Category Archives: Guest Post

Giveaway – If Darkness Takes Us by Brenda Marie Smith @bsmithnovelist @GoddessFish

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If Darkness Takes Us by Brenda Marie Smith

GENRE:   post-apocalyptic science-fiction

BLURB:

In suburban Austin, Texas, Bea Crenshaw secretly prepares for apocalypse, but when a solar pulse destroys modern life, she’s left alone with four grandkids whose parents don’t return home. She must teach these kids to survive without power, cars, phones, running water, or doctors in a world fraught with increasing danger. And deciding whether or not to share food with her starving neighbors puts her morality to the test.

If Darkness Takes Us is realistic post-apocalyptic science-fiction that focuses on a family in peril, led by a no-nonsense grandmother who is at once funny, controlling, and heroic in her struggle to hold her family together with civility and heart.

The book is available now. It’s sequel, If the Light Escapes, is told in the voice of Bea’s eighteen-year-old grandson, Keno Simms, and will be released by SFK Press on August 24, 2021.


“Bea Crenshaw is one of the most unique characters in modern literature—a kick-ass Grandma who is at once tough and vulnerable, and well-prepared to shepherd her extended family through an EMP disaster, or so she thinks.”

—Laura Creedle, Award-winning Author of The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily


“There is real, identifiable humanity, subtle and sweet and sad, and events utterly shattering in their intensity.”

—Pinckney Benedict, Author of Dogs of God, Miracle Boy, and more

GUEST POST

WHY AREN’T MORE OLD WOMEN ON OUR SCIENCE-FICTION SCREENS?

Has anyone else noticed that there aren’t many old women in our science-fiction television and movies? Yet, we have no shortage of old men.

I wanted to know why, so I did the most scientific thing I could think of. I asked the Twitterverse for old women sci-fi characters—pivotal characters who were truly old as opposed to middle-aged.

It surprised me when most women Twitter came up with were not old but were perceived to be. All the women in this list were in their 50s in the latest versions of these shows, except for one, who was 62.

  • President Laura Roslin, from Battlestar Galactica, played by Mary McDonnell.
  • Madison Clark in Fear the Walking Dead, played by Kim Dickens.
  • Dr. Abigail Griffin in The 100, brought to life by Paige Turco.
  • River Song from Doctor Who, played by Alex Kingston.
  • Lt. Nyota Uhura, from the original Star Trek, played by Nichelle Nichols. The cast from 1960s TV made six movies into 1991, and out of the seven core characters, she was the only woman.
  • Princess Leia Organa of Star Wars fame, portrayed by the now-departed Carrie Fisher.
  • Sarah Connor from The Terminator series, whom Linda Hamilton has played since 1984. She made another appearance in Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019.
  • Sarah Connor , in The Walking Dead, portrayed by Melissa McBride. Maybe people think of her as old because her hair is gray, but Carol is living through a zombie apocalypse. It’s enough to make a tweener go gray. It’s not like she can color her hair, something I’ve been doing since 1983, and I’ve just hit retirement age.

That said, a few actual old women characters do exist in our on-screen science-fiction, though they be scarce, and they often have a caveat. Many are played by women who are younger than the age of their character.

  • Mother Abagail Freemantle in Stephen King’s The Stand, 106 years old. In the 1994 miniseries, Mother Abagail was played by Ruby Dee, 72 at the time.
  • Ellen Ripley, better known as Ripley in Alien, is arguably the most badass woman character in all of science-fiction. In Aliens, which came out seven years after Alien, 57 years have transpired while Ripley was in hyper-sleep. Ripley is supposed to be 87 in Aliens, yet she’s played by 37-year-old Sigourney Weaver.
  • The Ancient One from Doctor Strange is a man in the comic books, but is a Celtic woman in the movies, played by Tilda Swinton, who is not ancient.
  • Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter, a 70-year-old portrayed by a fittingly old Maggie Smith. Finally! A badass old woman who hasn’t hyper-slept and who first springs to fictional life already old. Smith was 67 in the first Harry Potter movie and 77 for the final one.
  • Sara Jane Smith, portrayed by Elisabeth Sladen, was a recurring character on Doctor Who from 1973 up until 2011, when Sladen passed away at age 65.
  • The Oracle in The Matrix, played by Gloria Foster in the first 1999 movie when she was 66.
  • Chrisjen Avasarala a powerful UN executive from The Expanse. Shohreh Aghdashloo is 68 in the most recent episodes and appears to be a similar age in her role.
  • Melisandre from Game of Thrones, a witch played by Carice van Houten, 43 when the series ended. In the story, Melisandre is disguised as a younger woman. SPOILER ALERT: When Melisandre finally lets go of her young body, she’s so ancient she turns to dust.
  • Aereon in Chronicles of Riddick, portrayed by Judy Dench at age 69.
  • Secondary and tertiary characters played important roles: The clan of older women in Mad Max: Fury Road to whom Charlize Theron transports the young women on their mad ride across the Outback; the Vulcan priestesses in Star Trek; the Bene Gesserit school of witches in Frank Herbert’s Dune; T’pau from classic Star Trek, who made Kirk and Spock fight to the death. There are others, but not many.

I’m detecting another pattern. I get that we’re talking about science-fiction and fantasy and these are wonderful stories, but why are so many of the few old women characters either royalty, priestesses, seeresses, or witches? It’s empowering for these women on the one hand, but it’s also distancing. It’s almost as though old women without special powers or high social status aren’t considered good enough for sci-fi. Meanwhile, we have old men sci-fi characters out the wazoo. I counted forty of them in Games of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Fear the Walking Dead alone.

My point here is that elder women throughout history have been the keepers of family and tribal history, repositories of collective knowledge, nurturers and teachers of the young, and keepers of peace in the family and neighborhood. It’s far past time to tap into the wisdom and experience that elder women have to offer. And what better place to start than with our storytelling?

My apocalyptic sci-fi novel, If Darkness Takes Us, stars a 70-year-old woman whose only special power is her fierce love for her grandchildren. Someone needs to put this story on the screen pronto. Naturally, I would think that, but seriously…

Because here’s the thing: I am a badass old woman, and I want to see regular women like myself facing down their fears and insecurities and performing heroic feats on the screen. I want our stories to show respect for old women as a crucial part of the human family. It’s not too much to ask.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

2018-10-18_Brenda Marie Smith

Brenda Marie Smith lived off the grid for many years in a farming collective where her sons were delivered by midwives. She’s been a community activist, managed student housing co-ops, produced concerts to raise money for causes, done massive quantities of bookkeeping, and raised a small herd of teenage boys.

Brenda is attracted to stories where everyday characters transcend their own limitations to find their inner heroism. She and her husband reside in a grid-connected, solar-powered home in South Austin, Texas. They have more grown kids and grandkids than they can count.

Her first novel, Something Radiates, is a paranormal romantic thriller; If Darkness Takes Us and its sequel, If the Light Escapes, are post-apocalyptic science fiction.

Social Media:

Buy links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / BookPeople Austin

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Giveaway – Skyclyffe by Z Moss @ZMossBooks @SDSXXTours

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Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!

I used to play tenor drum in a bagpipe and drum band, and we performed on the Minnesota state capital’s steps during a memorial the Saturday after 9/11. Besides having my kids, I have never done anything more meaningful. On a lighter note, during college I worked in a 50s-meets-the-80s restaurant where I roller skated and danced on tables (but not both at the same time). 

What are some of your pet peeves?

A few of my pet peeves: 1) grammatical and spelling errors on signs. 2) multiple opened containers of the same thing in the fridge or cupboard.

Who is your hero and why?

My dad. I didn’t get to grow up near him because my parents divorced when I was young, and we were 2000 miles apart. As an adult, I learned how much he cares for his family, my grandmother and grandfather, especially. He is the best storyteller, too. In fact, one of Dan’s stories in Skyclyffe is based on one of my dad’s.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Not until Skyclyffe  was nearly complete, and only after I forced myself to tell someone outside of my family.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie? / If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

I suspect all authors nowadays write with soundtracks and leading actors in the back of their brains. How can you not hear music crescendoing in the background as your main characters run away from or toward danger? Not to mention a moody tune to break people’s hearts along with the protagonist’s. Music lives within us, gives us cues that I admit words can’t always get across, and goosebumps or tears when we’re lucky.  

While writing Skyclyffe, I bounced between 90s alternative and soaring orchestral soundtracks, real John Williams kind of stuff. Ultimately, I faced facts. As much as I’d love to hear grunge kings and queens featured in a Skyclyffe movie, it didn’t fit with thirteen-year-old Rex finding himself abducted by and then living in a flying city. Besides, I’d kill for a theme song as iconic as the ones for Harry Potter or Indiana Jones.

In regards to who’d play leading roles, I chose photos to represent most of the characters during the writing phase to help me round them out, but I’m not going to tell you who are pictured in those images.

As long as Skyclyffe is just a novel, I want any kid to be able to imagine themselves as Rex or Amelia or any other character they connect with. That is why the Rex on the cover is shown from behind and almost silhouetted. Although a few suggested that I describe what Rex looks like in the story, I resisted as much as possible, and all that I defined is that he has dark, wavy hair. I treated all of the characters this way except for when something was important to the character, like Tulla’s red hair, or something caught Rex’s eye.

 Okay, I’ll give you one. If Skyclyffe were ever made into movie, Uncle Dan, a.k.a. Old Fart, has to be played by Bruce Willis.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

None—but once during a family trip we slept in a covered wagon on land Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on as a kid.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

When my son was young, he had this soft, round toy, each quadrant a different animal’s face and matching sounds to boot. We called it Piggy Cat Cow Dog. I imagine my spirit animal would have to be something like that, but an amalgamation of dog, elephant, and turtle. A dogphantle? Eleturtdog? That is awful. Let’s just go with dog. Besides, I do have a German Shepherd puppy avatar/logo in use just about everywhere.

What inspired you to write this book?

A lone, puffy cloud zigzagging in the sky. I joked to myself, “Who’s in that cloud?” and then a little voice in my head said, “Could be anyone.”

What can we expect from you in the future?

The next book in the Skyclyffe series. 

Where did you come up with the names in the story?

The characters who grew up on the Earth’s surface have average names, except Rex’s. You learn about how his name came to be in chapter two. 

Since the characters on Skyclyffe were born on the ship or alighted in 1936 (apart from a few we can’t talk about here), their names tend to be more typical of that era. I scrolled through Most Popular Baby Names lists by year.

Advice they would give new authors?

Write because you want to, and let the book be what it wants to be.

Describe your writing style.

Positively a Plotter with a capital P, but I’m not afraid to allow new ideas in.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Be original. I kind of like that when I was querying and agents asked for comps, I couldn’t find another book to compare mine to. Harder to sell in this publishing market, but I’d rather be a Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or Twilight than one of the scores of books that came after.

Skyclyffe
by Z. Moss
Genre: Middle Grade Science Fiction
Rex Bright enjoys drawing in notebooks and dreaming. He’s thirteen, and his life is ordinary. Until he sees a face in a cloud which changes everything. Rex glimpses the girl from an airplane window while travelling to his aunt and uncle’s farm for the summer. Her features are so perfect, Rex can’t believe she’s only vapor. But Cloud Girl is real. A week later, Skyclyffe, a mysterious airship cloaked in a cumulus, abducts Rex and his family. The captors expect the Brights to live in their flying city forever. And, although he’s kidnapped, Rex loves the craft filled with robots, scientific discoveries, and silvery-white beings. Before long, Rex will be forced to decide whether to escape, or if Skyclyffe and its secret wonders are worth never stepping foot on Earth again.
**On sale for only .99 cents for a limited time! **
Z. Moss lives in Stillwater, Minnesota and is currently working on the sequel to Skyclyffe. Two dogs, three cats, and two turtles run the household, including the real-life Radar.
$20 Amazon
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Lumina by Paddy Tyrrell – Giveaway, Excerpt & Guest Post @PaddyTy @GoddessFish

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Welcome to my tour stop for Lumina by Paddy Tyrrell. Hope you enjoy your visit and don’t forget to enter the giveaway below.

Don’t ya just love that cover?

Luminaby Paddy Tyrrell

GENRE:   Epic Fantasy

BLURB

A generation designed by sorcery to destroy your people. Two races mired in conflict. Can a pair of outcasts unite them against an enemy who would enslave them all?

The birth of ‘bronzite’ babies in Lumina heralds the onset of war. The people take fright at the golden children and banish them from the land. A dangerous move. King Zheldar, commander of the black dragon, is attacking Luman borders. If he wins bronzite support for his army of monsters, Lumina is lost.

Davron Berates cannot share his people’s hatred of the children and, on discovering he has a bronzite brother, sets out to find him. At his side travels Chrystala. A bronzite, she has twice his strength and three times his determination.

When the black dragon kidnaps Chrystala, Davron is faced with a terrible choice: save his friend or save his nation.

Blog tour – Fundinmental  Topic: anything you’d like to discuss about the cover

Recently I made the big decision to publish a new cover for Lumina. I had been concerned for a while that my original cover was not attracting the right audience, and then I received a couple of review comments that highlighted there was a problem.  The cover was not doing a good job of representing the excitement of the story nor giving it the gravitas merited by a war among kingdoms. 

So I decided to bite the bullet and make a change, and I was determined to get it right this time! Since this involved investing in an expert, I thought long and hard about what would be important in the design. Lumina is just the first volume in an epic fantasy and so I wanted a cover that could provide a brand for the whole series, while allowing appropriate variations for the next two books. That meant having a central construction or theme and I liked the concept of an archway. I also wanted the eye to be drawn into the middle of the scene.

I thought the colors in the cover should reflect key themes from the book. Lumina is the city of light, and a light star battles the blackness of the demon in the final scenes. So a contrast of light and dark would echo this. Also, the story involves a bronzite race with golden skin and so I wanted some golden colors in the design.

The series is called The Dragonlite Legacy and dragonlites are the creatures that clean the dragon scales. Xeralith the black dragon is an evil figure:

“She was as old as the moss that ate the castle walls. Evil had putrefied her beauty, her once crimson scales stained black by Rach’s corruption. She thrust her head through the opening in the wall. Bony nodules covered her upper jaw and the dark armor plating of her head. Steam belched from her nostrils.

Jaldeen ran and hid behind the font, clinging to the carvings of the demons that served his god, as though they could protect him. He averted his face from the scalding droplets. Xeralith’s breath, heavy with malevolence, contaminated the air with the stench of burning metal and rotten meat. Stomach heaving, Jaldeen forgot to maintain his shield. Her eyes swirled and she locked her gaze on his. Trickles of flame erupted through teeth that could rip him in two. He lost control of his limbs and fell. She lunged at him and he scrambled back, his heels banging on the stone floor. The horns on her sinewy neck snagged against the outer wall and pulled her short. She screeched in frustration.’

In the first draft of the cover, I wasn’t happy with the dragon – wrong color and not scary enough. The dragon that made it into the final version is black with some nasty spines on its back – much better.

The story culminates in a big battle and the designers imaginatively replaced the ‘I’ in Lumina with a sword – I think this looks great. Finally, the cover had to be in a style attractive to epic fantasy readers. I believe the designers (100 covers) managed this very well but I would love to hear your comments and feedback.

EXCERPT

Jaldeen strode towards an ancient font at the far side of the tower and opened wooden shutters in the wall behind it. Leaning out, he checked the platform outside for any decay. It looked solid enough and he stepped over the windowsill and walked to the center. He cupped his hands around his mouth and spelled a summons, his voice a rasp of vowels that floated on the damp air. He ducked back inside. There was a thrash of wings and the tower shuddered. Xeralith, black dragon of Kuhla, had answered his call.

Any fleeting sense of power deserted him in the terror of her presence. She was as old as the moss that ate the castle walls. Evil had putrefied her beauty, her once crimson scales stained black by Rach’s corruption. She thrust her head through the opening in the wall. Bony nodules covered her upper jaw and the dark armor plating of her head. Steam belched from her nostrils.

Jaldeen ran and hid behind the font, clinging to the carvings of the demons that served his god, as though they could protect him. He averted his face from the scalding droplets. Xeralith’s breath, heavy with malevolence, contaminated the air with the stench of burning metal and rotten meat. Stomach heaving, Jaldeen forgot to maintain his shield. Her eyes swirled and she locked her gaze on his. Trickles of flame erupted through teeth that could rip him in two. He lost control of his limbs and fell. She lunged at him and he scrambled back, his heels banging on the stone floor. The horns on her sinewy neck snagged against the outer wall and pulled her short. She screeched in frustration.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

I was raised in Kent, the garden of England, and lived in an Oast House whose round rooms were once used for drying hops. Must be why I’ve enjoyed a drink ever since!

At university, I fell in love with medieval French writing, discovered The Gormenghast Trilogy, and became hooked on fantasy.

I have sailed down the Yangste, survived an earthquake in Cairo, and picnicked in the Serengeti. My travels for work and pleasure have inspired my fantasy world. I now live in France with a naughty Australian Labradoodle, a jealous cat and a squash mad husband. Our two huskies, Ice and Sapphire, are sadly now gone but are transformed into wolves and immortalised in my book. Lumina is my debut novel and the first in a trilogy.

Facebook URL http://facebook.com/thedragonlitelegacy

Website: https://www.paddytyrrell.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paddyty

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Paddy-Tyrrell/e/B08284GP1Q

The book is $0.99.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Giveaway for Heaven For Now by Ken La Salle @KenLaSalle

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Heaven for Now by Ken La Salle is book III in the Heaven series. His work is thought provoking, making me ask the question, what is my version of Heaven?

The series has some wonderful covers that hint at the story inside.

If you would like to read my review, you can find it HERE. You will also have another chance to win a copy for yourself.

Heaven For Now

Amazon / Goodreads

GUEST POST

I have been reading Ken La Salle’s stories for a while now and he covers many genres. He never ceases to entertain me. I just finished reading Heaven for Now, Book III in the Heaven series. He leads an interesting life, going on his own life affirming adventures and I think you will find his thoughts on Romance interesting. I know I did.

I don’t know the first thing about writing a romance novel.

But having gone through one divorce and having stood by my best friend as he lost his wife to leukemia, I guess I know something about heartbreak and loss.

How or why the idea for Heaven Enough originated as I hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail just outside of Warner Springs is something I’ll probably never figure out. The story came to me all at once and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was a simple, quiet story about a man who had lost everything, which is how you feel when you lose someone you love. Heaven Enough felt like such a departure for me that I even drove my wife, Vicky, out to Warner Springs and pitched the idea to her beside that same trail.

Most of my previous stories had been quite a bit louder.

And Heaven Enough picked up a few readers and a lot of great reviews. The book holds a special place in my heart precisely because I don’t know the first thing about writing a romance novel. Instead, I wrote the kind of love story that is born out of loss and pain and regret. Not a fairy tale but something real.

And when a few readers began asking me what happened after the events in Heaven Enough, I began to wonder as well. I had not planned a trilogy but that didn’t really matter. I wanted to see it happen.

You should know that I had a good laugh at the notion that I, an author who has forever disparaged any romantic fiction, would be releasing a trilogy of… again, not romance novels. How about this, instead: A trilogy about adult, grown up people who have been hurt by love, wondering if love is worth all the hype, and discovering that the value of love and meaning of life can only be measured by how much you’re willing to open your heart.

At least, those are my thoughts. Coming from someone who doesn’t know the first thing about writing a romance novel, you should expect the Heaven series to take you in different directions and even surprise you at times.

I’ve already been asked if Matt Murphy will return and I can assure you he will. But I’m gonna give him a few years off to rest. He’s gonna need it. Heaven Enough, Heaven Denied, and Heaven For Now are all available pretty much everywhere in ebook and paperback and you can also find Heaven Enough in audio wherever audiobooks are sold online.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Ken. I look forward to our next adventure, be it zombies, cookies, horror or romance. Bring it on!

GOODREADS BLURB

What would it be like to have heaven enough?
When Matt Murphy married his second wife, Heather, Paul and Neal were by his side. Neal, the brother of his first wife, Diva, had unwittingly sent Matt after Heather. Paul, also known as the cross-dresser Babette, was the only other person who knew Heather before her death.
Seeing two strands of his life come together at his wedding and fall in love made sense to Matt, somehow.
But it didn’t make sense to Neal. As far as Neal had been informed, he wasn’t gay. Though he could never deny his love for Paul, how can Neal grasp what such an admission would mean in his life?
Now, Paul has disappeared and Matt agrees to look in his last known location, Puerto Vallarta, home of sand and sun and – despite Matt’s searching – absolutely no sign of Paul. And when Matt Murphy meets Marisol Saucedo, a physical trainer who makes her living by teaching her students to beat people up, his search for Paul stops as his fascination for Marisol blooms.
What will become of Paul and Neal? How will Matt make sense of their lives when he can’t make sense of his own? Is love enough when it requires a leap of faith into a scary, new world? Can you use logic to find the answers? Or is it better to simply surrender to the moment, to the inebriating temptation that is love?
Any decision will change their lives forever…

ABOUT KEN LA SALLE (From Amazon)

Ken La Salle

Author and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. His passion is intense humor, meaningful drama, and finding answers to the questions that define our lives.

Website  /   Twitter  /  Facebook  /  YouTube  /  Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

Ken La Salle is offering one copy of Heaven For Now to one lucky reader. Entry is easy peasy. Simply answer the question:

What, to you, is the most important element in a romance novel?

You will also have a second chance on Wednesday, 3.26.20, so be sure and come back.

Giveaway ends 3.4.20.

MY KEN LA SALLE REVIEWS

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Ken La Salle Writes Of #Zombies, #Romance, #Love, #Art, #Cookies, #Fantasy @KenLaSalle

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GUEST POST BY KEN LA SALLE

I am so excited to have you here today, Ken. I have read books from you that have dealt with cookies, zombies, personal success, magic, fantasy and love. I have enjoyed each and every one. You are here to share your thoughts about your Heaven series. So…let’s begin.

Grief is Funny

(Emotional Honesty in Heaven Denied)

So, I’m sitting in a radio-show studio, just before going on the air – this was a couple of years ago – and one of the hosts asks me a question I’d been hearing a lot that still took me by surprise. Were we going to see a sequel to Heaven Enough?

I say the question took me by surprise because, ever since the day I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to write my first novel, I always had sequels in mind. Most of my brainstorming for any novel includes some strategizing as to where I take that story next.

But Heaven Enough was a different kind of novel for me. The idea sprang forth fully self-contained. For a novel about a man who had lost his wife to later find love on the Pacific Crest Trail; what more was there? I had even taken my wife on a drive through Warner Springs, telling her about the characters and pointing out where they would go, finishing with a definite conclusion – Heaven Enough would be a stand-alone story.

As so often is the case, life had other plans. The story of Matt Murphy and Heather Brooker and this unlikely pairing of one broken man who insisted he wasn’t with one indominable woman who bore a tragic secret caught on rather unexpectedly. Here and there, readers would inquire after a sequel. Until the day came when I was sitting in that studio and I realized that my readers were right: Heaven Enough needed a sequel.

… As it turned out, my publisher wasn’t interested. Too much time had passed since the first book’s release, I was told. I’d be smart to move on.

But if I was smart, I wouldn’t be a novelist. I had spent too much time thinking about a sequel to let it go – not just one but two! My publisher, Limitless, while not interested in the sequels, released me from my contract so that I could self-publish all of the Heaven novels. All that was left was to write them.

The smart move would be to follow that sad tale of Heather and Matt with a more upbeat chapter. Everyone was asking about Neal and Babette, the flamboyant cross-dresser who appeared towards the end of the first novel. Perhaps, some suggested, I focus more on them.

While I knew that might make for a more marketable title, I also knew Matt wasn’t finished with Heather. Babette and Neal will have their moment, of this you can be sure, but I couldn’t move on until Matt could move on. Only… how could Matt move on? Heather’s story was wrapped in a tight bow. Where could Matt turn to share his awful grief?

In Heaven Enough, I made it clear that Heather was not only alone in the world, she’d also never married and was still a virgin. That is ironclad. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a life, that she didn’t love. And, if the Heaven novels are about anything, they are about love and opening ourselves up to love. And, so, I planted an imaginary photograph on an imaginary Internet for Babette to find, a photograph of a much younger Heather with a much younger man posing outside of a chapel in Las Vegas.

That was all Matt would need. I knew Babette wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut, especially with a little help from Neal and Babs, Matt’s mother. Once he knew some strand of Heather’s life remained out there, somewhere, Matt would step onto the pages of a new novel, a more complicated novel than Heaven Enough. Part Bromance, part romantic comedy, part road trip, the new novel would touch on missed opportunities and regrets, love in all of its forms and coming to terms with who you are after who you are is almost unrecognizable.

That novel, I titled Heaven Denied.

Heaven Denied is now available in ebook and paperback, with an audiobook on its way. You can also pick up Heaven Enough in ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Look for the third novel in this series, Heaven For Now, coming late this year.

Congratulations, Ken, for having written a love story that has stuck with me, making me look inside myself, not just along for the ride. I am happy we will have a third book, and I hope you will put me at the top of list when it becomes available for review.

See My Reviews:

I didn’t realize I had read so many, each unique in their own way. I have laughed and cried my way through them, and I eagerly wait for the next one…

Take a look at these fabulous covers:

Wormfood IslandCookies: Sluts of the Snack World Once RemovedFalse Starts: Mistakes & Missteps Growing Up In The 70s Work of Art: An Intention of Flowers Climbing Maya Max Dedge in The Time of The Uniborg Heaven Enough Heaven Denied

 

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