Interview with Tara Sim, author of TIMEKEEPER

Hey guys! I’m super excited to be hosting the love Tara Sim, author of upcoming debut TIMEKEEPER, for an interview! Let me tell you a bit about the book first, and then we can get down to business.

Title: Timekeeper // Author: Tara Sim
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Expected publication date: November 1, 2016

Two o’clock was missing.

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.

INTERVIEW

Hi Tara! Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview! I know a lot of people are looking forward to reading TIMEKEEPER, so let’s learn a little more about the book and you.

Describe yourself in 6 words.

Tall, biracial, grumpy, bangs, tea, Gryffindor.

Describe TIMEKEEPER in 6 words.

Clocks, magic, boys, time, explosions, myth.

Tell us something interesting that we won’t find out in the book about your MCs.

Danny’s birthday is March 23. I like figuring out character birthdays via Zodiac signs, so being an Aries but close to the cusp with Pisces felt right for Danny.

And I don’t explicitly say so on the page because they didn’t have the terminology back then, but Colton is pansexual.

Book one is set in London and I saw in another interview you did that book two is set in India. If you could travel anywhere in the world to draw on for inspiration, where would you go and why?

Well, I would love to go back to India! It’s such a huge country, and I’d love to see even more of it. I would also like to go to Prague, for secret book 3 reasons. Other countries I’m dying to visit: Japan, New Zealand, Greece, France (again; I only had two days there), Austria, Italy—everywhere, really.

What’s been the best part of your journey to becoming an author so far?

Befriending the awesome people of the YA book community. I’ve made so many close friends here that now I can’t imagine my life without them. Also, the book bloggers, booksellers, librarians, etc. I’ve met online and in person are so kind and thoughtful and full of life. I love working with them!

I ask this of everyone – what’s your favorite book? I know this is a tough one, so you can talk about what you’re reading right now if that’s easier!

Gah, this is hard. If I had to pick my favorite book based on what shaped me/my life the most, it’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I grew up with fantasy (my other favorites: Harry Potter and everything by Tamora Pierce), but when I read LotR in the seventh grade it possessed me. It was seductive—it told me that I could make up huge worlds too, that I could control a group of characters and put them in danger and get them out of danger again. It was the thing that propelled me to be a writer.

Other than your own, who is your favorite fictional character?

Oh jeez, so many. Frodo, Aragorn, and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings; Sirius Black from Harry Potter; Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender; pretty much everyone in the Raven Cycle books; Nikolai Lantsov from the Grisha Trilogy; every single person in Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean; etc. etc. etc.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?

My first attempt at writing this book was so ridiculously far from where it’s come. There have been endless revisions, rewrites, and rearranging to get the book to what it is now. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. To the aspiring authors out there: if you feel passionate about a project, keep working hard and don’t give up!

ABOUT TARA

Tara Sim is a YA author found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not writing about magic, clocks, and boys, she drinks tea, wrangles cats, and sings opera.

Tara grew up in California, but braved the elements of Virginia to study English/Creative Writing at Hollins University.

Half-Indian and full geek, she eats too many samosas and awkwardly dances to Bhangra music.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Interview with Jennifer Ellision, author of Threats of Sky and Sea

Hey guys! I’m really excited to be hosting Jennifer Ellision, author of the THREATS OF SKY AND SEA series, for an interview today! Learn more about Jennifer’s MC and Jennifer herself! Let me tell you about the book first and then enjoy the interview!

ABOUT THE BOOK

THREATS OF SKY AND SEA by Jennifer Ellision
Createspace // May 20, 2014

Sixteen year-old Breena Perdit has spent her life as a barmaid, innocent to her father’s past and happily free from the Elemental gifts that would condemn her to a life in the Egrian King’s army. Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.

Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.

But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.

Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

THE INTERVIEW

Describe yourself in 6 words.

Quiet dreamer, laidback realist, writer, reader.

Describe your book in 6 words.

Elementals with secrets. Royals with ambition.

Tell us a bit about your MC Breena.

Bree is a headstrong, independent girl who wants nothing more than to live her normal life in peace. Once a person or a cause finds their way into her heart, she’ll fight like hell for them, but she’s certainly resistant to change. Unfortunately for her, her creator keeps pulling the rug out from under her. ^_~

What is the best memory from your journey to becoming an author?

There are a lot of great memories to choose from, but nothing will ever beat holding the first finished copy of Threats of Sky and Sea in my hands.

What was the hardest part of writing the second book in the Threats of Sky and Sea series? The best part?

The beginnings of the consecutive books have always come the easiest for me, so picking up Riot of Storm and Smoke where Threats of Sky and Sea left off was great because the words just flowed. The most difficult part was acquainting myself with Prince Caden’s point-of-view—newly added in Riot of Storm and Smoke for a more effective, fleshed-out story.

I ask this of everyone – what’s your favorite book? 

Gah, such an unfair question! I genuinely can’t choose a single favorite book, but the one I’ve reread the most is probably Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce.

Other than your own, who is your favorite fictional character?

Ah, another very difficult question! I have so many fictional characters I adore, but the first one who comes to mind is Celaena/Aelin from Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?

Threats of Sky and Sea will ultimately be a three book series, to be completed later this year, but also included in the series are three prequel short stories.

Thank you for having me on the blog, Stefani!

ABOUT JENNIFER

Jennifer Ellision was born and raised in South Florida and lives in perpetual fear of temperatures below 60F. She spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She has an OTP, loves character analysis, and is a master of the fangirl flail, with a particular soft spot for fanfiction. She frequently bursts into song (and they are often of a Disney persuasion). Sailor Moon is one of her favorite things on this planet. Threats of Sky and Sea is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Author Interview: Gary D. Wilson, Getting Right

Hey guys! Today I’m hosting author Gary D. Wilson for an interview! Let me tell you more about his latest book GETTING RIGHT before you check out our interview.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Publisher: Roundfire Books // Publication Date: January 29, 2016

Getting Right, Gary Wilson’s eagerly-anticipated second novel, is a masterful fusion of imagination and memory. Although this powerful family drama is drawn from close personal experience, the story that emerges is far more moving than any purely factual account could ever be.

Suppose, for instance, that your more than mildly irritating leech of a sister calls you, as she usually does wanting money, only this time she says she has cancer and in the course of the conversation challenges you to write the story of her life. You say, sure, you’ll do that…but only on the condition that you can tell it the way you see it.

The novel starts with the sister, Connie, and soon involves brother Len and “me,” the sibling narrator who discovers that Connie’s story isn’t so simple after all.  In order to tell it, “me” realizes that he has to include the accounts of other family members as well. By the end, the escalating swirl of memory and imagination leaves open the question of whether the truth of Connie’s life – or of anyone’s for that matter – can ever be known.

Getting Right is a tale of love and loss, leavened with humor, that readers will no doubt take directly to heart as they recognize themselves and their own families in it.

Goodreads | Amazon

THE INTERVIEW

Describe yourself in 6 words.

Loveable, creative, smart, funny, loyal, cantankerous.

Describe your book in 6 words.

Original, engaging, worthwhile, droll, energetic, moving.

How did the story of Getting Right develop?

I went to the hospital to visit my sister who had undergone surgery for lung cancer.  She had a PICC line in her arm, and the skin around the entry point of the line had puckered in such a way that it looked like a mouth.  That image haunted me, even after I returned home, so much so that I decided to write it out of my system, which only led to more writing and more writing, until I found myself in the midst of a new novel with a new voice and vision that was so compelling I couldn’t stop, despite the fact that I was deep into writing another novel I simply had to put aside until I finished this new one.

What is the best memory from your journey to becoming an author?

“Best” is a difficult concept in this question, since I have lots of memories.  But one that the question conjures up is of me as a young boy sitting on the floor beside my grandfather as he told some story about his family living so far back in the hills of Arkansas (or Missouri or Virginia) that you had to travel three days by grapevine to visit them.  And there were always fishing stories or stories about his days as a section chief on the railroad.  And there were ones about his tomatoes or the proper way to wrap and store fresh-picked pears.  What I came to realize as I got older was that for Grandpa the story—not the subject matter—was the thing.  It was the telling that he loved.  The power that a well-told story had to capture and hold an audience.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

Physically, I try to maintain a fairly strict work schedule.  I get up, have coffee and a light breakfast and read two newspapers (an old, unbreakable habit) before going to my study to clear emails and my head and get down to my work.  Writing may involve pacing, bathroom breaks, more coffee and so on, but as a friend says, real writing takes a lot of butt in the chair time.  I try to maintain that for four or so hours.  I then have lunch and read the funnies and take a break for errands or shopping for the night’s dinner.

Mentally, I let whatever it is I’m writing take me where it wants.  I believe it was Stephen King who said the story is boss.  I try to remember that.  I was writing another novel when Getting Right took over my life.  I couldn’t ignore it and went along for the ride.  I’m now finally getting back to the book I was pulled away from.

Many times something I’ve read or heard or seen will generate a new story or novel.  It’s not that I actively say, oh that’d make a great story.  But whatever the impetus is gets inside me and roils around and eventually comes out as writing, and I let it.  At that point I become an active participant in the process.

What’s been your best experience as an author so far? 

Every author I know likes being published, so there’s that.  But what I like from that experience is to hear readers’ honest reactions to my work, even if it isn’t all positive.  It’s not only a rush but gratifying to think I’m in a business where I can actually move someone, intellectually and/or emotionally.

Being part of a writing community—and on a larger scale, an arts community—has been a wonderful experience for me as well.  The people I know in that community are not only smart, they’re also engaged in life and are generally engaging as people.

I ask this of everyone – what’s your favorite book? 

That’s such a hard question, but if I have to say just one, it’s Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, a book that, by taking on life at its most absurd, helped define the human condition.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?

I would like to invite anyone who’s interested to visit my website at www.garydwilson.com to find out more about me and my work.  You might also want to take a look at my blog on that site.  And, of course, I’d like for you to read my writing and let me know what you think.

ABOUT GARY

GARY D. WILSON’s best-selling first novel, Sing, Ronnie Blue, appeared in 2007. He has taught fiction and short story writing at both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago. His work has been recommended for a Pushcart Prize, and he was a finalist for the Iowa Short Fiction Award and the Drue Heinz Literary Prize. He currently lives with his wife in Chicago and is working on his next novel The Narrow Window.

Blog Tour | The Girl Who Fell by Shannon M. Parker | Review, Interview, & Giveaway

Hi, everyone! I am so excited to be part of THE GIRL WHO FELL blog tour! Today I’m going to be sharing my review of TGWF as well as an interview with Shannon M. Parker, who wrote this dark, wonderful story. But first, some information about the book!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Girl Who Fell by Shannon M. Parker

Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse | March 1, 2016

Synopsis:

His obsession.

Her fall.

High school senior Zephyr Doyle is swept off her feet—and into an intense relationship—by the new boy in school.

Zephyr is focused. Focused on leading her team to the field hockey state championship and leaving her small town for her dream school, Boston College.

But love has a way of changing things.

Enter the new boy in school: the hockey team’s starting goaltender, Alec. He’s cute, charming, and most important, Alec doesn’t judge Zephyr. He understands her fears and insecurities—he even shares them. Soon, their relationship becomes something bigger than Zephyr, something she can’t control, something she doesn’t want to control.

Zephyr swears it must be love. Because love is powerful, and overwhelming, and…terrifying?

But love shouldn’t make you abandon your dreams, or push your friends away. And love shouldn’t make you feel guilty—or worse, ashamed.

So when Zephyr finally begins to see Alec for who he really is, she knows it’s time to take back control of her life.

If she waits any longer, it may be too late.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | Kobo

MY REVIEW

NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse (plus the lovely Brittany from Brittany’s Book Rambles for inviting me to participate in the tour) for letting me read this.

Yikes. This book. I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time I read The Girl Who Fell. From the very beginning, it’s like your gut clenched (the beginning is terrifying and mesmerizing in the best/worst way). You know from the beginning that something is wrong, that the person Zephyr is falling for is just wrong, so you’re terrified to find out how Zephyr will get from falling in love to being hurt.

Alec is bloody terrifying and creepy and it’s so hard to understand him – though I don’t think I really want to. Even though I wanted to reach into the book and just SLAP Zephyr, I could see why she fell and why she let her guard down. And Zephyr is such a great character. She finds herself throughout the story and realizes she’s someone to fight for. I just loved her, especially in the end. I loved how despite everything she’d been through, there was a hope for a better future. It’s never too late to move forward.

Shannon did such a fantastic job with this topic, which is so so important. Physical and emotional abuse is scary, but Shannon handled it so well. Alec is believably manipulative and I liked seeing how this relationship affected Zephyr but also how it affected her friends and family.

My one complaint is that it’s a bit insta-lovey and they just move so fast, but that’s really part of the point of the book, so even though you guys know I am NOT an insta-love fan, it didn’t really hinder my experience.

The bottom line: The Girl Who Fell is a well-written, fast-paced novel about an important topic. Zephyr (and all of the characters, really) are well developed and distinctive. It’s easy to understand what happens to Zephyr even as you are wishing she’d realize what’s happening to her and put a stop to it. You’ll feel like you’re breathing for the first time in hours when you turn the last page.

THE INTERVIEW

Hi Stefani! It’s so nice to be here!! Thank you for inviting me today and thank you for your incredible blog! *fangirls a bit* Okay, a lot.

Describe yourself in three words: Lover of love.

Describe your book in three words: Dark kissing book.

I saw on your website that you’ve been to a TON of places around the world. If you had to choose, what is your favorite place in the world?
My favorite place in the world is standing next to my husband. Especially when he’s in Queensland, Australia.

What would you say is Zephyr’s motto?
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

What is the best memory from your journey to becoming an author?
When my teen son said, “Mom, I’m so proud of you. You worked really hard for this.” That made me cry. A. Lot.

Other than your own, who is your favorite fictional character?
There are so many, this is impossible to answer! But I will say that one of my all-time favorite books is The Secret Life of Bees. So, Lily Owens. She’s spunky, clever and filled with pure love (and loss).

I also made several graphics with quotes from the books for the tour, and I’m really excited to share two of them here (the second of which is my favorite quote from the book). Make sure you check out the rest of the tour to see the others!

     

ABOUT SHANNON

Shannon Parker lives on the Atlantic coast with a house full of boys. She’s traveled to over three dozen countries and has a few dozen more to go. She works in education and can usually be found rescuing dogs, chickens, old houses and wooden boats. Shannon has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and ridiculous laughter—ideally, at the same time. The Girl Who Fell is her first novel. Find her at www.shannonmparker.com

Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

THE GIVEAWAY
One signed hardcover of THE GIRL WHO FELL and swag

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE TOUR

Tuesday, Jan 12: Blessie @ Mischievous Reads Dreamcast
Wednesday, Jan 13: Emily @  Emily Reads Everything Review
Thursday, Jan 14: Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles Tour Group’s Favorite Quotes
Friday, Jan 15: Tika @ Fangirl Confessions Movie Playlist
Saturday, Jan 16: Kristen @ My Friends Are Fiction Review
Sunday, Jan 17: Melanie @ One Less Lonely Blog Review + Interview
Monday, Jan 18: Cyra @ Rattle The Pages Review + 5 Reasons You Need to Read TGWF
Tuesday, Jan 19: Jocelyn @ Novels and Necklaces Interview
Wednesday, Jan 20: Cat @ Let the Pages Reign Review
Thursday, Jan 21: Aentee @ Read at Midnight 5 Ways TGWF Destroyed YA Tropes + iPhone wallpapers
Friday, Jan 22: Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles Review + Interview
Saturday, Jan 23: Joey @ Another After Thought Review
Sunday, Jan 24: Stefani @ Caught Read Handed Review + Interview
Monday, Jan 25: Hanna @ Two Sister’s Blogging Review
Tuesday, Jan 26: Michella @ YA Books Girl Review + Playlist
Wednesday, Jan 27: Michelle @ Dreaming of Alba Review
Thursday, Jan 28: Jamie @ Books and Ladders Review + Interview
Friday, Jan 29: Eileen @ BookCatPin Review
Saturday, Jan 30: Brian @ Brian’s Book Thoughts Review
Sunday, Jan 31: Sarah @ The YA Book Traveler Review + Interview

Local MS author Interview: Russell Scott (The Hard Times) & Giveaway

Today I’m excited to be hosting Russell Scott, author of THE HARD TIMES and local Mississippi resident, on the blog for an interview and a giveaway! Check out the interview and let Russell tell you a little more about himself, his book, and his road to publication. After you read the interview, be sure to enter the GIVEAWAY (yay giveaway!) to win a copy of THE HARD TIMES. Also, don’t forget to check out the book on Goodreads and see what it’s all about!

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Describe yourself in 6 words. Physician, husband, father, scientist, writer, artist. In that order.

Describe your book in 6 words. Fundamental truths on love and life.

Tell us about your day job. Does it influence your writing or writing process? Of course it does being a radiation oncologist means that I spend my days with patients facing one of the most challenging metamorphosis in life, dealing with one’s own mortality.  The facing of death is a solemn business, so we try to laugh as much as possible, a big part of my job is to share the doubts and still see the beauty in life.

How did your own personal experiences inspire The Hard Times?  The book is basically a bunch of things that happened in my life, distorted and reframed, and hung on the scaffolding on a diamond smuggling scheme in Namibia.  I’ve hunted in Namibia and deployed in Africa when I was in the Navy, so those things are very directly related.

Can you tell us about your road to publication?  Well, it started out with screen writing, I wrote Time Donors as a screenplay ten years ago, we got offered four million dollars to make it into a movie, but first we had to make a smaller movie to prove we could do it, so we wrote and filmed the feature film “Teary Sockets”.  While we were filming that I got hired by the Williams Brothers to write the screenplay story of their family’s life, “Still Standing Tall”, for a project that they were talking to Tyler Perry about, so they needed it yesterday.  We finished filming “Teary Sockets” and I went straight to work on “Still Standing Tall”.  By the time I got done with those two projects the banking crisis had sit and the hedge fund that originally had offered to back us was gone, so I converted “Time Donors” to the book “Time Donors Wanted”.  I thought e books were the future of book sales so I started an e book publishing entity IsoLibris, and put out “Time Donors Wanted”.  My friend Luke Lampton, who owned Magnolia Gazette Publishing which had been in continuous operation since 1872 thought we should do a literary press and start a literary journal as a new united Press China Grove Press, so we did, we’ve done 4 issues of the journal China Grove as editors, with very good success, and continued to publish books, one of which was a collection of the columns I had written for 5-6 years in the JOURNAL of the Mississippi State Medical Association, we named it for the column and that was “The Uncommon Thread” by R. Scott Anderson MD.  This book The Hard Times was actually written five years ago, it just took until now to feel that I had the time to put it out and to get it into proper shape to be a good book. So here it is by China Grove Press.

Not only do you bring in your real life military experiences into the novel, but you also bring in other elements from the diamond trade. Tell us about that – your research process, the different elements you bring in, etc. – The factual research was just grinding away, the whole firs inkling of a plot came from a National Geographic article on Artisanal Diamond Mining in Zimbabwe that led to digging into the elements of the Kimberly Process, it’s enforcement, and declassified CIA intelligence reports about the times I was interested in.  Then you get a needle and sew all that together into a novel.

Has living in Mississippi influenced your writing in any way?  Only in that it puts a lot of pressure on you to write well, we don’t tolerate crappy writers in Mississippi.

Which writers inspire you? I was a Faulkner fanatic when I was at Alabama, we had a crazy professor there then named Barry Hannah, he was a writer to know.  I fell in love with Ellen Gilchrist and her writing when I read her first book, “In the Land of Dreamy Dreams”.  I’ve interviewed her, and Winston Groom, the author of Forrest Gump.  Spent some time with Greg Iles talking about writing, have had several conversations with Pat Conroy, Tess Gerritsen, and Michael Palmer, they’ve all given me something that is a part of the way I write.

What’s been your best experience as an author so far?  Developing in this community of writers that I have been privileged to meet and know, that’s really why we bother to do China Grove, the literary journal in the first place to create a community of writing where every level is welcome, from legends to newcomers.

I ask this of everyone – what’s your favorite book?  I guess I have to say, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, I love the book and find the circumstances of it’s publication touching. Toole’s suicide, his mother’s dedication, and Walker Percy taking on the role of editor and champion…all in all, a tale in itself.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?  This book is just a good story about diamond smuggling on the surface, but it is also an offering of an insight into the way men love, and some of the fundamental truths in life as told by an author that works in the face of death every day…the last line may be the most basic truth of life you ever read.

Thanks for letting me jabber on, Scott

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ABOUT THE BOOK

The Hard Times is, first and foremost, a novel about how men love. It focuses not on simple lust nor affection, but the complex web of expectations, loyalty, duty, and desire that define the society of men, how they love women, how they love their families, and how they bind themselves to one another in friendship and in war.

Taken from the news, declassified CIA documents, and the author’s personal experiences in Africa and Namibia, it is a fictional story superimposed on what’s actually happening in the diamond trade, today, where international politics and industry, play a strange game of hide and seek with illegal stones.

It begins in Mississippi. Ray Moffett is an ER doc, and Ray is facing an abyss. When his best friend and former boss comes into the ER dead, just six weeks after his retirement party, Ray finds himself searching for meaning in his own life. All Ray has left is his work.  Work, punctuated only by the occasional round of golf.  That’s all he can see stretching between him and his own trip to the grave if something doesn’t change.

A chance meeting with an African hunting guide, Fritz Dietrich, shows Ray a second chance to live the adventures he’d dreamed of as a boy.  Dreams that were fueled by books written by men like Hemmingway, Ruark, and Capstick. Unfortunately, Fritz isn’t exactly what he seems.

Ray finds himself hunting desert oryx in the Namib with Fritz, both men trapped. Fritz must kill Ray and use his papers to smuggle illegal diamonds.  For Ray to get home alive, he’s going to have to kill Fritz and then, somehow find his way out of the most hostile desert on the face of the earth.

Add the book to your Goodreads shelf!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RUSSELL SCOTT ANDERSON, M.D. is a radiation oncologist who serves as the medical director of Anderson Cancer Center in Meridian, Miss. He is a former Navy diver who worked in operations in the Middle East, Central America, and in support of the Navy’s EOD community, SEALS, the U.S. Army’s Green Berets, the Secret Service, and the New York Police Department at various times during his time in the service.

The father of seven has written the family oriented literary columns Una Voce and The Uncommon Thread in the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association. He has also served the Journal as the chairman of the editorial advisory board. A collection of his columns was published as The Uncommon Thread in 2012. He has also written as screenwriter R.S. Anderson on several feature films, he is the author of the novels Timedonors Wanted and The Hard Times under the pseudonym Russell Scott, and is the editor of the literary journal China Grove.

THE GIVEAWAY

Click on the photo below to be taken to Rafflecopter and enter the giveaway. It will run from November 5 – December 4 at midnight. US only. One winner will receive a copy of The Hard Times by Russell Scott.