Hi, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Nessa Claugh and her new book, “Meteors and Menorahs,” here on FAB!! 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 Nessa and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you all lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Meteors and Menorahs
by Nessa Claugh
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GENRE: Sci Fi Romance / Jewish
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BLURB:
'Your dad invited your ex-boyfriend.' Already committed to going home for Hanukkah, Leah panics at her mother’s text and invites her crush to come with her. The catch? They aren’t dating. The other catch? He isn’t Jewish. He isn’t even human.
Knar has been studying the physiology of humans for years in preparation to introduce Earth to the rest of the galaxy and present them as a species that can adapt to change well. Although he believes in his mission, he’s also had his eye on his coworker Leah, and her invitation to come home with her for the holidays is just the opportunity he’s been looking for.
Going home for Hanukkah is normally the least of Leah’s worries until her mom lets it slip that her dad invited her ex-boyfriend. Desperate to keep him at arm’s length, Leah invites her handsome coworker Kenneth Knar to be a buffer against her family. Having to pretend he’s her new boyfriend doesn’t hurt, and if it annoys her parents, all the better.
He just has to find some way to tell her that he’s more than just a gentile. He’s not even from this planet. And Leah hates liars.
The menorah isn’t the only thing getting hot this holiday season…
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EXCERPT ONE:
Leah finally came into the kitchen. “You made him lunch? Mom! I was going to take him out to Bernie’s!”
“Bernie’s closed a while ago,” her mother said. “Besides, it looks like you feed him plenty at home."
She poked my deltoid and Leah blushed. “It’s not like he’s hard to cook for,” she said defensively. “Really? Bernie’s closed?”
“Last year,” Deborah said. “If you’d come home more you could have eaten there more before they shut down.”
Leah’s shoulders tightened, and I was starting to see what she’d meant about needing a buffer between her and her family. I’d gotten what she’d promised and more. Time to go to work.
“We have plenty of good restaurants in Kansas,” I said, hoping it would be enough to change the subject. “No food like this, but I’m sure there is food we can get there that we can’t find here.
“Nothing like Kansas barbecue,” Leah said.
Deborah’s lips thinned. “You aren’t eating pork.” It was a statement and she stared at Leah as though begging her to argue.
“You know barbecue isn’t just pig, right Mom?” she asked.
Diversion time. I started listing off all the animals you could barbecue, and by the time I got to what I’d read about the invasive reptiles in Florida, both Leah and her mother were suitably horrified to the point where we were off the topic of Leah’s lack of visits and whether she’d eaten pork in Kansas or not.
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GUEST POST:
Brain Food for Writers: 5 Healthy Snacks to Eliminate Writers Block
Cheerios is the first item on my go-to list. They’re easy to measure out, have a satisfying crunch as a dry snack, and are healthier than a lot of other similarly crunchy items like chips. I’m not going to lie, I’ve eaten my way through most of a bag in one or two sittings by eating mindlessly, but they’re healthier than a lot of other options, and they have considerably more vitamins.
One and a half cups of dry Cheerios offers the following:
Calories: 140
Fat: 2.5 grams
Carbs: 29 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Sugar: 2 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Vitamin A: 10% DV
Vitamin C: 10% DV
Vitamin D: 10% DV
Vitamin B12: 20% DV
Calcium: 10% DV
Iron: 70% DV
Magnesium: 15% DV
Zinc: 20% DV
Berries are something you have to take carefully. They can add some nice zing to the Cheerios, but they can also add a lot of sugar. My preferred berries are blueberries or strawberries because they’re easy to find, tasty, and you can put them on or next to one of the other snacks for variety.
One cup of halved strawberries includes the following nutritional values:
Calories: 49
Fat: 0.5 grams
Carbs: 12 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Sugar: 7 grams
Protein: 1 gram
Vitamin C: 150% DV
One cup of blueberries offers the following:
Calories: 85
Fat: 0.5 grams
Carbs: 21 grams
Fiber: 3.5 grams
Sugar: 15 grams
Protein: 1 grams
Vitamin C: 24% DV
Vitamin K: 26% DV
Manganese: 25% DV
Nuts. You can really use any nuts as long as you’re sure of your allergies and you check your portions and how they were prepared (like salted nuts). I prefer peanuts, but I’m picky with my nuts. Just remember that nuts can go bad, so don’t just get a giant container and leave them sitting around until they go rotten (ask me how I know!). Now, nuts are higher in fat, but you need fat to get that glorious brain of yours to work.
Here’s the nutritional value of a quarter cup of dry roasted unsalted peanuts.
Calories: 320
Fat: 28 grams
Carbs: 12 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Sugar: 2 grams
Protein: 14 grams
Iron: 18% DV
Magnesium: 23% DV
Phosphorus: 20% DV
Bamba is a weird snack that I picked up while I was in Israel for a few weeks in 2012. Imagine a Cheetos puff, but instead of cheese, it tastes like peanut butter. It’s kind of a love ‘em or hate ‘em snack, but I wanted to include them because IMHO they’re better than Cheetos and you can get them in most Jewish markets in the United States. So if you’re looking for a fun Israeli snack to try while you read Meteors and Menorahs, try Bamba!
One 1oz package of Bamba peanut butter puffs has the following:
Calories: 150
Fat: 8 grams
Carbs: 14 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Vitamin E: 20% DV
Vitamin B12: 15% DV
Vitamin B6: 10 % DV
Folic Acid: 15% DV
Water. This sounds easier than it is. Drinking water is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
Water doesn’t provide a nutritional value, so here’s a list of things that water does do for you.
Joint lubrication: Your back and neck aren’t just hurting because you’ve been hunched over a computer all day. Your vertebrae glide against each other well because of the cartilage protecting the ends of your bone. Dehydration shrinks the cartilage, which means your bones are grinding a lot more and you may not be as mobile as you were before.
Digestive system regulation: Everybody poops. There’s even a book about it. Sitting a lot can slow down your digestive system, and when you add dehydration to the mix, you can end up with irregular, difficult to pass stools. If you’re not drinking enough water, this can get painful, and that’s before you add something like hemorrhoids to the mix.
Flushing body waste: Sweating gets rid of bodily waste. Peeing filters things out of your blood. If you’re not drinking enough water, you can end up with a UTI which means a trip to the doctor and time away from your computer.
Weight Loss: Water helps you remain full so you aren’t snacking overly much. As writers, we tend to sit a lot and drink a lot of energy drinks (I’m guilty of it, I know) but you need to add water into your routine so sugary drinks and caffeine aren’t the only way you’re getting water. Drinking a decent amount of it can create a sense of fullness, and half the time when you think you’re hungry, you’re probably just thirsty. They feel very much the same. Drink eight ounces of water and wait an hour. If you’re still hungry after that, go ahead and eat one of the snacks on this list.
The most important advice I can leave you with is to be kind to your body. It’s the only one you’ve got, and treating it well now means you’ll be able to use it to write for a long time.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Nessa grew up thriving on trips to natural history museums and Jurassic Park. Once adulthood was upon her, it was only a matter of time before she discovered dominant aliens and shifter erotica. She enjoys titillating the Triassic and stargazing.
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CONNECT WITH NESSA:
Website:
https://nessaclaugh.wordpress.com
Email List Sign Up:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NessaClaugh
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NessaClaugh
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/nessa-claugh
BookBub Book Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/meteors-and-menorahs-by-nessa-claugh
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20556806.Nessa_Claugh
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59348446-meteors-and-menorahs
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Meteors-Menorahs-Nessa-Claugh-ebook/dp/B09JFQN6KZ
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Meteors-Menorahs-Nessa-Claugh/dp/B09JJJ9D9H
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Nessa will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card 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 fabulous
community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**
Nessa ~ 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 for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rita!
DeleteThanks for hosting me today, Ally! Readers, what's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the guest post and the excerpt and your book sounds like a great read! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful holiday season!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stormy! You, too!
Delete