Declan Finn releases White Ops, the first book in his White Ops series.

 

White Ops

A stunning new novel by Dragon Award Nominee, Declan Finn 

Released and published by Tuscany Bay Books

The book is available worldwide in e-format

The Pharmakoi rampaged across dozens of star systems, taking on the toughest races in the Galaxy in their campaign of conquest. But they are only the beginning.

Sean Patrick Ryan sees that another race is behind the Pharmakoi expansion; a race that wants to test our galaxy for weakness, and who needs to be eliminated from within. To fight the enemy in the shadows, Sean will put together a strike team to light up the darkness— with nukes if necessary.

They will get the job done at any cost.

Amazon.com Link:  White Ops eBook : Finn, Declan: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

Amazon.ca: White Ops eBook : Finn, Declan: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

More Books upcoming in the series:

Politics Kills, White Ops Book #2      COMING FEBRUARY 15, 2022

Main Street D.O.A, White Ops #3  COMING MARCH 15, 2022

About Declan:

Declan Finn is the NYC based author of books ranging from thrillers to urban fantasy to Sci-Fi, including the Dragon Award Nominated Novel for Best horror in 2016, Honor at Stake, and the 2017 follow-up, Live and Let Bite. He was also nominated for "Best Apocalypse" novel at the Dragons in 2017. He also won the book of the year award with his novel Hell Spawn from CLFA.

Finn is known for being annoyingly Catholic, his action sequences, and writing faster than most readers can keep up with. In less than a decade, he has written 30 novels, and is waiting for all of them to be published. He's been part of multiple anthologies, and will write for anyone.

To request additional review copies or an interview with Declan, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925. 

We look forward to the coverage!

    

The Big Power of Tiny Connections by Executive Coach and Corporate Trainer, Jen Nash

 

The Big Power of Tiny Connections

How Small Interactions Spark Awesome Outcomes 

The stunning debut book from Executive Coach and Corporate Trainer, Jen Nash 

Published by Big Shift Press and available in Hardcover, Paperback and e-book format 

 

This book is a Must-Read for anyone who wants a Bigger Life

Using amazing true-life stories and scientific research on how we listen, talk, and crave connection, this book demonstrates that making time to connect is the most productive thing we can do to thrive at home or at work. Jen Nash underscores how powerfully connection supports your happiness, health, and well-being, while also sharing practical ways you can find and make connections on a daily basis—almost anywhere.

In this zippy read, Nash explains how the opportunity to connect is everywhere and how we can get more than we ever dreamed of out of life if we make the effort to lean in and say hello.

Whether you want to go to more parties, get a better job, make more money, or get laid more—reading this book can give you practical strategies for doing it all. A happier, more successful, and more fulfilling life is within your reach and The Big Power of Tiny Connections will show you the way.

Amazon.com: The Big Power of Tiny Connections: How Small Interactions Spark Awesome Outcomes: Nash, Jen: 9781777959609: Amazon.com: Books

"This book explains how even the smallest connections have the power to change your life forever. It’s not only a must-read — it’s a fun read.”—Allison Graham, Keynote Speaker & Author of Take Back Your Weekends

“I’ve seen Jen Nash in action and she is a master at building relationships for herself and others. In this book, she’s sharing her golden playbook and making it crystal clear why our breadth of connections is linked to our personal success.”—Bill Carmody, Head of Coaching for Positive Intelligence

About Jen:

As a Connector in Chief, she helps people and companies add more meaning to their lives through connection. She is a master story-telling facilitator, a connection-focused keynote speaker, a sought-after executive coach, and the author of the book: The Big Power of Tiny Connections— How Small Interactions Spark Awesome Outcomes. With two decades of dedicated learning and professional experience working as a senior consultant for Fortune 100 Pharma, Health, Tech, and Finance giants—Jen integrates human behavioral theory with real-world practicalities. Jen understands that you can be critically successful and yet still wonder if there isn’t meant to be more for you? To that end Jen has coached and trained hundreds of individuals on stepping into their potential, mastering connective speaking, and being the best leaders, they can be. Jen has completed training as a Coach For Life and is a member of the ICF. She is regularly interviewed on a wide range of podcasts talking about coaching and her book The Big Power of Tiny Connections. Born in Canada and raised around the world in such countries as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Australia, Jennifer confuses people by speaking French with a French accent and trying her hands at over 40 other languages. She studied Communication Design at Parsons & The New School for Social Research in New York City. When not traveling the globe learning new ways to say ‘thank you’ and finding bright souls with whom to foster lifelong friendships; Jen Nash can be seen biking around New York City, Los Angeles or striding around el Centro in San Miguel Allende, Mexico.  

More information about Jen can be found at: About — Jen Nash 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Jen Nash, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com/ 403.464.6925.   

We look forward to the coverage!

Mark Leslie releases Fright Nights, Big City, the fourth book in the Canadian Werewolf series.

From Small Town to Big City – The Big Nickel to the Big Apple

How a self-confessed book nerd has taken a life-long inspiration from Spider-Man

 Mark Leslie Lefebvre has a lot in common with Michael Andrews, the main character of his latest novel, Fright Nights, Big City. And Andrews has a lot in common with Peter Parker, the alter-ego of Spider-Man.

Lefebvre, who writes under the name Mark Leslie, grew up in a small town with a population of approximately 2,000 people. To him, a “big city,” even with its 1980s era population was a little over 90,000. Michael Andrews, the hero of his Canadian Werewolf series that started with the 2016 release of A Canadian Werewolf in New York, also grew up in a small Ontario town, but found himself re-located to a much larger city. 

The series, which the author describes as humorous thrillers, follows the adventures of a man cursed with lycanthropy. On the nights of a full moon, he turns into a grey wolf with no human consciousness or memory of his time roaming about on all fours. And, when in human form, he possesses additional senses and supernatural strength that he uses to help others. 

Andrews, like Lefebvre himself, is a bit out of place in a big city, and some of the humor is derived from that ‘fish out of water’ scenario as well as the human being a bit of a nerd and geeky pushover.  Lefebvre marveled at reading science-fiction and fantasy novels, as well as the extensive selection of comic books available at both locations. Inspired by the nerd-turned hero Peter Parker, Lefebvre loved the superhero’s creed that ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ “Michael Andrews, who, in the novels, reveals his love of the world-famous wall-crawler, was, like me, inspired by Peter Parker. He also realizes that his curse came with side-effects that could be applied to helping others.”

 

In Fright Nights, Big City, the fourth book in the Canadian Werewolf series, Andrews teams up with two other supernatural humans and an occult expert to take on an infiltration of neo-Nazi bad guys seeking to create an army of super-powered cult members hoping to spread their message of hatred, ill-will, and fear. 

The novel, which can be read as a stand-alone, takes place immediately following the events of Lefebvre’s previous book in that series, Fear and Longing in Los Angeles. In that book, Andrews first encounters the horrific cult, and falls in love with a woman with her own powerful supernatural abilities.

“Yes, the titles are cheeky nods to other movies and books,” Lefebvre says in response to a comment that his books bear striking resemblances to familiar other titles, such as the movies An American Werewolf in London, Bright Lights, Big City, and the movie and book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. “That classic werewolf movie by John Landis was a humor/horror film. I wanted potential readers to know that, though it was about a werewolf, humor was an important element of it, and the other books.”

The chapter titles within the books follow a similar pattern of informing the reader of the subtle humor embedded throughout the urban fantasy action and adventure series. Chapter titles from this latest novel include: When You Swiftly Get Caught Between the Moon and New York City; Where Wolf? There, There Wolf! Aware Wolf!; Fright Night’s Not Alright for Fightin’; and Urine for Another Delay. 

Andrews, who is an alpha wolf by night, is a beta human by day, and much of the humor comes from his narratorial observations about the world and circumstances around him, as well as his penchant for cracking jokes in the face of danger. “It’s sort of a ‘whistling past the graveyard’ type of thing for Michael,” Lefebvre says. “He is terrified when in the throes of a fight with these bad guys, so his jokes are the result of the nervous tension he feels. Like me, Michael is more at home with his nose in a book or his fingers on a keyboard than in any physical arena.” 

When asked if he has more tales planned for the series, Lefebvre reveals that he is already at work on a novella length back-story in the same universe. Lover’s Moon will be a combination adventure/romance book co-authored with Julie Strauss. Lefebvre says he is writing it in response to fans who want to know more about the back-story of Michael and his best-friend Gail, who, prior to the events in the first novel, were revealed to have once been lovers. 

“It’s important to give the readers what they want,” he grins. “I’m just lucky that I’m having such a good time at the work involved in meeting those needs.” 

And if what readers want is an action adventure sprinkled with tension, fear, some Canadian sensibilities, and a dramatic comic-book-like fight between good and evil, that’s exactly what they’ll get in Fright Nights, Big City.

Mark Leslie’s books, including the Canadian Werewolf titles, are available online in most formats. If they are not in stock at your favorite local store, they can be ordered. You can also request them via your local library. 

MORE INFORMATION

www.markleslie.ca

A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK

https://books2read.com/b/acanadianwerewolfinnewyork

STOWE AWAY (Novella)

http://books2read.com/b/fearandlonginginlosangeles

FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES

https://books2read.com/b/stoweaway

FRIGHT NIGHTS, BIG CITY

https://books2read.com/b/frightnightsbigcity

Other books

https://books2read.com/markleslie

To request additional review copies or an interview with Mark Leslie, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com/ 403.464.6925.   

We look forward to the coverage!

Joan Soggie talks about her historical fiction and non-fiction books.

 

 Welcome to fellow BWL Publishing author and writer of eco-historical fiction and non-fiction books Joan Soggie!

Joan Soggie lives and writes in rural Saskatchewan. Her lifelong curiosity about her homeland has led her to explore the native prairie, the centuries-long relationship between the land and First Nations, and her own family’s settler history. The prairie and its creatures are her inspiration. Her family is her joy. She is the author of the non-fiction regional history Looking for Aiktow (2016) and the historical novel Prairie Grass (2020).  In Rikka, history and family stories merge in a Norway-to-Canada saga based on the life of one of Saskatchewan’s female pioneers.

Website and social media links:

On Facebook: Looking for Aiktow/Joan Soggiewrites

On LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com>joan-soggie

On bookswelove.com http://bwlpublishing.ca JoanSoggie

On GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com.soggie

On Amazon: http://amazon.ca>joan-soggie

On Instagram: http://www.instagram.com>saskjoan

What genre do you write?

I write mainly eco-historical fiction and nonfiction that is rooted in my own experience of living in the prairies.  This is the land and the people I know best. How prairie people interact with and are shaped by the land is, to me, an endlessly fascinating story. My first published writing was non-fiction and delved into the What, When and Where of our regional history. Prairie Grass, my first historical novel, expands on that theme by exploring the Who and Why of our history.  Rikka, my latest novel, is both more personal and more specific. Rikka’s life spans not only different times (mid 1800s to 1920s) but geographically different places (islands in the Norwegian Sea to prairie homestead) and vastly different cultures.

Do your reading choices reflect your writing choices?

I try to write the kind of books I like to read - although my reading choices are much wider than my range of writing! Poetry by Saskatchewan author Carol Rose GoldenEagle, a Jane Austen novel, and an essay by Malcolm Gladwell might all share space on my reading table. Long time favourites are the Narnia Chronicles by C. S. Lewis and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but during these years of covid I have escaped into the historical novels of Ken Follett.

Which type of characters are your favorite to write?

I enjoy drawing characters who reflect qualities I recognize and appreciate in my own friends, family, and acquaintances: integrity, creativity, courage, with a generous dose of idealism often concealed beneath a stoic and impassive demeanor. My favourite characters live close to the land and derive some of their qualities from it. I like characters who do not give up easily or become soured by circumstances. Trying to understand, and to reveal, the how and why of a character’s development is to me the most challenging and most rewarding aspect of writing fiction.

Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the character you want readers to love?

All three! In Prairie Grass, before ever conceiving of a book, I scrounged through archives and second-hand bookstore for references to an indigenous 19^th century Peacemaker whose personality shone through the few dry historical sources I had found. Other characters came about the same way, partly modelled after real people but coming alive in my imagination as I tried to see them through their own or their contemporaries’ eyes. In Rikka, I had a few old photographs showing her at two or three different periods of her life and was struck by the change in her face and bearing. There was little to go on to gain an understanding of her personality, other than the bare facts of her life and a few family stories. Pictures and real life had to be fleshed out with imagination. As she grew along with the story, I became very fond of her. I hope I have portrayed her in a way my readers will love, too.

Do your characters come before or after your plot?

The characters come first. The plot grows out of their lives, their relationships with each other, and their circumstances, constrained and directed by historical facts. I suppose most writers would say the same thing – I come away from a few hours of writing feeling that I have not “made-up” a scene but have simply recorded what inevitably unfolded before my mind’s eye.

How do you choose a villain and how do you make them human?

In my writing, the role of villain is not a person. Instead, the struggle is with external circumstances or with an aspect of a person’s character.  The people of my writing are neither consistently villainous nor always heroic. Relationships change; a friend might unexpectedly become a stranger, almost an enemy. I try to portray life as I see it, sometimes messy, often challenging. In Rikka, the “villain” might be a combination of dire events and personality traits rooted in that individual’s environment.

 

RIKKA

“Rikka remembered her teacher’s words. Spirit needs muscle.

Not only muscle of flesh and bone, she thought, but the muscle of a spirit inured to hardship and suffering. Surely, we have had enough of that to make us strong!”

From a close-knit community on the wave-scoured islands of northern Norway to a wind-swept prairie homestead, Rikka traverses love and loss, joy and sorrow, with passion and determination.

Rikka’s journey takes her across an ocean, a continent, and a lifetime. She plumbs the depths of her own heart and discovers the beauty of life beyond grit and endurance.

This novel is based on the true story of one of Western Canada’s female immigrant pioneers.

On Books2Read: http://books2read.com/Rikka

 

PRAIRIE GRASS

Gabby Mackenzie knows little and cares less about prairie people or their history. She sees her assignment to interview a hundred-year-old settler as nothing more than a bump in her hazy career path.

But as she gets to know old Mr. Tollerud and the land that has been his home, she finds herself drawn into the interwoven stories of the settlers, the Metis, and the First Nations who came before them. And her own life changes.

On Books2Read: http://books2read.com/Prairie-Grass

 

LOOKING FOR AIKTOW

“First came the land. Then came the people. Elbow’s history grows out of its location.” Just as the water of the Aiktow still flows unseen through the lake, a current from events long past moves through life here today.

From the earliest people who flaked their spear points and fashioned their cooking pots from the clay along the banks of the South Saskatchewan River more than 4,000 years ago, to the people who last launched their kayaks into the waters of Lake Diefenbaker in 2013, this book traces the history and the impact of the people who traveled through and sometimes settled in this increasingly popular area. The look is both personal and up-close, inviting the reader to come along and “see” what others saw before them.

On Kobo: http://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/looking-for-aiktow

http://saskjoan.wixsite.com/looking-for-aiktow

Caroline Giammanco releases a collection of paranormal and science fiction stories called Into the Night.

 

Into The Night

An imaginative debut collection by author and educator, Caroline Giammanco 

Released and published by Tuscany Bay Books

The collection is available in book is available worldwide in print and e-format

 

People who aren’t exactly as they seem. Familiar places transformed into sinister voids of darkness and despair. Stories of the paranormal and science fiction, both macabre and mystifying, that will have you hesitate in fear and awe before you step out… Into the Night.

“Giammanco puts forth a strong debut collection – as varied as it is imaginative – that will intrigue, mystify, surprise, and frighten her readers. Once you crack open the pages, there is no escape.” – Shawn Burgess, author of the bestselling book, The Tear Collector. 

Amazon.com Link:  Into The Night eBook : Giammanco, Caroline: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

Amazon.ca:  Into The Night: Giammanco, Caroline: 9781312020122: Books - Amazon.ca

About Caroline:

Caroline Giammanco is an author and high school English teacher. She grew up in Douglas County, Missouri and moved to Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an English minor. She lives on her sixty-acre farm in southern Missouri. Caroline is married to the love of her life, Keith Giammanco. 

Caroline’s previous published works are nonfiction and deal with the criminal justice system: Bank Notes: The True Story of the Boonie Hat Bandit; Guilty Hearts: The World of Prison Romances; and Inside the Death Fences: Memoir of a Whistleblower.  

To request additional review copies or an interview with Caroline, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.  

We look forward to the coverage!

  

Ileana Muñoz-Renfroe launches book 2 in the Rosa the Cuban Psychic series!

 

Welcome back to one of my favorite authors, Ileana Munoz-Renfroe! 

For the longest time, Ileana Muñoz-Renfroe wanted to be an author. Almost twenty years later, and after raising two children and owning numerous businesses, she decided to take the plunge.

About a year ago, as she sat in a Café in Paris, the idea of Rosa popped into her head, and the stories and characters became real. Since two of her passions are the paranormal and high-end fashion, she found a way to combine them and created Rosa the Cuban Psychic Mysteries. This series brings together her Cuban and American culture to make for a fun cozy mystery story.

She is hard at work on writing a spin-off to Rosa the Cuban Psychic Mysteries and a brand-new series involving the character Candeedo Brewdinkle.

When she is not writing, she enjoys traveling, reading, entertaining, and listening to music.

Ileana Renfroe

A Fashionable Fate

Twitter

Instagram

FB Author Page

Cozy Mystery Village 

What would you write if you knew you couldn’t fail?

If I knew I could never fail I would write romance novels. Who knows maybe someday I will try writing a romantic comedy.

How do you know when your story is finished?

I know my story is finished when my characters tell me. I listen to them as they are always talking to me and directing me where to go next.

Do you write part-time or full-time?

I now write full-time.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

On average I would think it would take me a few months. However, because of health issues, I needed to stop writing after I launched A Fashionable Fate. I am happy to say that I am back to writing and hope to write at least 5 books this year.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

The most difficult part of my artistic process is making the story flow. I have ideas constantly floating in my head. The problem is articulating them in such a way that makes the story fun to read.

What is your next project?

Wow, my next project. I have so many right now. Let's see... I am finishing up book 2 of Rosa The Cuban Psychic Mysteries - A Parisian Bait will be due out in April of this year.

I have a new series - book 1 of Candeedo Brewdinkle Mysteries that should be ready for the editor soon. Candeedo a retired spy is living quietly in a quaint small town with his companion Bartholomew (a sphynx). In book 1 they arrive at the local bookstore to find the owner missing and a dead body with the book Candeedo is supposed to have picked up. The missing piece is the bookmark which had a Cesear Cipher Code and one he needed in order to complete his task. You see he really is not retired...

I am also working on another new series A Tarot and Caravan Mysteries. In book 1 Abuela Nana from Rosa The Cuban Psychic Mysteries has decided she needs a break from La Misteriosa Cafe on Colten Island. After a difficult year of being poisoned and almost dying she decides to buy a vintage caravan and join her Cuban friends on a year-long expedition. What Abuela Nana does not realize at first is that the vintage caravan she just purchased comes with an unexpected guest.  Matilda, a gypsy who used to read crystal balls.

Then, I'm also working on book 2 of Gizmo Adventures. In this new addition Gizmo and the family go on their first trip to the beach. (By the way, I decided to dabble into children's books because I'm going to be an Abuela and thought what a great gift to my son and wife. Since the baby is not due until March and they don't know if it's a girl or boy I cannot name a baby in these books yet.) So, for now, I am not sure if it will be a boy accompanying Gizmo or a girl. This book will be out by April. 

 

A FASHIONABLE FATE, Rosa The Cuban Psychic, Book 1

This is not what Boutique owner, Rosa de los Reyes hoped for when she organized the Colten Island Fashion Show.

To save the gala and stop the killer from striking again, Rosa must use her psychic abilities, sift through the gossip at La Misteriosa Café and navigate increasing danger all while racing against the clock.

Will Rosa, her familiar Raul, and Las Cubanitas find the truth before the murderer kills again?

Recipes included. 

A Fashionable Fate: A Psychic Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Rosa The Cuban Psychic Mysteries Book 1) - Kindle edition by Renfroe, Ileana Munoz. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com 

A PARISIAN BAIT, Rosa the Cuban Psychic, Book 2

Rosa de Los Reyes and her spirit guide Raul have just arrived in the city of love, Paris.
She is excited to start her one-year fashion internship at The House of Mather. But before she even has a chance to meet her new classmates she is thrust into a murder mystery.
Will Cuban Rosa and Raul be able to solve this misleading smoke-screen?

Recipes included!

 A Parisian Bait (Rosa The Cuban Psychic Mysteries Book 2) - Kindle edition by Muñoz Renfroe, Ileana. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com 

GIZMO WELCOMES A NEW BABY

Join Gizmo, the family Shiba Inu, and the stork and new baby as they make their way to their new home. Along the way, they will be greeted by several animals all helping them reach their final destination.

Illustration book for newborn to 2 years old.

Gizmo Welcomes A New Baby - Kindle edition by Muñoz Renfroe, Ileana, Muñoz Renfroe, Ileana. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.