Monday, July 28, 2014

Q&A with Renata F. Barcelos plus Ebook Giveaway



Renata F. Barcelos lives in Brazil with her teenager daughter, Maria, constantly complaining about the heat and dreaming of moving somewhere snowy.

She has a Law Degree, but promises never to use it. She prefers to study and teach languages and to write. Facing a three-hour daily commute, Renata uses this time to listen to audiobook after audiobook, plot, and write. Sometimes she hurts herself walking and writing at the same time–forgetting to look where she’s going.

Her characters usually don’t respect her wishes, taking the stories to places she never imagined they could go; she loves it when that happens.

Renata is always working on a new novel, and so far has published the books Mean, My Sore Hush-a-By, Merge, and the Myself in Blue series. For more information, log onto http://renatafbarcelos.wordpress.com/


Welcome!


1.       What inspired you to become a writer?

Well, I’ve never felt like being anything else, my whole life. Ever since I learned how to write I had a notebook with me, and was writing some story there. It’s just an undeniable urge to tell stories, I suppose.

 

2.       How did you come up with the story of MYSELF IN BLUE?

When I first heard about the Japanese Internment Camps in the United States during WWII, I knew it was a part of history that should be more explored. Then the name Sunday Morning came up to me one day, and it all started to build up. I love history and Psychedelic Rock, and I actually was a hippie for a while and traveled a lot, so it was a pleasure to write this novel and use things I’ve learned and places I’ve seen.

 

3.       What attributes did you come up with when creating the character, Sunday Morning?

Sunday is a great character. She is a bad girl trying desperately to be good, but has seen and gone through so much that it’s not easy for her to become better. She is smart and independent, but has a lot of issues to deal with. I guess her best attribute is that she is ‘normal’, as in she’s not perfect, and wants to learn.

 

4.       Can you please describe the relationship between Sunday and Scott?

Sunday and Scott meet almost by accident, but this will change both their lives forever. Without spoiling readers, I can say that Scott is a great guy. He’s a decent, respectful human being, and he certainly has a lot to teach Sunday. But she will make him see life under new lights too, showing him a new reality he had never thought possible.

 

5.       How is your writing different than all the other books in this genre?

I put a lot of my soul in this novel, and I expect readers will see that and feel inspired by Sundays’s misadventures and her seek for redemption. Especially because she doesn’t believe she deserves it and Scott represents her only chance to find a way to mend things. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that’s the message I wanted to transmit in this novel.

I don’t know what makes my writing different, except that each writer delivers their stories in their own peculiar way, leaving a bit of them in each word, in each page. All I can say is that I work like crazy to deliver the best story I can, in the finest form I find possible.

 

6.       What is the best thing about writing?

As I said, I love telling stories. I’m not capable of telling the short version of a joke, for example; I have to add descriptions, colors, and a whole scenery before getting to the punch line. So, every time someone tells me my writing moved them, there’s no way to explain how content it makes me feel.

 

7.       What is the worst thing about writing?

Editing. Man, that’s exhausting! Going back to the same thing over and over again, trying to make it as flawless as possible. By the time you and your editor(s) finish it, you want to take a long vacation. But then, of course, another story starts forming in your mind and when you realize it, you’re trapped again!

 

8.       What is the one thing readers want to know about you?

Well, maybe the most interesting fact about me is that I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), so I can’t do just one thing. I have to keep the part of my mind that wanders occupied, so the other part, the one that wants to tell stories can write them. I always write while watching TV, listening to music (with lyrics), walking, talking, etc.

 

9.       Do you feel your book is an inspiration to Latinas? How so?

I believe it can be, given how Sunday spent 5 years in Brazil, and learned a lot about that culture. She tells some to Scott, and readers will have the opportunity to learn how things are in Brazil. People often forget Brazil is a Latin country too since we don’t speak Spanish, but we are. There’s a lot of Latin culture here.

 

10.   Do you have plans for an upcoming book?

Yes! Actually, Myself in Blue is the first in the ‘Myself in Blue’ series. I’m working in the next 5 books of the series right now. The next one, ‘Many Kinds of Unforgettable’, will be a novella, and it’s half-written already. It should be published soon.

The next books in the series are: Wake Me Up Inside; Maybe You’re The One; Must Remember, Must Let it Go and More Than I Can take.  They can all be read as standalones, but will focus in characters from the previous books, so it might be better if you read them in order.



Romance, redemption, and psychedelic rock in 1989.
Sunday Morning is nineteen and recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma. She finds it fair: a deathly cancer to pay for her sins.
The fourth of five daughters, Sunday could never overcome the jealousy she felt for her sisters, especially the youngest and her Rett Syndrome with all the attention she required. She knows her resentment and rebellion as a wayward teen brought tragedy to her family, but never learned exactly the extent. Self-exiled in Brazil living a hard life of penitence for five years, she finally feels it’s possible to come back and try to mend things.





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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Cover Reveal: WHEN YOU WERE MINE by Elizabeth Reyes

We are so excited to share the sexy cover for When You Were Mine by Elizabeth Reyes. We also have a great little excerpt to share as well!




Title: When You Were Mine ( A Moreno Brother's novella)
Author: Elizabeth Reyes
Age Group: NA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: Fall 2014
 

 

Synopsis

When her head was screaming “enough,” her hopeful heart continued to whisper “wait.” 
It's the only way Valerie Zuniga can justify her ongoing addiction to the amazing but ever, elusive Alex Moreno. Mesmerized by the profound connection neither has ever quite understood, Valerie  accepts their crazy relationship for what it is—non-exclusive. 
That is until the incredible highs no longer numb the sting of the intense lows.   
 
As tasteless and slippery as pride can be, for Alex it's always been the hardest pill to swallow.  
Faced with a final ultimatum, the choice is a no-brainer for Alex. Despite his insanely busy life he's determined to prove to Valerie, that not only is he ready to commit, it's what he's always wanted—to claim Valerie as his exclusively.  
But just as it kept him from admitting his real feelings all those years, will his obstinate pride once again step in and ruin things just when they're finally getting it right?  
 

Excerpt

 

"Why are you here?" she demanded.


"I wanna talk to you?" he asked hopefully.

"No," her response was too quick—abrupt. "I'm busy now. Try me another time."

Okay maybe he deserved that. But he knew she wasn't busy. He knew he had to convince her to hear him out. Alex was determined to say everything he came here to say to her tonight. And then he saw it. The movement behind her. His eyes zeroed in on a guy sitting at her small kitchen table looking equally as relaxed as Valerie texting something on his phone and there were two glasses of wine on the table. 

Alex took him in for another second from top to bottom as the slow boil inside him began to bubble. The guy put his phone down then reached for the bottle of wine and poured them each a little more. 

On instinct Alex put his hand on the door in case she even thought of trying to slam the door on his face. That wasn't happening now. And any hope of this night ending amicably like he'd been optimistic about was instantly squashed. He turned to Valerie whose earlier incensed eyes looked a little panicked now. "Who the fuck is that?"  



 Don't forget to add When You Were Mine on GoodReads!

 

About Elizabeth Reyes
"I write because I must. It's not a choice or a pastime, it's an unyielding calling and my passion."
~Elizabeth Reyes

USA Today Bestselling Author, Elizabeth Reyes continues to answer her calling on a daily basis. Since releasing her debut novel FOREVER MINE (MORENO BROTHERS #1) in 2010 she has since published five more in that series, FOREVER YOURS, SWEET SOFIE, ALWAYS BEEN MINE, ROMERO and MAKING YOU MINE, with more stories about the Moreno family and their friends to come. She's also published a second series, 5th Street which includes, NOAH, GIO, HECTOR, ABEL. FELIX the fifth in the series is scheduled to release November 13th 2014. Her Moreno Brother's spinoff series FATE includes FATE, & BREAKING BRANDON, there is also more of this series still to come. Her latest release and first in a brand new series is DESERT HEAT about the diverse but equally sexy Santiago Brothers living in Las Vegas.

When she's not writing (which is rare)she spends as much time as she can with her husband of over twenty years, two teen children, Great Dane, Dexter and big fat lazy cat, Tyson.

Keep up with all her upcoming books/events/signings by visiting her
website.

You can also keep up by liking her fan page on
Facebook 

Following her on
Twitter and follow her Instagram

 
 
 

Friday, July 11, 2014

Review: MEET ME UNDER THE CEIBA by Silvio Sirias

'
'I'm not afraid of that old man,'' Adela once told her niece. But everyone in the small town of La Curva, Nicaragua, knew that the wealthy land owner, Don Roque Ramirez, wanted Adela Rugama dead. And on Christmas Day, Adela disappeared. It was two months before her murdered body was found.

 An American professor of Nicaraguan descent spending the summer in his parents' homeland learns of Adela's murder and vows to unravel the threads of the mystery. He begins the painstaking process of interviewing the townspeople, and it quickly becomes apparent that Adela a hard-working campesina who never learned to read and write and Don Roque had one thing in common: the beautiful Ixelia Cruz. The love of Adela's life, Ixelia was one of Don Roque's many possessions until Adela lured her away.

 The interviews with Adela's family, neighbors, and former lovers shed light on the circumstances of her death and reveal the lively community left reeling by her brutal murder, including: her older sister Mariela and her four children, who spent Christmas morning with their beloved aunt, excitedly unwrapping the gifts she brought them that fateful day; her neighbor and friend, Lizbeth Hodgson, the beautiful mulata who rejected Adela's passionate advances early in their relationship; Padre Uriel, who did not welcome Adela to mass because she loved women (though he has no qualms about his lengthy affair with a married woman); her former lover Gloria, the town's midwife, who is forever destined to beg her charges to name their newborn daughters Adela.

 Through stories and gossip that expose jealousies, scandals, and misfortunes, Sirias lovingly portrays the community of La Curva, Nicaragua, in all its evil and goodness. The winner of the Chicano / Latino Literary Prize, this spellbinding novel captures the essence of a world rarely seen in American literature.




Reviewed by: Marcia
Rating: 4 stars


Review: What can I say? This book just pulls you in and devours you. It makes you feel part of the story as it's happening.

The author did a great
job in reflecting on each character's life, history, and involvement in Adela Rugama's murder. It's interesting how this book reads like a journal and a story at the same time. You feel like an observer and a participant.

This book had all that I was looking for, and I'm glad I read it