Fabulous and Brunette: The Woods of Hitchcock by Ann W. Jarvie - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway

Hi, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Ann W. Jarvie and her new book, “The Woods of Hitchcock,” 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 $75 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Ann and to increase your chances of winning!!

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

The Woods of Hitchcock

The Henrietta Book Series

Book Two

by Ann W. Jarvie

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GENRE: Thriller, Psychological Suspense

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BLURB:

The Woods of Hitchcock by award-winning author Ann W. Jarvie is a thriller about a psychically gifted Chicago copywriter and victim of violence who returns to South Carolina's equestrian country to solve a riddle involving murder, the metaphysical and the secrets of her eccentric family.

Suzanne Clayborn is a psychically gifted southerner working in her dream job in Chicago, which also conveniently takes her away from the ghosts of her past. But when she's nearly killed, she realizes all she wants is to return home to her eccentric family, her horse and the one place she feels safe: Hitchcock Woods, an enchanting equestrian forest in South Carolina.

But instead of finding solace, Suzanne becomes entangled in a murder spree, while stumbling upon an old manuscript, written by her sage grandmother. As she explores it, Suzanne uncovers a tome of long-buried family haunts and ancient metaphysical secrets offering healing and inspiration. She also begins to understand her unwanted psychic abilities, especially after meeting a mysterious stranger in the Woods whose ominous riddle suggests others close to her will die within the week...

Brimming with raw emotion and a trail of psychological twists, a story of hope and transformation begins to unfold. Yet with the riddle's deadline looming, Suzanne's present must ultimately collide with a violent past. Will she be able to solve her life's riddle and fulfill her destiny? Or will she die along with those she loves?

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EXCERPT ONE:

Suzanne Clayborn woke up in darkness, mouth taped shut.

Jerking only made the ties around her wrists and ankles tighter, but it wasn’t just the bindings holding her down. Her muscles weren’t working right, like her whole body had fallen asleep. All she could do was lie there on a floor, heart pounding in terror, listening to the eerie bangs of pipes hidden somewhere behind the shadowed walls.

Her body trembled, despite an overwhelming heat, heavy and putrid, falling on her face and neck like the terrible breath of a monster. She had no memory of what had happened to her or where she was now. She only knew she was immobilized, maybe paralyzed, and every inch of her head ached. She might’ve welcomed another blackout, but the fumes were acting like smelling salts, forcing her to remain awake.

Yet she preferred consciousness—she didn’t want to die. It wasn’t that she feared the afterlife. That was actually the only good thing about the tragic accident years ago, when she was thirteen, when she’d felt her soul float away in bliss. It was the coming back that was the scary part. What she’d seen and felt when she’d woken up, and almost every day since then, could not be unseen or unfelt. It was a secret horror, her life irreversibly altered with strange, new abilities she didn’t need or want. Still, she didn’t want to die—not now, not like this—because she was struck in this dark moment with an awful knowing, a bothersome niggling in the deepest part of her soul about something important she had to finish in this life.

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GUEST POST:

Everyone loves a hero! Tell us all about this genuine character and the inspiration behind their development.

You’re right, Ally, and thank you for having me on Fabulous and Brunette! The love of a hero is in large part why in my new thriller, The Woods of Hitchcock, I was inspired to create a genuine Hero’s Journey for my protagonist, Suzanne Clayborn. A literary term originally coined by the acclaimed mythologist Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey describes an archetypal story pattern that starts with a hero’s departure of some kind from his homeland. On his travels, he has an adventure fraught with trials and tribulations that he must overcome, and if the hero is successful, ends his journey with a triumphant return home.

In my thriller, my heroine Suzanne leaves her home in South Carolina, running away from the literal ghosts of her past. On her adventures in Chicago, she travels a road full of career excitement, but also danger. She faces various trials as an empath who has psychic abilities, learns about metaphysical secrets that may or may not help her, and gets drawn into a murder mystery. Her return involves choosing a life back in South Carolina; however, in order to stay and save those she loves, she must solve a life-or-death riddle, discover the secret gifts of spirit within herself and use them correctly, thereby completing her suspenseful Hero’s Journey.

Meanwhile, during the Hero’s Journey, the hero meets the mentor, who guides and grounds him as he makes his way in the story. Often the mentor has been through a similar journey and survived, so the mentor represents what the hero could become, if he makes the right choices and sticks to his path.

In The Woods of Hitchcock, our heroine Suzanne has a most excellent mentor in the character of her sage grandmother, Henrietta, who shares with her keen insights, humorous observations and “ancient metaphysical truths worth repeating” that she learned from an old friend and Apache shaman, Bears Repeating. [As an aside, Henrietta was the young heroine and Bears Repeating was her mentor in my first novel, The Soul Retrieval; however, both of these novels stand completely on their own.]

Ally, if you or your readers happen to be in Phoenix, Arizona this Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, we can continue our conversation in-person about the Hero’s Journey in The Woods of Hitchcock and The Soul Retrieval. I’m excited to say I’ll be signing both of my novels in an in-store Book Signing Event at the Barnes & Noble at Desert Ridge Marketplace. Thanks again for having me here today to discuss a subject I love: The Hero!

PS: Since you also asked about my beloved pets, I’m attaching a photo of my boxer Rhett and boxer mix rescue, Georgie. I consider them my creative writing assistants!

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AUTHOR BIO:

Ann W. Jarvie has a B.A. in journalism and twenty-five years’ experience as a writer in advertising and public relations agencies, in Chicago and South Carolina. Although it stands completely on its own, The Woods of Hitchcock is an indirect sequel to Jarvie’s award-winning debut novel, The Soul Retrieval, which received four literary awards, the highest score by Writer’s Digest e-Book Awards’ judges (5 out of 5 on all points) as well as myriad positive reviews. Jarvie currently lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona with her husband, their boxer dog and boxer mix rescue.

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CONNECT WITH ANN:

Website:

https://www.annwjarvie.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/annwjarvie

Twitter:

https://www.twitter.com/annwjarvie

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/annwjarvie

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13702568.Ann_W_Jarvie

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59469121-the-woods-of-hitchcock

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/3J7N6d7

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

The Woods of Hitchcock, A Thriller by Ann W. Jarvie, is available online everywhere, including:

Amazon US Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/3GByFMO

Amazon US Paperback:

https://amzn.to/3HxCV1a

Amazon US Hardcover:

https://amzn.to/3B1xR2R

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.ca/Woods-Hitchcock-Thriller-Henrietta-ebook/dp/B09J9VSGTV

Amazon CA Paperback:

https://www.amazon.ca/Woods-Hitchcock-Thriller-Ann-Jarvie/dp/0578932008

Amazon CA Hardcover:

https://www.amazon.ca/Woods-Hitchcock-Ann-W-Jarvie/dp/0578949814

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-woods-of-hitchcock-ann-w-jarvie/1139765258?ean=9780578932019

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-woods-of-hitchcock-ann-w-jarvie/1139765258?ean=9780578932002

Barnes and Noble Hardcover:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-woods-of-hitchcock-ann-w-jarvie/1139765258?ean=9780578949819

Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Woods-Hitchcock-Ann-W-Jarvie/9780578932002

Book Depository Hardcover:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Woods-Hitchcock-Ann-W-Jarvie/9780578949819

Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Woods-Hitchcock/Ann-W-Jarvie/9780578932002

Books-A-Million Hardcover:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Woods-Hitchcock/Ann-W-Jarvie/9780578949819

Bookshop Paperback:

https://bookshop.org/books/the-woods-of-hitchcock/9780578932002

Bookshop Hardcover:

https://bookshop.org/books/the-woods-of-hitchcock-9780578949819/9780578949819

Kobo US eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-woods-of-hitchcock

Kobo CA eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-woods-of-hitchcock

Powell’s Paperback:

https://www.powells.com/book/the-woods-of-hitchcock-9780578932002

Powell’s Hardcover:

https://www.powells.com/book/the-woods-of-hitchcock-9780578949819

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Ann will be awarding a $75 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) 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 fabulous community outreach projects and 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.