Island of Dreams by Harry Duffin - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway!

Hello, lovelies!!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Harry Duffin and his new book, “Island of Dreams,” 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 $30 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Harry and to increase your chances of winning!!

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

Island of Dreams

by Harry Duffin

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GENRE:   Historical Family Saga

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BLURB:

ISLAND OF DREAMS

In May 1939, when Professor Carl Mueller, his wife, Esther, and their three children flee Nazi Germany, and find refuge on the paradise island of Cuba, they are all full of hopes and dreams for a safe and happy future. But those dreams are shattered when Carl and Esther are confronted by a ghost from their past, and old betrayals return to haunt them.

The turbulent years of political corruption leading to Batista’s dictatorship, forces the older children to take very different paths to pursue their own dangerous dreams.

And - among the chaos and the conflict that finally leads to Castro’s revolution and victory in 1959, an unlikely love begins to grow - a love that threatens the whole family.

Having escaped a war-torn Europe, their Island of Dreams is to tear them apart forever.

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EXCERPT THREE:

Freddie stopped the car in the path, and watched Anna get out.

Freddie was surprised.   ‘Oh, well, goodbye,’ he said.

‘Can you get out, please, Freddie,’ she said quietly.

Very curious, Freddie got out. Anna came and stood in front of him. She looked around, then taking his arm, she led him into the forest. Freddie was very puzzled now. Did she think he might go back and tell the police where the camp was? Surely, she knew he wouldn’t do that? She led him to a clearing, out of sight of the path.

‘You don’t think I’m going to go back and tell the army where the camp is, Anna?’

‘Is that what you think?’

Freddie shrugged. He had given Anna his gun in the car.  ‘You’ll need it more than me,’ he’d said. Not that he would use it on her anyway.

Anna came close to him. As he was about to speak again, she put her fingers to his lips. ‘You don’t know, do you?’ she said.

‘Know what?’

She reached up and pushed a lock of his hair back from his forehead. ‘Freddie, I hated you from the moment you picked me up and dragged me off the boat. 

Freddie attempted a smile.

Then her fingers ran softly down his cheek. ‘And loved you just as much.’

Before he could speak her lips met his. It was a long kiss. Twenty years in the making.

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GUEST POST:

Five Ways to Deal with Rejection as a Writer

Acceptance. Dealing with rejection is the first lesson every would-be writer, and published writers, has to learn. Because it happens to every one of us. Remember J.K. Rowling was rejected by twelve publishers before she was accepted. If she had given up after the twelve, the world would never have heard of Harry Potter. Carrie by Stephen King was rejected thirty times! So, the first thing to accept is that you will be rejected, a lot of times. Accept that, feel sad for a moment, have a drink maybe, then move on.

Persistence. It took me twenty years of submitting my work before I made a living as a writer. Over those years several friends told me to give up, and I nearly did, a few times. But if writing is the thing you want to do more than anything else, carry on. You might never make it to the top of the best-seller list, not many people do, but with self-publishing anyone with a few hundred quid can produce a book. Your book, which you can put on your shelf. Even if it doesn’t sell all that well, maybe you can give it as a birthday or a Christmas present? It’s a unique gift.

It’s not about you. Getting rejected is not about you personally, though it generally feels like it at the time. After a few rejections you realise that it’s your writing that is rejected. And there are many reasons for that. Maybe it’s not very good. Maybe you didn’t find the right agent for that type of book. Maybe you didn’t market it well enough.

Re-edit. If your work is rejected, look at it again. Maybe you could do better? If someone is good enough to tell you what they think is wrong don’t just dismiss their comments. They may have a point. Or they may not. You have to decide which, because it is your work after all. You have the ultimate choice.

Luck. Being in the right place at the right time. I had nearly given up the idea of being a writer when I got a three-month contract reading scripts at the BBC. I learned about a new soap being developed and I rang the script-editor every day for two months, before he asked me in at asked me to write a dozen storylines. He and the producer loved them, and I became a member of the first writing team on EASTENDERS.

So put yourself about. Meet other writers, go to conferences, book fairs, anywhere were you might meet that one person who can help.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Harry is an award-winning UK screenwriter, who won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best TV serial, while writing for Granada Television’s ‘CORONATION STREET’. Before that, in 1985, he was on the first writing team for the BBC’s ‘EASTENDERS’.

Before beginning his career writing drama for television, Harry spent a dozen years working in British theatre, as stage manager, writer, designer and director, working with actors such as Nigel Hawthorne, Anne Reid and Lesley Manville.

After script-editing the BBC’s HOWARDS’WAY, he freelanced for series like DISTRICT NURSE, THE BILL, BOON, THE BRETTS, EMMERDALE.

In 1994 he became Head of Development at the UK independent company, Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment. As the script executive he was responsible for seven major television series, included ‘SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON’ starring RICHARD ‘JOHN BOY’ THOMAS, and ‘TWIST IN THE TALE’, featuring WILLIAM SHATNER. He also wrote the film, RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND.

In 1998 he was the co-creator of the UK Channel Five teen-cult drama series ‘THE TRIBE’, which ran for five series, numbering 260 episodes. ‘THE TRIBE’ has been sold world-wide, and all series is on YouTube.

His first novel, CHICAGO MAY, is the first book of a two-part series.  He has also written JAIL TALES, about his wife’s 20 year career in the prison service, and the novel BIRTH OF THE MALL RATS, the prequel to THE TRIBE.

He has just finished his third novel, ISLAND OF DREAMS, to be published on December 1st 2022.

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CONNECT WITH HARRY:

Website:

http://www.harryduffin.co.uk

Website:

http://chicagomay.com

Email:

harry.duffin26@gmail.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/harry.duffin.5

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/duffin26

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4674467.Harry_Duffin

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/3ehWO2S

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UPCOMING BOOK RELEASE DATE INFO:

**Island of Dreams will be published on December 1st, 2022**

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Harry will be awarding a $30 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.