Hello, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Glenn P. Booth and his new book, “Them Days,” here on FAB!! 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 $15 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Glenn and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Them Days
by Glenn P. Booth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Fiction – Historical – Coming of Age
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
“This heartfelt story grabs the reader from the very start and doesn’t let go. Fans of historical fiction are in for a treat.” – The Prairies Book Review
Discrimination, war in Europe, a pandemic. . .
Sofiya, a young Ukrainian immigrant, experiences all of this and more. It could be 2022, but it's Manitoba in the early 1900s.
Sofiya is the third consecutive girl born on a poor homestead near Gimli in 1903. She is bright and feisty but nothing more is expected of her than to be a domestic, and at age thirteen she is sent to be a maid to a wealthy family in Winnipeg. There, she experiences the condescension of the English towards the 'Bohunks', while her half-brother is interned during WW1, deemed an enemy alien.
While the Great War is raging in Europe, an undeclared war between the classes is being fought at home. This conflict comes to a head in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 when the working classes rise up against their English masters, shut down the city and demand a better deal. The city is divided and everyone must choose a side.
Them Days takes you on Sofiya's journey, as she discovers what it means to be an immigrant and a woman, struggling to find love and her identity – at the same time that Canada is breaking free from Mother England's apron strings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
“In them days, we wuz poor but happy.”
You’re probably laughing at how trite this is. But I’ve heard my sister Helen, and several other members of my family, speak those exact words more times than I care to remember. And it’s exactly how they remember “Them Days.”
For us, Them Days goes back to growing up north of Winnipeg on marginal farmland at the turn of the 20th century. Like tens of thousands of Ukrainian and other Eastern European immigrants, my family had come searching for a better life in Canada, lured by the promise of free land.
For the most part, the promises were kept, although, as it would turn out, a few “extras” were thrown into the deal. Unfortunately for my family, like many Ukrainians, they had requested land with wood on it. Back in the old country, they had often frozen through long winters on the Steppes because of a lack of wood for building fires. The Canadian government’s land agent obliged, and they were given some scratchy stony ground near Gimli, Manitoba, where the fertile prairie gives way to swampy Boreal forest. But it had wood!
With this endowment, it was bound to be a hard life. But my sister still remembers it as a time of happiness.
Memories—how they play tricks on us—and how they vary from person to person. It never ceases to amaze me how my family members remember the same events so differently.
It was a warm June day in 1982, the last time the seven of us who had survived to late adulthood had gotten together for an informal family reunion. We were sitting in my youngest sister’s trailer, which was parked on the old family homestead. None of us were regular drinkers, but the occasion had inspired my brothers to have a little whiskey, and my sisters and I were sipping some white wine.
Sure enough, whether it was the heat, the alcohol, or just our age and the occasion, my siblings waxed maudlin. And it didn’t take long before Helen spoke those familiar words, “In them days…,” and my brothers nodded in agreement. Soon, happy stories of Them Days came pouring out like a prairie river spilling over its banks in the spring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Fierce Female Lead Characters: How to Create Strong Role Models in Books
One what might ask why, as an older white male, I’ve published two novels with a strong female lead character in each book?
For me the answer is simple. My parents split before I was four, my father left never to be seen again, and my brother and I were raised by a single mom. When she died just before my 14th birthday, we ended up living with our grandmother, whose husband was a lifelong alcoholic. I grew up seeing how challenging life is for women, particularly under difficult circumstances. When I began writing, it seemed natural to me to honour the women in my life and, by extension, all women who are struggling for equality and freedom of expression.
So what are the important aspects of developing strong female characters?
1.) They have to face challenges, normally from both their family and from society
2.) Their family/society has expectations for them that don’t match their dreams and aspirations
3.) It’s a struggle to pursue their dreams and to pursue what they believe is right. They face setbacks and there are costs to their actions, such as being alienated from their family and losing friends
What are the key traits of strong female characters?
1.) They are persistent! They continue to pursue what they believe in no matter how often they get knocked down by friends, family, co-workers, on-line haters, etc.
2.) They are self-reliant! They may have doubts about themselves, but life quickly teaches them that if they want to get where they want to go, they have to rely on themselves (although they may of course seek allies).
3.) They’re not perfect! They make mistakes, may mis-judge people and situations, and aren’t always the smartest person in the room. They have quirks/flaws to which readers can relate and which will endear them to those same readers; e.g. sleeping in and missing appts, binge eating, fretting over appearance issues, falling for jerks, etc.
4.) They are true to themselves! No matter how much society tries to force them to conform, they fight to hold on to their identities, whether they be gay, bi, atheist, a jock, a nerd, whatever – they don’t let the world change their fundamentals.
5.) They are resilient! I know this is somewhat of a restatement of #1, but I think resiliency is the most important characteristic of strong female characters both in novels and in life.
Why is it important to have strong female characters in novels?
1.) Throughout history, society (largely men) have tried to force women to conform to societal norms, with little regard to women’s needs.
2.) I’d like to believe that part of the human experience should be that we all have the opportunity to develop to our full potential, and women have too often been ‘kept down’ by society.
3.) By depicting strong female characters who can overcome society’s restraints and taboos, hopefully we can inspire young women to aspire to be all that they can be. When women can grow closer to their true potential, we’ll all be better off.
Q. So why should you read “Them Days”.
A. Sofiya is an engaging lead female character who faces and overcomes numerous challenges faced by Ukrainian immigrants to Canada. Although it’s a story set in the past century, it is very much relevant to the issues we are facing today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Glenn was born and raised in Winnipeg, where he lived with his Ukrainian grandmother, Helen Lesko, after he and his brother were orphaned just before his fourteenth birthday. He grew up listening to Helen’s stories about ‘Them Days’ growing up on the homestead near Gimli, and life in Winnipeg in the late 1910s and 1920s.
Glenn attended the University of Manitoba and the University of Alberta where he respectively obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts (Economics) degrees. Among other jobs, he subsequently worked with Canada’s National Energy Board, where he held positions including Chief Economist, Executive Director of Corporate Planning and External Relations, and Executive Director of Communications and Human Resources.
Glenn has published one other novel, Demons in Every Man, a murder mystery set in the Calgary oil patch, published by Friesen Press in 2019.
The author lives in Calgary with his Brazilian-born wife of 36 years, Elisabeth. Glenn and Elisabeth have two grown sons who are now successfully making their way in the world. Glenn enjoys returning to Winnipeg every summer to visit with his cousins and old friends, and to enjoy cottage life on Lake Winnipeg. While in Calgary, he loves scrambling and hiking in the Rockies, as well as mountain biking and X-country skiing with friends. Of course, Glenn is also an avid reader.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH GLENN:
Website:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/GlennPBooth
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19300151.Glenn_P_Booth
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60980642-them-days
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon US Hardcover:
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Them-Days-Glenn-P-Booth-ebook/dp/B09YNSK548
Amazon CA
Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Them-Days-Glenn-P-Booth/dp/0228878438
Amazon CA Hardcover:
https://www.amazon.ca/Them-Days-Glenn-P-Booth/dp/0228878446
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/them-days-glenn-p-booth/1141393328?ean=2940165844430
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/them-days-glenn-p-booth/1141393328?ean=9780228878438
Barnes and Noble Hardcover:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/them-days-glenn-p-booth/1141393328?ean=9780228878445
Book Depository Paperback:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Them-Days-Glenn-P-Booth/9780228878438
Book Depository Hardcover:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Them-Days-Glenn-P-Booth/9780228878445
Indigo Chapters CA eBook:
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/them-days/9780228878438-item.html
Indigo Chapters CA Paperback:
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/them-days/9780228878452-item.html
Kobo US eBook:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/them-days
Kobo CA eBook:
https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/them-days
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Glenn will be awarding a $15 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) 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**
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.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really good story.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like and excellent book and I'm really looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very intriguing. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the guest post.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim, glad to hear that you enjoyed my post. It seems that for most of my life I have lived with women who have been frustrated in their desire to be all that they can be. My wife tells me that constantly facing challenges is what makes women so inwardly strong.
ReplyDelete