Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Merida
Johns and her new book, “Blackhorse Road”! 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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Merida
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Blackhorse Road
by Merida Johns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Women’s Fiction Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It’s
the turbulent mid-1960s, and Luci, an eighteen-year-old Southern California
girl, is on the quest for self-determination and new beginnings. Three powerful
forces influence her values: the grit of her Irish great-grandmother, Lucinda
McCormick; the philosophy of choice of her father, Sam; and the 1960s ideals of
equity and altruism. But potent foes thwart Luci at every turn. Her budding
romance with a handsome United States Air Force Academy cadet sets the stage
for conflict and deception that last for two decades. When Luci discovers how
her autonomy and her love affair were hijacked, she struggles with anger and
bitterness. But from a surprising source, she finds a forgiveness path that
restores her well-being and hope and, in the end, faith in herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
READER REVIEW:
Check out what readers are saying about Merida’s new book, “Blackhorse
Road” below:
“Under
another hand, Blackhorse Road could all too easily have been a singular
romance. Johns provides more as she follows Luci down the rabbit hole and out
the other side of life experience, bringing readers into a world where . . .
transgression changes everything and challenges carefully-constructed foundations
of belief and values. As Luci lets go of her lifesavers and navigates obstacles
to happiness, her story becomes a vivid portrait of hope and self-examination
which ultimately moves into unexpected territory. Novel readers seeking a tale
that closely considers deception and forgiveness, love gained and lost, and
family ties will welcome the multifaceted Blackhorse Road's ability to come
full circle in a satisfyingly unexpected way.”
~
D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
Uncertain
what to make of Luci’s stillness, Barry brought his head close to hers and
asked, “What are you thinking?”
Luci
held back, still gazing ahead. She turned and drilled into Barry’s blue eyes.
“I guess, using an Irish term, I could say, ‘What a bunch of malarkey!’” She
drew back her lips in a saucy grin and weighed his reaction.
Luci’s
response was unarming but charming. Barry laughed. “No one has ever told me in
such a nice way that I’m full of bullshit.”
“Well,
I guess there’s that!” Luci chuckled, then turned thoughtful. “Putting the ‘BS’
aside, I’d say the story is about choices, not a lovestruck fairy tale. It’s
about risks and consequences and being true to your values. It’s about living
who you are and not how someone else expects you to live.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Where Do You Find Inspiration?
I
like to write about the human experience, showing how ordinary people tackle
challenges, live through sorrow and betrayal, struggle with doubt, and act on
their aspirations to achieve flourishing lives.
I love to raise readers’ awareness and curiosity and transport them to
the most unexpected places within themselves.
When
I started writing fiction, I took two pieces of advice before pounding the
keyboard—write about what you know and know what you write. Blackhorse Road blossoms from my imagination
and is influenced by my experience, perspectives, and observations to give the
story authenticity and sensitivity, helping readers connect with the characters
and feel their joy, disappointment, sorrow, and happiness.
But
Blackhorse Road is enriched by the backstories that set the context for the
characters and events in the story—historical incidents, politics, economics,
philosophy, religion, and psychology that influence the values of the
characters and ultimately the consequences of their actions. I uncover these backstories from usual
fact-checking and readily available historical references. But the sources I like best to enhance the
pallet of my novel are diaries and letters and mementos from special events
such as graduations, weddings, funerals.
Diaries
and letters are first-hand accounts that describe the real challenges that
people face and their sorrows, regrets, happiness, joy, and yes, secrets. Some of these records are published, but
others are not. Regardless of their
pedigree, they are fascinating accounts of people who had hopes, fears,
ambitions, and experienced love gained and lost. They vividly describe people’s emotions and
the details of everyday living that raise my curiosity to ask powerful
questions: What was difficult for them?
What did they want? What was hard for them to do? What were their choices? What
was the real challenge for them? What is the truth underlying the words?
Envision
what the author might construct in her imagination from the following lines of
a diary:
·
Monday,
November 4th, 1895. Today I am nineteen
years old. I am attending the Windsor
Normal School…
o I
might ask myself: What were the hopes of
this young woman? What norms was she
challenging or breaking by seeking a career? What was life like for a single
woman in 1895 trying to chart her own path?
·
Monday,
December 14th, 15 minutes past 7. 184
hours, 45 minutes before 4 o’clock Tuesday, December 22nd, 1891….
o I
might ask myself: What was so important
about December 22nd? What was so troubling about this person’s circumstance
that she was counting down the minutes to a specific date? Or what was so exciting that she placed
herself in the future?
·
Tuesday: Sister Superior found out about the novels
and, and she preached a little—all have to go and tell her if they had read any….
o I
might ask myself: What novels were
these? What did the nun preach about?
Did the writer of the diary confess or lie about reading the novels?
Imagine
how an author might be inspired by the following passage from a letter:
·
My
Dear Miss… You were certainly justified
in not bowing to me and I acknowledge I was to blame but I trust you are not
offended by my actions. It was all joke with me and far from meaning to offend
you. If you knew how much I think of you
and always did you would…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Merida Johns takes
her experience as an educator, consultant, and businesswoman and writes about
the human experience. In 2018 Merida took an unlikely off-ramp from writing
textbooks and motivational books to authoring women’s fiction. Her stories are
learning lessons where awareness and curiosity transport readers to the most
unexpected places within themselves.
Merida hails from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, grew up in Southern California
and has lived from coast-to-coast in the United States. Besides writing, she enjoys fabric arts,
including weaving and knitting. She makes her home in the serene Midwest
countryside that gives her the inspiration and space for storytelling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH MERIDA:
Website:
Blog:
Facebook:
Twitter:
The Book Shop Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
The Book Shop Paperback:
IndieBound Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Merida will be awarding a $25 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.**
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteMerida ~ 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! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting me and giving me the opportunity to share how diaries and old letters fan my curiosity and fuel my inspiration for creating characters that live with readers long after they have finished the last chapter of the book. I loved the interview.
DeleteSounds like a good book, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI encourage reading so having a family who loves to read I sure support.Thanks for sharing your terrific read with us.
ReplyDeleteThank you, James, for commenting. An author always enjoys hearing thoughts from readers.
DeleteI enjoyed the excerpt, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you enjoyed. It's always difficult to choose just one small piece of a story to share, but I believe that this one provides a good look into an important theme in the story. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteWhat do you want readers to take away from your novel?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like an intriguing book. Thanks!
ReplyDelete