he did, the road lifted off the ground.
Samson
punched the gas, and Brendan’s body pressed into the seat. They raced up the
rising pavement, came to the place where the road ran out, and then they were
airborne.
Brendan
held his breath. He braced his arm against the window. The hum of the road
faded away. The small vibrations of the highway’s uneven surface ceased. They
were flying, the car carrying them over the carnage of the entangled black
vehicles.
As
suddenly as they’d left it, they hit the ground again. Brendan’s spine
compressed with the impact. The car fishtailed a moment, the wheels bit the
asphalt, and they took off like an arrow.
When
he’d regained his bearings, Brendan looked out the rear window. The black cars
had flipped, now lying on either end of the road with shredded tires spinning
uselessly. No evidence remained of the ramp Samson had created except crumbled
pavement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Five Reasons Why You Should Read Tar
My
new book, Tar just came out, and if
you were wondering whether or not it was worth picking up, I’ve got a few
surefire signs that this is the book for you. Don’t consult your doctor. Don’t
Google your symptoms. If any of these sound like you, then run—don’t walk—to
your nearest ebook retailer and download a copy of Tar.
Reason #1:
You liked Blade Runner, but wished it had more
zombies.
My
elevator pitch for Tar is that it’s
like a mashup of Blade Runner and The Walking Dead. It’s not quite a cyberpunk
story, though it does have that same high-tech, low-life feel of Blade Runner
and other key works in the genre. Every other person sports some sort of
cybernetic enhancement, too. So it’s definitely a story informed by the
cyberpunk genre, though it doesn’t fit neatly enough to be truly considered a
prime example of it.
Tar is also not quite a
zombie story, though the living infections our main characters refer to as tar
certainly do end up affecting the world much like a zombie outbreak. One small
infection site turns people into monsters, and those monsters turn more people
into monsters, and so on and so forth. There’s a real element of survivors
banding together and people doing terrible things to each other just in the
name of survival, but again, I think someone hoping for a prototypical zombie
story will be highly disappointed.
However,
if you’re the kind of person that wanted just a little more zombie in your
Blade Runner, or just a little more cyberpunk in your Walking Dead, then Tar is the book for you. And if you
wanted just a dash of urban fantasy sprinkled over the top of everything—well,
stop reading now and go pick this book up.
Reason #2:
You want to make me ever so happy.
This
is the whole reason I self-publish. I love to write, and I love to tell
stories—but to me, a story isn’t complete until it’s been told to someone else.
I do a lot of creative projects, and with every one, the thing that really
energizes me is the thought that I could create in someone else the feelings
that my favorite books and movies create in me. That’s pretty nifty. So if you
want me to feel all happy that someone else is about to spend time with my
characters, go pick up a copy of Tar.
Reason #3:
You like reading about quests, but you’re sick of
seeing heroes crossing plains and climbing mountains.
I had
this idea to structure Tar’s story
similar to an epic quest, except to set it on the crumbling highways of a
post-apocalyptic wasteland, rather than, say, scenic New Zealand. The quest
narrative has always been really inspiring to me, but I’ve never been a huge
fan of the decorations that come with epic high fantasy. So I decided to tell a
story that flowed much like an epic quest, but looked like something different.
Instead of a pure white steed, our hero rides in the backseat of a rusty old
car. Instead of a bearded old man in a pointy hat with a glowing staff, our
hero’s guide is a ragged old man in torn jeans and a T-shirt with a shoulder
holster for his short-barreled shotgun.
Reason #4:
You like action.
Listen,
I write what’s exciting to me, and I like action sequences. Whether it’s a
physical fistfight, an ethereal battle between two wizards wielding all the
powers of the arcane, or a shootout in a tavern, I’m ready to see things go
absolutely crazy. I’ll give you story and character development, but I get
bored if things don’t start exploding fairly regularly. So if you also get
bored of long and drawn out descriptions of scenery and endless deliberations
inside a character’s mind…Tar just
might be the book for you.
Reason #5:
You like cheap stuff.
Tar is ridiculously cheap
for a little longer. I’m leaving it at 99 cents for the duration of this blog
tour, and potentially a little longer after that. I haven’t decided when I’ll
raise it to full price, so the only way to guarantee this discount is to get
your copy by December 7. Otherwise, I just might decide it’s time to charge a
little more, and nobody wants that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Taylor Hohulin is a
radio personality by morning, a science fiction author by afternoon, and asleep
by 9:30. He is the author of The Marian Trilogy, Tar, and other genre-blending
works. He lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife, where they are owned
by a dog and a cat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH TAYLOR:
Blog:
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS
& BOOK SALE INFO:
**Tar is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY
$0.99!!!**
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Taylor will be awarding a $20 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.**
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting me today!
ReplyDeleteDo you have plans to write a sequel to the book? Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteWe'll see ;) No firm plans, but I have some ideas of where else the story could go.
DeleteLoved your "Reasons to..."! I love The Walking Dead and Blade Runner, so this sounds like a must read for me! Thanks so much for the sale and giveaway.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I hope you check it out - and that you enjoy it.
DeleteGreat post - I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDelete