Blurb Blitz Tour: Cops in Space

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back author Gail Koger. Today, Gail shares her new release, Cops in Space.

Blurb

Once upon a time, I was a “normal” teenager. Now I’m a galactic cop with a deadly predator as my boss. I get to deal with flesh eating monsters, alien babies, hunky warlords, space battles and not so bright bad guys. Plus, the fate of the universe rests in our hands. What could possibly go wrong? Did I mention the baby? (It’s a boy).

Excerpt

Jaxor let out a hungry wail.

Crap. I pulled his bottle out of my side pocket and held out my arms.

Qa’a plucked the baby out of the bassinet and handed him to me. Jaxor’s tentacles wrapped around my wrist as I popped the bottle of milk in his mouth. “Such a hungry little guy.” I looked up at Kaelen. “We’re gonna need more milk.”

“Xylar will provide for him,” Uncle Zarek said.

I frowned. “Who?”

Uncle Zarek gestured at the glittering blue light blossoming in front of us. “His father.”

The light faded and there stood an enormous Askole warrior in battle armor. His tentacles squirmed wildly about his snakelike features as his gaze locked on Jaxor.

“Your son is unharmed, but very hungry,” I said.

The Askole warrior carefully picked Jaxor up and a short tug of war ensued. The little guy wasn’t going to let go of the bottle or my wrist. I winced when he stung me. “Do not sting Aunty Lexi,” I admonished.

“His mother died with honor.” Kaelen inserted and helped peel off Jaxor’s sticky little tentacles.

Xylar held Jaxor against his chest like he was the most precious thing in the galaxy. “I welcome you to our clan, Lexi. I will accept you as my mate.”

“Uh. What?”

Kaelen pushed me behind him. “Lexi is my mate.”

“She is not wearing your ownership band.”

“Ownership band?” I squawked.

Uncle Zarek suddenly stood toe-to-toe with Xylar. “Lexi is blood of my blood and not yet twenty-one. She has bonded with Kaelen.”

“Jaxor marked this female as his mother. That mark allows me to claim her,” Xylar stated with absolute finality.

Author Bio and Links

I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea of what a real emergency is. Take this for an example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am, but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone, I took up writing.

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Giveaway

Gail Koger will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Gail on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Book Review: Theo of Golden

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Allen Levi did not expect anyone beyond his family and close friends to read this novel. A lawyer, judge, and musician, he simply wanted to test his creative limits and discover whether he “had the muscle to write a piece of long fiction.” If he succeeded, he planned to tuck the manuscript away in a drawer and return to his regular life.

Fortunately, his friends had other ideas. They persuaded him to release Theo of Golden, which he self-published in the fall of 2023. The novel sold 3,000 copies that year, followed by 24,000 in 2024, before its popularity exploded. A word-of-mouth phenomenon, its remarkable trajectory has surprised readers, booksellers, and publishers. Theo of Golden has spent 34 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List in the Paperback Trade Fiction category.

Levi has crafted a beautifully written, character-driven story that tugs at the heartstrings. Set in the fictional Georgia town of Golden, the story revolves around Theo, an elderly gentleman with old-world manners, quiet wisdom, and a genuine interest in others. From the start, an air of mystery surrounds him. The townspeople are curious about his past, but every attempt to uncover it is met with deflection.

The storyline begins when Theo visits a local coffee shop and notices ninety-two framed pencil portraits adorning its walls. Moved by the faces before him, he is inspired to connect each pencil drawing with the person represented. He buys each portrait, invites the subject of the drawing to a park bench, gifts the portrait, and then encourages them to tell their story. Theo possesses that rare gift of looking into a person’s eyes, listening without judgment, and walking alongside them through seasons of joy and sorrow, hope and regret.

A colorful supporting cast appears, among them a night janitor whose daughter is hospitalized after a tragic accident, a gifted young cellist, a homeless woman struggling with mental health issues, a bookstore owner facing bankruptcy, and the prolific artist who created the original portraits.

Levi has a wonderful eye for detail and an extraordinary gift for creating a strong sense of place. I could easily imagine myself walking alongside Theo as he wandered through the sidewalks of the Boughery, a gentrified neighborhood of “vintage homes and tastefully pampered lawns that like the rest of the city awaited the full pastel explosion of springtime. The fuse of that explosion was burning shorter and shorter as new blossoms opened each day in abundance.”

The following evocative passage transports the reader into Theo’s childhood:

“If Ellen had been able to see the picture in his mind at that moment, she would have beheld a little boy on a simple child’s bike, painted red with a basket on the front, pedaling vigorously through Pinhão, en route to the local baker for bread and cheese. The scent of crushed grapes is rich in his nostrils; his feet, ankles, and calves are stained slightly purple; and his elbows are spread wide, like bent wings, as he speeds by tile-fronted shops and houses under the Portuguese sky.”

The ending caught me off guard. After rereading the final six chapters and epilogue, I realized how skillfully the author has woven together the many storylines. What initially seemed like separate threads reveal themselves to be part of a richly textured tapestry.

Theo of Golden is a deeply moving novel about compassion, human connection, and the ways ordinary lives can become extraordinary. It is a book that will linger long after the final page is turned.

Highly recommended!

Author’s Website: https://www.allenlevi.com

Anything is Possible

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Award-winning author Greer Macallister shared the following inspirational post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

You can do anything. You can write a book. You can get an agent, if that’s what you want, a real powerhouse. You can get a great advance. You can click with your editor in a life-changing way. You can emerge from the editing process with a beautiful book, a wonderful book, a book readers will love. You can write a bestseller. Then you can write another one, a second book that readers embrace just as warmly as the first. You can do this over and over. You can be a career writer for the rest of your life.

Is it hard to believe statements like this? Impossible? Well, in some cases, of course it is. Things like selling thousands of copies aren’t truly within our control. When I say “anything is possible,” I don’t mean it literally.

But I want you to believe it, for yourself, just for a while.

Writers seeking publication go through so many tough times. The “query trenches” can be so disheartening, so full of rejection. Once you’ve published a book, things aren’t much better: you still spend so much time worrying about whether your book will be well-received, and even if it is, the chance for disappointment with your second book is right around the corner.

The world will tell you that you can’t have the dream you want. Writing your book will be demoralizing, slow, rocky, or worse. Life will get in the way. Agents will reject you. You will have disappointing experiences with editors or other people important to your process. Your life’s work may be met with either a sea of negative reviews or resounding silence. Copies of your book will sit unpurchased. The odds are against you at the beginning, in the middle, the whole way through.

More than likely, you will hear, over and over, that what you want is impossible.

So, for a while, don’t listen.

Try the exercise. Tune out the voices saying that you can’t and tune in to your own voice telling you that you can.

Believe that you can make it happen. Believe that your mind is capable of a masterpiece. Believe that your book will find a grateful waiting audience. Believe that rejection is temporary, because it is. Believe that no one can stop you but you. Believe that your work deserves publication as much as anyone else’s. Believe that your idea will rise above the fray. Believe that a world is waiting for you, a community of writers, that will welcome and celebrate you as one of their own. Believe that no matter what obstacles life throws your way, you will persevere, pushing forward again and again to pursue your ultimate goal.

Believe that anything is possible.

How does that feel?

Source: Writer Unboxed

The Sprinter and the Long-Distance Runner

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking essay from Chellie Campbell’s book, The Wealthy Spirit.

The sprinter runs at top speed, with an all-out burst of energy, heart pounding and legs pumping to beat the wind to the finish line. Exhausted, lungs bursting at the end, the racer collapses and rests. He will sprint again. Later.

The long-distance runner cannot sprint—the course is too long. He must learn a different set of skills; he must know how to pace himself, to select those moments in which to push harder and faster, when to ease into the regular run for maintenance.

Life is not a sprint. It is a long-distance race.

Too many people are pushing themselves at top sprinting speed every day, every week, year after year. They don’t pace themselves. They don’t take a break to recover after a big push to meet a deadline—instead a new deadline takes its place and a new sprint begins. The project gets finished but another project stands urgently behind that one. And another. And another. The sales quota, when met, gets raised. Like a meal rushed to its conclusion, the achievement is gulped untasted. Burnout of mind and body arrives after too many sprints in a row.

When was your last vacation? When was your last three-day weekend? What day of the week is your “Do Nothing Day”?

Are you trying to sprint long distance?

Source: The Wealthy Spirit, p. 251.

Blurb Blitz: The Deadly Tea by Rachel Dacus

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author and poet Rachel Dacus. Today, Rachel shares her new release, The Deadly Tea.

Blurb

Most sleuths don’t have the advantage of talking to the murder victim for clues, but Saffron has a window into the afterlife. The problem is, she’s not a detective and has no wish to be.

In the charming heart of London’s Notting Hill, Saffron juggles motherhood, running an animal welfare foundation, and counseling recently deceased spirits—the invisibles. But her peaceful routine is upended when a spirit insists she solve the mystery of his untimely death. Lucas Troy pops into her awareness claiming he was killed and demanding she figure out who did it. He wants justice before he’ll agree to move on. ButSaffron’s role isn’t to play detective, but to help each invisible plan for the next adventure in living. She asks Lucas if he suspects anyone in the circle at his aunt’s tea party where he died. He can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill him, but he persuades Saffron to interview them all.

She feels for Lucas, who had hardly begun his life, and she tries to persuade him that he can have a great future next lifetime, but finally she gives in and agrees to a little investigating. If she finds out something, perhaps he’ll agree to move forward. But the closer she gets to the possible killer, the more she’s in danger. Saffron has no wish to join Lucas in The Room Over There.

Settle in to a cozy mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the heartwarming chaos of family, and the charm of London’s Notting Hill. “Interesting characters, intriguing mystery.”

Excerpt

The letter slipped through the mail slot in their antique front door with an audible swish. Saffron happened to be there to hear and see it hit the polished wood floor. How could a letter carry such a whiff of danger? It was just an envelope, but an unusually shaped, almost square one, and so creamy as almost to be a shade of pale yellow.

But a single envelope, not the usual delivery of assorted mail. Someone besides the mailman had slipped it into their house, and with its thick cream paper and carefully lettered addresses it felt like an intrusion. It wasn’t time for the mail delivery. This was more personal.

She picked it up, turned it over, and saw a gold sticker sealing the point of the flap. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make this squarish letter seem like an invitation. The text on her phone came to mind, the warning to stop looking into Lucas’ death. Had it come from Lucas’ killer?

Holding the unopened envelope, Saffron shivered. She stepped to the hallway table and picked up the gleaming silver knife. A letter opener with scrolls and a faux Shelley family crest, gift from her sister Elinor as a joke. For easily opening letters from the living dead, as Elinor’s card had read.

Feeling slightly armed, Saffron sliced open the envelope and pulled out a heavy stock card. It was indeed an invitation.

Do you like puzzles? Come to an evening of mystery, fun, and tantalizing who-dun-it.

It was from Paul Everson, the real estate developer and possible murderer. Did he want to lure her into a trap with a snide reference to her suspicions? And how would he know she suspected him, if he wasn’t the killer?

Author Bio and Links

Rachel Dacus is the author of eight novels and five poetry collections. Her fiction features love and relationships, exotic locations and intrepid heroines, and emotional journeys of self-discovery, all with a touch of the supernatural. Her poetry, stories, and essays have appeared widely in print and online literary journals and anthologies. She enjoys life in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, with its coast and trails where she walks her tiny but mighty Silky Terrier with her architect husband.

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Giveaway

Rachel Dacus will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Rachel on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

The Higher You Go, the Clearer You See

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

When hikers get lost and they’re trying to figure out exactly where they are, they look to go higher. A higher vantage point gives them a better perspective.

The same is true for us. Sometimes it’s hard to see where we’re going because we have limited vision. We can become confused by our problems and unsure where to go next because we don’t have the right perspective. In order to get God’s perspective, spend your quiet time with Him going higher.

Hike past ingratitude; climb above doubt and discouragement. If you choose higher expectations and higher hopes, you’ll begin to get a new perspective—a godly perspective. And when that happens, you’re going to be able to see God’s plan for your life clearer than you ever have before.

Source: Quiet Times With God by Joyce Meyer.

Happy Birthday, Dalai Lama!

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Today, the Dalai Lama celebrates his 91st birthday. He is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a global advocate for compassion, nonviolence, and peace. Born in 1935 as Tenzin Gyatso, he was recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in childhood. After fleeing Tibet in 1959, he settled in India, where he has continued to promote dialogue, religious harmony, and human values worldwide.

Each morning, he recites the Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity and sets the following intention:




Spotlight on Sworn to Collide

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Maria Imbalzano. Today, Maria shares her new release, Sworn to Collide.

Blurb

After devoting eleven years of marriage to Ben, her high school sweetheart, and stepping off the corporate ladder to raise their three children, Denise is ready to seize the reins of the career she always dreamed of. But as soon as she commits to step back into the professional world, Ben drops a bombshell that disrupts everything. Suddenly, this once rock-solid couple finds themselves in a battle over ambition, identity, and whose turn it is to shine. As personal choices draw them further and further apart, they must confront their widening rift—a threat to the love they thought was unshakeable. Can they rediscover the passion they once shared, or will their divergent paths pull them apart for good?

Excerpt

My sleepless night had produced tons of ammunition to shoot at Ben this morning. He hadn’t been able to sneak many words in since I started.

“So what do you think?”

Nothing. I had clearly silenced him.

He twisted his neck as if to ease the tension. “We’re a family, Denise. I want my family with me. I don’t want to live hundreds of miles apart and commute on the weekends. That’s not a life. That’s not what we signed up for.”

Anger kicked up a storm. “You’re right. We are a family. And you made a decision without even speaking to me. I know a promotion is what you wanted, but we never talked about moving out of Princeton. This is all new. And scary. And unwanted. I want my family with me too. I want my family here, and I want to work with my father. As we’d always planned. I don’t want to move to Boston.”

The exact words finally spewed out of my mouth with anger instead of appeasement—demanding instead of persuasive. The words Nicki had convinced me to say were irrevocably out there.

I had found the voice that had gotten lost among the carpools, laundry, playdates, and cold dinners. But it was much too loud.

Author Bio and Links

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels. When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states. Maria lives in central New Jersey with her husband–not far from her two daughters. For more information about her books, please visit her website at http://mariaimbalzano.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Maria is a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and has received many honors and awards for her work including the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award, the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers Award, The NEST (National Excellence In Story Telling) Award, the Carolyn Award, Book Buyers Best Award, The Stiletto Reader’s Choice Award, Long & Short Reviews Book of the Month Award (3rd Place for Book of the Year), and Still Moments Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.

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Amazon Author Page | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Maria on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Riveted from the first page, I struggled to put down this well-plotted, character-driven novel. I immediately connected with Denise and felt deeply invested in her emotional journey as she navigated a painful period in her marriage. At the same time, I found myself empathizing with her husband, Ben, whose impulsive decision sent shockwaves through their family and forced everyone to confront difficult truths.

What impressed me most was the author’s ability to present both perspectives with honesty and compassion. As the story unfolded, I often found myself questioning what I would do in Denise’s position and whether a marriage can withstand the cumulative weight of betrayal, disappointment, and unmet expectations. The never-ending roller coaster of events—a father’s heart attack, a child’s defiance, a possible affair, and long-buried resentments—kept me reading well into the night.

Ms. Imbalzano has crafted a powerful novel that explores the choices, compromises, sacrifices, and unspoken needs that shape contemporary marriages. A must-read for fans of emotional women’s fiction!




Virtual Book Tour: A Duchess with a Secret

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Alix Nichols. Today, Alix shares her creative journey and new release, A Duchess with a Secret.

Here’s Alix!

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

The best part is having permission to make things up—and actually getting paid for it! I get to create entire worlds, develop larger-than-life characters, and shape their destinies however I want. It’s pure creative freedom, and there’s nothing quite like the thrill of typing “The End” on a story that only existed in my head a few months earlier.

The worst part? It’s a solitary occupation. While I genuinely enjoy the quiet focus, there are days when the silence feels a little too loud. That’s when I miss the casual chat of a busy office or the energy of working alongside other people. It can get lonely every once in a while, which is probably why I’ve developed such a strong café habit!

Describe your writing space.

I usually write in cafés. Given that I live in France, my writing space is therefore a typical French bistro, with its wicker chairs, marble-topped tables, and the gentle clink of coffee cups. I love the comforting aroma of fresh espresso and buttery croissants, the soft murmur of conversations around me, and the occasional chorus of two or three snoring dogs (pooches are welcome in most French cafés). There’s just the right amount of background energy—enough to feel connected to the world, but not so much that it distracts me. The waiters are charmingly efficient, and I’ve come to think of my favorite corner table as my unofficial office.

What is your favorite quote?

“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear” by George Addair. I love this quote so much that I wrote an entire book around it. Titled “The Devil’s Own Chloe,” it’s part of the Bistro La Bohème series. The idea that fear is often the only thing standing between us and the life (or love) we want really resonates with me. It’s a message I return to again and again, both in my writing and in my own life.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I would thrive on just four hours of sleep a night. Why not zero, you might ask? Because I’d get bored being awake while everyone else is asleep. Four hours feels like the perfect compromise.

What are you working on next?

I’m currently working on the next book in the Montevor Royals series. I haven’t decided on the final title yet, but I can tell fans of the series that this one will feature an exciting key chase that takes the characters to some interesting places. It’s shaping up to be full of adventure, secrets, and plenty of royal romance!

Blurb

For sixteen years, they’ve hated each other…
and craved each other.

Widowed and betrayed, Eva Castellane will do anything to protect her daughter’s inheritance.
Standing in her way?
Alex Castellane—her late husband’s steely, magnetic half brother.
The man poised to take it all.
Her worst enemy.
Her forbidden temptation.

Stuck together in the family castle, their legal fight spirals into war…
until a common threat forces a reluctant alliance.
Desire blurs the lines.
Chemistry sizzles.
Rules get broken.

But as the verdict nears, one slip could unravel Eva’s explosive secret…

A Duchess with a Secret stands alone within the Montevor Royals Saga. It is a spicy contemporary enemies-to-lovers romance with forced proximity, family secrets, and a hard-won HEA.

Excerpt

Eva

“He’s here,” Millie whispers.

I don’t look. I don’t need to.

The man she’s warning me about radiates a chill so palpable I can sense which door he entered through. The air in Fort Vauclairt’s reception hall, warmed by hundreds of flickering candles and the breath of mourners grows colder by the second.

Of course, Alex would show up! Nothing like a funeral to size up how much of the estate he can have, just because he happens to share the same father as Geoffroy.

I’m being unfair, I know.

After all, Alex is the old duke’s second son. In neighboring France, the math prodigy would’ve inherited half of the duchy when Rodolphe passed.

Then again, there are no dukes or duchies in the Republic of France, nor are we subject to its laws. We’re old school in Mount Evor. Here, the principles of primogeniture and representation still reign supreme. The firstborn takes it all. The child comes before the sibling. With both Geoffroy and Julian gone, Millie’s birthright ensures that she inherits everything.

The only way Alex Castellane gets a chunk of the estate is if Geoffroy named him in his will. Which I know he didn’t. My late husband and his younger half brother had been estranged long before I met and married Geoffroy Castellane, a dashing widower twice my age.

Alex will get nothing or next to nothing. And Millie will be the next Duchess of Rohinn.

He knows this, of course he does. Yet he carries his tall, infuriatingly well-proportioned form with confidence, which lends an air of legitimacy to his potential claims.

Author Bio and Links

Alix Nichols is a caffeine addict, a longtime fan of Mr. Darcy. She pens sexy romantic comedies and romantasy. Her books have been described as “pure pleasure” (Kirkus Reviews) that “keep fans of romance hanging off the edge of their seat” (Romantic Times).

At the age of six, she released her first book. It featured highly creative spelling on a dozen pages stitched together and bound in velvet paper.

Decades later, she lives in France and still writes. Her spelling has improved (somewhat), she has become a Kindle Scout winner, Chanticleer First Place winner, USA Today bestseller, Book Riot’s Top 100 Must-Read International Romance author, and Amazon All-Star for being one of the 100 most-read authors in Kindle Unlimited.

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Giveaway

Alix Nichols will be awarding a digital box set of her bestselling series The Darcy Brothers to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Alix on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.