Blog Tour for The Train: A Short Story by Cendrine Marrouat

 

The Train: A Short Story

by Cendrine Marrouat

Genre: Literary Fiction 

You never know what a train ride may have in store. Maggie is about to find out as she journeys to Coueuses to visit her family.

“A powerful and deeply touching story with layered characters that all felt real.” – Berneta L. Haynes, Author of Eve and the Faders

Release date: January 20, 2023

Pre-release reviews

“In her short story The Train, Cendrine weaves a compelling narrative that quickly draws you in, making you care about her characters both naturally and organically, the emotional connection makes them very real to behold. Just like the journey itself, you find yourself getting caught up and travelling alongside with them, indulging in the intrigue that surrounds the protagonist; and before you know it, you have found yourself in a position of admiration and sympathy for the protagonist with all that she has been through.

Cendrine makes the writing process seem effortless but it is her engaging dialogue and sharp observations that drive the story to its compelling conclusion and ultimate redemption for those involved. I enjoyed this tale and its immersion immensely, this story showcases Cendrine’s emotional growth and storytelling abilities with quiet confidence and a careful undercurrent of understated panache.” – David Ellis, Author of See A Dream Within: Found “Poe”try Based On The Collected Poetry Works Of Edgar Allan Poe

“The Train is a hauntingly sweet story with undertones of love, forgiveness, and loss. Rarely does a short story use characters and setting to evoke emotions so masterfully. I highly recommend Cendrine Marrouat’s The Train. Her pointed, poignant storytelling conveys an emotional story that will stick with you long after you finish reading.”- Katrina Moody, Writer & Editor at KatrinaMoody.com

“The writing was simple, but powerful. As soon as I started reading, I was drawn in. It didn’t take long to read, but it was a thriller, and I found myself comparing it to Murder on the Orient Express and The Lady Vanishes. There was suspense, and a good story that made an impression.” – Kelly Marie Purdy

**Only .99 cents!**

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Hello, my name is Cendrine Marrouat (“san-drEEn mar-wah”). I am a poet, photographer, fiction writer, and the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms and A Warm Cup of Cozy. I have authored and co-authored more than 40 books, including A Particle of You: Love Poetry (2022), Tree Reflections (2022), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Songs in Our Paths: Haiku & Photography (2020-2021), Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography (2021), Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020), Walks: A Collection of Haiku (2019-2020), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018).

My work has appeared in many publications, including Synkroniciti Magazine, On Landscape, Real Creative Magazine, Spillwords, Sweet Deluge, Life Pixel, Still Waters Run Deep (Lovely Silks Publishing, 2016), and eight cuts. I am the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, and Reminigram; as well as the co-creator of the Kindku, Pareiku, Vardhaku, and Hemingku.

I live in Winnipeg, Canada.

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Book Blitz for Bystander: Seven Stories from the New Espionage Collection by J.R. Pomerantz

Bystander: Seven Stories from the New Espionage Collection
J.R. Pomerantz
(The New Espionage Collection, #1)
Publication date: November 14th 2022
Genres: Adult, Literary Fiction, Thriller

Can you survive the new espionage?

There are no sidelines.

There are no boundaries.

In the new world order, there’s no such thing as an innocent bystander.

Seven shocking stories from the New Espionage Collection by award-winning author JR Pomerantz.

The Terrifying Importance of Mental ealth Jesse’s suffering from synthetic broccoli’s surprise side effects. When he gets hospitalized with both its victim and perpetrator, who will pay the ultimate price?

T-Rex The Deputy Administrator of the State Department has a bone to pick with the Secretary of State, and they both might be fossils.

Golden Boy 144: Marigold Baby Jalia helps Harper give birth in the depths of their corporate greenhouse. Will the labor interrupt their labor long enough to get both of them fired?

The Farm When their visit to their older brother’s pot farm turns deadly, Michael and Baxter fight for their lives in the Northern California woods.

Golden Boy 288: Marigold, Baby Only Jalia knows whose image is manifesting in the mysterious marigolds of Fulfillment Center 6. Can she and Harper keep it a secret from the rest of the greenhouse?

Maury Always Makes It After Maury’s son-in-law goes missing at sea, he and Rico take the investigation into their own hands. Can two elderly alcoholics get to the bottom of a deep-sea fishing mystery?

The Sucking Clarity of Mental ealth The battle at Hampton Behavioral Health Facility continues. With synthetic broccoli on the menu, justice can’t be served.

Bystander is your first peek at the subversive, satirical, smart-mouthed New Espionage Collection.

Brace yourself to enter the terrifying near-future of synthetic food, mind control experiments, and one man’s battle for justice against a bad broccoli.

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—

EXCERPT:

Several of us were gathered in the television room, waiting for the third and final cigarette break — the last activity of the day. We were all watching NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, a preferred television program of the infirm, it seemed. I was reflecting on how bad the astigmatism in my right eye had gotten since my admittance to the Hampton Behavioral Health Facility, and I was thinking about what I would say to Lester Holt in a live television interview as I watched NBC Nightly News with my left eye closed.

Lester Holt: Are you the spokesperson for your generation?

Me: Yes.

Then I reach out.

And I throttle that poor, trustworthy news anchor.

I’ll make a great famous person.

This particular Nightly News segment was a follow-up to a story they had done earlier in the year about the instances of encephalitis in frozen broccoli, the subsequent cover-up by the agricultural conglomerates, and, ultimately, the manufacture of synthetic broccoli. This Nightly News segment included an interview with The Executive Agricultural Secretary of the United States.

The interview illuminated several things, important to me personally:

1. Synthetic broccoli may cause insanity or induce coma.
2. Synthetic broccoli may cause genital abscesses.
3. The Co-Executive Agricultural Secretary, assistant to the Executive Agricultural Secretary, was sitting right next to me, mumbling and wringing his pasty hands. They were showing a picture of him on television. I looked at the television. I looked at him. I looked back at the television.

Slowly, I put one, two, and three together, but I only arrived at a sum total of five. I blamed the medication for this.

Meanwhile, The Man Who Ate the Letter H, my roommate at the Hampton Behavioral Health Facility, had leapt upon The Co-Executive Agricultural Secretary, I mean, like right up onto his knees, screaming and shaking him by the sweater vest. I marveled at his balance and tried to ignore the one-sided fighting.

The Co-Executive Agricultural Secretary was still just babbling and shaking his head. Even now, I was adding things up and I still didn’t know what was happening.

Later on that night, The Man Who Ate The Letter H told me everything.

• The Terrifying Importance of Mental ealth

in Bystander: Seven Stories from the New Espionage Collection

Author Bio:

JR Pomerantz was raised in New Jersey, moved sixteen times, from Albuquerque to Kabul, and now resides in Silver Spring, Maryland. Hobbies include using all the forms of transportation in the world, flamenco guitar, and knitting. She hopes to one day own and operate a coffee farm, or at least live on one. Or near one. Just down the road, maybe. She won't pop in every day to say hello.

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—

Blog Tour & Giveaway for The Condom and Other Stories by Peter Chika

 

The Condom and Other Stories

by Peter Chika

Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories 

~How does a philandering London lawyer explain the condom his shocked wife found in his clothes that morning?
~Can sophisticated Ada hold her breath—and misgivings—long enough to finish consulting the musty mystic healer on her childlessness?
~Why does feisty Nez seem to be doing everything possible to fail her visa interview at the US Embassy?
~Will straitlaced Susan, a chorister and prayer warrior, come up with a ruse in time to stop her partner from yielding to the rapacious preacher?

Intrigue follows intrigue as The Condom and Other Stories reels out a colorful cast of characters that readers will love and loathe at the same time. The seventeen stories are told at pace, each laced with humor, snappy dialogue, and the occasional twist. As the heroines and heroes wade through encounters and trying relationships, their inflamed passions, conflicted moralities, and nifty schemes come together to produce a series of amusing results.

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Peter Chika lives in Houston and is the winner of international writing prizes including the Amex Bank Review Awards (special merit) and the Shell-Economist Prize (bronze). Of his half-dozen degrees, he considers an MSc from Oxford and a Ph.D. from London his favorites. He writes short stories in his spare time - on planes, in cafes, anywhere and everywhere - and has been published in anthologies such as Tunnel of Lost Stories and Dear Leader Tales.

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Book Blitz & Giveaway for The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv
Erin Litteken
Publication date: May 16th 2022
Genres: Literary Fiction

Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
“A powerfully moving debut . . . Ukraine’s tragic history painfully echoes its current crisis, and on every page the Ukrainian spirit shines out, unbowed, unbent and unbroken. This is a compelling, timely read.” Kate Quinn, author of The Rose Code

In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story.
In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbors disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain.

Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons.

Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past.

This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor.

“I never imagined the release of my novel on a past oppression of the Ukrainian people would coincide with such a parallel tragedy.” Erin Litteken

May we never forget, lest history repeat itself.

A share of proceeds will be donated to DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

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—

EXCERPT:

A sharp click echoed in the room, and everyone froze. The Russian’s cocked pistol pointed at Tato. “Are you resisting orders? If you are, we will have to label you an enemy of the people. We all know what happens to enemies of the people. I could shoot you right now, and nobody would care.”

Katya’s head buzzed. All the anger she’d felt morphed into sheer terror as she stared at her Tato. His beet-red face glistened with sweat and his hands curled slowly into fists, the anger crackling off him like a hungry fire seeking fuel. If someone didn’t intercede, he would be shot for attempting to murder Prokyp with his bare hands.

Mama, too, saw his inner struggle, for she stepped in front of Tato and spoke calmly. “I apologize for my husband’s behavior. He’s overprotective of his daughters. He didn’t mean what he said. We’ll cooperate, I swear it.”

The Russian smirked and lowered his gun. Dropping Alina’s hand, Katya pulled her father into a hug and spoke in his ear. “Please, Tato, there is no harm done, but we can’t lose you. Please.” She felt the tension lessen from his body, but vibrations of anger still throbbed like the veins on his neck.

Prokyp watched the scene with amusement, then sauntered back over to his cohorts, smiling. The Russian turned to him and asked with complete sincerity, “Have you been offended by this man? What would you like to do, Comrade?”

Prokyp glanced at Tato and then at Alina, who was white as a sheet, but holding her head high as Mama had taught them to. Katya’s legs wobbled, so she locked her knees and held her breath as they waited for this fool to decide the fate of their family.

“I suppose I can overlook it this once, as long as he and his family promise to cooperate fully in the future.” His gaze lingered on Alina. “But we shall have to check back here often to make sure they are behaving.”

Another activist pushed into the house with a large sack of wheat balanced on his shoulder. “I found this, and another just like it, hidden in the barn loft.”

Katya’s heart sank. She’d worried the wheat in the barn wasn’t hidden well enough, but Tato thought it safe out of sight beneath the hay.

“You can’t take that!” Tato shouted. “It’s my seed for planting this fall!”

“This will pay your quota. For now.” The Russian Soviet waved a hand dismissively, as if suddenly bored by them. “Come, we must move to the next house.”

The woman cast an apologetic look toward Mama and hurried behind the men as they left. The door swung wildly in their wake, and none of them moved until Tato strode forward and slammed it shut, though not before Katya saw the activists’ cart stacked high with sacks of grain, just like the ones they’d taken from the barn.

Author Bio:

Erin Litteken is a debut novelist with a degree in history and a passion for research. At a young age, she was enthralled by stories of her family’s harrowing experiences in Ukraine before, during and after World War II. She lives in Illinois, USA with her husband and children.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway for Caroline by Adrian Spratt

Caroline

by Adrian Spratt

Genre: Historical Thriller, Literary Fiction 

In 1980s New York City, young lawyer Nick Coleman meets free spirit Caroline Sedlak in an evening fiction writing course. A vivacious fixture at a Greenwich Village bar, she remains mysterious about her life until their teacher reads her story submission to the class, and Nick realizes that a darker past lurks beneath her happy-go-lucky exterior. This doesn’t trouble Nick, who struggles with demons of his own: as a blind lawyer launching his career prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act, he struggles to prove himself at a law office that handles appeals for indigent convicted felons.

Nick’s practical, goal-driven approach to life balances Caroline’s quixotic nature, and their friendship soon deepens into something more. For some time, they’re happy together. But as the two become closer, Nick’s reluctance to commit collides head-on with Caroline’s need to be loved and belong. Soon, they realize that Caroline hasn’t left her past far behind after all … and the behavior that Nick once found charming first frustrates, then terrifies him. As the two spiral toward an inevitable clash, Nick must choose between the life he thought he wanted, and the woman he can’t bring himself to admit he loves. 

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Adrian Spratt practiced law for twenty years, mainly in consumer protection, before returning to his first love, fiction writing. He graduated from Amherst College and earned his law degree from Harvard. Retinal detachment led to his loss of vision when he was thirteen. Today, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the artist and photographer Laura Rosen. His website, where he maintains a blog and showcases selected stories, essays and memoir excerpts, is www.adrianspratt.com.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway for Ovidius by Karin Mabry

 

Ovidius

by Karin Mabry

Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy 

'Ovidius' follows the lives of members of the Ovidius community, a neighborhood surrounding The Ovidius Zoo, home of Worthington the Tiger. The animals of Ovidius communicate with each other using mental telepathy, unbeknownst to humans. Some, like Godiva the Cat and Sam the Bird, tweak the agreed-upon system to fit their agendas, Godiva, to write poetry, Sam, to wreak havoc. Others, like Philodendrum the Bullfrog and Xavier the human, friend of Godiva, are just trying to figure out who they really are. Written in the fix-up style, ‘Ovidius’ is a beautiful reflection on animals, spirituality and being wild and free.

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Hi! Hope you are well and taking good care of yourself and loved ones during these challenging times.

Writing 'Ovidius', my first novel, was a game-changer for me. I wrote a series of novellas then combined them into a fix-up novel, becoming utterly enamored of the medium of the short novel in the process. Telling a story with an economy of words means the use of words is precious. I have found my niche and believe that, literally, everyone should write a short novel. It is delightful, with no fear of being crushed by the daunting task of writing hundreds and hundreds of pages. I have mostly read novels in my life, still yearning to understand what Anais and Jack London have to say about it all. I tried, in 'Ovidius', to create five distinctly different novellas that could stand alone yet come together, seamlessly, as one story.

My poetry books, 'Thrive' and 'A Hamlet of Shelter', were delicious to write, that's all there is to it. I love them and so appreciate my Mother, Maureen, for encouraging me to write what I feel, what I believe. I hope you choose to enjoy what came forth when I gave it a chance. I surely do, each story, each poem, perfectly expressing my belief in presence and imagination. Such a blessing to be human and be able to imagine. All things are possible with God, the God within all of us, Our Father, our collective birthright.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway for The Blind Affect by Michael Poeltl

 

The Blind Affect

by Michael Poeltl

Genre: Literary Fiction

Diversity, inclusion, and equality are at the heart of this character-driven story. While difficult and heart-breaking lessons await Jonah, Severn, and Darnell in their own lives, a shared event along a similar timeline links all three despite their glaring differences. Caught in the gravity of the event, purpose presents itself and their shared blind affect validates the notion that no life is wasted.

The Blind Affect explores the purpose behind existence - the reason we take our first breath, and the rationale behind all the drama leading up to the moment we breathe our last. It is a walk on the wild side of family life and the events, people, and places that make us who we are.

As Jonah reflects on his life an asymmetrical pattern featuring a thousand shades of grey appears as if caught up in a fragmented kaleidoscope - the introduction of any colour negated for fear of denoting some appeal. He’d lived a fruitless existence built around fear and addiction, the blueprint to his life; his twin brother stillborn moments before Jonah’s birth. The guilt he harboured over his brother’s death kept him sedated. His mother’s overprotective parenting supported this inertia. An addict, Jonah struggled through life seeing multiple therapists over his seemingly endless issues until a chance meeting attempts to rewrite his abject history.

Severn was born in a Christian home with an alcoholic mother whose addiction became intolerable after Severn’s father died when she was ten. The affluent lifestyle she was accustomed to remained, but her family life collapsed soon after, leaving her to fend for herself. One fateful night in 1973 Severn was abducted, and any issues she’d had with her past paled in comparison to the life she was forced to endure.

Darnell had it tough his whole life. At 17 his abusive father was killed in a raid on his illegal business, while Darnell’s mother had been shot dead the year before. Discovering a large sum of money upon his father’s death offered Darnell the opportunity to flee his impoverished neighbourhood and change his luck, and that of others along the way.

Lives are lived and lost ubiquitously, these three just so happened to be in the same city along a similar timeline. Can life be more than the sum of one’s own experiences?

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Born in Toronto, Canada, Poeltl went on to study fine art and illustration, honing his love for storytelling while working as a freelance illustrator. Soon the art of writing overtook his artistic pursuits and his stories found their voice.

Michael Poeltl is a multi-genre author with several books ranging from a post-apocalyptic trilogy, science fiction trilogy, upmarket fiction, children’s fantasy, picture books, and educational children’s books. Poeltl’s illustrations feature prominently in his picture books, connecting him to his artistic roots.

He enjoys the processes that drive creativity whether it appears as a conversation in his head while enjoying time outdoors in his kayak or mountain bike, or as a random thought that might otherwise be lost were it not for that napkin on the table or phone in his pocket. If the artistic endeavor has taught him anything, it’s that inspiration can happen anywhere and at any time. All he can hope to do is record it before it slips back into the ether.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway for No Birds Sing Here by Daniel V. Meier Jr.

 

No Birds Sing Here

by Daniel V. Meier Jr.

Genre: Satirical Literary Fiction

Satire at its best!

In this indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time, two young people, Beckman and Malany set out on an odyssey to find meaning and reality in the artistic life, and in doing so unleash a barrage of humorous, unintended consequences.

Beckman and Malany's journey reflects the allegorical evolution of humanity from its primal state, represented by Beckman's dismal life as a dishwasher to the crude, medieval development of manking in a pool hall, and then to the false but erudite veneer of sophistication of the academic world.

The world these protagonists life in is a world without love. It has every other variety of drive and emotion, but not love. Do they know it? Not yet. And they won't until they figure out why no birds sing here.

Meier's writing is precise and detailed, whether the situation he describes is clear or ambiguous.

Fans of Franzen and Salinger will find Meier to be another sharp, provocative writer of our time.

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A retired Aviation Safety Inspector for the FAA, Daniel V. Meier, Jr. has always had a passion for writing. During his college years, he studied History at The University of North Carolina Wilmington and American Literature at The University of Maryland Graduate School. In 1980 he was published by Leisure Books under the pen name of Vice Daniels. He also worked briefly for the Washington Business Journal as a journalist and has been a contributing writer/editor for several aviation magazines.

Dan and his wife live in Owings, Maryland, about twenty miles south of Annapolis and when he's not writing, they spend their summers sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

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