Wednesday, June 30, 2021

HazelHearth Hires Heroes

Fantasy Adventure/Fantasy Humor

Release Date: 7/29/2021


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Welcome to Hazelhearth: our picturesque city is nestled in a tranquil corner of the empire. Fitness lovers enjoy vigorous nature walks in the surrounding forest (don’t forget your sword!) Foodies savor rich, robust walnut-based cuisine. Or visit the gnome quarter for a walk on the wild side! Local mines and orchards beckon with plentiful employment opportunities, while workers sleep safe knowing that stout city walls keep mythic monsters at bay. A select few may even be chosen for exciting quest opportunities...

Circumvent

Clean Read Mystery

Publisher: TouchPoint Press


 

 

When perfection turns to panic an isolated couple must learn to walk by faith...

Debt Bomb - Release Blitz

Thriller/Suspense/Spy Fiction/Political Fiction
Date Published: July 1, 2021
Publisher: BQB Publishing



China hungers to take the United States’ place as the global hegemon.

And it is plotting to use America’s $40 trillion national debt to do it...

The Illustrated Boatman's Daughter

 

 “The Navigators” series of historical adventures

Historical fiction, young adult fiction


An Egyptian girl fights amid intrigue and corruption for the completion of the world’s greatest man-made waterway.

An Unwilling Suspect

 WEDNESDAY WINNER






Jo Hiestand has several audiobooks available. She has one and (another coming soon) in her Linn House series. There are 7 books published in the McLaren series. But in 2020 she came across a narrator that seemed to immediately be an almost perfect fit for her series featuring Michael McLaren (the McLaren series).  In listening you’ll see he seems to fall right into that British lilt and yet his voice seems to capture that moody, strong, and yet caring excop that I fell in love with in Book 1, Cold Revenge.

Now Callum Hale has 3 of Jo’s 12 book series narrated: Unfolding Trap, No Known Address, and the newest one, An Unwilling Suspect.

Here, on Our Town Book Reviews we hope to give you just a small taste of what you are missing if you don’t jump in and read or listen to these books.

Speaking of getting a taste...here's a snippet of Callum narrating Jo's newest audiobook, https://adbl.co/3y5lDDp



Jo Hiestand is the author of the McLaren Series and a 2 time winner of N.N. Light's prestigious Book Awards....

Read about Jo and the research she does in her writing: HERE







Here's a little from Callum Hale about his background...


I trained as an actor at the East 15 School of Acting, based on the principles of Joan Littewoods Theatre Workshop. I knew from fairly early on that I wanted to be an actor, pretty much ever since I realised that playing make-believe could actually be a career. I’ve been telling stories my entire life, and when as a child I was given a Dictaphone I would record books for me and my siblings to listen to, so you could say I’ve been narrating audiobooks for a very, VERY long time.

I remember particularly recording a number of short stories from a magazine my Scottish Grandmother used to share with us. One was about a Clooty Dumpling that got into a scrape with a  spider in a cave. I read the entire thing in a Scottish accent; which you can hear me doing plenty of in another McLaren audiobook; ‘An Unfolding Trap’.


My Mother’s family are from the Yorkshire and Cheshire regions of England, not far from where McLaren and his friend Jamie call home, so I was drawn not only to those characters, and the sounds of those voices, but also to the landscapes, which Jo makes just as important a character in her books. 

 I find it a real joy to sit in my little corner, behind the microphone, and step into the world of the book I’m narrating. Just as you would when reading alone for pleasure; I can see the hills in my minds eye, I feel the emotion of McLaren; I let the words effect me and, hopefully, effect my delivery so that the listener has the same engagement as they would reading the words themselves. To my mind narrating is acting, and acting is telling stories, and I’ve been doing that all my life.


Some questions we asked Callum

How do you prepare for a new audiobook narration? 

The first step is to make sure that the author, or the rights holder, is happy with the main character voices. So, I’ll liaise with them over that and send a recording of the first chapter, to make sure the tone of the narration is right as well. You don’t want to be reading a gritty murder mystery like it’s a kids nursery rhyme book! Personally, I don’t like to mark up the manuscript ahead of recording, I prefer to feel what’s right whilst I record... this sometimes means more editing for me later, but, for me, I think I give a better performance this way.

What if it requires different character accents, like Scottish or Welsh? How do you know your accent is correct?

 Thankfully, with most British accents, I’m fairly well practiced already; certainly to differentiate between characters. If I know something needs to be very specific and I’m unsure I turn to that wonderful research tool- YouTube. There’s bound to be a video of someone talking in the accent you need to hear. I’m pretty good at picking up the music of accents quite quickly. There are times, as with ‘An Unwilling Suspect’ where a character may have a slightly more obscure accent. There aren’t too many Yorkshire born, French-speaking Swiss citizens that have returned to their home country... so I did what research I could and just took a leap of faith! I hope not to have offended any Yorkshire born, French-speaking Swiss citizens...

 What if you have a sore throat, what happens if you're interrupted during your narration, or better yet, do you have a funny story about a coughing fit, your dog barking during the recording of an emotional scene, etc…

 If I have a sore throat, the answer is very straightforward and boring... I don’t record! It can be very frustrating, especially when you start recording and realise; ‘No... I can’t do this today’. It feels like you’re giving up, but at the end of the day, you just have to stop, walk away and give the pipes a rest. After all, a painter could have all the inspiration in the world but if they don’t have any paints; they’re pretty much scuppered.

Thankfully, I’m not often interrupted in my home studio. Occasionally, though,  there’s a loud knock at the front door, and it’salways when you’re right in the middle of a deeply emotional moment... and some colourful language usually follows... which I edit out later. In fact, all the times I talk to myself, while the mic is still recording, could be edited together to make a full length audiobook of it’s own; but those conversations will never see the light of day... or reach the ear of the public, at any rate.


Here's Callum's FB page. Check it out!  https://www.facebook.com/callum.hale.14


Tuesday, June 29, 2021

American Valor

 Historical Fiction, Military Fiction

Published: March 2021

Publisher: Seacoast Press


From the critically acclaimed author of An Irish Immigrant Story, One Man’s Mission and Three Steps to the Making of an Assassin, comes a new story of commitment, dedication, strength and perseverance.

Tears of Change

 Poetry

Date Published: 6/29/2021

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing


 Tears of Change is a collection of poems and quotes that takes you on a journey through the everyday emotions of life. In this book you will find unique, one-of-a-kind poems. Some will touch your heart and bring you to a place of appreciation and peace, and others may change the way you view and look at things...

Tour Book

 This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Pfennig Hales will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It’s show night. You’ve bought tickets and are waiting with your friends. The lights drop. The darkness swells in anticipation. A collective cheer grows. A breath of silence. Then, that first chord screams from the speakers. Lights flash to flood the stage, radiating as the concert comes to life.
We are there, too, in the dark under the show, behind it, and above it. Each prop or cool trick, every costume or scene change requires the hidden help of someone behind the scenes...

Monday, June 28, 2021

Maya Loop

 Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: June 26, 2021

Publisher: Mapleton Press


                                          Get ready to meet the blue haired girl from Baltimore who saves the world.

Debt Bomb - Teaser Tuesday

 Thriller/Suspense/Spy Fiction/Political Fiction

Date Published: July 1, 2021

Publisher: BQB Publishing


China hungers to take the United States’ place as the global hegemon.

And it is plotting to use America’s $40 trillion national debt to do it.

Only one person stands in China’s way: suburban accountant Andrea Gartner...

Pickoff

  America's Pastime, Book 3

Sports Thriller, Crime Thriller, Romantic Thriller

Published April 2021

Publisher: The Hutchinson Group


A ballplayer. A diva. The mob. Trouble, 1920s style...

Harry Harambee's Kenyan Sundowner

 Literary Fiction

Date Published: 6/29/2021

Publisher: La Puerta Productions


 Intrigue on the white sands of the Indian Ocean. From the award-winning author of Clifford’s Spiral.

The Trophy Room

 Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller

Published: March 2021

Publisher: Bleaknorth Publishing


 What terrible secrets lie inside those doors?

It was to be an ordinary holiday by the sea for the Miller family, a chance to bond after difficult times...

If Darkness Takes Us

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.  Brenda Marie Smith will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

Click on "read more" to sign up for the Giveaway.  

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...

Sunday, June 27, 2021

The Girls on Cemetery Road

  Ghosts of the Big Thicket     Book Two

Southern Gothic, Mystery, Paranormal Women's Fiction

Publisher: Zimbell Publishing 




Red Card

 

 Red Card: A Bet You Can Win!

Memoir, Sports, Non-Fiction

Published: April 2021Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers

Former UK professional soccer star (footballer), Tony Kelly lost it all, but he stands today as someone who is unbreakable!

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Do You Know Dorothy?

  The Juliana Series, Book 5

LGBT Historical Fiction

Published: May 2021

Publisher: Sans Merci Press

Can a group of elderly drag queens save a 1950s nightclub from being taken over by the mob?

It's 1956 and television is stealing Alice's nightclub audience. Known as Al to everyone in the club scene, she has to try to prevent the mob from taking over her crippled club and turning it into a strip joint.

Friday, June 25, 2021

Poisoned Jungle

 

 Historical Fiction, Vietnam War

Publisher: Koehler Books

In a powerful human saga, Andy teeters on the chasm of survivor's guilt, desperate to find equilibrium in his life. Deep down, he wants to live but doesn't know how. Poisoned Jungle is an intimate glimpse into one veteran's struggle for meaning after experiencing the despair of war...

Thursday, June 24, 2021

Third Time's The Harm

 

Deco Desk Mystery, Book 1

Paranormal Mystery

Date Published: August 24, 2021

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

 

Jamie Whitehall Olivian has received a mysterious letter from her Uncle James. She is named after him, but she has never seen, met, or heard him mentioned in any way. Until now. And he has died and left her his entire estate.  But it seems Uncle James wants her to investigate a murder. His, that is. It also seems the estate is contingent upon her acceptance of this commission. Jamie wants no part of the investigation or of the estate. She gets along perfectly well, thank you very much, a fact she emphasizes to his lawyer, who just happens to be gorgeous, making it a little harder to say no...

Unscheduled Murder Trip

 

Family History Mystery Series, Book 2

Mystery

Published: January 2021  

Publisher: Lifelong Dreams Publishing

On Sale for $.99 – For a Limited Time!

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Holding

  The Conscious Art of Embracing

Nonfiction / Health / Body, Mind & Spirit / Self-Help

Date Published: May 2021

Publisher: Cool Creative Press


Mind Over Murder


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kathy DiSanto will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

She’s been gifted with The Sight, but she didn’t see this coming ….

Critical Hit

 This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. W.M. Akers will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.Check out the Kickstarter Campaign for this project.

How do you win a game that’s trying to kill you?

A twenty-nine year-old clerk at a games store in the Appalachian hamlet of Jett Creek, Tennessee, Callie Myles lives for the weekly RPG sessions run by her beloved brother and gamesmaster, LB. Under his watchful eye, she and her friends wage war, harness magic, and battle evil. When the dice are rolling, they are heroes, and all of Callie’s anxieties slip away. The fun stops the night LB burns to death in a bizarre fire...

 

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Summer Camp March

 Children's Book

Published: May 2021

Publisher: Haynes Media Group


The Buzz Boys

 

Coming of Age Thriller

Published: May 2021

Publisher: Cassino Publishing

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Accident Among the Vampires - Release Blitz

ACCIDENT AMONG THE VAMPIRES 

Standalone, set in the Paper Flower Consortium world

Paranormal (Vampires)

Date Published: June 21, 2021

Publisher: ZB Publications