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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

House of Ruin by Miriam Newman - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hi, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Miriam Newman and her new book, “House of Ruin”!  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 $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Miriam and to increase your chances of winning!

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


House of Ruin
by Miriam Newman

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GENRE: Sci-Fi Romance

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BLURB:

When the beleaguered citizens of the capitol city of Thelona are swept by plague in the absence of their ruling class, which has fled it en masse, desperation finally pushes them to take to the streets. With their city burning, the Lords of Thelona have no choice but to shoulder the burden of responsibility. In the absence of their Highest, they turn to Caius, Scion of the House of Bardin. He has unwittingly placed himself in the path of his ruler’s ambitions and also endangered his human slave, Lela.

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EXCERPT TWO:

Lela hoped for a peaceful day next day, since many of their guests had departed, but at mid-morning she heard Gracchu’s mutter from the front doorway.  “Well, here comes trouble.”

The women were once more scrubbing down the sooty entryway that seemed like it would never be clean.  One by one, though, they stood to crane their necks and peer out the door.  It was so unusual for Gracchu to comment upon any visitor that she and the others feared some catastrophe, but the tears Lela felt start in her eyes were those of mirth and she looked at Dinitra helplessly. The dignified housekeeper was red in the face and took a moment to collect herself.

“Oh, go on then,” Dinitra said, giving their mountainous house guard an ineffectual shove.  “Go help her!”

Shooting her an evil look, Gracchu stomped ungraciously down the circular drive and through Caius’s iron gate towards which an apparition struggled

Vena had not lost a single pound since Lela had seen her before Solstice.  If anything, the dressmaker had increased in girth, and the sight of her unequal battle with gravity as she hauled herself up Camini Hill threw the watching women into gales of laughter.  If they had not known her vanity, they would have had more sympathy.

But Vena, who had just survived conflagration, was gowned in a vast expanse of priceless silver brocade.  The jewels encasing rolls of fat at her neck should have guaranteed her death; how she had made it through the citizenry alive was a question no one would ever be able to answer.  Her towering mountain of jet-dyed hair was seriously askew, but it too was threaded with real silver.  Teetering on heeled footwear, she could not have outrun anyone.  Lela suspected sheer bravado and the stunned disbelief of onlookers had preserved her dressmaker’s life.  Probably by the time footpads had stopped speculating on whether her jewels could possibly be real Vena had tottered past them and down some bolt hole known only to her.

“Bring wine,” Dinitra instructed one of the young slave girls.  “Plenty.”

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GUEST POST:

Creating Strong Female Characters

I have been told my female characters are strong—sometimes too much so.

I’m reminded of the editor who rejected my first three chapters because she felt my heroine was unsympathetic.  She was.  That was the point.   The book was titled Chronicles of Alcinia and it covered chronicles—a passage of time during which the character would and did mature.   That was pretty much the point of the book, but it didn’t come across early.

Then there was my heroine, Rowena, in The Comet.  You loved her or you hated her.  Most loved her.  One reviewer hated her.  I was gratified because you weren’t supposed to totally love her.  She was married against her will to a guy who took her land, took her and was pretty arrogant even though he was saving her from herself.  But apparently this reader loved him so much that she hated the gal who done him wrong.  I loved that she loved my hero.  I was crazy about him.   It was almost worth the bad review.

I’m not really sure how to advise other writers to avoid these pitfalls, but I would say above everything else make sure your kick-ass heroine has a conscience.  She should not hurt people for the sake of hurting them or be vindictive.  She can be a mixed-up mess like Rowena or a traumatized survivor like Tia in The Chronicles, but witchiness for its own sake doesn’t cut it unless you’re writing a villainess.  If you are, have at it!  Make her a bad one.  In that case, you might want to meet my Muse, Persephone.  I think she visits Hades and volcanoes in between her drop-in visits on me and if I ever write about her, there may be Hades to pay.

But that’s another story.

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AUTHOR BIO:


Fantasy poetry driven by myths and legends has been my passion for as long as I can remember. I was published in poetry before catching the romance writing bug. I bring that background to my writing along with a lifelong addiction to horses, an 18-year career in various areas of psychiatric social services and many trips to Ireland, where I nurture my muse. My published works range from contemporary fantasy romance to fantasy historical, futuristic, science fiction and historical romance. Currently I live in rural Pennsylvania with a “motley crew” of rescue animals. You can see my books at www.miriamnewman.com.

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CONNECT WITH MIRIAM:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Miriam 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 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.

7 comments:

  1. Miriam ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)

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  2. What books are you looking forward to reading in 2020?

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  3. Thanks for the comments and cover love. My next two releases this year have required a lot of research reading, so I think I'll he hitting the books for the remainder of this year as opposed to reading for pleasure. I really do love research, though, especially historical. So it shouldn't be too painful!

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  4. This book sounds like a fantastic read.

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