Rocks and Flowers in a Box (Lorna & Tristan Series #2)
The wedding bells for Lorna and Tristan Blake toll doom right as the honeymoon begins with an unexpected turn in Tristan’s health. While World War II winds down, Lorna receives a letter from the War Department informing her that the brother she thought killed in action is still alive. She is overjoyed, but his return will dredge up a devastating secret about their parents’ tragic death –a secret that could destroy her new marriage and threaten her husband’s physical and mental well-being. What unfolds is balancing act of keeping the faith and shattering the pieces of the life she’s worked so hard to put back together.
Cynthia Hilston is a thirty-something-year-old stay-at-home mom of three young kids, happily married. Writing has always been like another child to her. After twenty years of waltzing in the world of fan fiction, she finally stepped away to do her debut dance with original works of fiction. Visit her website at http://www.cynthiahilston.com for more information.
In her spare time – what spare time? – she devours books, watches Doctor Who and Game of Thrones, pets her orange kitty, looks at the stars, and dreams of what other stories she wishes to tell.
Bex Ellman and Ketty Smith meet in London. As the war heats up around them, Bex and Ketty must learn to trust each other. With her friends and family in danger, Bex needs Ketty to help rescue them. For Ketty, working with Bex is a matter of survival. When Victory is declared, both will be held accountable for their decisions.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.
Rachel Churcher was born between the last manned moon landing, and the first orbital Space Shuttle mission. She remembers watching the launch of STS-1, and falling in love with space flight, at the age of five. She fell in love with science fiction shortly after that, and in her teens she discovered dystopian fiction. In an effort to find out what she wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural Technology, Childminding, and Writing for Radio.
She has worked as an editor on national and in-house magazines; as an IT trainer; and as a freelance writer and artist. She has renovated several properties, and has plenty of horror stories to tell about dangerous electrics and nightmare plumbers. She enjoys reading, travelling, stargazing, and eating good food with good friends – but nothing makes her as happy as writing fiction.
Her first published short story appeared in an anthology in 2014, and the Battle Ground series is her first long-form work. Rachel lives in East Anglia, in a house with a large library and a conservatory full of house plants. She would love to live on Mars, but only if she’s allowed to bring her books.
Budding writer Lorna Bryson is struggling to come to terms with the recent death of her father when she meets Monkey Arkwright, the boy who loves to climb. The two strike up an immediate rapport, and Monkey challenges her to write about him, claiming that he can show her things that are worth writing about.
True to his word, Lorna is catapulted into Monkey’s world of climbing and other adventures in the churches, woodlands and abandoned places in and around their home town of Culverton Beck.
When the two teenagers find an ancient coin in the woods, claims from potential owners soon flood in, including the mysterious Charles Gooch, who is adamant that the coin is his. But this is only the opening act in a much larger mystery that has its roots in some dark deeds that took place more than a century earlier.
Combining their talents, Lorna and Monkey set about fitting the pieces together in a tale of budding friendship, train-obsessed simpletons, the shadow of Napoleon and falling pianos.
Rob Campbell was born in the blue half of Manchester.
He studied Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Manchester Polytechnic, gaining an honours degree, but the fact that he got a U in his Chemistry O-Level helps to keep him grounded.
Having had a belly full of capacitors and banana plugs, on graduation he transferred his skills to software engineering. He still writes code by day, but now he writes novels by night. Listing his pastimes in no particular order, he loves music, reading and holidays, but he is partial to the words and music of Bruce Springsteen.
His favourite authors are David Morrell, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch & Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
He lives in Manchester with his wife and two daughters.
Today I’m helping Love Books Tours and Eoghan Egan to celebrate the release of Hiding in Plain Sight by Eoghan Egan. The official launch is on the 11th of January in Ireland and you are cordially invited. Your invitation below, for now here is more information about the book and the author.
The stunning debut from Ireland’s hottest new crime writer
A vicious serial killer roams the Irish Midlands, with his sights set on the next victim.
A successful businessman has found the perfect recipe for getting away with murder.
No bodies, no evidence.
No evidence, no suspect.
High art and low morals collide when graduate Sharona Waters discovers a multi-million euro art scam in play. She delves in, unwittingly putting herself on a direct trajectory with danger as the killer accelerates his murder spree.
When Sharona gets drawn into the killer’s orbit, she peels away his public persona and exposes the psychopath underneath. Suddenly, the small town has no hiding place…
Sounds good doesn’t it?
If you happen to be in or near Ballinasloe, Ireland on Saturday:
A native of Co. Roscommon, Eoghan studied Computer Programming in college, works in Sales Management & Marketing, but his passion for reading and writing remains.
Eoghan’s work got shortlisted for the 2018 Bridport Short Story Prize, and Listowel’s 2019 Bryan McMahon Short Story Award Competition. His novel was a contender in literary agent David Headley’s opening chapter Pitch Competition, and during March 2019, Eoghan’s entry won Litopia’s Pop-Up Submission.
A graduate of Maynooth University’s Creative Writing Curriculum, and Curtis Brown’s Edit & Pitch Your Novel Course, Eoghan’s novel Hiding in Plain Sight – the first in a crime fiction trilogy based around the Irish Midlands – will be available in paperback and audio on January 11th 2020.
A compelling memoir of post-war
Britain. Jackie Skingley grew up with limited career choices but joining the
Women’s Royal Army Corps offered her a different life, living and working in a
military world, against the backdrop of the Cold War. Packed full of stories
reflecting the changing sexual attitudes prior to the arrival of the pill and
the sexual revolution of the mid 60s, Skingley’s memoir denotes a shift in the
political and social fabric of the era. Follow her relationships with the men
in her life from finding her first true love, which through a cruel act of fate
was denied her, to embarking on a path of recovery.
*Terms and
Conditions –UK
& USA entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all
valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is
received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to
select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any
personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose
only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the
winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only
for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will
delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of
the prize.
Author Bio –
For Jackie Skingley, adventure has been her quest since childhood. Life with the British army allowed Jackie to live all over the world and gain huge appreciation for different cultures and customs. Since 1999, Jackie and her husband have lived in the Charente region of South West France where Reiki, jewellery making, painting and mosaics, as well as writing keep her fully occupied. Member of the Charente Creative Writing Group, mother and grandmother.
A gripping forest adventure full of
mystery, betrayal and courage.
When a new sealer boy joins the journey,
Mai, Long, and Akra are confident their challenges have come to an end. But as they embark on their journey once
again, they find themselves having to escape from the clutches of dangerous
enemies.
They travel to Naroan – the forest lands
of the soulbankers, the regulators of life and death. Against the backdrop of
rules and suspicion, the children are challenged with unravelling the mystery
of the Silvershade, which has been calling to Akra from the moment he arrived
in the forest city. But Long is tormented by his doubts – he must face a deadly
power from the Underworld before it takes him into the darkness.
Will the dark pebble
take Long along a road of no return? Or will his friends find a way to help
him?
*Terms and
Conditions –Worldwide
entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The
winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and
will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7
days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative
winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as
part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be
shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This
will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the
prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the
data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Author Bio –
Vacen Taylor is a children’s author with a portfolio of screenwriting and stage play achievements. A selection of her poetry has been published in Art and Literature Journals. One of her plays was selected to be part of the Playwrights Program 2017 and then directed and performed as a performance reading at HOTA (previously the Gold Coast Arts Centre).
Her feature film script received a special commendation for Best
Unproduced Screenplay titled Grandfathers at the British Independent Film
Festival in 2018. The logline can be
found under Special Commendations for Unproduced Screenplays here.
Her TV pilot for a series (teleplay) was selected as a semi-finalist in
the Hollywood Just4Shorts Film and Screenplay Competition in Los Angeles, CA.
This pilot was listed in the top 50 for the Cinequest Screenwriting Competition
in 2018.
She presented the first mental health panel at OZ Comic-Con in 2017. This
panel was a fantastic opportunity to discuss openly and honestly about artists
and their mental health to help support wellbeing, foster connectivity and
provide a culture of support.
In 2018 she presented the panel, ‘An artist’s guide to creative happiness:
How to strengthen your creative performance’ at Oz Comic-Con in Brisbane. Her
panels are extraordinary opportunities to explore ideas with people who are
currently working in the industry. She aims to discuss subjects like
individualism, the community, mental health, wellbeing, happiness, creativity,
co-creating and self-awareness which often leads to interesting questions from
the audience.
What else does she do? Vacen is also a creative workshop facilitator and
proficient in, teaching, speaking and concept creation. Guest Speaker. Workshop
Presenter. Creative Panel Facilitator. Mentor. Support Worker. Counsellor.
Social Welfare Advocate.
When a young woman comes forward saying she’s the reincarnation of Riya Kaur, a wife and mother who vanished during the bloody 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Puri is dismissive. He’s busy enough dealing with an irate matrimonial client whose daughter is complaining about her groom’s thunderous snoring. Puri’s indomitable Mummy-ji however is adamant the client is genuine. How else could she so accurately describe under hypnosis Riya Kaur’s life and final hours?
Driven by a sense of duty – the original case was his late father’s – Puri manages to acquire the police file only to find that someone powerful has orchestrated a cover-up.
Forced into an alliance with his mother that tests his beliefs and high blood pressure as never before, it’s only by delving into the past the help of his reincarnated client that Puri can hope to unlock the truth.
Tarquin Hall is a British author and journalist who has previously lived in the USA, Pakistan, India, Kenya and Turkey. He now divides his time between the UK and India and is married to BBC reporter and presenter Anu Anand. He is the author of four previous Vish Puri mysteries and The Delhi Detective’s Handbook.
Bex Ellman and her friends are in hiding, sheltered by the resistance.
With her family threatened and her friendships challenged, she’s looking for a
way to fight back. Ketty Smith is in London, supporting a government she no
longer trusts. With her support network crumbling, Ketty must decide who she is
fighting for – and what she is willing risk to uncover the truth.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after
Brexit and Scottish independence.
Rachel Churcher was born between the last manned moon landing, and the first orbital Space Shuttle mission. She remembers watching the launch of STS-1, and falling in love with space flight, at the age of five. She fell in love with science fiction shortly after that, and in her teens she discovered dystopian fiction. In an effort to find out what she wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural Technology, Childminding, and Writing for Radio.
She has worked as an
editor on national and in-house magazines; as an IT trainer; and as a freelance
writer and artist. She has renovated several properties, and has plenty of
horror stories to tell about dangerous electrics and nightmare plumbers. She
enjoys reading, travelling, stargazing, and eating good food with good friends
– but nothing makes her as happy as writing fiction.
Her first published short
story appeared in an anthology in 2014, and the Battle Ground series is her
first long-form work. Rachel lives in East Anglia, in a house with a large
library and a conservatory full of house plants. She would love to live on
Mars, but only if she’s allowed to bring her books.
Life is already
complicated enough for Awa Bryant when she starts having weird dreams – waking
dreams – and strange coincidences start appearing in her real life.
She meets
dreamcharmer, Veila, a quirky glowing creature who helps to guide Awa through
the mysterious Dreamrealm.
At first the
Dreamrealm is a glorious escape from Awa’s daily struggles but something is not
right… Soon Awa discovers she has a bigger quest, and everything she cares
about is at stake. Will she be brave enough to face her fears and save her
friends?
*Terms and
Conditions –Worldwide
entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The
winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and
will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days
then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative
winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as
part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be
shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This
will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the
prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the
data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
About
the Author
Isa Pearl
Ritchie is a New Zealand writer. As a child, she loved creating imaginary
worlds. She has completed a PhD on food sovereignty in Aotearoa. Her second
novel, Fishing for Māui, was selected as one of the top books of 2018
in the New Zealand Listener and was a finalist in the NZ Booklovers Award for
Best Adult Fiction Book 2019. Awa and the Dreamrealm is her first book
for young people.
Christmas is a time for families to come together.
Guin
Roberts can’t think of anything worse than visiting a Christmas market with her
new family. Guin is perfectly happy with own company and doesn’t want that
disrupted by her wisecracking stepbrother and his earnest mum.
Their
Christmas celebrations are invaded by a sleigh full of murderous elves. And it
doesn’t matter if they’ve been naughty or nice — these elves are out for blood.
Can the family band together to survive the night? Or will Santa’s little helpers make mincemeat of them all?
Everything Is Better With Dragons 