Friday, August 18, 2017

Book Tour: After the Flowers Die by Melanie Delorme





After the Flowers Die: A Handbook of Heartache, Hope and Healing After Losing a child by Author Melanie Delorme

"Is it possible to survive the loss of a child?


Even though you might be feeling that the answer to this question is no, never, absolutely not; be assured that not only is it possible for you to survive, but you are also strong enough to thrive after this devastating tragedy.

The loss of a child creates a gaping hole in a parent’s heart that seems unbearable and the only people who truly understand your pain are other bereaved parents. Melanie is one of those parents and, in After the Flowers Die, she offers encouragement, hope and honest suggestions for how you can once again experience joy. 

This book is written in an easy to read A to Z format and covers topics that many parents may experience, such as anger, bitterness, birthdays, Christmas, hope, signs, and more. If you have lost a child and are feeling hurt and lost, this book is a great starting point for you to acknowledge your loss, celebrate your child’s life and find hope.

Are you ready to begin your journey towards healing?"


Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 


Melanie Delorme was a content English teacher, wife, mother, sister and friend when without warning she gained the title of bereaved parent when her eight-year-old son Garrett was accidentally killed in a hunting accident. Her road to healing brought her to write her first book. Melanie is involved with her local chapter of Compassionate Friends and is passionate about offering hope to other bereaved parents. She is currently living on a ranch in Southern Saskatchewan with her husband, Gerry, and their two children. 



Connect with the Author here: 
~ Website ~


Excerpt #1
HELLO MY NAME is Melanie. Even though we may be strangers, we now have a unique connection that most people will never understand. I know that both of us wish we did not share this experience.
The fact that you've opened this book breaks my heart. I don't have to tell you that there is nothing in the world more painful than the death of a child. I have been there, and in a lot of ways I am still there—every time I hear about another parent losing a child.
I know that the death of my son, Garrett, changed my life in unimaginable ways—it feels like yesterday and a million years ago at the same time.
I know that the death of a child creates the worst kind of emotional roller coaster, one that does not end after a final loop-de-loop.
I know that all our emotions need validation.
I know that whatever you are feeling right at this moment is normal.
     If you are physically exhausted to the point that you can barely force your feet out of bed in the morning—normal.
 If you are unable to control your emotions and are literally crying over the spilled milk—normal.  If you just feel numb and are not able to articulate your needs—normal.
     If you are so angry that you imagine harming other people—normal.
 If other people annoy you to the point that you do not want to leave your house—normal.  If the thought of attending any social gathering causes you anxiety—normal.
    If you are worried that your pain will never lessen—normal.
I also know that you will be okay.
I know that you'll be okay because you had the strength to pick up this book, which means you have the strength to begin to heal—even if you don't believe it yet. Your healing may be gradual—one day at a time, one hour at a time, or one minute at a time—and that is to be expected.
I know that you may not feel strong, but I know you have experienced and survived other loss and heartache in your life. While this loss is of an indescribable magnitude, you are still strong enough to endure it.
I know that the child you lost is just as special as mine, which is why this book is not a biography of my Garrett's life, but rather is intended to be a companion for you as you navigate your experience with your child. I tell my story about Garrett in chapter G, but if you'd rather meet him now, feel free to skip ahead and come back.
Things That I Know
I know that you are not interested in research-based psychobabble about the stages of grief, so I'm not going to dwell on those, though we cannot ignore them completely.
I know that after your child died, you were in shock. You likely went through the motions of a memorial service feeling completely numb.
I know that you will never "get over it," even though there may be people in your life who think that you should.
I know that a few weeks after your child died, you were cleaning up dying flowers while many of your friends went back to their normal lives, and you wondered if life could ever feel normal again.
I know that the death of our children is something that we cannot change, though we are forever changed.
I know that over time my feelings of utter despair slowly shifted to feelings that let me believe future happiness was possible. This can happen for you too.
I know that you need a glimmer of hope. You need a glimmer of a tomorrow where
 smiles and laughter do not create guilt and sorrow  past activities can feel enjoyable once more e work and daily tasks are possible  life feels worth living again
Let me help you find that glimmer, even if it is only for a few minutes at a time.
I know that grief saps our energy and steals our ability to focus on anything for long periods of time, which is why I've designed this book so you can pick it up and read a page at a time—any page. You do not have to remember where you left off; I know your attention span is limited right now.
I know that it will take courage for you to work through your feelings as you move towards a place of acceptance and peace. As you begin this book, I offer you the words of Reinhold Niebuhr, words that I turned to on a regular basis as they helped me heal:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.


To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 



Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Blitz: Mentralysis by Ren Garcia





Ren Garcia is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood, he also has a passion for caving, urban archeology and architecture. His highly imaginative "League of Elder" book series is published by Loconeal Publishing





Connect with the Author here: 

Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~




They thought the episode with their cousin to the east, Lady Bloodstein, was over. They thought it was something to laugh about at the grand table in fond nostalgia.

But they were wrong. They were so wrong.
And Castle Blanchefort has fallen!

Lord Kabyl has lost everything: his wife, his kin, his family fortune, and his home. Castle Blanchefort, once a safe haven, is overrun with enemies seeking his blood.

In what follows, he must join forces with ancient enemies and with people who do not exist. He must treat with sinister, possibly untrustworthy gods and barter away his soul for urgently needed arcane help or face certain death at the hands of forgotten tyrants and their machinations from a bygone age.

And, how can a strange science known as Mentralysis, practiced in secret in the hidden places of the League, hold the key to ultimate victory?

What should have been obvious to Lord Kabyl from the start at last becomes crystal clear: Foolish is he who dares possess the Ultimate Object, for misery shall be his only reward.



Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 




Top Ten List:

10:  Ren was once engaged to a woman 25 years his elder.

9:    Ren visited New York City and admired the World Trade Center towers just a month or so before the tragedy of 9/11.

8:    The FBI once put a gun in Ren's face.

7:    Bad hearts run in Ren's family. He's already outlived most of his paternal grandfathers, all of whom died in their 30's.

6:    Ren's poor eyesight went undiagnosed until he was in the 3rd grade. Up until that point, he was considered "mentally challenged".

5:    Ren broke his neck playing volleyball in college.

4:    Ren often sleeps on the floor, finding it more comfortable than the bed.

3:    Ren was once held at gunpoint and frisked by the guards of the Prince of Saudi Arabia.

2:    Ren was introduced to his wife via Match Makers International.


1:    In a vast extended family of exclusively brown-eyed people, Ren somehow managed to get blue eyes.



To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 



Sunday, August 13, 2017

Book Blitz: Courting the Country Miss by Donna Hatch





Donna Hatch is the author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8 and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her husband). A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.


Connect with the Author here: 


Cynical and broken-hearted, Leticia banishes dreams of marriage. When her childhood friend, Tristan, wagers he can find her the perfect husband, she hopes the challenge will coax him to forgo his devil-may-care lifestyle. Meanwhile, Leticia throws herself into forming her charity school but meets opposition—even from the people she’s helping.


Guilt-ridden that his past mistakes robbed Leticia of true love, Tristan vows to set it right, but match-making has its pitfalls for a repentant scoundrel. When he finds two ‘perfect’ gentlemen to court her, he discovers his own deep feelings for the lady.

Though Tristan seems to reform, Leticia doesn’t dare risk heartbreak with a notorious rake. When opposition for the school takes a deadly turn, can Tristan protect her from a madman bent on destroying their dreams and their lives?




Come check out her other books and see what's new!


And she has even more books we have not featured!

Be sure to check them out on her website!



Snippets:

Leticia Wentworth was twenty times a fool. Richard Barrett never cared for her beyond a childhood friendship, and Leticia had been naive to believe he would love her as she loved him. With savage ferocity, Leticia squelched the cry of pain her heart made every time Richard turned a gaze of adoration upon his wife—the kind of look he never gave Leticia, not even when she’d been certain he’d approach her father to ask for her hand in marriage. She’d pinned all her hopes and dreams of love and family on a man she would never have.


Stupid, stupid girl.



To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 



Book Tour: 10 Weeks at Chanute by Ren Garcia





In 1992 an aimless young man decided to serve his country and joined the Air National Guard. To complete his training, he was sent to venerable Chanute Air Force Base in the flats of Illinois to learn how to turn wrenches on jet engines. It was a place brimming with history, a place he soon grew to love.

Soon thereafter, Chanute closed its doors forever, becoming a modern ruin in the years that followed, taking the young man's heart with it.

This humorous, witty and occasionally ribald memoir details the experience of one of the last Airmen to pass through the hallowed gates of Chanute Air Force Base, and how the experience haunts him to this very day.


~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK





Ren Garcia is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood, he also has a passion for caving, urban archeology and architecture. His highly imaginative "League of Elder" book series is published by Loconeal Publishing



Connect with the Author here: 

Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~


Top Ten List
10:  Ren was once engaged to a woman 25 years his elder.
9:    Ren visited New York City and admired the World Trade Center towers just a month or so before the tragedy of 9/11.
8:    The FBI once put a gun in Ren's face.
7:    Bad hearts run in Ren's family. He's already outlived most of his paternal grandfathers, all of whom died in their 30's.
6:    Ren's poor eyesight went undiagnosed until he was in the 3rd grade. Up until that point, he was considered "mentally challenged".
5:    Ren broke his neck playing volleyball in college.
4:    Ren often sleeps on the floor, finding it more comfortable than the bed.
3:    Ren was once held at gunpoint and frisked by the guards of the Prince of Saudi Arabia.
2:    Ren was introduced to his wife via Match Makers International.
1:    In a vast extended family of exclusively brown-eyed people, Ren somehow managed to get blue eyes.


To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page