Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Marilee Brothers and her new book, “Hope and Honor”! 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 $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Marilee
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Hope and Honor
by Marilee Brothers
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GENRE: Romantic
Suspense with a Touch of Fantasy
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BLURB:
Life
is becoming more complicated for soul reader Honor Melanie “Mel” Sullivan. Her
boss needs help with his rebellious teen daughter who believes rules are made
to be broken and Mel’s current boyfriend, Homeland Security agent Mick Petrov,
is becoming an absentee lover, dropping hints about a major decision he faces.
To make it worse, Mel’s ex, 3 Peaks detective “Billy the Kid” McCarty wants her
back. And those aren’t the only challenges. When a paramilitary group called
New Dawn wants her soul-reading skills, Mel meets five-year-old twins who steal
her heart. Unwilling to abandon the motherless children, she strikes a deal
with the compound’s charismatic leader. Drawn deeper and deeper into New Dawn’s
twisted agenda, Mel must figure out a way to save the twins and herself before
it’s too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
My
peripheral vision catches sight of a sudden movement. I walk down the steps and
turn right until I reach the edge of the building. I peek around the corner and
see a little girl pressed against the rough siding. Her dark hair is braided.
Her jeans and jacket are too big and look like boy clothes. Her gaze is fixed
on the ground. Her thumb is in her mouth. She’s clutching a stuffed rabbit.
I
take a step toward her and smile. “Hi. Are you waiting for your dad?”
She
nods.
I
take a step closer, trying not to spook her. “I’m Mel. What’s your name?”
Without
removing her thumb, she mumbles something unintelligible. I take a step close
and squat down until we’re eye level.
“I
didn’t quite get your name. Maybe if you take your thumb out of your mouth it
will work better.”
She
lifts her head and I’m looking into eyes identical to those of the little blond
boy. Bright and blue. My heart breaks when I look into her soul. Streaked with
pale blue accents, it’s a soft shade of pink and bisected with a jagged black
line. This little girl has experienced severe trauma.
“I
think I saw your dad and brother go into the hall. Am I right?”
She
nods. The thumb comes out of her mouth. “Papa and Gunner.”
“Can
you tell me your name again, sweetie?”
“I’m
Kimber.”
“Do
people call you Kim?”
She
shakes her head. “Nope. People call me Kimber, ‘cause that’s my name.”
“Got
it,” I say. “How about you keep me company until the meeting is over. I’ve got
nobody to talk to and I’m lonesome. We could go sit on the stairs and wait
together.”
“Not
there. No females. We can sit on the bench, though.”
She
takes my hand and leads me to a rickety bench a few yards in front of the porch
railing. We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes. I’m dying to know
more about Kimber, but don’t want to bombard her with questions.
“This
is Blossom Bunny,” she offers, thrusting the stuffed rabbit in front of my
face.
Blossom
Bunny is not attractive. Her fur is dull gray and splotchy. Her long, floppy
ears droop down to her skinny legs. Black, beady eyes peer straight ahead atop
a little pink nose.
“Very
nice,” I lie.
“I
love Blossom Bunny. She has zippers in her ears. I keep important stuff there.”
She
lays the bunny across her lap, lifts one of the floppy ears and points out the
zipper.
“Very
cool. It’s good to have a place to keep important stuff.”
She
nods solemnly, unzips one of the ears and pulls out stubby pencil, a little
rubber ball and a hair ribbon. Seeing her sparse array of treasures makes me
sad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Evolution of My
Writing Habits and How I've Grown Into a Better/More Experienced Writer
Thank
you, Fabulous and Brunette, for hosting me today. Here is what I’ve learned
over the past ten years.
Don't be a Quitter.
Thousands
of people start writing books but, somewhere along the way, get bogged down and
never finish.
Don’t Expect First Draft Perfection.
The
odds against writing perfect prose the first time around are astronomically
against you. Nobody, I mean, nobody is capable of writing a final draft the
first time around. That’s what re-writes are for.
Don’t Fear Rejection.
Before I sold my first book I knew the odds
were against me. A close family member told me only two percent of books
submitted to agents and editors are published. Why did I persist? I admit I
have a stubborn streak. When someone tells me I can't do something, the little
voice inside my head says, "Oh, yeah?" I wanted to prove I could
start and finish a book. And I did. Even today, with ten published books under
my belt, old doubts still float to the surface. What if I can't come up with a
fresh plot? What if nobody likes my latest book? Fear of rejection is
paralyzing. It stifles your creativity and moves you backward instead of
forward. So, do what I do. Take a deep breath and kick.
Forge a Relationship With Someone Who Will Make You a Better
Writer.
Writing
is solitary, lonely business. The Internet has made it less so. Because it is
absolutely impossible to be objective about your own writing, join a critique
group, find a beta reader or, if you plan to self-publish, hire a competent
editor who will go over your manuscript with a cool, dispassionate eye and
offer the constructive criticism needed to polish your book. Trust me, it will
save you many an embarrassing moment. How do I know this? Because people simply
love to point out the error they found on page 44.
Give Yourself a Pat on the Back.
You
started the journey. You've made progress. Instead of looking back at what
you've written and agonizing over your unpolished prose, take a moment to be
proud of what you've accomplished. While you're at it, promise yourself that
you will finish. Try to squeeze in a little writing time each day. Before you
know it, your book will be done and you will have accomplished what many others
set out to do but failed, probably because of one of the roadblocks already
described. Writers write. They persist even when discouraged. They finish what
they start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Marilee Brothers is a
former teacher, coach, counselor and the author of ten books. Marilee and her
husband are the parents of three grown sons and live in central Washington
State. After writing six young adult books, Marilee is once again writing
romantic suspense for the adult market. She loves hearing from people who have
read her books. Feel free to contact her at http://www.marileebrothers.com
and sign up for her newsletter The Obsessive Page Turner.
Her
author page on Facebook is: www.facebook.com/marilee.author
and she occasionally tweets @MarileeB. Check out
Marilee’s Amazon page here: http://www.amazon.com/Marilee-Brothers/e/B003RL7EWQ.
Marilee’s
blog is Book Blather, http://bookblatherblog.blogspot.com
where she features aspiring and published authors as well as some tidbits of
her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH MARILEE:
Website:
Newsletter:
Blog:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Goodreads Author
Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Google Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Marilee will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase 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.
