Sunday, January 31, 2021

10 Things You Might Not Know About CAPTURING THE EARL @asfenichel #10Things

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A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful IT career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never looked back.

A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.

Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in Missouri with her real life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, and puttering in her garden.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS

Website: http://asfenichel.com

Blog: http://asfenichel.com/blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/asfenichel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/A.S.Fenichel


10 Things You Might Not Know About Capturing the Earl

1. There are four ladies who call themselves the Wallflowers of West Lane.

2. Mercedes (Mercy) Heath is a brilliant Musician.

3. Mercy plays at least six instruments that we know of.

4. Wesley Renshaw is the Earl of Castlewick and needs a wife who can help him regain his family’s lost property.

5. Wesley has sisters who are twins and he his raising them.

6. The Wallflowers of West Lane have made a pact to protect each other no matter the cost.

7. The Wallflowers met when sent away to school in Switzerland.

8. Mercy received a musical instrument from her aunt who traveled in Spain and had a hard time finding someone to help her learn to play it.

9. Mercy is an orphan.

10. Wesley feels responsible for everyone he cares about and will go to great lengths to make things right. 

 
About the Book:


Title: CAPTURING THE EARL
Author: A.S. Fenichel
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 250
Genre: Regency Romance

BOOK BLURB:

The friendship of four young ladies has created an indestructible bond to protect one another from the perils of love and marriage . . .

After the demise of her friend’s disastrous marriage, Mercedes Parsons isn’t about to let the widowed Wallflower of West Lane, Lady Aurora Radcliff, undertake another perilous trip to the altar. At least, not before the bridegroom-to-be is thoroughly investigated. If only Mercy could stop her uncharacteristic daydreaming about Wesley Renshaw’s charm, his intellect, his dashing good looks. After all, the earl has already set his sights on her best friend! She must keep her wits about her and avoid giving into temptation.

Wesley is both irritated and intrigued by the machinations of Mercy—He cannot let her cleverness and beauty distract him. He needs to marry her friend, Aurora, so he can reclaim his family’s ancestral home. A wrong he has hoped to right his entire life. Besides, who is penniless spinster Mercedes Parsons to decide whom he can and cannot marry? Yet while he admires her unwavering loyalty to her friends, he decides it’s high time the misguided woman had a dose of her own medicine. Two can play at this spying game. But they are both embarked on a dangerous charade. And it won’t be merely Mercy’s reputation at risk—or her heart on the line—as Wesley comes to the inescapable conclusion that he has found the right woman at exactly the wrong time.

Praise:

“A pair of lovers must decide whether to listen to their heads or to their hearts in Fenichel’s delightful third Wallflowers of West Lane Regency romance (after The Earl Not Taken). Mercy Heath is an untitled orphan living in a West Lane townhouse with her friend Lady Aurora Radcliff, a young widow. As such, she’s surprised when Wesley Renshaw, Earl of Castlewick, asks her to dance at a ball. Though Wesley is attracted to Mercy, he feels a familial obligation to persuade Aurora to marry him as she owns Whickette Park, a property that once belonged to Wesley’s grandfather and that the Renshaws wish to regain. Aurora has no desire to marry again, but her mother insists that she allow Wesley to court her. His pursuit of Aurora leads him to spend much time with Mercy as well, marveling at her sweetness and musical talent. As the relationship between Mercy and Wesley evolves from platonic friendship into romance, Wesley must decide whether his sense of duty outweighs his desire for happiness. Fenichel makes the high stakes of Regency era marriage apparent, adding intensity to the forbidden love story between Wesley and Mercy. Fans of historical romance will be enchanted.”

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3bbrq2h

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/398BHcF







Sunday, January 24, 2021

10 Things You Might Not Know About Cruising the Mississippi by Al & Sunny Lockwood #10Things

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Al and Sunny Lockwood have traveled by foot, car, rail, air and cruise ship.  They’ve camped in national parks, hiked mountain trails, photographed springtime flowers in Death Valley and wintry surf along the rugged beaches of Northern California.

They’ve watched July 4th fireworks over Lake Tahoe, explored New Mexico’s Taos Pueblo and ridden the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad through forests ablaze with autumn colors.

They’ve ridden the amazing Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, the Flam Railway in Norway and Ushuaia’s train at the end of the world.

They’ve photographed Gibraltare’s Barbary apes and Gentoo Penguins frolicking in the surf on Falkland Island beaches.

From North Carolina’s Outer Banks to New Orleans’ Bourbon Street and Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Al and Sunny love to wander and wonder and enjoy.

Everywhere they go, they capture unforgettable moments with their cameras and notebooks, moments to share with their readers. Their work has been published in magazines and newspapers.  It has been recognized with awards from the National Federation of Press Women, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Seven Sisters Book Awards, and The Independent Author Network Book Awards.

“We write to encourage others to travel, to take a break from their ordinary routine and discover the many rewards of traveling with your eyes wide open,” Sunny said. “Go somewhere new, even if it’s only in the next county. And have fun exploring the sites, the sounds and flavors of the place. You’ll be amazed at how much fun you’ll have.”

Al added, “We also write to share the wonder of our own travels. To help you feel what it’s like to be on a cruise ship, or wandering the back alleys of Venice, Italy. We hope our books give readers a real sense of our travel adventures.”


10 Things You Might Not Know About Cruising the Mississippi

1. The boat we cruised on (The American Queen)  is a genuine steam powered paddle boat. It is, in fact, the largest steamboat ever built.

 

2. Its bright red wooden paddle wheel is 28-feet wide and weighs 23 tons.

 

3. Once a wild boar, swimming in the Mississippi, got caught in the paddle wheel and drowned. That boar's head is now stuffed and hanging on a wall in the Gentlemen's Card Room on Deck 2 of The American Queen.

 


4. We stopped at Nottaway Plantation, the South's largest remaining antebellum plantation house. The house has 53,000 square feet of floor space. Think of the fun little kids could have playing hide and seek in there.

 

5. We filled the pages of our book with fascinating things we learned on the cruise: big facts about the Civil War and little facts like who was first responsible for distributing Coca Cola, and what southern shoe maker first designed shoes specifically for right and left feet.

 

6. Our cruise featured hop-on hop-off buses at each river town where we stopped. Because our old knees are not what they once were, the buses were a blessing in getting us around town, and giving us a restful ride when we needed it.

 

7. During the cruise, we became acquainted with one of the onboard entertainers and discovered, amazingly, a relative we shared.

 

8. When you're surrounded with Victorian era opulence -- scrolling woodwork, antique furniture, Tiffany reading lamps -- you truly feel you've stepped back into history. That's what it was like cruising up the Mississippi on this paddlewheeler.

 

9. Our daily lectures on the mighty Mississippi, taught us many fascinating tidbits on marine culture including why guest rooms on cruise ships are called state rooms.

 

10. Our steamboat didn't drop anchor or dock next to a pier. Instead it actually nuzzled into the muddy shore along the riverbank or levee, then lowered a long gangway plank for passengers to disembark. 


 
About the Book:

If you love travel, beauty, history, fabulous food, and genuine old-fashioned fun, you’ll love this amazing paddle wheel adventure along the mighty Mississippi River.

From a vibrant New Orleans’ Jazz concert at famous Preservation Hall, to the largest plantation mansion on the Mississippi (Nottoway Plantation), to eye-opening Civil War battlegrounds, this lively travel memoir brings American history and Southern culture to life.

The paddlewheeler itself is an enchanting antebellum masterpiece. Period furnishings. Tiffany lamps. An authentic steam calliope. And a huge front porch with comfy rocking chairs where you can relax and enjoy the natural wonder of America’s greatest waterway.

Riverside cities offer their own unique attractions, steeped in history and plantation grandeur.

In this warm and personal travel memoir you’ll learn things about America you never knew before.

PRAISE

“Cruising the Mississippi gives the reader a genuine sense that they are also on board the American Queen, exploring the small towns that line the river and luxuriating in an atmosphere that exudes the glories of a bygone era.”

— 5-stars Readers’ Favorite Book Review

“If it’s a ‘you are there’ experiential survey of the paddlewheeler environment that is desired, along with . . . Mississippi history and culture . . . then there could be no better virtual tour than Cruising the Mississippi.”

–D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MidwestBook Review 

“Without ever boring the reader, the authors present . . . many absorbing facts and events that simply jump off the page. From the luxury . . .of travelling on a paddlewheeler to the history of the river and many of the exciting spots they travel to . . . . I was thoroughly engaged to the last page.”

–Wishing Shelf Book Review 

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Amazon → https://amzn.to/38UATK0







 

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Deep Sea Fishing Magazine Interviews Jon Bassoff by Jon Bassoff @jonbassoff #Guest #puyb

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Deep Sea Fishing Magazine Interviews

Jon Bassoff

 (Interview provided by Jon Bassoff)

When I first got the opportunity to interview Jon Bassoff, I must admit that I was apprehensive. After all, I’d heard all the rumors about him: that his basement was filled with shrunken heads he’d collected in South America, that he’d married both of his first cousins, that he had a terrifying temper, and that on weekends he alternated between watching snuff tapes and Hallmark movies. But upon meeting him, I was pleasantly surprised. He was kind and well groomed. He smelled like butterscotch. He smiled constantly and laughed occasionally.

We sat at his kitchen table, which was filled with miniature glass Buddhas. He offered me lemonade and cash. I accepted the lemonade and refused the cash. Throughout the interview, he was thoughtful and articulate. He only lost his temper once, when I asked about his relationship with Bette Midler. Honoring his request, I have removed that portion of the interview. The following are some excerpts of the interview. The entire interview is available on the deep web.

Deep Sea Fishing Magazine: Do you fish?

Jon Bassoff: No.

DSFM: Do you like to eat fish?

Bassoff: Only caviar. I have a Pez dispenser and I eat it from there.

DSFM: Caviar from a Pez dispenser? You must be doing well then.

Bassoff: Well, how do you measure success? Do you measure it by books sold? Then, yes, I’m very successful. Do you measure it by the number of groupies? If so, then, successful again. Intelligence? Good looks? Any way you look at it, I’m about as successful as they come. But forget about all of that. For me, it’s all about being humble. And I am probably the humblest person in the world. I don’t forget where I came from. It’s that little town somewhere in the Midwest. The name escapes me right now. But I’ll remember by the end of the interview.

DSFM: Tell me about your writing routine.

Bassoff: I’m a very disciplined person and my routine is pretty inflexible. That’s the key to being a great writer. Not that I would call myself a great writer. Very, very, very, very, very good. Oh, who am I kidding? Great. What was your question again?

DSFM: Your writing routine.

Bassoff: Right. Typically, I wake up at about 1:00 in the afternoon. I have a nice breakfast, smoke some dope. After breakfast, I’m usually pretty tired, so I take a nap. I typically wake up at about 4:00, when it’s time for lunch. I eat from 4:00 to 5:00. I also use that time to read—usually magazines like Good Housekeeping or Penthouse. After that, I usually go out drinking with my mistress and her three kids. I get home at about eleven. I eat dinner. Pig tongues and pickled herring. And then I go to bed. And so it goes. Day after day after day.

DSFM: But what about the writing?

Bassoff: Excuse me?

DSFM: When do you write?

Bassoff: I have a ghost writer do that. I’m no fool.

DSFM: Tell me about your latest novel.

Bassoff: I have a new novel?

DSFM: Yes. Captain Clive’s Dreamworld.

Bassoff: Remind me of which one that is?

DFSM: The one that takes place in that creepy town and that creepy amusement park.

Bassoff: Right. I remember that one well. My team says it’s one of my best. Let’s see. Let me look at my notes. Yes. Yes. That’s the one with Deputy Sam Hardy. He’s reassigned to the town of Angels and Hope, which, within its borders, holds the once magnificent amusement park, Captain Clive's Dreamworld. When he arrives, however, Hardy notices some strange happenings. The park is essentially empty of customers. None of the townsfolk ever seem to sleep. And girls seem to be going missing with no plausible explanation. As Hardy begins investigating, his own past is drawn into question by the town, and he finds himself becoming more and more isolated. The truth—about the town and himself—will lead him to understand that there’s no such thing as a clean escape.

DFSM: It sounds incredible.

Bassoff: It is. And you know what else is incredible?

DFSM: What?

Bassoff: My new yacht. It has two helipads, an indoor swimming pool, and 3,800 square meters of living space. Want to go for a ride?

DFSM: I don’t know. I—

Bassoff: Come on. Don’t be shy. I don’t like to name drop, but Leo will be joining us.

DFSM: Leonardo DeCaprio?

Bassoff: Oh, heavens no! Leo Komarov. Center for the New York Islanders hockey team. Great guy. And a hell of a writer.

***

Jon Bassoff’s latest novel, Captain Clive’s Dreamworld, is available at all fine stores and brothels. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter, as well as Facebook.

Editor’s note: Leo Komarov claims to have never heard of him.

 

Jon Bassoff was born in 1974 in New York City and currently lives with his family in a ghost town somewhere in Colorado. His mountain gothic novel, Corrosion, has been translated in French and German and was nominated for the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, France’s biggest crime fiction award. Two of his novels, The Drive-Thru Crematorium and The Disassembled Man, have been adapted for the big screen with Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild; Once Upon a Time in America) attached to star in The Disassembled Man. For his day job, Bassoff teaches high school English where he is known by students and faculty alike as the deranged writer guy. He is a connoisseur of tequila, hot sauces, psychobilly music, and flea-bag motels.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: http://www.jonbassoff.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonbassoff

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jon.bassoff




Title: CAPTAIN CLIVE’S DREAMWORLD
Author: Jon Bassoff
Publisher: Eraserhead Press (print & ebook) Blackstone Audio (Audio)
Pages: 234
Genre: Horror/Horror Literature

After becoming the suspect in the murder of a young prostitute, Deputy Sam Hardy is “vanished” to a temporary post as the sole police officer in Angels and Hope, an idyllic town located in the middle of the desert, miles from any other sign of life. Hardy soon learns that Angels and Hope was constructed as a company town to support a magnificent amusement park – one to rival Disneyland – known as Captain Clive’s Dreamworld. When he arrives, however, Hardy notices some strange happenings. The park is essentially empty of customers. None of the townsfolk ever seem to sleep. And girls seem to be going missing with no plausible explanation.

As Hardy begins investigating, his own past is drawn into question by the people in town, and he finds himself becoming more and more isolated. Soon his phone line mysteriously goes dead. His car’s tires get slashed. And he is being watched constantly by neighbors. The truth – about the town and himself – will lead him to understand that there’s no such thing as a clean escape.

Straddling the line between genre fiction and something more bizarre, Captain Clive’s Dreamworld is a terrifying vision of the collapse of the American mythos.

Praise

Captain Clive’s Dreamworld winds its way through an eerie, Lynchian landscape, populated by Stepford citizenry, cursed lives, and all the bleak sensibilities of the most dire Cormac McCarthy tale. Bassoff’s latest is a must read for fans of the genre, or any reader who prefers their fiction with a sense of the off-kilter. Highly recommended!”

-Ronald Malfi, author of Bone White

“Jon Bassoff’s nightmarish bizarro novel Captain Clive’s Dreamworld reads like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone mixed with Twin Peaks mixed with Dante’s Inferno. Unremittingly dark, this roman noir is a trenchant attack on the empty promises of capitalism…a hopeless rebuke of the bright plastic flesh built around the broken, crumbling skeleton of the American Dream.”

-Jeffrey Thomas, author of Boneland

“Jon Bassoff mines an imaginative seam that remains unexplored by any other writer I know working today. I wish I knew his secret, but I’ll settle for reading Captain Clive’s Dreamworld.”

-Tony Black, author of Summoning the Dead

Captain Clive’s Dreamworld is a masterfully rendered, very disturbing cautionary tale of pathological consumerism and nostalgia for a mid-century America that never was. Jon Bassoff’s vision is relentless and unsparing, his prose like a bone saw laying bare the corruption and perversion lurking beneath society’s superficial pieties.”

-Roger Smith, author of Dust Devils

“In Captain Clive’s Dreamworld, Jon Bassoff has created a haunting, suspenseful masterpiece that straddles the line between mystery and horror with expert skill.”

-S.A. Cosby, award-winning author of Blacktop Wasteland

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Love and Other Moods Book Blast #bookblast #newadult #multicultural #romance

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Love and Other Moods follows complexities of adulting, of parenting, of the urban quest for love and finding one's place in the world…

Love and Other Moods

By Crystal Z. Lee

Love and Other Moods is a coming-of-age story set in contemporary China, about falling in love, learning to adult, finding strength, and discovering one’s place in the world.

Naomi Kita-Fan uproots her life from New York to China when her fiancé’s company transfers him to Shanghai. After a disastrous turn of events, Naomi finds herself with no job, no boyfriend, and nowhere to live in a foreign country.

Amidst the backdrop of Shanghai welcoming millions of workers and visitors to the 2010 World Expo, we meet a tapestry of characters through Naomi: Joss Kong, a Shanghai socialite who leads an enviable life, but must harbor the secrets of her husband, Tay Kai Tang. Logan Hayden, a womanizing restaurateur looking for love in all the wrong places. Pan Jinsung and Ouyang Zhangjie, a silver-aged couple struggling with adapting to the ever-changing faces of their city. Dante Ouyang, who had just returned to China after spending years overseas, must choose between being filial and being in love. All their dreams and aspirations interweave within the sprawling web of Shanghai.

This multilayered novel explores a kaleidoscope of shifting relationships—familial friction, amorous entanglements, volatile friendships—in one of the most dynamic metropolises of the twenty-first century.



“This heartfelt, transporting story sparkles with a constellation of characters who call this city home while pursuing their China dream. As multifaceted as Shanghai itself, this novel follows overlapping narratives about the complexities of adulting, of parenting, of the urban quest for love and finding one’s place in the world.”

— EMILY TING, film director of Go Back to China and Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

“Awash with cosmopolitan expats and jet-setting locals, Love and Other Moods shimmers like the diamonds adorning China’s glitterati, while exposing haunting personal histories and intergenerational strife. With dazzling twirls around Shanghai’s World Expo, glitzy fashion shows, art deco architecture, jazz clubs, gourmet restaurants, and disappearing food stalls, this novel compellingly pulls the reader into the pleasures and pains of becoming an adult in a city soaring to global status.”

— JENNY LIN, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California and author of Above sea: Contemporary art, urban culture, and the fashioning of global Shanghai


Amazon → https://amzn.to/2Vqx5IN

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/36iVsON

Book Depository → https://bit.ly/2VgLd6Y

IndieBound → https://bit.ly/3fIWlTE



Naomi had packed four suitcases from New York, and right now they were stacked unevenly on top of one another in the hallway, forcing the front door to open only halfway, just tight enough for her to slide in sideways. She couldn’t remember the last time she had lived by herself. The lonely apartment was mildly depressing.

She felt like walking aimlessly. She passed by wrinkled men playing a game of Chinese chess, teenage girls in designer sunglasses taking photographs of each other, a woman gesticulating wildly as she yelled into her cell phone, tourists examining a guide book, a cloud of second-hand smoke drifting from outside a cafe, Uighur men selling kebabs, well-heeled shoppers clinging to their purchases, two men in yarmulkes talking heatedly, shrieking children competing with the racket from honking vehicles, and the sea of commuters gushing out of the Huangpi Nan Lu metro stop. Naomi let herself be swept up into the human river, bodies crushing against each other, arms brushing and shoving, no apologies no offense taken. Being in this city meant your senses were constantly accosted.

A man approached her with a flier featuring images of iPhones, Rolexes, LV handbags, and said that their shop was just ahead in an alley. She declined and quickened her pace. She spotted an empty bench by a bus stop and flopped down. Barely noticing as the traffic whizzed by, the racy selfie on Seth’s phone resurfaced in her head. A steady stream of downpour coaxed pedestrians to open a colorful array of umbrellas, or duck into convenience stores, boutique shops, malls entrances. Naomi felt wholly unequipped and unprepared, again, by this city.

Her hair was stuck to her face and her forehead was damp. She was relieved that the inclement weather matched her mood, for tears had started forming and slithering beneath her eyes, blending with the droplets of rain running down her face. She wiped it away with her sleeve. She just wanted to throw up all the fury and regrets that were lodged in her stomach, she wished it could all be flushed out of her head.

It was starting to hit her, the reality of having no boyfriend, no job, and nowhere to live.

She wondered if the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai was too small to co-exist with her ex-fiancé.







Crystal Z. Lee is a Taiwanese American bilingual writer. She has called many places home, including Taipei, New York, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area. She was formerly a public relations executive who had worked with brands in the fashion, beauty, technology, and automotive industries. Love and Other Moods is her debut novel. She’s already hard at work on her next novel and a children’s book.

Follow the author on Instagram @ Crystal.Z.Lee










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