Hi
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure
today to host Jerome Mark Antil and his new book, “Mamma’s Moon”! 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 $10 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Jerome and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Mamma's Moon
by Jerome Mark Antil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Literary
Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A bond
that can only happen on a dance floor happened in a cafe off Frenchman Street
among four unlikely characters: a man who was about to die; his friend, an
illiterate Cajun French yardman; and two of the most successful women in New
Orleans.
Aging
Captain Gabriel Jordan, retired, was given two months to live, three months
before he met "Peck"--Boudreau Clemont Finch--a groundskeeper on the
back lawn of his hospice on Bayou Carencro, Louisiana. It was at the hospice
that Gabe told Peck his dream of seeing the Newport Jazz Festival before he
died. They became friends, and Peck offered to help grant his wish by taking
him there.
And
they began their journey.
It
quickly became a journey with complications and setbacks. They saved each other
many times, but they were in turn saved by two extraordinary women: Sasha
(Michelle Lissette), a real estate agent in New Orleans's posh Garden District,
and her best friend, Lily Cup (Lily Cup Lorelei Tarleton), a criminal attorney.
Less
than a year before the events in Mamma's Moon, Gabe and Peck wandered into
Charlie's Blue Note, a small jazz bar in a side alley just off Frenchman
Street, where the music was live and mellow and the dancing warm and sensual.
Here
they encountered Sasha and Lily Cup, and amid the music, the dancing, the food,
the flirting, and the cigar smoke, the four formed an unusual and lasting
friendship that would see them each through a series of crises,
disappointments, life-threatening situations, and moments of great joy and
satisfaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
She
rolled her eyes and turned to the other chair.
“The
only reason they haven’t busted down your door and you’re not behind bars is
you’re a decorated veteran, and I’m your attorney, and I promised you’ll show
up in the morning. Sasha warned me about you. I should have listened. You’re an
ornery, stubborn old coot when you have a mind to.”
She
sat down.
“I’m
never ornery,” Gabe said. “But that’s enough.”
He
leaned and poured coffee.
“You’re
lucky we have Magistrate Judge Fontenot tomorrow. I heard her dad was killed in
Vietnam. She’s been pretty fair to me in the past. A new school gal, tough on
the letter of the law, but she’ll listen to reason if it solves a case. She
hates red tape with a passion, and seldom lets the DA or the defense use the
system for delays. She doesn’t get hung up on tradition.”
“Have
you heard?” Gabe said. “Our Sasha has asked me to give her away. How about them
apples?”
“Gabe,
like she’s been my best friend since kindergarten, she tells me everything,”
Lily Cup said. “It’s sweet.”
“I’m
thinking Peck and I might throw a party,” Gabe said. “Something she’ll
remember—commemorate their engagement Mardi Gras style. Lots of pictures; close
friends.”
“Will
you print invitations, like a formal do?” Lily Cup asked.
“But
of course,” Gabe said. “Maybe costumes?”
“It’s
party time! She would flip over a costume party, all our friends would,” Lily
Cup said. “You and Peck celebrating her engagement will mean a lot to her.”
“Should
we do it here or over at Charlie’s Blue Note with the live jazz?”
“Gabe,
you’ve got one picture on the mantle, two chairs, and a cardboard box in the
living room. This isn’t exactly what I’d call a Commander’s Palace party room.”
“I
was thinking a streetcar day pass in the invite if we do it here at the house,”
Gabe said.
“That’s
a nice idea—parking sucks on this street. When are you going to buy some
furniture?”
“I’m
too old to impose furniture on Peck. Peck would only feel obligated to keep it
after I’m gone. I’ll let him and Millie pick out the furniture doodads,
curtains, and the dishes when they play house. There’s time.”
“How’s
your stomach with what happened today? Were you hurt?” Lily Cup said.
“What
stomach? They removed it.”
“I
meant how’ve you been since the operation?”
“I’m
a hospice survivor with some time left in me, hopefully. At least enough time
to plan a party.”
“You
might be partying in Angola if the DA pushes this to a grand jury,” Lily Cup
said.
Gabe
stood, got the coffee urn again and brought it into the living room.
“Warm
your coffee?”
“Do
you two at least have beds?” Lily Cup asked.
“Of
course we have beds,” Gabe said. “Peck thinks he’s a prince— a mattress with
sheets after sleeping on a canvas cot most of his life.”
“This
must be a new world for him,” Lily Cup said.
“For
fifteen years he slept in an unheated shed at a wood mill,” Gabe said. “Saw
blades hanging over him like Macy’s parade balloons. It took him weeks getting
used to sleeping on a bed. I’d find him curled on the floor with his window
wide open.”
“Peck
and Millie,” Lily Cup said. “They do seem like a good fit, don’t they?”
“She’s
loved the boy with a passion since the day he made the Greyhound bus stop so he
could jump off just to give her the baby doll she left on her seat,” Gabe said.
“Her
baby doll, Charlie. Sasha told me about the doll. Hell, I had my Teddy bear all
through Harvard. I still have it,” Lily Cup said.
“Millie
does love her Charlie,” Gabe said.
“Does
she like the house?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Fierce Female Lead
Characters: How to Create Strong Role Models in Books
I was
born in 1941, next to the youngest of eight children. I was raised by three
very strong, successful, females. My mother and two sisters, each of whom were
old enough to be my mother. Growing up during WWII – most men were away at war. I learned that women could be smart,
successful, sexy, and achieve anything they wanted to. My mother was a championship figure skater
when she was 12. My one sister Mary was Phi Beta Kappa when she was 18, taught
French 1 through 7 and wrote poetry her entire career – raising four boys. One
sister founded AFSCME – the union for civil servant workers.
I
make certain my reader understands that my female leads are incredibly
intelligent, very successful because they are good at what they do – and they
are human, and feminine and sexy – and very giving. I boast their successes –
Lily
Cup was 3rd in her class in Harvard – smokes cigars – and drinks rye and gets
horny the night before a murder trials in New Orleans’ criminal Court. She always wins. She admits to having more money than good
taste and relies on her best friend since they were six is Michelle Lissette to
pick out her clothes for her.
Michelle
owns the largest realty office in the Garden District, drives a Bentley, wears
only Chanel and Prada and is quite proud of her cleavage and her contributions
to charities.
A few
nights a month both Michelle (who changes her name to Sasha these nights) and
Lily Cup ‘slut-up’ as it were – in their Chanels strapless dresses, thigh highs
and garter belts and go to Charlie’s Blue Note in an alley off Frenchman Street
to drink and catch up and find men to dance jazz.
(Quote
from first novel – One More Last Dance – is telling about Sasha. Peck was
asking Sasha where she grew up. Several times he asked her until she told him
the island she grew up on. He said he figured it was near water. She asked him why – he said in effect, “Cuz
you shore get neked a lot’.
In
two books these two pillars of femininity and the community care for and help
men they meet at Charlie’s and befriend. Gabe, an aging black man who ran from
a hospice to hear some jazz before he dies–is the best dancer Sasha has ever
danced with. Lily Cup meets the lawn
mower and fisherman, illiterate Peck – who helped Gabe leave the hospice and
find their way hopefully to the Newport Jazz Festival and the ladies get him a
tutor and he earns a GED, because of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
JEROME MARK ANTIL writes
in several genres. He has been called a “greatest generation’s Mark Twain,” a
“write what you know Ernest Hemingway,” and “a sensitive Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow.” It’s been said his work reads like a Norman Rockwell painting.
Among his writing accomplishments, several titles in his The Pompey Hollow Book
Club historical fiction series about growing up in the shadows of WWII have
been honored. An ‘Authors and Writers’ Book of the Year Award and ‘Writer of
the Year’ at Syracuse University for The Pompey Hollow Book Club novel;
Hemingway, Three Angels, and Me, won SILVER in the UK as second-best novel.
Foreword’s
Book of the Year Finalist for The Book of Charlie – historical fiction and The
Long Stem is in the Lobby – nonfiction humor. Library Journal selected
Hemingway, Three Angels and Me for best reads during Black History Month.
Before
picking up the pen, Antil spent his professional career writing and marketing
for the business world. In this role, he lectured at universities - Cornell,
St. Edward’s, and Southern Methodist. His inspirations have been John
Steinbeck, Mark Twain, and Ernest Hemingway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH JEROME:
“Dennis Rodman doing a selfie with me.”
PC – From Jerome Mark
Antil
“My muse and lover (wife) Pamela and I catch a Streetcar in the
Big Easy.”
PC – From Jerome Mark
Antil
Website:
Blog:
Newsletter:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Goodreads Author
Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
“A fan came to the table for autograph.”
PC – From Jerome Mark
Antil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble
Paperback:
The Book Depository
Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million
Paperback:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Jerome 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 is 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.
Jerome ~ Good morning! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :) Also, fabulous guest post! I enjoyed reading it and am glad to see you picked that topic! And thanks for including the wonderful pics! It’s truly a great way for readers to get to know you better!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite character in the book? I hope your book is a success.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is amazing and this sounds so good!
ReplyDelete