Friday 20 March 2015

The Winchester Brother's Blog Tour - Nat Hobson

Nat Hobson is a pseudonym of Melissa Barker-Simpson. Publishing under Nat, she concentrates on her passion for writing love stories, focusing on contemporary romance. Although there is an element of romance in all her novels, this is usually interwoven in tales of crime, fantasy or science fiction. By writing as Nat, this allows her to write everyday stories of love, and friendship for a specific audience.

Connect with the Author

(this site is reserved for work under my own name. It is also where I do most of my blogging, so pop on over and visit!)
(this is a writing prompt based site, aimed at readers and writers. If you enjoy taking part in writing contests/prompts, follow the link and join us there.)
(As the name suggest, this site is for all things literary related and includes; interviews, reviews, author spotlights, articles, and information on new releases.)

About the Books



Addy's Choice (Book 1)

Sometimes the hardest thing about lowering our defenses is the fear of how far we might fall.

That fear had been Adrienne Baxter’s driving force most of her life. It was far easier to hide behind her radio personality, feeding from her audience, than to risk exposure.

She had James, her brother by choice if not by blood. It was enough – most of the time.

As the co-host of the early morning breakfast show at Music 101, Adrienne is the confident, sassy presenter with the silver tongue and fast-talking wit.

When she meets Sebastian Davies, the station owner’s son, her carefully applied facade begins to slip. He presents a new kind of danger, because this time she could lose her heart.

Heart of Fire (Book 2)

Tyler Davies was eighteen when he met the fiery beast he would later battle on a regular basis. Seduced by the beauty of her flaming touch, he had looked right into the heart of the fire and known she had claimed him.

It was the second time he’d seen his future. The first was the day he met Lilly-May Saunders, a girl who burned so bright he was blind to anyone else. If it hadn’t been for her friendship with his brother, a relationship he didn’t truly understand, he would have confessed his feelings. But when his friend dies in the line of duty, and Tyler discovers the truth behind the accident, everything changes. Those he loves are in danger, and the one who owns his heart is at the top of the list.

Buy the Books!

*FREE Smashwords Version of Addy's Choice, this weekend only with code: TM47S!

Addy's Choice (Book1) Smashwords Version
Heart of Fire (Book 2) Smashwords Version

Addy's Choice (Book 1) Amazon Kindle and Print Versions
Heart of Fire (Book 2) Amazon Kindle and Print Versions

The story behind the name


I’ve been writing stories my whole life. I didn’t have a choice, considering all the characters residing in my head! There is always an element of romance in my work, though I am drawn to other genres too, and enjoy to combine two elements when I take my readers on a journey.

A few years ago I wrote Addy’s Choice with the specific goal of writing a love story. I enjoyed the process, liked the characters I created, and knew before I reached the end, I wanted to spend more time with the Davies brothers.

Contemporary romance is a genre which caters to a specific audience, and so I decided to publish the novel under a pseudonym. I created Nat Hobson by borrowing my grandfather’s name – Nathaniel Hobson. He was the kind of man who believed in family, in grand declarations of love and who enjoyed nothing more that regaling us with stories of his own love affair. It feels good to share every day stories under his name, and as the Winchester Brothers could be deemed a family saga, this seems fitting too. So, for my readers who want a taste of the contemporary, hopefully, Nat Hobson will fit the bill!

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Das Bell by Chris Berman

Chris Berman is a science fiction author and military historian. Berman's six books currently in print are acclaimed by authors Ben Bova, Brad Linaweaver, and David Brin, astronauts Ed Mitchell, commander of Apollo 14, and Norm Thagard, as well as military historians. He is the author of Ace of Aces, a WW II time travel adventure, and Condosaur, a horror novel set in South Florida. Das Bell, released in July, is a tale of Nazi deception, a parallel universe, and the ultimate goal, conquest and domination of our world under the Nazis' Fourth Reich. Chris's writing defies a set style in creating novels of hard science fiction, techno-thrillers, and alternate history, with each work of fiction, a unique literary adventure. Berman holds a master's degree in military history as well having extensive knowledge of the US and Russian space programs.

Connect with Chris on his Website


About the Book

On April of 1945, with the Allies closing in, Germany is about to be defeated and thousands of the Nazi elite vanish without a trace. From the watery grave of a sunken U-boat, through the enigmatic Plain of Nazca, and to the metropolis of modern-day Berlin, a mystery that imperils the entire world begins to unravel. Nazis, alien machines, interdimensional travel, and a world where the United States of America never existed! Learn the truth of Die Glocke (The Bell) a device so secret that sixty-two top-level scientists were executed by SS General Hans Kammler, rather than let the true nature of this ancient alien device fall into Allied hands. Now a new Reich is about to reclaim what had been lost to them seventy years ago. If you think World War Two ended in 1945 . . . think again!

A few years back, mysteries surrounding the Nazi Bell began to appear: SS General Hans Kammler arrives at a top secret project, located in Eastern Europe and orders the immediate execution of 62 top Nazi scientists, then removes a strange device before it can fall into Allied hands. This was Die Glocke ("The Bell"). The device required huge amounts of electrical power to activate it. Yet, once in operation, the bell seemed to draw in an almost unlimited amount of power out of thin air—something impossible, unless the Nazis had discovered how to tap into zero-point energy that permeates the universe. The Bell used a highly radioactive purple fuel that was extremely deadly. Several scientists standing too close to The Bell had been reduced to nothing but bones and black liquid when it was in operation. Was The Bell an alien device that the Nazis had discovered? Was it the "wonder weapon" that Hitler claimed could win the war for Germans, or was it something else, something far more sinister?

In Das Bell, Chris Berman speculates, "What if The Bell was a means of opening a gateway to an alternate world, one much like our own but less advanced and ripe for conquest. What if these Nazi conquerors' ultimate plan was a return to our world to reclaim what had been lost to them seventy years ago?"

Read the First Two Chapters

Reviews

"This enemy is not Nazi-like, but the real thing that escaped the final days of the war by passing through a portal to an alternative world . . . Now they are ready to invade by coming back through a portal to continue the struggle for world domination. Throw in a handsome American archaeologist/History Channel star, a "stunningly beautiful" Ukrainian academician, and a slightly over-the-hill (NEVER!) U.S. Navy SEAL, as well as a couple of alternate-world patriots, and you have a band of worthy adversaries that would make Clive Cussler salivate."
~ The Florida Times Union

"A dashing American scientist and a beautiful Ukrainian historian race to foil Nazi super-tech schemes and solve the secret of parallel worlds, gosh. Sample any page for nonstop action!"
~ David Brin: New York Times best selling author of The Postman and The Practice Effect

If you like a fun thriller exploring the edges of physical science, you'll love this story; throw in a parallel universe, dimension-hopping Nazis, and a wildly different outcome to World War Two - complete with American Indian empires - and you have a fun ride!"
~ Dr. Joseph P. Farrell is a researcher and investigator of alternative technologies, and the author of over nineteen books on this subject, including The SS Brotherhood of the Bell.

"A very well written book! The idea that the Nazis made a device so advanced, it has the power to influence the future, our future . . . It's not over yet."
~ Igor Witkowski: Polish journalist and researcher into the history of the Nazi Bell. Author of The Wunderwaffe

"Chris Berman has written a fast paced cross between time traveling science fiction, political thriller and mystery novel that is sure to entertain. Das Bell has enough plausibility to allow you to suspend disbelief and is true enough to life to catch you up in the adventure."
~ John Broom- PhD: Professor of military history- Norwich University, Northfield, VT

An Excerpt

Nina closed her eyes. Her senses were enveloped in the smell, the taste, and the warmth of a large bowl of barley and cabbage soup. She had nearly finished all of it and was sopping the remainder with dark bread, between bites of sausage. Alan, seated next to her was busy devouring a large plate of cabbage, spaetzle, and a thick, well-spiced sausage. John Bear came over to join him speaking in Lakota. "You know, your woman eats very well for such a thin one."

Alan laughed, replying in the language of The People, "We have both been with little or nothing to eat for the past four days, trying to stay alive with these Nazis after us. We were going to make a break for it from that old warehouse when we saw you escape." Switching back into English for the benefit of Nina, Alan continued. "Right away we noticed you were different from the other prisoners, not just your hair and complexion, but your bearing. You did not look like a defeated man."

John Bear considered this before he answered, "Better for a man to die upon his feet than to crawl in the dirt. I am Lakota. We are . . . we were a warrior people, brave and strong. We held our territory against the white nations, and established the Cheyenne-Lakota nation...until these Nazis came. They came out of nowhere with their war machines. They bombed the capital cities of every nation until their governments surrendered. We fought them as best as we could. Our people and those of our brothers, the Cheyenne, were the last to surrender. We held out for five more years, fighting from the hills, capturing their weapons and learning the use of them until that final day. We had a city of resistance in the Black Hills that was well protected. My grandfather told me the tale. One day a single Nazi flying machine appeared high in the sky, and then the Earth turned to fire. A great pillar of flame rose toward the heavens and our final refuge was gone, along with almost all of the people. Only a few hundred of us out hunting the enemy and gathering food survived. Some of the people who were not killed on that first day died of their burns or of a terrible sickness. Those who lived, like my grandfather and grandmother, went deeper into the forests in the northlands. They found others, white men and women, who would also not bend to their new masters. We became the resistance, one of many such groups in the world. We fight, but now these Nazis hold the entire world in their iron grip. I was captured and taken from the land of the Colonial Commonwealth. My sentence was to be worked to death in a slave labor camp. Over a two thousand of us were put aboard a slave ship. About two hundred or so died on the voyage before we reached Konigsberg. The Nazis tossed the dead overboard like they were trash." Then a thought came to John Bear, "Alan, how is it that you know the language of The People?"

Alan hesitated before he spoke. The truth might be a bit had to swallow but he wouldn't lie to John Bear either. "I've studied your people and their history. I know your language and your culture. I know that the Lakota-Sioux are brave and clever warriors."

The Indian looked at Carter questioningly. "I don't understand, you are a young man and strong. Yet you are not one of them, these Nazis. Only these Aryans, as they call themselves, are free men who study and learn of the world but it seems the only lessons they learn are how to build more devastating weapons, and how to kill more of the people they call sub-humans and how to bring misery to the world."

"John Bear, where I come from, it's not like that. It's not a perfect world, but it's not like here. You said that these Nazis suddenly appeared in the world with machines and devices far in advance of your own? These men, they were the defeated remains of Nazi Germany on my world. We had beaten them, finished them. We thought they were gone forever, but we were wrong. It was less than two weeks ago that Nina and I learned the truth."

John Bear stared at Alan as if he'd suddenly lost his mind.

"No, I'm not crazy and I'm not lying to you. If you would please gather the others, I'll explain."

John Bear said nothing as he stood up to gather the others in the room together. He would reserve his judgment until after the two strangers spoke. A man and a woman drew close, both with Semitic features. Two Slavic men, tall and well muscled from the Rus Empire came and sat down and finally a dark haired and olive skinned Spaniard joined the circle. Nina was surprised that she could speak in Ukrainian with the two men of the Rus and they could understand her. On this world, the Mongols were defeated at the Battle of the Kalka River and never conquered the Kievskya-Rus. Here, the former glory of an empire that stretched from the Black Sea to Arctic wastes of the White Sea and even as far as the North American continent never fell...until the arrival of the Nazis.

Alan and Nina sat in the center of the group, with Carter speaking. "First, I would like to thank all of you for your hospitality and the sanctuary of this place. What I'm going to tell you may be hard to believe. Frankly, until a few days ago, I'd have never believed it myself. Nina, would you please hand me my backpack?"

Alan dug in, pulling out a digital camera, a small voice recorder, his min-Geiger counter and a compact ten-inch wide laptop computer. He turned on the small camera, passing it around so all those present could look at the amazing color images displayed on the camera's screen. By the astonished looks of those in the room, it was clear to both Alan and Nina that those in the room had never seen anything like it. Alan then opened his compact laptop and switched it on. The hard drive contained some videos from San Diego, California as well as New York City, the last time he was there, just before leaving for Peru. Carter let the videos play, and then a slide show ran for a good ten minutes. Every eye in the room was glued to the images. Sometimes gasps of amazement could be heard as scenes of the New York skyline flashed on the screen with streets clogged with people and automobiles.

Finally, when the slide show ended, Alan again spoke. "I'm quite certain that you've never seen anything like this before. These are images of my country, the United States of America. You see, on my world, the British didn't back down in 1776 as they did on yours. The British declared war on the colonies and the colonists won. The new nation that was eventually formed stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It was my nation, the United States of America, along with Nina's country, and others, that destroyed the Nazi Empire on our world in the year 1945. But, these Nazis found a way to escape to your world where your history was different, perhaps in some ways better, certainly less violent than on mine. Your history appears to have created a more peaceful world than where we come from. But, your world was technologically less advanced than mine and Nina's. When the Nazis found out they could come here and your nations' militaries posed no threat to them, they used the weapons from my world to conquer yours."

Buy the Book


Friday 6 March 2015

The Grimm Chronicles Book Tour - Christine Haggerty


Christine Haggerty, Author of The Grimm Chronicles


Christine Nielson Haggerty grew up in rural Utah with three brothers, a sister, several chickens, a goat, and an outhouse. She always loved the escape of fantasy and the art of writing, and her passion for life is to craft stories of strength and survival.

As a former high school language arts teacher and a black belt in karate, Christine has found a niche in combining those skills to help authors write effective fight scenes.

An award-winning young adult author, she is now launching her dark fantasy fairytale novella series The Grimm Chronicles.

Connect with Christine



About the Book


When Maddie's father catches her with a boy, he hauls her into town in a pig wagon and finds her a husband. But Peter's cabin in the woods promises something very different than Maddie's happily ever after.

Pretty Things, a retelling of "The Robber Bridegroom," is the first novella in the Grimm Chronicles series. Warning: not your granny's fairytales!



Buy the Book

An Interview with Christine


What are your goals as an author? Where do you see yourself in five years?

My goal as an author is to write more and more and more. I feel successful as long as I have a reason to write another story.

What is the biggest obstacle you face as an author and what do you do to overcome it?


The biggest obstacle I face is sheer time. Writing is a very time-consuming endeavour and requires quite a balancing act with the rest of life. I hold myself to pretty high standards as well, and I often have to remind myself that it’s one word at a time.

Does your family support you in your writing, or are you on your own?

My family has been an amazing support to my career. My kids loving having my around the house more than when I worked a salaried job, and my husband has been willing to adjust so that we can afford for me to build a new career.

What do you enjoy to do aside from writing?


I am a black belt in Shotokan, a traditional Japanese karate. I enjoy training and I enjoy helping authors with their fight scenes. I’ll be presenting at the Authors Combat Academy in Nashville in April.

What is the harshest criticism you've ever received as an author?


I haven’t had any criticism that I considered too harsh. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not because I figure that just means it’s still coming. As a general rule, I don’t focus on my reviews or stats—I spend my energy on the next story.

What is the best compliment you've ever received as an author?


Somebody read the whole thing. :)

What is your writing process?


I am an outliner. I like to separate all parts of the process, so I prewrite (dream), draft, revise, and edit as all separate events in creating a story. It took me the last year to find all that out, but I’ve discovered that in the end I write more that way.

Do you ever base your characters on people you know?


My characters are always influenced by people I know, and even people I don’t know. I love to people watch in malls and at the airport, and even at restaurants. The best way to fill a creative pool for stories is to be out living life.

What are you working on now?


I’m finishing up my next fairy tale novella, a version of “Hansel and Gretel,” and I’m also polishing up my punctuation on the second book in my young adult dystopian series, The Plague Legacy:Assets, which will release April 9.

Have you ever gotten an idea for a story from something really bizarre? Tell us about it.


I have a story idea that came from a documentary about jellyfish. It’s on my list of books to write this year.

What was the hardest part about writing your latest book?


The hardest part of my latest full-length novel was settling into my own writing process. I spent the better part of the year trying to skip parts of the process and jut get to the story drafting part, but I’ve discovered that I get farther faster if I spend time on all the parts of the process individually.

I'd like to thank Christine for taking the time to answer my questions. It's been great getting to know her a little more. I hope you will help support her by visiting her links, following and buying her book!