Today's Stop and Coming Soon!

Hi there,

After a couple day's break we're revving up again on this blog tour!

Today I'm thrilled to join the folks as a guest blogger on The Bookshelf Muse where we're talking about Juggling Genres.  Am I crazy?  Maybe... maybe not! Hope you can join the discussion. Mandy over at Literary R&R also did a review. Thanks Mandy!

Coming a little further down the road:

The Artist Unleashed - on the Alliterative Allomorph, guest post April 17th

Morgen Bailey's Blog - guest post, April 18th

What Do I Know?, author interview, May 17th


Rock on!!!

Today's Blog Tour Stops

Hello all!

Image courtesy of my mom!

Well, today I had a very pleasant surprise! I knew Melanie Adkins at Have You Heard My Book Review was going to review Mental Pause but I didn't know the date. I happened upon it after seeing her 5-Star Amazon review and then went to her blog and 'voila'!  It ran yesterday so feel free to visit and I'll pop back to see if anyone leaves a comment :)

The tour will stop today (the 14th) at the famous Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog for an author spotlight. Hope you can pop by. She's got an amazing collection of spotlights (author interviews) and other fantastic resources for writers. If you're a novelist, check out her online novel writing group on Facebook. There's plenty of lively discussion and writing prompts to sink your teeth into. Tell her I sent you!

So, here's the line-up of the latest and coming up:

Melanie Adkins, Have You Heard My Book Review, review March 13th
Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog, Author Spotlight, March 14th
The Bookshelf Muse, guest post on juggling genres, March 18th
The Alliterative Allomorph - The Artist Unleashed, guest post on where inspiration comes from, April 17.

I'll update the links as each post goes live and keep you posted as new ones are added. Stay tuned!

Next Stops on the Mental Pause Express!

Huge thanks to everyone who has participated in the tour so far. I had a chance to catch my breath yesterday but we're moving full steam ahead again today starting with Expat Bookshop. If you've missed any, check out the full schedule on a previous blog.

Here's where I'll be over the next few of day so feel free to pop by:

Expat Bookshop, March 11 - Guest post on switching genres

It's not all Gravy, March 13 - Guest Post on my 'change', the inspiration behind writing Mental Pause (she's already posted a teaser)

Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog, March 14 - Author Spotlight

There's more to come so stay tuned and let me know if you find any other gems on these book review blogs! I'm always looking for my next great read too :) If you've come across other book review sites that you'd like to recommend, or have one yourself and would like to review Mental Pause, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment below :)

Blog Tour Updates and Other Fun Stuff

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane/freedigitalphotos.net

For those of you who have ordered a print version of Mental Pause, when you start reading, you may or may not notice in the first chapter that I have discovered a unique breed of dog. It's a cross between a pit bull and a ... type-o! Yes, it's the dreaded pit pull. It's very similar in nature except that it stutters when it growls. I have to be honest, the error was pointed out by one of my reviewers who had received an advance review copy in electronic format. At the time the print version had already been approved.  I did go ahead and make the correction to the Kindle version but that crazy pit pull is still lurking about in the print version.

If anyone catches anything else, please let me know so I can fix it if and when there's a 2nd edition. It would probably be easier to have the International Association of Dog Naming just change the name though. It might even be good PR for that particular breed, right?

Anyhoo... launch day went really well and I'd like to thank those who participated in day 1 of the blog tour:

Katie Foster, Arabian Tales and Other Amazing Adventures
Jo Parfitt, Author Interviews (Summertime Publishing)
Linda Janssen, Adventures in Expatland
Glenda Bixler, Book Readers' Heaven
Melanie Adkins, Have you Heard my Book Review (author intro... review to follow)
Tuesday Riegen, Ravenous Reader
Judy Shafer, Voracious Reader

Coming up next, Mandy at Literary R&R!

Just in case you missed them, here are the links to buy Mental Pause on Amazon:

Kindle: -->

http://amzn.to/14rxkPQ

Print: -->

http://amzn.to/Wy1BP5

Or, you can order a signed PDF from my bookshop at  http://www.shop.globalwritingsolutionsonline.com   

Happy reading!

Blog Tour Stops and Final Pre-Launch Excerpt

Not only is March 8th International Women's Day, it's also my mother-in-law Ruth's birthday AND Launch Day for Mental Pause!!!! I'm so excited I can hardly breath.

I invite you to visit the blogs that are reviewing the book on the 8th and the rest of the month, and doing interviews and hosting guest blogs. Tomorrow's stops on the blog tour include:

Adventures in Expatland, Review and Interview

Author Interviews with Jo Parfitt

Book Readers Heaven - Review and Interview

Ravenous Reader - Review

Have you Heard my Book Review? - Meet the Author to be followed by a review 

Arabian Tales and Other Amazing Adventures - Review 

Voracious Reader - Review

Check an earlier posting for the full schedule. I'll post reminders and links each day of the tour. I'll be posting the Amazon links tomorrow (the 8th). If you're planning to buy a copy make sure you do it on launch day as I will be donating part of the proceeds from book sales to Room to Read, a charity that builds libraries and schools, publishes local language children's books and supports girls scholarships in developing countries. The organization believes that literacy is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and I do too!

Happy Reading!

Here's the final chapter excerpt before launch...


Mental Pause - Chapter 9 (excerpt)
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Abbie and Rachel had no idea where Joan was taking them but she was adamant that she take the lead. Even after she gave the taxi driver the name, Abbie still didn’t have a clue.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been to a dance bar I’m not sure I remember how to act,” said Abbie uncertainly, shifting on the seat and trying to stretch her skirt further down towards her knees. She didn’t remember it being so short when she bought it. If there was anything remotely resembling a hem she would have considered letting it down.

“Stop fidgeting! You look incredible.” Joan playfully slapped Abbie’s hand away from her skirt and clinked her plastic cup against the one she held tightly in her hand. “Don’t worry, you’ll love it!” Joan had insisted they take some ‘roadies’ and had made a pitcher of cosmopolitans just before they walked out the door. A little pre-lubrication to kick start the party, she said.

“I’m so psyched I can’t stand it,” Rachel slung her arm over Joan’s neck. “Take good care of us now. We’re a little out of practice.”

Abbie rested her head on the back of the seat and closed her eyes. She would have to slow down a bit on the drinking or she might not make it to the first stop. Joan launched into a diatribe of advice. 

“Now, the first place we’ll hit is more like a lounge. The dance bars don’t get going until much later. I know the bartender and she makes a mean kamikaze.”

“I don’t even know what that is but it sounds dangerous,” Rachel took another swig of her cosmo.

Abbie opened her eyes and stole a glance at the tattoo on the back of Joan’s neck. She had only just noticed it when they were getting ready earlier. Abbie thought the angel wings on Joan’s ankle was the only tattoo she had. Joan was now shifted a bit sideways facing slightly towards Rachel so Abbie was able to study it without being obvious. It was the first time she had seen it in full as Joan usually wore her hair down. Tonight it was in a flattering upsweep fastened with a multicolored, randomly geometric, tortoise shell clip. 

Even as a fairly new tattoo fan, Abbie could appreciate that this one was a beautiful piece of art. It was a depiction of an angel, with wispy wings and soft edges in hues of blues and pinks with her eyes raised to the sky (or towards the top of Joan’s head). As Abbie studied the intricacies of the tattoo she realized that the sweet, ethereal angel had two sharp horns poking out of her curly golden hair and on closer inspection, she was gripping a squirming serpent in her right hand, from which long, red nails sprung.

Abbie gasped. Rachel and Joan had been in a boisterous conversation, planning the evening’s escapades and stopped and looked at her.