Fabulous and Brunette: Thea Reeves and The Tear of the Morning Star by Dmitriy Kushnir - Book Tour - Interview - Giveaway

Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Dmitriy Kushnir and his new book, “Thea Reeves and The Tear of the Morning Star”! 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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Dmitriy and to increase your chances of winning!

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

Thea Reeves and The Tear of the Morning Star

by Dmitriy Kushnir

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

GENRE: YA Fiction

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

BLURB:

Thea Reeves is an ordinary girl, from an ordinary family with financial troubles, living in a small town of Johnston. After she starts an after school job at The Magic Shop in order to help herself financially, her life becomes more extraordinary with every day.

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

EXCERPT TWO:

What a strange man. Thea thought to herself, and after a brief pause took the empty coffee cups to the back room and loaded them into the dishwasher.

Just after five o'clock The Magic Shop began to fill up with customers. Many went straight for the lounge, while others shopped. Even though Thea found herself constantly running from the register to the lounge to the dishwasher and back to the register, she did not feel tired at all ... she felt energized. She even had a few very interesting conversations with several patrons of The Magic Shop. All of whom welcomed the new girl and wanted her to know how happy they were to meet her. Just as the evening before, everyone was very nice and friendly, no one was upset with her for any reason. Even when Thea accidentally dropped a tray of empty coffee cups and even broke a few. No one laughed, no one made a silly joke. Instead, everyone wanted to know if she was alright, and one man, in his mid twenties, in a suit with a tie, offered to help Thea clean up. He even took a broom from Thea's hand and offered to sweep up, while she helped the customers at the register.

This place is magical. Thea thought to herself, just as the rush traffic died down right around seven o'clock. She had about an hour left, before she had to lock up the shop, so she decided to clean up. She felt that it was something she wanted to do, rather than something she had to do.

Then, suddenly, as if some invisible force was pulling her, she went into the back room.

"Over here..." she suddenly heard, and she did not know whether she heard those words with her ears or with her mind. She should've been frightened, her heart should've been beating wildly in her throat ... but she just casually walked, following the voice.

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

INTERVIEW:

Good morning Dmitriy! Welcome to Fabulous and Brunette! We are thrilled to have you here and can’t wait to learn more about you and your new book, “Thea Reeves and The Tear of the Morning Star.”

How do you overcome writing obstacles?

The biggest writing obstacle I am ever faced with is choosing the names for my characters. Most of the time I can get away with the random name generator. On several occasions though, and in the case of Thea Reeves, it was rather "trial and error". I chose to see how the name would sound in several of the paragraphs in the book and even wrote about a third of the book with the name Thea Reeves. Then, I asked friends for their honest opinion (since a name can always be changed) and the response I received is that everyone loved the name, so I decided to keep it. I was told that the name Thea really sounds like Freya from Norse mythology.

Describe your book cover and how it came about.

I had an image in my mind of what Thea Reeves should look like. I also knew that I wanted to have a raven in the image as well. I began searching and found the necessary image on one of the paid websites. I paid for the necessary copyrights and was set. It was quite simple, but expensive.

What is your favorite scene in the book?

I would have to go with the scene, when Thea frees the raven. She didn't have to do so, and it was ultimately her choice with all the forthcoming consequences. In that scene Thea demonstrated remarkable courage for the unknown, which is an example that I hope will inspire young women.

What has writing this book taught you?

That with proper motivation and dedication a book can really be written in 3 days, which exactly how long it took for each of the first 3 books of the Thea Reeves series.

Everyone loves a hero! Tell us all about this genuine character and the inspiration behind their development.

I do not believe in true heroes, nor do I believe in true villains. Each individual is capable of heroic acts, and at the same time, each individual is but a mere step away from a terrible act which may leave an irremovable scar. In the modern world, it is no longer clear what is good and what is evil, for every act will seem different from a different perspective. To a villain, a hero is the villain!

Bring on the boo’s! Everyone loves to hate the villain! Tell us all about this truly loathed character and the inspiration behind their development.

It is easy to create a villain that will be hated in the book. I strive to create a villain that readers will try to understand. I strive to create a villain whose shoes my readers will want to walk in. I want to create a villain who will seem to be a hero, but will turn out to have a very dark side. Spoiler: such a villain may arrive in book 5 or later in the series.

What are your favorite memories spent at the local library?

I was never a big fan of libraries. Most libraries have a funny smell to them, and I always tried to spend as little time as possible in them. Currently, however, we have a really nice library in our home with over 5,000 books ... I also have a digital library of over 2,000 books. I often say I have more books than I can read in a lifetime and more books than I can comprehend in ten lifetimes. Plus I can be as loud as I want at home.

Paper or screen? Which medium is more effective in conveying your message?

I prefer paper, but also have a Kindle. However, from my experience, about 70% of the books I sell are ebooks, with 30% being paper books. Personally, the only books I read on screen are the ones I cannot buy in print.

How do you hold yourself accountable?

It is all about prioritizing: if I want to write a book and set a specific deadline, I stick to that deadline. If I don't have a specific deadline, it usually takes me much longer to write a book. The only time I set deadlines is when I do not have anything else more important going on in my life.

Where do you find inspiration?

Around my family. If I am away from my family, I usually do not write a single word.

What is your favorite motivational phrase and how do you apply it your writings? Life? Etc.?

Never try to reach everyone, try to change one life at a time. I took my daughter to a lecture on mushrooms the other day, and at the end of the lecture, the lecturer (who is also an author) offered her book for sale. I asked if she could autograph one of the books for my daughter. She gladly agreed. The sparkle in my daughter's eyes was indescribable ... it was the first time she had a book autographed for her and with her name. I am sure she will have that book decades from now. I was so impressed, I bought 2 books from that woman.

What are five reasons we should read your book?

1.) Because you want to.

2.) Because you like reading.

3.) Because it's better than rotting your brain with TV.

4.) Because it will inspire you to write a book of your own one day.

5.) Because books bring families closer.

Thank you so much for spending time with Fabulous and Brunette readers and sharing your exciting new book with us! We wish you all the best on your book tour!

You're right. This was fun. I even do not mind taking the time away from other things ... like working on book 4 for Thea Reeves series. I will you and your readers a great day, a great week and a great year. Wake up with a smile and it will last you a day.

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

AUTHOR BIO:

Dmitriy Kushnir is a Sarasota, FL local and is a student of life. In his younger years, he had served in the military and received various degrees from multiple universities. One day, Dmitriy Kushnir realized that he had just too much to share with the world and began writing in the fields of philosophy, business, religion, history, fantasy and science fiction. To this day, he has written more than 40 books under various aliases.

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

CONNECT WITH DMITRIY:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDmitriyKushnir

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/dmitriykushnir

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/dmitriy-kushnir

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10801063.Dmitriy_Kushnir

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47009897-thea-reeves

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/2NzBwhk

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

BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/33XpCnd

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/2L8U5pN

Kobo eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/thea-reeves

Google Play eBook:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Dmitriy_Kushnir_Thea_Reeves?id=D9WfDwAAQBAJ

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Thea-Reeves-Dmitriy-Kushnir/9781077335615

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Thea-Reeves/Dmitriy-Kushnir/9781077335615

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

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Dmitriy will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N 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 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.