As Good As Can Be by William A. Glass - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host William A. Glass and his new book, “As Good As Can Be”!  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 William and to increase your chances of winning!

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

As Good As Can Be

by William A. Glass

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

GENRE: Coming of Age/Historical Fiction

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

BLURB:

Dave Knight is a wayward child growing up in a military family during the 1950s. His older sister wants to kill him but settles for regularly beating him up. Other siblings join in the mayhem while their alcoholic father contributes to the chaos with his unique approach to parenting.

As the Knight family moves from one army base to the next, Dave develops a give-a-damn attitude that often leads to trouble. In high school, he joins other delinquents in a series of escapades, some dangerous, others funny, and a few that would be worthy of jail time should they ever be caught.

After barely graduating, Dave is drafted into the army and sent to guard a nuclear weapons depot in Korea. There, he gets into trouble with his sergeant and tries to avoid dishonorable discharge.

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

EXCERPT ONE:

Two rocking chairs are arranged in front of the fireplace. On the mantle is a signed photograph of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Mr. Lawson takes the picture down and shows it to Dave. “My pappy rode with Forrest,” the old man says. “He killed a lot of Yankees, you know, in the war.” Mr. Lawson looks at Dave expectantly but is disappointed by the uncomprehending expression on the child’s face. Carefully he places his prized possession back over the fireplace.

Dave and Melissa return to Gram’s house in time for lunch. After eating, the Knight children have another quiet time. Then Ethel comes up with an idea. “Let’s take a ride out to the river,” she suggests.

“What for?” Knight asks.

“I want to see if the rain the other day caused it to rise.”

“Who cares?”

“Come on, it’s something to do,” Bobbie says impatiently.

The family piles into the Plymouth and rides a short distance to where the Trinity River flows. Knight parks on the shoulder of the highway, and they all go onto the bridge to peer at the muddy water. It’s an evil-looking stream, full of snags and home to alligators, cottonmouths, gars, and snapping turtles. No one in their right mind would go swimming in the Trinity, so all the natives can do is look, check the water level, or maybe drop a line in to see what manner of creature takes the bait. “Can we go now?” Marie asks.

“Hush. Gram wants to look,” Bobbie says.

“At what?” Dan asks.

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

GUEST POST:

WHY MY NOVEL, AS GOOD AS CAN BE, HAS SUCH A MAGNETIC PULL ON READERS:

A lot of what I learned about engaging an audience came as a child.  Back then, I lived for Saturday matinees.  So did George Lucas.  His inspiration for Star Wars came from the serials made for children during the 1940s and 50s.  These films engaged audiences with vivid characters and plots that left you on the edge of your seat, begging for more at the end of each episode.

Eventually, I outgrew kiddie matinees and became an avid reader.  The authors I most enjoyed wrote novels with complex characters who weren’t always easy to love, like John le Carre’s George Smiley and William Styron’s Sophie.   Their plotlines were murky and interwoven with subplots.  Many times, subplots would come to a head at the end of an episode (chapter) in much the same way as the Saturday serials that I (and George Lucas) loved.

As a teenager, I would read into the wee hours sometimes with a flashlight under the covers so to not disturb my brother.  Often, I would promise myself to stop reading and turn out the light at the end of a chapter.  But then a plot twist would render me powerless to resist turning the page and going on.  At school the following day, I would sleep at my desk.

I didn’t have the arrogance to think I could emulate my favorite authors when I began writing As Good As Can Be.  But the story possessed many of the elements I so loved in books.  Characters, who were not all good or all bad, a plot with many branches, and a series of episodes that dramatically built on each other.

The first draft of As Good As Can Be came out in a gush without an outline or really any plan.  After polishing it, I gave draft manuscripts to several professors at the college where I work.  “Flows magically,” an English professor said after she finished it.  “I took it home along with a stack of papers to grade,” a history professor told me.  “Thought I’d read one chapter then get to work.  Next thing I knew it was 2 a.m., I was on Chapter Eight, and hadn’t graded a thing.”

The reactions of the beta readers convinced me to begin the hard work of finalizing the manuscript.  Six years of rewriting, editing, and proofreading later, it was published.  How did I make it so engaging?  The answer is that As Good As Can Be is about characters the reader cares about who are involved in a series of dramatic episodes that culminate in a realistic and satisfying way.  Just like a Saturday matinee!

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

AUTHOR BIO:

Bill is a retired business executive now living in South Carolina with his wife, Bettina.  She teaches high school German while Bill coaches soccer at a small college.  Their three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon, have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. 

For recreation, Bettina and Bill enjoy hiking and camping out.  Usually, they take their dog, Scout, along.  When the weather permits, Bill commutes to work on his motorcycle.

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

CONNECT WITH WILLIAM:

Website:

https://williamaglass.com

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20170818.William_A_Glass

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52765602-as-good-as-can-be

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/37GAMRK

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

BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/2Tsp58R

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/35CA31p

Amazon Hardcover:

https://amzn.to/34tC68A

Apple Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/as-good-as-can-be/id1505638479

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/as-good-as-can-be-william-a-glass/1136649728?ean=9781946005410

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/as-good-as-can-be-william-a-glass/1136649728?ean=9781946005342

Barnes and Noble Hardcover:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/as-good-as-can-be-william-a-glass/1136649728?ean=9781946005403

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Good-Can-Be-William-Glass/9781946005342

The Book Depository Hardcover:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Good-Can-Be-William-Glass/9781946005403

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Good-Can-Be/William-A-Glass/9781946005342

BAM! Books-A-Million Hardcover:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Good-Can-Be/William-A-Glass/9781946005403

Google Play eBook:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/William_A_Glass_As_Good_As_Can_Be?id=RHHcDwAAQBAJ

Kobo eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/as-good-as-can-be

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

GIVEAWAY INFO:

William 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.