The Nightjar's Promise by Barbara Casey - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Barbara Casey and her new book, “The Nightjar's Promise”!  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 Barbara and to increase your chances of winning!

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

The Nightjar's Promise

by Barbara Casey

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GENRE: Fiction/Mystery

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BLURB:

Jennifer Torres, one of the three FIGs (Females of Intellectual Genius) who is a genius in both music and art, is the last to leave the closed rehearsal for her upcoming performance over Thanksgiving break at Carnegie Hall when she hears something in the darkened Hall. Recognizing the tilt of the woman’s head and the slight limp of the man as they hurry out an exit door, she realizes it is her parents who were supposedly killed in a terrible car accident when she was 15 years old.

Devastated and feeling betrayed, she sends a text to Carolina and the other two FIGs—THURGOOD. It is the code word they all agreed to use if ever one of them got into trouble or something happened that was too difficult to handle. They would all meet back at Carolina’s bungalow at Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women to figure it out.

As soon as they receive the text, because of their genius, Dara starts thinking of words in ancient Hebrew, German, and Yiddish, while Mackenzie’s visions of unique math formulae keep bringing up the date October 11, 1943. That is the date during World War II when the Nazis—the Kunstschutz—looted the paintings of targeted wealthy Jewish families and hid them away under Hitler’s orders. And as Carolina waits for the FIGs to return to Wood Rose, she hears warnings from Lyuba, her gypsy mother, to watch for the nightjar, the ancient name for the whip-poor-will.

As they search for “The Nightjar’s Promise” and the truth surrounding it, Carolina and the FIGs come face to face with evil that threatens to destroy not only their genius, but their very lives.

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EXCERPT TWO:

The sudden loud clash of cymbals resounded across the stage and reverberated throughout the empty seating gallery bringing forth the image of the pitiful souls living in the dark, dank underground of Grand Central Terminal. The cacophony of sound created by a syncopation of strings, brass, and percussion filled the famous Hall of Carnegie until, on cue—the conductor’s gimlet eye—Jennifer gently raised her violin to her chin and began playing the soulful music she had created filled with emotion expressing fear and passion, heartbreak and sadness. It was the final movement—the third in her fugue of The Wish Rider. It was the movement that revealed the love Dara’s mother felt for her daughter and, once again, her heart-rending disappearance.

Images of that horrible underground dungeon and the invisible, forgotten downtrodden who existed there flashed into her thoughts, the memory of rancid and damp earth smells, the long-forgotten deteriorated red train car with the number 61 painted on its side in bright yellow, and Dara—sitting on the torn, broken-down sofa, alone, knowing her mother had left her—again.

Note after note, altering tempo and timbre, volume and pitch, Jennifer’s fingers tenderly, almost magically, caressed the neck of her violin, while the horsehair-stringed bow amplified the heart-felt passages, penetrating the very souls of all who listened. Jennifer was aware of nothing or no one. There was only The Wish Rider. Then, one by one, other instruments joined the principal violin—the string section, the woodwinds, and the brass, and finally the percussion. After reaching a crescendo, Jennifer once again picked up the melodic theme, this time in legato—slowly, softly, mournfully, until the notes disappeared—just like Dara’s mother—into haunting silence.

The Hall was hushed. The conductor, slightly disheveled, his arms now limp by his sides, smiled. They would be ready for their Thanksgiving performance. As before, no one spoke to Jennifer. They knew not to. After all, she was a genius with an unpredictable if not strange and prone-to-violence temperament—a FIG. She would remain turned inward, listening to the notes she had created and seeing the images until they were no more.

Not wanting to disturb her, the other musicians quietly packed up their instruments and followed the conductor quickly off the stage. Only Jennifer remained behind, still listening to the heart-breaking music, knowing what each note meant, lost in her “other” world. Liz, the graduate student at Juilliard who had been assigned to assist Jennifer with her needs while she was a student there, would be waiting outside for her no matter how long it took. She would make sure she got back to her room safely.

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GUEST POST:

Using Historical Facts in the F.I.G. Mysteries:

Dara Roux, abandoned when she was 7 years old by her mother.  Exceptionally gifted in foreign languages. Orphan.

Mackenzie Yarborough, no record of her parents or where she was born. Exceptionally gifted in math and problem-solving. Orphan.

Jennifer Torres, both parents killed in an automobile accident when she was 16. Exceptionally gifted in music and art.  Orphan.

The Nightjar’s Promise is the fourth and final book in The F.I.G. Mysteries, and it was probably the most difficult and emotional one to write. The series begins with The Cadence of Gypsies, when Carolina Lovel takes the three F.I.G.s (Females of Intellectual Genius) to Frascoti, Italy, just before they are to graduate from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. Her purpose is to keep her three students from getting into any more trouble with the headmaster, but to also to help her learn the connection between the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world, and a letter that was given to her on her 18th birthday when she learned that she was adopted. What they discover are Gypsies.

In Book 2, The Wish Rider, it is Dara who needs to find answers; specifically, why her mother abandoned her all of those years ago. With the help of Carolina, Mackenzie, and Jennifer, her search takes them to a secret, terrifying world—a sub-culture—beneath the Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

The Clock Flower, Book 3, is Mackenzie’s story. As she struggles to exist in a world that no longer has Dara and Jennifer and Carolina within touching distance, circumstances take her to an ancient world in China where she almost loses her life when she discovers her own truth.

In each of these books, I researched the historical subjects (the Voynich Manuscript and Gypsy culture, the underground of Grand Central Terminal, ancient Chinese beliefs and immortality) that related to each story and to each F.I.G. Jennifer’s story, however, was different in that she already knew what happened to her parents and why she was placed in Wood Rose Orphanage. That would all change when she discovers that what she thought she knew—that her parents had been killed in a horrible car accident—was wrong and her life is being threatened. This shocking realization takes Jennifer and her three best friends—Carolina, Dara, and Mackenzie—on a dangerous journey connected to Hitler and World War II.

As in my nonfiction books for adults, such as Velvalee Dickinson: The Doll Woman Spy; Kathryn Kelly: The Moll behind Machine Gun Kelly; and Assata Shakur: A 20th Century Escaped Slave, it is critical to be authentic and accurate when referencing historical facts in fiction. It is what makes a novel credible and more enjoyable to read. And, strangely enough, it adds a depth of emotion that would otherwise be lacking.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Originally from Carrollton, Illinois, author/agent/publisher Barbara Casey attended the University of North Carolina, N.C. State University, and N.C. Wesleyan College where she received a BA degree, summa cum laude, with a double major in English and history.  In 1978 she left her position as Director of Public Relations and Vice President of Development at North Carolina Wesleyan College to write full time and develop her own manuscript evaluation and editorial service.  In 1995 she established the Barbara Casey Agency and since that time has represented authors from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. In 2014, she became a partner with Strategic Media Books, an independent nonfiction publisher of true crime, where she oversees acquisitions, day-to-day operations, and book production.

Ms. Casey has written over a dozen award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction for both young adults and adults. The awards include the National Association of University Women Literary Award, the Sir Walter Raleigh Literary Award, the Independent Publisher Book Award, the Dana Award for Outstanding Novel, the IP Best Book for Regional Fiction, among others. Two of her nonfiction books have been optioned for major films, one of which is under contract.

Her award-winning articles, short stories, and poetry for adults have appeared in both national and international publications including the North Carolina Christian Advocate Magazine, The New East Magazine, the Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer, the Rocky Mount (N.C.) Sunday Telegram, Dog Fancy, ByLine, The Christian Record, Skirt! Magazine, and True Story.  A thirty-minute television special which Ms. Casey wrote and coordinated was broadcast on WRAL, Channel 5, in Raleigh, North Carolina.  She also received special recognition for her editorial work on the English translations of Albanian children’s stories. Her award-winning science fiction short stories for adults are featured in The Cosmic Unicorn and CrossTime science fiction anthologies.  Ms. Casey's essays and other works appear in The Chrysalis Reader, the international literary journal of the Swedenborg Foundation, 221 One-Minute Monologues from Literature (Smith and Kraus Publishers), and A Cup of Comfort (Adams Media Corporation).

Ms. Casey is a former director of BookFest of the Palm Beaches, Florida, where she served as guest author and panelist.  She has served as judge for the Pathfinder Literary Awards in Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida, and was the Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators from 1991 through 2003.  In 2018 Ms. Casey received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas. She makes her home on the top of a mountain in northwest Georgia with her husband and three cats who adopted her, Homer, Reese and Earl Gray, Reese’s best friend.

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CONNECT WITH BARBARA:

Website:

http://www.barbaracaseyagency.com

Blog:

http://www.barbaracaseyagency.com/blog

Email:

barcafer@aol.com

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/barbara-casey-c75c3ba0-bbc2-4fbb-aa2b-90da9ad49679

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/697572.Barbara_Casey

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53214120-the-nightjar-s-promise

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/2FpHYBW

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/35s7001

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/2z4SM99

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nightjars-promise-barbara-casey/1136936288

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Barbara will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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.