Spotlight on Secrets We Keep

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press author Valeriya Gofe. Today, Valeriya shares her new release, Secrets We Keep.

Blurb

A rising star that fell…

Anna Levenko was set to become the next “it girl” in tennis. The first Ukrainian prophesied to win a Grand Slam… And then everything changed. Years later, with a business degree behind her, an unpaid job keeping her busy, and a family that means well, Anna can’t help but dream of something bigger. What’s one little white lie in the grand scheme of things?

But her dream job isn’t just sunshine and roses. Her first project takes her to Tanzania, and everything that could go wrong, does. Not to mention her woeful love life. Will she ever reach the life she’s worked so hard for? Or is success just not in the cards for Anna?

Excerpt

Finally, the trip began, and Anna got a bit distracted by the spectacular landscape. The Indian Ocean was gorgeous, with its bright and clear turquoise waters, and they were passing a lot of different, interesting vessels. Some of them were ordinary boats and yachts which Anna was used to seeing in the States, but others had triangular lateen sails and sharp bows. These boats were both big and small, and some were tiny with just one fisherman sitting in them.

“These are called dhow boats,” Jean said, pointing at a few of the traditional vessels sailing by. “It is a typical East African boat. In the past, merchants were traveling in such boats all the way to and from India carrying all kinds of heavy items—fruit, water, different merchandise—”

“I love these,” she interrupted with excitement. “They are so beautiful and romantic. They look like the vessels from fairy tales.”

By now, Anna was no longer scared; she even got up and walked around the boat, enjoying the scenery around her. The boat was moving at a good speed and would be reaching the destination in no time.

Anna tried not to look at Jean but eventually she could not help taking a peek at him sitting on the bench, totally in his element, relaxed with his blond hair flowing in the wind. He took his T-shirt off, and Anna was able to see he had a deep tan and was muscular—maybe a couple of inches shorter than David and also thinner.

Author Bio and Links

Valeriya Goffe was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine and spent most of her adult life in the United States. She resides in Washington DC together with her husband and young daughter. Valeriya works for a large international development organization, leading financial sector development projects in various countries. She holds a PhD degree from the Kyiv National University of Economics in Ukraine and an MBA degree from the Kogod School of Business, American University in Washington DC. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder. Valeriya is trilingual in English, Russian, Ukrainian and also speaks French and Spanish.

Book Link | Website | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | Email

Giveaway

The author will award a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

Centered around Anna, a young Ukrainian woman with ambitions well beyond her humble beginnings, the storyline pivots between the competitive tennis world and a coveted job in environmental conservation. An expert storyteller, Ms. Goffe writes with precision and empathy as she describes the diverse backdrops—Ukraine, Washington D.C., and Tanzania—of this well-plotted, character-driven novel. I could easily imagine myself walking alongside Anna in those locales as she dealt with workplace and relationship challenges. I also appreciated the inclusion of a glossary.

Beautifully written, Secrets We Keep is a must-read for fans of women’s multicultural fiction.

Excerpt Tour: A Cure for Spring Fever

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Barbara Robinson. Today, Barbara shares her new release, A Cure for Spring Fever.

Blurb

For centuries, Gamekeepers have used their magical abilities to create a buffer between the creatures who dwell in the enchanted forest and the sleepy coastal town that sits in its shadow. When Gamekeeper Stan Ross’s magic begins to fail, he must find out what went wrong, then fix it before the two worlds collide. His hit or miss magic has already led to a few close calls so he journeys to the Sacred Isle searching for answers and advice. Finding a cure proves elusive—until Stan encounters a kitchen witch who captivates him body and soul. Lynnette Peters is healing from her own wounds, however, and it isn’t clear whether she’s ready to open herself to the possibility—or the peril—of love.

Excerpt

“I chose to play it safe, but it turns out there is nowhere safe after all. I still feel the way I feel about him, whether I’m with him or not. Only this way, I can’t do anything about it. I can’t even talk to him.”

“What if you could?” Leslie asked. “I mean, what if there was a way to see him again and give him the signal that you’re still interested? You said he’s a gamekeeper, didn’t you?” Pausing to rifle through the pile of mail on her kitchen counter, Leslie produced a pamphlet announcing a grand opening of the public green space surrounding the enchanted forest.

“It’s this weekend,” Lynnette exclaimed, raising her voice in her excitement. “No way to know for certain if he’ll be there, but an event like this is usually an all-hands-on-deck sort of event. It says that they’ll have interpretive booths, guided trail walks and supervised interactions with some of the creatures who live in the forest. That’s a lot of manpower.”

“So you’ll go, then?”

“A herd of kelpies couldn’t keep me away” Lynnette replied, her eyes twinkling. Lifting her arms in a cat-like stretch she shot a smile at her friend. “Top me up. Things are looking less bleak by the minute.”

Author Bio and Links

Barbara Robinson is an author of contemporary and historical romance set against a backdrop of magical realism. She is a deep thinker and tea drinker who finds inspiration in myths and folktales, poems and ballads, and academic writing on a variety of subjects. Diagnosed with autism and giftedness as an adult, she enjoys exploring themes of neurodiversity and opposing character perspectives in her writing.

She is an avid gardener and lover of nature who works out plot lines and character sketches while nurturing her garden, walking in the woods, or sitting by the shoreline watching waves. She is known for world building that features rich and immersive detail, supported by meticulous research and careful observation.

Barbara lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, in the shadow of ancient mountains that lie along the Bay of Fundy coast. These rugged vistas shape her story settings, while providing the perfect backdrop for life with her husband, her hounds and her dragon (Pogona Vitticeps). She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of King’s College and a Master of Arts at Dalhousie University, and she recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers (Humber College, Toronto).

Website | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

The author will award a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

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

Celebrating National Poetry Month

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.

April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to celebrate poetry and its vital place in our society. Today, and for the next three Wednesdays, I will be sharing four thought-provoking poems I have discovered this past year.

The following poem was written by Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

How to Triumph Like a Girl

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.

On Being Aware

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.

Author Liz Michalski shared the following thought-provoking advice in a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

As writers, we spend so much time in our heads, creating imaginary worlds and populating them with imaginary people, that sometimes we can miss the world we are a part of. Walking, we can be so immersed in telling ourselves the story we’re trying to write that we miss what the clouds are writing in the sky over our head. Driving, we hammer out plot holes and fail to see the scenery arcing past our windows. And it’s not just writing that carries us away. Worry and impatience for things to ‘begin’ (or for tea to boil) keep us from living – and noticing – what is happening now. The world becomes background noise to what is in our head.

But I’d argue that being aware of the details of life as we live them is important for us both as people, which of course is what matters the most, but also as writers. It’s these details, captured, that help us immerse readers in our stories, that bind them to us with that best magic – truth in our fiction. To capture the whispering sound of snow on the wind, the sharp green scent of pine needles crushed underfoot, the heavy, warm weight of a sleeping toddler in our arms, to trap them on the page and make them come alive, it helps if we have captured them in our memories first. And that can only happen if we allow ourselves to be aware of them as they happen.

So my challenge today to you, my dear friends, is to take a moment to settle into this complex world we live in, to slow down and look at it with open eyes, as if for the first time. What are you seeing or hearing or tasting or touching that on another day you might not have noticed?

Read the rest of the post here.

Blurb Blitz: Deadly Sins

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back multi-published author January Bain. Today, January shares her new release, Deadly Sins.

Blurb

Book one in the Irish Mafia Kings series

Blood for blood. Her family killed my brother, so I’ll take their princess.

I’m Quinn Lyons, Irish Mafia King, a man known for getting what he wants, and I want her, Aria Byrne. I’m going to make her pay for her family’s sins.

I didn’t intend to snatch her from her fancy engagement party, just kill her rival mobster father, but plans change in the heat of the moment. Now she’s mine to claim and possess, because what better bargaining chip could a Mafia boss have than the beloved princess of a rival family?

Until I decide I don’t ever want to let her go.

Excerpt

Quinn

My brother and partner-in-crime knocked then strode into my office at my bark to enter. “The Cullen brothers are wanting a word.” A slight twitch under Devlin’s right eye told me the story. “You want me to keep them waiting?”

The Cullens were in deep shit for thinking they could get away with stealing from my family. I should keep them cooling their heels all night. But hell, it might be more fun to torture them. I could use a good workout.

“Give me five and send them up.”

Devlin nodded and looked like he was about to say more before changing his mind and exiting. I shifted—the Irish king, ready for action.

Stepping up to the one-way glass overlooking the main venue of the Emerald Club, I scanned the crowd, alert for possible signs of trouble. Our family hadn’t risen to the upper echelons of Montreal’s crime families by turning a blind eye. No, we’d done it by an eye for an eye, the golden rule.

“Power isn’t handed to you. It’s seized, by whatever means necessary.”

Amen, Dad. Rest in peace.

I was a true son of my father. To everyone else, I was a monster, mob boss, a killer, king of the underworld, a man who took what he wanted. One exception to the rule—I don’t hurt innocents. But for clarity’s sake, innocence was a rare commodity in my world.

I glanced over at the huge oil painting of my father painted at the height of his power, his posture stern on the straight-backed chair, his eyes dark and shadowed, a man never to be crossed. My mother stood behind him and his four sons lined up by his side.

“Family. Honor. Security. Protecting everything we had struggled for over the years—that always comes first, son.”

I honored his words with a nod. We might have arrived on the shores of North America starving and in rags, but since then we’d fought tooth and nail to rise and take our proper place in society, aligning ourselves with people and places that mattered.

“Never forget where you came from, Quinn…or what you will die for.”

I will find his killer, Da, I promised both my father and my baby brother, Mikey.

Author Bio and Links

January Bain has wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, and every coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. To share the tales of high adventure, mysteries, and full-blown romances she has dreamed of all her life. The story you now have in your hands is the compilation of a lot of things manifesting itself for this special series. Hundreds of hours spent researching the unusual and the mundane have come together to create books that features strong women who live life to the fullest, wild adventures full of twists and unforeseen turns, and hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks. She can only hope her stories will capture your imagination and touch your heart.

Blog | Twitter | Facebook Page | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway

January Bain will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

Remembering Brian Mulroney

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Earlier today, a state funeral was held at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal for Brian Mulroney, the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. A bold and transformative leader, Mr. Mulroney accomplished so much for Canada and the world.

During his tenure, he implemented a series of significant economic reforms, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the negotiation of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). He also played a key role in establishing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Never afraid to take on a fight. Mr. Mulroney supported the liberation movement in South Africa. He called for the release of Nelson Mandela and imposed sanctions upon the apartheid regime. He then persuaded Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to follow his lead. Grateful, Nelson Mandela made his first foreign visit to Canada’s parliament after his release from prison.

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney died on February 29, 2024 at the age of 84.

Here are my favourite quotations from Brian Mulroney:

Leaders must have vision and they must find the courage to fight for the policies that will give that vision life. Leaders must govern not for easy headlines in 10 days but for a better Canada in 10 years.

I can recall the splendor of the view from the highest mountaintop and the sorrow one feels in the valley of defeat. Life is an unending sequence of challenges from which no one emerges unscathed. Defeat is not something to fear but surrender is something to reject.

As difficult as the process may be to arrest and to mitigate the effects of global warming, the work cannot be left to the next fellow. The stakes are too high, the risks to our planet and the human species too grave.

Trade is Canada’s life blood. Our objective is to strengthen Canada’s stature as a first-class world trader.

Canadians have an obligation to help make the world a better and safer place. Not least, we owe it to ourselves to honor excellence and pursue it relentlessly. Canada must stand for the best in all fields of human endeavour. And we must be uncompromising in the pursuit of values that are the moral foundation of all great nations. That is my dream for my country: a Canada fair and generous, tolerant and just.

You accumulate political capital to spend it on noble causes for Canada. If you’re afraid to spend your capital, you shouldn’t be there.

You can’t be chasing 15 rabbits. Otherwise, the public mind cannot follow you.

Once you articulate an agenda, you have to follow it.

If everything is important, then nothing is important.

I am not denying anything I did not say.

On a lighter note…

Blessed with a beautiful baritone voice, our former prime minister loved to sing and considered himself a “frustrated saloon singer.” A recording of Brian Mulroney singing ‘We’ll Meet Again’ was played at his funeral, fulfilling a final wish of the former prime minister. Here’s the link:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video/c2890921-mulroney-sings–we-ll-meet-again–at-his-funeral?playlistId=1.6819632

Finding Your Writing Groove

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series

I’m happy to welcome author and illustrator Joanna Vander Vlugt. Today, Joanna shares her new release, Spy Girls.

Here’s Joanna!

Briefly describe your first act.

I spent 34 years working as a Supreme Court Assistant in the prosecutor’s office (Crown Counsel Office) in Nanaimo and Victoria, BC. I then worked at the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. I began writing when I was 25 while working full-time raising two small children. I had three short stories published during that time. After approximately 10 years of writing and many rejection letters, I stopped. I had studied to become a personal trainer and fitness instructor, and I couldn’t do it all. I’d like to stress that at that time, I believed I would never write again. My friends would ask me, “Have you done any writing lately?” I would say, “No. It’s not my priority.”

What triggered the need for change?

I believe if you’re a creative person, even if you stop being creative, it will resurface. My mom used to say to me, “The creativity is bubbling inside you.” I created art as a teenager. I had stopped creating art when I entered the workforce. Jump ahead 30 years and my mom has been moved into a care home, I began creating art again and selling motorcycle illustrations. My mom was my biggest supporter. I still hadn’t started writing. Six months after my mom passed, I thought about the manuscript I had written 20 years ago. I pulled it out and thought if the story was “salvageable,” I would re-write it and self-publish. The cool thing about reading that manuscript was even though I had written it, I had forgotten who was the murderer. I was reading it as a reader, not as the writer. That manuscript turned into The Unravelling, which was a Canadian Book Club Awards Finalist. A month after that book was published, I had the idea for Dealer’s Child, the second novel in this series, which was also a finalist in the Canadian Book Club Awards. My art then inspired my writing and my characters, and my writing inspired my art. That is why my heroines ride motorcycles.

Where are you now?

My third novel in my Jade & Sage series, Spy Girls, is coming out March 16, 2024. I am writing novels that I never thought I would write. I’m finishing up the first draft of a time travel, giving my characters, Jade and Sage, a break before I write the fourth book in the Jade Thyme thriller series. I’m also retired so I’m able to write full-time and pursue art projects, such as creating illustrations for a graphic novel.

Do you have advice for anyone planning to pursue a second act?

I’m living proof of that cliché, “never say never.” I never thought I would write again. I never thought I’d create art again. I’m doing both. If you are writing and working full-time, you are not alone. When I worked full-time, I’d write during my lunch hours. What I didn’t expect, after working 34 years for the government, was how I floundered when I retired. I needed to figure out my writing schedule. For so many years I dreamed about being a full-time writer. I was now at that stage in my life and I didn’t know what to do. I realized that I needed to treat my writing as a job. When that realization clicked, I had my writing routine figured out. My two dogs know at 9:00 am, when I have my coffee in my hands and walk down the hall, it’s time to head to the office where they’ll find their dog beds.

Any affirmations or quotations you wish to share?

I try every night before I fall asleep to say thank you and be grateful. To quote my mother, “We have a roof over our heads and food on the table.” When it comes to writing and the publishing industry, the one rule which needs to be stitched on a pillow is, “do not compare.” Everyone’s writing journey is unique. Appreciate recognition, be it big or small, and keep writing the stories you want to read.

Blurb

A CIA action officer is released from prison. A Chief Justice is murdered, and the Law Society is scrutinizing Jade Thyme’s conduct. Jade’s life can’t get much worse until she is coerced into finding an elusive double agent. Tangled in lies and political agendas, high speed chases and sticky bombs, can Jade outplay a dangerous Russian assassin before her own life is terminated?

Excerpt

Adam recognized the mob boss, who was in town for business when he was arrested in an after-hours nightclub. This was the mobster’s second assault in two weeks, and he was now being held in custody until his bail hearing. Adam stepped away from the table when he saw the red box on a cabinet.

Was it . . . her? He flipped the lid and pulled out cotton. Teeth. Upper and lower jaw, gold-plated. Crap. Katriona had been here. Maybe he should show the teeth to Elyssia? Get his point across as to who they were messing with.

The door opened. Elyssia’s voice was now at gunshot decibels. “We are through!” Dressed in a sparkling purple mini-dress, white fur shawl and purple ostrich feather stilettos, she pulled wheeled luggage behind her.

Jan followed. “Elyssia, listen. It’s a bad time right—”

“When isn’t it a bad time, Jan? Every other woman comes before me. It’s not like I’m a three dressed up as a nine. I’m a nine. More than a nine, a Goddamn ten. And you treat me like crap.”

Adam looked up. He had heard that lyric, three dressed up as a nine. Where? When?

“These are dangerous—”

“We’re through.”

She marched onto the porch. The fur shawl slipped, landing on the pavement, exposing a Prince tattoo on her left shoulder.

She stopped, her legs straddling two steps.

“Your shawl,” Jan said, holding it out to her.

She grabbed it and clicked out of sight.

Jan closed the door and returned to the main living area. He rubbed his hands over his face. “Give me a minute.”

“Trooper.”

“Excuse me?”

“The rock band Trooper wrote and sang that song, 3 Dressed Up as a 9. My dad listened to them all the time.”

“Glad you’re tripping down memory lane at my expense, but we’ve got bigger issues.” Jan disappeared into another room.

Links

BookBub | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Instagram | Podcast |
Amazon Buy Link

Character vs Personality

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.

In his recent release, Hidden Potential, organizational psychologist and best-selling author Adam Grant shares the character skills and motivational structures that can help people realize their potential. Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt:

Character is often confused with personality, but they’re not the same. Personality is your predisposition—your basic instincts for how to think, feel, and act. Character is your capacity to prioritize your values over your instincts.

Knowing your principles doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to practice them, particularly under stress or pressure. It’s easy to be proactive and determined when things are going well. The true test of character is whether you manage to stand by those values when the deck is stacked against you. If personality is how your respond on a typical day, character is how you show up on a hard day.

Personality is not your destiny—it’s your tendency. Character skills enable you to transcend that tendency to be true to your principles. It’s not about the traits you have—it’s what you decide to do with them. Wherever you are today, there’s no reason why you can’t grow your character skills starting now.

Source: Hidden Potential by Adam Grant, pp. 20-21

Blurb Blitz: Helluland

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to feature C.R. Lindström’s debut novel, Helluland.

Blurb

A GIFT AWAKENING. A LEGEND REVEALED.

In a remote corner of the Arctic, unexplained phenomenon haunt an isolated community. Several people have disappeared, and somehow young Erika Holstrom knows why. Still reeling from the loss of her mother, she escapes to university, only to be followed by unsettling visions of the future.

When a Russian submarine vanishes in the far North, Erika’s nightmares suggest the answers lay buried deep in her family history. Now, just as the melting polar ice releases its sinister secrets, Erika and her friends are in a race against time to convince the skeptical authorities what is really happening in her Arctic homeland, before it’s too late.

Will they succeed, or is the frozen North lost forever…

Excerpt

Katherine was staring down the Russian defence attaché when her intelligence officer burst in the room. Realising Katherine was not alone, the J2 covered his mouth while whispering to her. “General, the USS Samuel Ronaldson is reporting they’ve lost contact with their helo.”

Damn.

“Colonel Borishov,” she breathed, “you’ll have to excuse me for a moment.”

The attaché started to protest before Katherine closed the door behind her, leaving the Russian with her chief of staff.

The Arctic headquarters in Pond Inlet’s community centre was already alive with activity. Katherine took her position at the head of a series of flat screens and looked to her J3 operations officer. “Report, please.”

“Ma’am, at approximately 20:44 Zulu, the USS Samuel Ronaldson, operating in the south-western search zone, dispatched one of its helos to act as overwatch due to deteriorating sea ice conditions.” The J3 pointed to the electronic map to his front. Katherine mentally deducted five hours from the reported time, since Zulu was based on Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT in England. The operations officer continued. “General, roughly thirty minutes later the Russian frigate Nikolay Khabalov entered the Ronaldson’s search area from the south and dispatched its own helo.”

Katherine’s face was tense. She could tell where this was leading, but hoped she was wrong. The J3 pressed on.

“Though there was considerable electronic interference at the time, at roughly 21:20 Zulu, radar contact was lost with the Khabalov and Ronaldson helos. From what we gather, they were both within the same grid square when this occurred. Ma’am, at this point we are assuming a midair collision between the helicopters. The Ronaldson has undertaken its search and rescue procedures, and we believe the Khabalov is doing the same.”

Katherine looked about the room. All eyes were on her.

“Any survivors, J3?” she asked quietly.

“Unknown at this time, ma’am, though no emergency beacons have been detected.”

Katherine pulled a notepad from the right cargo pocket of her pants and scribbled down several points before directing the operations officer.

“Engage the search and rescue protocols if not already done, and request SAR aircraft to support us from Goose Bay and Thule. Open up a secure line to both Ottawa and Washington.”

The headquarters staff started carrying out her orders when Katherine glanced grudgingly at her closed office door.

“J3, please ask Colonel Borishov to join me. He deserves to know what has happened.”

Author Bio and Buy Link

C.R. Lindström is a debut author with a passion for lore and history.

https://books2read.com/helluland

Giveaway

The author will award a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow the author on the rest of the Goddess Fish tour here.