Tag: guest post

Blog Tour: Last Witness by Carys Jones

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I’m delighted to host today’s stop on the blog tour for Last Witness by Carys Jones. Last Witness is the sequel to the bestselling psychological thriller, Wrong Number. I’m pleased to say that Carys has written a guest post on ‘Getting into Character’ which you can read below.

Spoiler Alert: If you intend to read Wrong Number, you may want to skip to the guest post. To purchase Wrong Number click here

LastWitnessAbout the Book

With her husband gone, and his legacy in her hands, Amanda Thorne is hell-bent on revenge.

Amanda Thorne is on a mission to avenge her husband. Restoring his honour and protecting his legacy will be dangerous, but she will not rest until all those who have hurt her loved-ones have been dealt with.  Her only option is to go undercover in the murky world of the gang kingpin McAllister. So, with her loyal companion Shane by her side, she heads back to Scotland to finish what they started.

McAllister’s world is one of seedy nightclubs, drug deals and beautiful women, but he is a hard man to get close to. As Amanda gets deeper and deeper into his dangerous world, what secrets from the past will come back to haunt her, and will she be able to protect the last witness to the truth?

A compelling, heart-stopping thriller which you won’t be able to put down…

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Book Facts

  • Format: Paperback
  • Publisher: Aria
  • No. of pages: 300
  • Publication date: 1st May 2017
  • Genre: Thriller

Purchase links*
Amazon
Kobo 
iBooks 
Google Play 
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme)
Find Last Witness on Goodreads

Guest post: ‘Getting into Character’ by Carys Jones

In my books my characters are always so real to me that they feel like friends. I know everything about them – their favourite food, movies, what their early morning routine is. In many ways I tend to know them better than I do myself. But it doesn’t start out that way.  Whenever I start a new book I have to get to know my characters.  I tend to go about this by figuring out their core.  I think that a person’s central characteristics reveal a lot about them and have a ripple effect on their actions.

Take Aiden Connelly from my Avalon series. At his core he is desperate to do good and it’s this drive to do good that ultimately causes him to make mistakes. He’s always doing things for the right reason but that doesn’t mean that they are the right thing to do.  With Wrong Number and Last Witness, at his core Will Thorn is protective. He’s protective of Amanda and she loves that about him and it’s these instincts which drive his story.

So when I’m writing a new character I ask myself what characteristic defines them above all others. With Amanda it’s her determination. Curiosity is a close second but at her core she’s determined. It’s this tenacious attitude which makes her feel compelled to find Will in the first book and in the second to protect those closest to her. She always refuses to sit back and be a victim because she’s so determined.

I even look at myself this way. At my core I’m imaginative. This bleeds out in to all aspects of my life from my career to how I spend my free time.

What lies at your core? What about some of your favourite characters? People by their nature are complex but I think, when getting to know a character, it really helps to figure out the heart of their personality. Are they inherently cruel, kind, shy, afraid, fearless? And how will that core characteristic shape their journey?

I love getting to know characters. I feel like each time I do I end up learning a little bit more about myself xoxo

 Jones_CarysAbout the Author

Carys Jones loves nothing more than to write and create stories which ignite the reader’s imagination. Based in Shropshire, England, Carys lives with her husband, two guinea pigs and her adored canine companion Rollo.

Connect with Carys

Goodreads   https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314534.Carys_Jones
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarysJAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarysJonesWriter/
Website: http://www.carys-jones.com/

Connect with Aria Fiction

Website: www.ariafiction.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ariafiction/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aria_Fiction
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariafiction/?hl=en
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Book Blitz/Giveaway: Breaker and the Sun by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

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BreakerAndTheSunBlitzBanner-1

I’m delighted to be taking part in the book blitz for Breaker and the Sun by Lauren Nicolle Taylor. It’s the second book in Lauren’s Paper Stars series, a follow-up to the best-selling Nora & Kettle.

WinWe’re spoiling you today because, as well as a guest post from Lauren to read below, there’s a giveaway with a chance to win a Clean Teen Publishing Mystery Box (ebook for INTL winner). Make sure you enter by 18th May 2017.

To enter the giveaway, click here

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BreakerandtheSunAbout the Book

Times means nothing. It’s just the sun and moon changing places.

Breaker Van Winkle is a recently returned Vietnam vet, struggling with PTSD and the difficulties of readjusting to civilian life with his mother. Sunny is a high-achieving eighteen-year-old Chinese-French immigrant who fled Vietnam during the war. Sunny is usually as cheerful as her name implies, but she has her struggles too. Haunted by violent memories of the bombing that killed her parents, and chafing under the rule of her eccentric grandmother, she finds solace deep in the Catskills, at a place she calls the Ugly Tree.

When Breaker stumbles upon Sunny and the Ugly Tree, things start to change. They are drawn to each other, and feel called to the tree. As they spend more time together and their relationship deepens, they notice that their time at the tree is becoming twisted somehow. Sunny’s mind yawns and her ambitions begin to slip away. Breaker feels safe and carefree, his memories finally burying themselves in the distant past. They are being lulled toward a tempting, peaceful sleep—but there is a cost to this magical serenity, and it may be more than either of them can bear…

Breaker and the Sun promoBook Facts

  • Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
  • Publication date: 8th May 2017
  • Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Purchase links*

Amazon.com
B&N
iBooks
Kobo
* links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Breaker and the Sun on Goodreads

Guest Post by Lauren Nicolle Taylor: ‘How is Breaker and the Sun a sequel to Nora & Kettle?’

The short answer is; it’s not. It’s about different characters and it’s set in a different time. The long answer is; but it is… Both stories are explorations of those years just following the end of a war. The wounds left behind on the survivors, civilian and non-civilian.

The books centre around two young people struggling to overcome adversity, seemingly pelted with outside attacks and huddling against the internal scars they carry. What softens these confronting issues of racism, violence and PTSD is the fairytales woven through both novels. My hope is they provide relief and beauty against the harsh realities the characters are facing.

And finally, love. They are both about star-crossed love: Interracial relationships in an intolerant environment. The kind of prejudice bred by war. Differences in class and education. But they find solace in each other. They begin to heal.

The characters are certainly independent of each other and have their own personalities but their stories follow common threads, similar journeys. I would say if you loved Nora & Kettle, you will find Breaker and the Sun very enjoyable.

BreakerandtheSunTeaser

SONY DSCAbout the Author

Lauren Nicolle Taylor lives in the lush Adelaide Hills. The daughter of a Malaysian nuclear physicist and an Australian scientist, she was expected to follow a science career path, attending Adelaide University and completing a Health Science degree with Honours in obstetrics and gynaecology.

She then worked in health research for a short time before having her first child. Due to their extensive health issues, Lauren spent her twenties as a full-time mother/carer to her three children. When her family life settled down, she turned to writing.

She is a 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist and a USA Best Book Awards Finalist.

Connect with Lauren

Website http://www.laurennicolletaylor.com/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7201181.Lauren_Nicolle_Taylor
Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/TheWoodlandSeries
Twitter https://twitter.com/LaurenNicolleT

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