#GiveAway - He Gave Me BARN CATS by Maria Santomasso-Hyde

 He Gave Me BARN CATS
by Maria Santomasso-Hyde

There  is a tour-wide giveaway for two (2) print copies (U.S only) and two (2) eBooks (international). Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. 

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Q&A with  Maria Santomass0-Hyde:

Crystal: Today I have the pleasure of hosting Maria Santomasso-Hyde. Welcome Maria! I'm so excited to have you here today.

Maria: Hi Crystal!  Thank you for inviting me to Reviews by Crystal.

Crystal: Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?

Maria: I always knew I wanted to be a writer. I even took double the number of English classes required at my high school. I majored in English in college, graduating from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, where I was editor of a poetry journal and an arts magazine.

My first job out of college was as a reporter for a small town daily newspaper (The Concord Tribune). After that, I was a public relations writer.

Now, I own and manage Alta Vista Gallery in Valle Crucis, NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where I live with my husband, Lee Hyde. Running in and out of the gallery is our current Barn Cat, Roma. 

Crystal: What are you currently working on?

Maria: This week, I’m working on marketing ideas for my book and creating a website for it.  (www.MariaSantomassoHyde.com). March 25 is my BOOK LAUNCH PARTY, here in my art gallery, so I’m working on that, too. 

Meanwhile, my next book is brewing.  I often write inside my head first, before it ever reaches a keyboard. Often, I’m “writing” (in my head) while driving, or showering, or other tasks.

The new book is Cat-Tales, which features Roma as narrator. She sits on the front porch and eavesdrops on the humans’ conversations and then tells readers―and offers her wisdom, of course!

Crystal: Do you have a favorite snack that you like to munch on while writing? If so, would you mind sharing what it is with us?

Maria: My snacks are caviar and truffles. No, seriously, I’m fighting mid-life spread, so I don’t snack much, but I do eat lunch while writing. Evenings are when I really like to snack, so it’s no wonder that I’m spreading!

Crystal: When you are not busy writing wonderful stories to keep us lucky readers entertained, what do you like to do? Do you have a hobby?

Maria: Your readers will appreciate this: My favorite hobby is reading! Operating my art gallery is not a hobby, but a fulltime job, but I love it so much that it takes the place of most hobbies. I do still enjoy a hike sometimes, because when you live near the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’d be a sin to not enjoy it and the many hikes along it. As Tony says in my book, “You need to get outside and get the air.”

Crystal: Thanks for visiting. It has been a pleasure having you visit today. Can you think of anything else you would like to share with us today?

Maria: I hope your readers will enjoy my book and stay in touch with me via my website. However, more importantly, I hope that readers will enjoy all the little moments of life and all of the joy and love that each moment has in it. As Barn Cat Jack says in my book, “If you want treats, you can’t be afraid….  If you don’t reach out, then you don’t get treats.”  (“Treats” is the Barn Cat word for “Love.”)

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BLURB:

Inspired by true events...

        Maria has cared for her very ill mother for many years. Her burdens are heavy, causing a sadness bordering on darkness.  When she discovers her historic barn is now home to a mother cat and kittens, she feels lighter than she has in years. As the kittens grow, they teach her as only animals can do.

          Then tragedy strikes. As Maria loses her family, the darkness envelopes her like the heavy fog that blankets her Blue Ridge Mountain home each morning. She creates a scorecard:  God: 9, Maria: 0.  Her questions turn into anger at God.  She searches to find answers as to why her loving God would take away so much in such a short time.

          How will she learn to trust again? Can the kittens in her barn help her heal?

Published by Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Release Date March 14, 2017
 $10.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 134 pages

Genres: Christian Fiction / Christian Life-Death, Grief, Bereavement

Print ISBN 978-1-939844-21-7 eBook ISBN 978-1-939844-22-4

Order through Ingram, Follett Library Resources, or from the publisher

$3.99 eBook available in all formats

HE GAVE ME BARN CATS is available for pre-order in print format at following sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Everything Cats, Foyles, and Chapters-Indigo.

HE GAVE ME BARN CATS is available for order in eBook format at the following sites: Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iTunes, and Amazon.

Be sure to add HE GAVE ME BARN CATS to your shelf on Goodreads.

About the Author: 

Formerly a newspaper reporter, Maria Santomasso-Hyde now owns Alta Vista Fine Art Gallery.

She lives in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, with her husband, Lee, and The Queen of the Universe (Roma, their Black Cat) … and other Black Cats who decide to move in.

Maria’s website - http://www.mariasantomassohyde.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/maria.s.hyde

Come join the blog tour and learn more about Maria and HE GAVE ME BARN CATS by visiting the following blog:

March 7 - 
Joylene Nowell Butler, Suspense Author - Feature

March 8 - 
Rockin' Book Reviews - Guest Post

March 9 - 
Mello & June, It's a Book Thang! - Feature

March 10 - 
Defending The Pen - Excerpt

March 13 - 
Reviews by Crystal - Q&A
Alex J. Cavanaugh - Guest Post

March 14 - 
Thoughts in Progress - Review

March 16 - 
A Bluestocking's Place - Excerpt
deal sharing aunt - Review

March 17 - 
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit - Q&A

March 20 -
Reviews From the Heart - Review
The Story of a Writer - Feature
CBY Book Club - Excerpt

March 21 - 
bookworm1102 - Excerpt
Storey Book Reviews - Excerpt
Celticlady's Reviews - Feature

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 MC Book Tours

#GiveAway - THE REMNANT By William Michael Davidson

Author William Michael Davidson is on tour with MC Book Tours 

featuring his new novel, THE REMNANT,

being released Feb. 7 by Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.

THE REMNANT

By William Michael Davidson

There is a tour-wide giveaway for two (2) print copies that are available to those living in the U.S. only and one (1) eBook copy available international. The giveaway will end at 12 a.m. (EST) on Sunday, Feb. 26.Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter.  You may enter to win at each stop of the tour. Those those locations may be found HERE.

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About the Book: 

One nation, without God...

Colton Pierce apprehends Abberants—those who display symptoms of faith—and quarantines them on a remote island to ensure public safety.  Years prior, the government released a genetically-engineered super flu that destroyed the genes believed to be the biological source of spiritual experience in an effort to ridthe world of terrorism. As an extractor with the Center for Theological Control, Colton is dedicated to the cause.

But Colton's steadfast commitment is challenged when he learns his own son has been targeted for extraction. An underground militia, the Remnant, agrees to help Colton save his son in exchange for his assistance with their plan to free the Aberrants on the island.

Colton is faced with the most important decision of his life. Remain faithful to the CTC? Or give up everything to save his son?

Release date: February 7, 2017

$15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 242 pages

Science Fiction (FIC028000) / Christian Futuristic Fiction (FIC0402020)

Print ISBN 978-1-939844-29-3

eBook ISBN 978-1-939844-30-9

Order through Ingram, Follett, or from the publisher

$4.99 eBook available in all formats>

THE REMNANT is available to order in eBook form at the following sites:

Amazon|B&N | Kobo|iTunes

The print format of the book is available at these sites:

Amazon  | B&N | Chapters-Indigo | Book Depository|Foyles | Mediander | Fiction DB

Be sure to add THE REMNANT to your bookshelf on Goodreads.

Excerpt: 

1.1.12

The first thing Colton noticed when he stepped off the stairs and into the garage was an abandoned blue Mustang in the center. It was a vintage model. The driver’s door was ajar, and the electric engine was on. This wasn’t an entirely uncommon sight. When NRNT warnings sounded, people often wasted no time leaving the premises; the well-publicized threats of incarceration encouraged people to be swift in their exits. This warning, like many other such announcements, called for people to abandon their vehicles and walk to the outer perimeter of the capture zone if they were not already on the streets. Whoever owned the Mustang probably made a quick getaway.

One other vehicle—a white Mercedes—looked to be in similar condition. It was half-pulled out of one of the stalls, the door was ajar, lights on, engine running. No driver.

Colton walked deeper into the garage and stopped behind a black SUV. He looked down at his arm computer and scrolled through several screens.

“What are you doing?” Marek whispered.

“Finding out what kind of car our friend likes to drive,” Colton said. Finally, after scanning through Marcos Quintero’s profile, he found that a Toyota Star Runner was registered to him. He exited the background files and brought up the NRNT Map. According to the red dot on the far corner of the screen, the target was hiding out on the north side of the garage. Tracking via NRNT chip was a little tricky at close range, but Colton was willing to bet he’d find a Toyota Star Runner in the far corner of the garage, and he was more willing to bet he’d find his target hiding inside it.

Lifting his finger to indicate he was moving, he crept forward along the rows of cars. He passed a truck, a Volkswagen, and slew of other vehicles—all of these closed, locked, and engines off. As he neared the end of the row, he saw—just as he’d predicted—a Toyota Star Runner in the far corner.

Colton turned toward Marek. “Cover me,” he mouthed.

Marek nodded, and Colton didn’t like how nervous his trainee looked. It wasn’t all that encouraging.

Colton inched toward the vehicle. The good thing—perhaps something those who served on the police force couldn’t say—was that most targets were relatively harmless. By and large, they weren’t murderers, rapists, or con-men, although there certainly had been some cases of that kind. Most of the targets were normal people—not criminals. A target was rarely armed, rarely dangerous, and often didn’t fight back. That was encouraging, and Colton remembered this as he stepped toward the vehicle.

He needed one clean shot. Just one. The dart would penetrate the glass, no problem; Colton had done it on several occasions. As he stepped forward, he looked at his arm computer to verify his calculations had been correct. The blipping red dot confirmed what he already knew: Marcos Quintero hid in that vehicle, foolishly hoping he wouldn’t be found.

About the Author: 

William Michael Davidson lives in Long Beach, California with his wife and two daughters. A believer that "good living produces good writing," Davidson writes early in the morning so he can get outside, exercise, spend time with people, and experience as much as possible.

A writer of speculative fiction, he enjoys stories that deal with humanity's inherent need for redemption.

For more on Davidson and his writing, connect with him on Goodreads, Twitter, and Amazon Author’s Page.

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