Autumn/Halloween Countdown Blitz Day 4

I am a South African children’s author. Up until a few years ago, I was a journalist and editor. Something rather unexpected sparked my new career as an author—a family trip to Egypt with my mother and two young nephews. We had a great time and I thought I’d write them a short story as a different kind of souvenir…. Well, one book and a planned book series later, I had changed careers. I am now on Book 5 of The Chronicles of the Stone adventure series. I also teach online novel writing for aspiring authors and I find that very satisfying.

~ Website ~

~ Amazon ~ Facebook ~  

Continuing the adventure that ended in Britain just a short while ago, cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair, with their friend Kim Maleka, are now hunting for the third Stone of Power, one of seven mysterious stones lost centuries ago. The third stone might be located in an ancient city, hidden in the depths of the Mexican jungle. When their small plane crashes in the jungle, Adam, Justin, Kim, and James are rescued by an uncontacted tribe. James, who is wounded, must stay behind as the kids, with only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, make their way through the dense and dangerous jungle to find the city. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and evading predators are just part of this hazardous task.

Of course, their old adversary Dr. Khalid is close behind as the kids press on in search of the lost city of stone gods. But he is not the worst of their problems. This time Adam will clash with a terrible enemy who adopts the persona of an evil Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, and is keen to revive the ancient tradition of human sacrifice. Adam, Justin, and Tukum must play a dreadful ball game of life and death and maybe survive. Will they emerge alive from the jungle? Will Dr. Khalid find the third Stone of Power before they do?

  

~ Amazon ~ 

  

Top Ten List:

My Top Ten (in no particular order):

1. Travel – I have been fortunate enough to visit many countries but there are still more on my list.

2. Animals – I love animals and wish I had tons of money to donate to many of the causes I read about. One day, I will!

3. Movies – I LOVE movies. Detective, thrillers, animal feel goods, historical series, adventure, action, marvel character movies, I love it!

4. Books – I LOVE books, of course, and still have many of my old childhood favourites inherited from my parents and grandparents.

5. Music – listening to music, mainly classical and movie themes, is very relaxing.

6. Theatre and ballet – would you believe it I started out studying drama at university, went to drama school in London and mime school in Paris, came back home and ended up in writing and publishing.

7. Writing – not just writing middle grade adventures though. I have an alter ego named Arabella Sheraton who writes Regency romances and has actually written more books than I have. Arabella is the proud author of eight books so far. Do I have a problem wearing two hats? Not at all. I love jumping into a historical fiction romance and having fun.

8. Antiques and collectibles – I have inherited so many beautiful antiques (furniture and collectibles) but that hasn’t stopped me browsing flea markets and antique shops to enjoy the beautiful items of yesteryear and sometimes buy.

9. Friends/family – getting together with good friends is something that can’t be beaten. I love having friends/family over and making a great dinner for us to enjoy.

10. Giving talks on child literacy – I didn’t start off as an expert on child literacy, but after I fostered and later adopted my daughter Mabel (a disadvantaged young African girl) I had to learn pretty quickly because she came to me just about illiterate at age eleven. From my experiences in teaching Mabel to read, I then was asked to address many institutions and groups on the topic. I enjoy helping parents and teachers to get kids to love reading.

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Autumn/Halloween Countdown Blitz Day 3

TJ Amberson hails from the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her husband and nutty cocker spaniel. When she's not writing, TJ might be found enjoying a hot chocolate, pretending to know how to garden, riding her bike, playing the piano, or surfing the Internet for cheap plane tickets. With a love of many genres, TJ Amberson writes sweet romance for adults, and historical fantasy and contemporary sci-fi adventures for teen and mature tween readers. 

  ~ Website ~ Facebook ~

 ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ 

  

Alexis Kendall has a pretty typical teenage life: a crush on a cute guy, a loathing of chemistry, and a tendency to stumble into embarrassing mishaps. But everything changes after an unexpected discovery in chemistry class gives Alexis incredible powers. 

With her powers rapidly growing beyond her control, Alexis races to her teacher, Mr. Haber, for help. A chilling twist of events leaves Mr. Haber and his young assistant, Noah Weston, no choice but to reveal to Alexis a secret. And suddenly, Alexis is faced with a decision that will change her life forever. 

 

 ~ Amazon ~ 

Top Ten List:

10 of my favorite things:

-Traveling, especially in Europe

-The scent of freshly mowed grass

-Stargazing

-Autumn

-Playing the piano

-Thunder & lightning

-Movie editing

-The sound of the ocean

-Musical theater

-Mint chocolate chip ice cream

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Autumn/Halloween Countdown Blitz Day 2

Jaclyn is an Idaho farm girl who grew up loving to read. She developed a love for writing at a young age and published her first book in 2013. She met her husband, Steve, at BYU, and they have six happy, crazy children who encourage her to keep writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to have adventures in Australia, they settled back down in their home in Utah. When Jaclyn isn’t herding her kids to various activities, she serves on the board for her local arts agency, runs a writing workshop, and stays up late writing books in various genres.

Jaclyn’s Young Adult books include The Luck Series, Lost in a Fairy Tale series, Magicians of the Deep, and Two Masters. 

  ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ 

  ~ Amazon ~ Twitter ~

  ~ Instagram ~

Gwen's family had only one rule—stay out of Grandma's garden. And if it wasn’t for her annoying cousin, she never would have broken it. Everything seems fine until she pulls an ancient book from the old well inside.

And pays for it.

A dark magic is unleashed from its prison, and Gwen becomes its new host. Now, not only does she have to learn to use her own magic, she must also keep the dark magic from taking over her soul. Some rules are made to be broken. But breaking this one may just destroy the world. 

    

 ~ Amazon ~  

  

Q&A With the Author:

1. What is your favorite Autumn Time activity?   Sports with my kids (I have one in football, one in volleyball, one in Marching Band, and two in soccer!) and watching the leaves change. And of course, decorating for Halloween!

2. What is one of your writing quirks? I have to have some kind of music in the background or I can't write.

3. Which of your books was your favorite to write? And why?  My Luck Series will always have my heart because Megan is just so darn fun. But Two Masters was probably my favorite. It took more out of me to write and it was like there was this little voice saying "Hey, don't forget this part!" the whole way through. Which is funny since that's kind of the premise of the story.

4. Who is the person or group of people who most support you in your writing? What have they done for you? Tristi Pinkston has been my person to write with because she helped me get my start with a writing group. IWriteNetwork friends and Sprint Writers Central friends are who have helped me through all of my writing. Answering questions, brainstorming, sprinting, making me write, etc.

5. What is your trick for getting past writer's block? And what advice would you give to others who are struggling?  My biggest thing is just writing anyway. And if I can't write that one, I go to a different book and try that one instead. The longer you wait to write something, the harder it is to get back into it. So just write. You can always edit the blah stuff out of it later!

6. Autumn time has its own set of foods/flavors. What is your favorite Autumn comfort food? Hot chocolate! I'm one of those who actually love candy corns as well. And while I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin spice, I do like pumpkin pie - for Thanksgiving!

  

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Autumn/Halloween Countdown Blitz Day 1

A graduate of Exeter University, Wendy spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies before a change of career led her to writing children's fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, she lives with her husband and beautiful Tonkinese cat.  

Wendy's ""Shadows from the Past"" time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max, are aimed at the Middle Grade age group. This award-winning series also includes several shorter novellas that see Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo missions. Now working on the 18th book in the series, ""The Shadow of the Shifting Sands"", Wendy hopes that her love of history, myth and legend will rub off on her young readers as she takes them on a magical mystery tour through the past. 

~ Website ~  

~ Facebook ~  Twitter ~  

  

 In his fifth solo mini-adventure, Max the talking Tonkinese cat, the feline hero of the SHADOWS FROM THE PAST series travels back in time to the mid-seventeenth century. 

He doesn’t understand how this has happened until he recognises his surroundings and realises it isn't the first time he’s been to this place. Why has he been brought to this tumbledown cottage in the middle of nowhere? All is about to be revealed…

In 17th century Essex, at a time when most people believed in witchcraft, the name Matthew Hopkins was enough to strike fear into the heart of many a woman who lived alone with only a pet cat for company… for Hopkins was the Witchfinder General.  

The 15th book in the Shadows from the Past series takes the time-travelling foursome back to the year 1646. It isn’t Max’s first visit to the village of Mistley Thorn, but this time his friends Jemima, Joe and Charlie are by his side.

Their mission is to bring an end to Hopkins’ campaign of terror. Will they succeed, or might this prove to be their most dangerous challenge yet? " 

  ~ Amazon Book #1 ~ 

~ Amazon Book #2 ~ 

  

Snippets:

The Shadow of the Witchfinder

Snippet 1

Max reared up on his hind legs, casting an unnaturally huge shadow behind him – it must have been a trick of the light. Perhaps that would also explain the strange halo that glimmered around its outline? Glancing over his shoulder, the sight of the spectral shape looming tall almost made Max jump out of his skin, before he realised it was his own shadow. Gosh, was that really him? How did he look so big? Max didn’t understand what came over him at that moment, but a surge of heat flooded his body, as if fire was racing through his veins, and he felt suddenly bolder. He swiped a large paw through the air, flexing his claws in a menacing gesture. A loud bang of thunder came out of nowhere and the sky darkened with the eerie half-light that comes just before a storm. Max’s coat crackled with electricity, his fur bristling as he turned back towards the crowd.

 

 

Snippet 2 

The sky was almost black now, as dark as night, the storm still raging overhead. Jemima shivered, her flesh prickling at the feeling that something strange was in the air. With Max in her arms, she and Charlie crept towards the edge of the green while everyone was busy watching the Witchfinder being manhandled in the direction of the water. They were almost at the entrance to the lane leading to the woods when someone turned and caught sight of the two children slinking away, their silhouettes spotlit by a sudden flash of lightning. 

A shout went up. ‘There they are, the boy wizard and Hopkins’ creature. They’re getting away. Stop them!’

 

  

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Trouble Blows West

When Monique isn’t writing, you can find her playing taxi driver to one or more of her 12 children, plotting her next novel, scrapbooking, or being the “Mamarazzi” at any number of child-oriented events. 

Even though she realizes there will never be enough hours in any given day, Monique tries very hard to enjoy the journey that is her life. She shares it with a terrific husband, her dozen children, twelve grand-darlings, too many cats, and many real and imaginary friends. She is the author of several books in three series and hopes to write many more.

  

~ Facebook ~ Website ~
~ Twitter ~

  

Putting her body in motion before her brain is in gear creates a mountain of problems for 12 year-old Ginnie West. She is certain that defending her twin brother, Toran, from the biggest bully in sixth grade was the right thing to do. But Ginnie couldn’t be more wrong.    

She quickly figures out that Toran doesn’t appreciate being rescued by a girl any better than Pierce likes being knocked down by one. When Pierce seeks revenge on Ginnie, Toran sets aside his anger and helps her plot a playback prank at Pierce’s house.  

Sadly, Ginnie learns that Pierce has a reason for being a bully when she sees his dad drop him to the floor like a ragdoll with one awful blow to the chest. Realizing he's a boy in big trouble, Ginnie switches gears and decides to be his ally, even if he won’t let her be his friend.

What reviewers are saying about this book:

*Like Anne of "Anne of Green Gables," Ginnie is a character you can't help but love.

*I couldn't put these books down. I was not only entertained, but inspired.

* An excellent book that deals with the sensitive topics of bullying, abuse and forgiveness. It is action packed and full of raw emotions.

*Bucheger does an amazing job of writing this story but without giving a cookie cutter answer to the problems Ginnie faces. 

 

~ Amazon ~ 

Join the Next Book Tour  and The Prequal Tour in this Series for more prizes and fantastic content! 

ON THE WAY TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE:

   When Tillie shook her head, returned the smile, and then rolled her eyes, Ginnie knew she had done her job and reassured her best friend. She turned back to Pierce.

His eyes bore through her. “This ain’t the end of this,” he hissed. His chin wiggled as his face grew more purple, a bit like an eggplant, but not so attractive.  His cheeks were as wide as his face was long, like an overblown balloon.

Ginnie whipped her head toward him, sending her blonde braids flying.  “For your sake, it better be, Pierce Owens, ’cuz there’s only two ways this ends. I knock you on your can again or you beat up a girl. Neither way looks good—for you.”

  

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