Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Jennifer
Anne Gordon and her new book, “Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent”! 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 $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Jennifer
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent
by
Jennifer Anne Gordon
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GENRE: Gothic Horror
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BLURB:
Adam,
a young alcoholic, slowly descends into madness while dealing with the
psychological scars of childhood trauma which are reawakened when his son and
wife die in a car accident that he feels he is responsible for. After a failed
suicide attempt, and more group meetings that he can mention. Adam hears a
rumor of a Haunted Island off the Coast of Maine, where “if someone wants it
bad enough” they could be reunited with a lost loved one. In his desperate
attempt to connect with the ghost of his four-and-a half year old son, he
decides to go there, to Dagger Island, desperate to apologize to, or be
condemned by, his young son. Adam is not sure what he deserves or even which of
these he wants more. While staying in a crumbling old boarding house, he
becomes involved with a beautiful and manipulative ghost who has spent 60 years
tormenting the now elderly man who was her lover, and ultimately her murderer.
The three of them create a “Menage-a-Guilt" as they all come to terms with
what it is that ties them so emotionally to their memories and their very
“existence”. Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent is a poetic fever dream of
grief, love, and the terrifying ways that obsession can change who we are.
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EXCERPT ONE:
She
walks slowly to his bed, leaving a trail of wet footprints in her stead. She is
a ghost ship, silently making its way across the sea of his room. She looks at
his sleeping form, he is curled in on himself. When he was younger and
stronger, he would sleep like a warrior. He was so proud. He would dominate
everything, his bed, his dreams, even sleep itself would bow down under his
perceived strength.
He
is so much older now. These days he sleeps like a child, or a cat, both
starving but petrified of the mouse.
She
hears the rattling of death, climbing out from the deepest parts of his lungs
each time he exhales. It was the little things like these moments, she
supposed, that she grew to love. They were her favorite part of all of this.
Her favorite part of this very long endless day.
This
existence, it is not a life, but it is not death. She is in the in-between. She
is in the empty.
She
climbs into his bed and into his world. She lies next to him; her body is damp
and seemingly heavy. Her wet hair and wet face, and waterlogged body creep into
his dreams. She is a memory revitalized, a nightmarish creature, a visitor come
back to stay.
She
stares at him, intently, she is focused. You would think, after 60 years she
would grow tired of his face, of this, her nightly ritual, but she hasn't, and
she expects she never will. She stares until she feels something building in
her throat, it's her anger, it's her fear, it's her rage. It feels like fire,
it burns inside her, aching to get out.
He
opens his eyes, with the confusion of age, alcohol and too many dreams. Before
thinking better of it, his arm reaches across the bed. It reaches for her
memory. He finds the other side of the bed empty, but damp. She doesn't let him
touch her, not for many years. In the morning, his sheets will smell like the
ocean, at least her side of the bed will. It will have the aching scent of
brine, salt, and wet. It is so different from the way his side smells, which is
of tears, whiskey, and the sour sweat of fear.
He
gets up, ignores the wet foot prints she leaves on the floor, the ones that
lead to his bed, the ones that circle him while he sleeps. He plods to the
bathroom, washes his face, rinses the staleness out of his mouth, he thinks for
a moment he sees her out of the corner of his eye. She will always look the
same, with her soaked hair, white dress, her head down, no, she doesn't let him
look at her face, not directly. His breath catches in his throat; he makes a
sound, somewhere between a cough and a scream.
He
should be used to this by now, used to her. The simple fact she can still
surprise him like this is what keeps all of this from becoming commonplace. He
thinks he picks up on the sound of her laugh, the way it would ring like silver
in his ears, but he is mistaken.
She
loves him.
No,
that’s not quite right.
She
loved him.
She
tries to remember the time before she felt those things. this task of hers is
more difficult than one would expect, the simplicity of trying to remember when
she existed before they met, before she wandered into his life. This a burden
she has not yet managed to bear.
Was
there a time before they collided and destroyed each other's worlds?
She
hates him.
She
never hated him while she was alive, she should have, she knows that he
deserved it. He deserved her hate.
She
does hate him now. She knows is both a beginning and an ending.
Hate
can be powerful, but not as powerful as fear.
She
fears him now.
She
feared him then.
There
are ghosts and memories in this house that even she fears. This man, he only
fears her. It is what keeps her here.
She
opens her mouth, and she invites the rage that burns in her throat to finally
have a voice and it feels like fire, waiting to be born. She feels it rushing
out of her. It is a scream that has taken 60 years to finally be birthed.
She
opens her mouth, and all that's there is saltwater.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Jennifer Anne Gordon is a gothic horror novelist.
Her debut novel, Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent broke presale
records with her publisher (Breaking Rules Publishing) and has received
critical acclaim. Her second novel, From Daylight to Madness, is set to
be released in late summer 2020 and is the second in her "Dagger Island"
series.
She
had a collection of her mixed media artwork published during spring of 2020,
entitled Victoriana: mixed media art of Jennifer Gordon.
Jennifer
is one of the hosts of Writer Someday, to Author Today, as well as Prose
Garden, she is also a book reviewer and
contributor to HorrorTree.com, as well as the Creator and Host of Vox Vomitus,
a video and podcast on the Global Authors on the Air Network.
Jennifer
is a pale curly haired ginger, obsessed with horror, ghosts, abandoned
buildings, and her dog "Lord Tubby".
She
graduated from the New Hampshire Institute of Art, where she studied Acting.
She also studied at the University of New Hampshire with a concentration in Art
History and English.
She
has made her living as an actress, a magician's assistant, a
"gallerina", a painter, and burlesque performer. For the past 10
years as an award-winning professional ballroom dancer, performer, instructor,
and choreographer.
When
not scribbling away (ok, typing frantically) she enjoys traveling with her
fiancé and dance partner Roman Sirotin, teaching her dog ridiculous tricks
(like 'give me a kiss' and 'what hand is the treat in?') as well as taking
photos of abandoned buildings and haunted locations.
She
is a leo, so at the end of the day she really just thinks about her hair.
Her
novel as well as her art collection are available on Amazon.
For
more information and benevolent stalking, please visit her website at
www.JenniferAnneGordon.com.
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CONNECT WITH JENNIFER:
Website:
Email #1:
jennifergordonart@gmail.com
Email #2:
jenniferannegordonwriter@gmail.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
Patreon:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Jennifer will be awarding a $15 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.
Jennifer ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteHi ALly, thank you!! I am excited to be here. If any of your readers (or you) have any questions please feel free to post them, I will check in later today as well <3
DeleteI liked the excerpt, sounds good.
ReplyDeletethank you Rita!!
DeleteHow did you come up with the title of the book?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHappy Friday, thanks for sharing the great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing a book description and giveaway also. Sounds great!
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing an excerpt
ReplyDeleteIntriguing story. I loved the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteSounds scary interesting.
ReplyDeleteSounds fantastic
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a fascinating book. Love the cover!
ReplyDelete