Finding Lyla Book Blast

Ethan Cooke Security and their bodyguard team return to action in Finding Lyla – book ten in Cate Beauman’s Bodyguards of L.A. County series.

With over 4700 reviews and a 4.3 rating for the entire series, see why the Bodyguards of L.A. County is a multi-award winning series.

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New to the series? No problem! Each book in the “Bodyguards” series is a stand-alone title. Although reading the books in order is preferred, it is not necessary.  Each title features brand new primary characters and limited overlapping secondary characters.  Don’t hesitate to jump right in!

Principal Dancer Lyla Markovik-Avery is always on the go. Grueling practices and endless performances rule her busy days—and things are about to get more hectic. Russia is rolling out the red carpet for their beloved star, despite the string of violent terrorist attacks that have rocked the nation.

Bodyguard Collin Michaels’ life is falling apart. His long-time relationship recently ended. He’s trying to start over, but that’s easier said than done. Luckily, Collin has a new assignment on the horizon: keeping a beautiful ballerina safe for the next three weeks.

Collin finds comfort in Lyla’s easy friendship, but that all changes after a night out on the town. Simple feelings become complicated—something Collin can’t afford, especially when tragedy strikes and Collin realizes Lyla’s caught in the middle of a dangerous plot for revenge.

Collin and Lyla are forced to flee. They need to reach the border before it’s too late, but the odds are stacked against them in a country that wants them dead. With time running out, Collin formulates a risky plan that might be their only chance of making it out alive.

The Inspiration Behind Finding Lyla:

Typically I get my story ideas from crime documentaries or some sort of crime television program, but I can’t say that is the case for Finding Lyla. When I was coming up with ideas for this novel, I knew I wanted to tell a story about a hero that had struggled through some rough times and a heroine that had some unresolved issues of her own, but was soft, strong, and gentle all at the same time. During the summer months, I started paying close attention to the ongoing Russia/US conflict and Lyla and Collin assured me they wanted their story to revolve around an adventure that combined all of these elements together.

Read an excerpt from Finding Lyla:

Collin settled beneath the covers on his temporary bed as the dim glow of city lights radiated through the windows. He reached out, grabbing the remote off the coffee table he’d pushed off to the side, and flipped through several channels, stopping on SportsCenter. Scores and updates ticked by on the bottom of the screen, and he moved on, not all that interested in hockey stats.

He stopped again when the live footage from Saint Petersburg, Russia caught his attention. With the volume on mute, he searched for the closed caption button and sat up, reading the news report while the station switched back and forth between the newscaster and images of the police surrounding a trolleybus in the middle of a downtown street. The reporter spoke of a bomb discovered during the busy morning rush hour, mere miles from the plaza where dozens had been killed on New Year’s Eve. Luckily a citizen had been paying attention, and the explosive device had been deactivated, stopping another disaster.

Early reports were suggesting that the same rebel group responsible for the December thirty-first bombing, Chechen Freedom, had attempted to strike again. The news segment switched to snippets of the video released weeks ago, shortly after the slaughter of innocent civilians, where the masked men promised more violence in retaliation for The Federation killing one of their leaders. The man pointed at the camera, vowing to continue with his plans to destroy Russia until the regime relented and gave the Chechens back their country.

Sighing, Collin rubbed at his jaw. Why did he feel like he was walking into a losing situation? Everyday there was something new going on over there. If it wasn’t bomb threats and anti-American rallies, it was anti-Putin demonstrations outside the Kremlin walls, which often ended with tear gas and riot gear. And he and Lyla were only hours away from their late-afternoon flight.

The issues in Saint Petersburg weren’t necessarily one of his concerns. The city was a good nine hours away from their destination. It was the possibility of terrorist attacks in Moscow and Russia’s discord with the United States in general that had him on edge. The fact that Lyla was a dual citizen of two countries at odds had the potential to work for her…or very much against her. Only time would tell which way things were going to go, and they would be along for the ride while they waited to figure it out.

Did you enjoy the excerpt?  You can read the first chapter on my website, www.catebeauman.com, or you can finish the whole book with the links below!

Amazon | Kobo | Nook | iBooks

The Unofficial Finding Lyla Soundtrack

Music plays a HUGE part in my writing process. I typically listen to Pandora or YouTube while I create my stories and compile a collection of songs that I feel represent my characters or the situations they face as each novel unfolds. It’s a rare occasion that my creativity demands silence (And that’s a good thing. I’m a mother of two boys. Quiet doesn’t exist in my house.). I thought it would be fun to create a list of songs that ‘spoke’ to me while I wrote the Bodyguards of L.A. County series. You can listen to the “soundtrack” for each book on my website www.catebeauman.com.

The soundtrack, of sorts, for Finding Lyla:
• Today by Steve Moakler
• Beautiful Things by Gungor
• Teneferie Sea by Ed Sheeran
• Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon
• Anywhere but Here by Safety Suit
• Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback
• Nirvana by Sam Smith
• Don’t Deserve You by Plumb 
• Unconditionally by Katy Perry
• You’re in Love by Taylor Swift
• Fight Song by Rachel Platton

About the author:

International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A. County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015, JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards.

Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on Deceiving Bella, the eleventh novel in her popular Bodyguards series.

For information on Cate's new releases, monthly giveaways, and upcoming events, sign up for her newsletter at: http://www.catebeauman.com/author/home.html#!newsletter-sign-up/c9td

Cate can be reached at www.catebeauman.com and www.facebook.com/catebeauman.

You can follow Cate on Twitter @CateBeauman

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Contact Cate

Amazon Author Page
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Social links:
Twitter: @CateBeauman
www.catebeauman.com
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S.P. CLOWARD AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

GREETINGS, FELLOW BOOKWORMS! TODAY I’M WELCOMING S.P. CLOWARD TO MY BLOG FOR AN INTERVIEW AND BOOK GIVEAWAY.

FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW FOR ENTRY TO WIN AN E-COPY OF AFTERLIFE. THERE ARE 5 UP FOR GRABS

S.P. Cloward

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Did you always want to be a writer? If so, what medium did you start with? Poetry, Short Stories, Novellas, Novels??

- I have always wanted to be a writer of some sort, and I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making up stories. I really started writing seriously in high school for the school paper. After that I wrote a number of short stories and even began a couple of other novels prior to completing and publishing AfterLife.

What was the inspiration for your book, Afterlife?

- AfterLife originated from a dream I had about being a zombie. The concept of telling a story from the zombie’s perspective appealed to me. It evolved into the Mortui concept that is presented in the book.

Who is your favorite author??

- It’s difficult to pinpoint a single author as my favorite. I love to read and there are so many good books and writers out there. But if I have to name a couple, some authors who’s books I have enjoyed are George Orwell, Bruce Coville, Lloyd Alexander, J. K. Rowling, Orson Scott Card, and Dan Brown.

What is your favorite genre to read and why?

-I enjoy reading both Science Fiction and Fantasy books. Although we live in the “real” world, there is something about escaping to worlds that are very different from our own that makes these stories compelling and exciting. I guess we all have our own means of escapism – mine is reading and writing.

Did you ever experience a major life changing event that impacted your writing?

-No, I don’t think there’s any single event that has impacted my writing. But I do believe that every person we meet and every occurrence or experience we have in life does impact who we are – just as how we deal with those individuals and experiences determine what we will become and how we think and look at the world around us. So in that way all life experiences have made me who I am as a person and thus had an effect on my writing.

If you could be any book genre, which one would you choose and why?

-I would be Fantasy. Fantasy worlds can have stories that are dramatic, comedic, suspenseful, and action packed all within imaginative settings that can’t be found anywhere in our everyday lives.

Name a song(s) that define(s) you as a writer.

-That would have to be “Life of Saturdays” by Dexter Freebish. It’s a song about visiting great places and experiencing life to its fullest. It is through my writing that I hope to transport readers to fantastic places to experience amazing things.

If the world was on the edge of extinction, how would you survive??

-I would retreat into the wilderness with my family, practice my farming and hunting skills, and try to survive off the grid. Of course, there is always the option of joining that secret government space colonizing mission.

What advice would you give to other aspiring writers like myself??

-Writing is about expressing yourself. Editing is about making what you write relatable and interesting to your readers. Both are important. I feel that a writer has to open up during the writing phase and just let go. But don’t forget to go back and edit or have someone else edit for you after.

What other projects do you have on the horizon??

- I’m working on the second book of the AfterLife series and I hope to have it out by the end of 2013. I also have a few other books in the works, one is a science fiction novel and the other is the first book in a fantasy series, but release dates are still to be determined.

Tell us about 5 books that changed your life in some way??

-“Anthem” by Ayn Rand taught me to think for myself.

“A Separate Piece” by Shel Silverstein taught me how to love.

“Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn taught me to look at mankind’s relationship to the planet in a new way.

“1984” by George Orwell taught me the importance of remembering history and the past to prevent others from re-writing it to fit their agenda.

The “Harry Potter” books by J. K. Rowling showed me that if you have a good story and tell it right, you can make the entire world want to read seven whole books just to find out how it all ends.

If you could time travel, what time period would you go to and why??

-I think being in Europe during the time of the Renaissance would be an extremely exciting prospect. There was so much innovation in the arts and science at a time when the people of the world were searching for change and growth. There were also a number of great people that lived during that period who we still respect today.

And a fun one, what would you do if there was a zombie apocalypse?

-The best way to beat zombies is to play dead. If you can’t beat them, join them. Of course, I’m more worried about a Mortui apocalypse.

Thanks for joining me and being a part of my blog!

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the grimm chronicles giveaway

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200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm unleashed their stories upon the world. Literally. Now the characters of the Grimms’ stories walk among us. With every day that passes, they grow more evil. They are the Corrupted, and only a hero can stop them.
For 18-year-old Alice Goodenough, that means taking precious time off from her summer vacation. In addition to volunteering at the local library, Alice must stop the Corrupted who are now actively hunting her down. With the help of her magic pen and her trusty rabbit friend, the world has suddenly gotten a lot more complex. The Corrupted are everywhere, and only Alice can see them for what they truly are.
This book contains the first 3 episodes of the critically acclaimed series: Episode 1: Prince Charming Must Die!
Episode 2: Happily Never After
Episode 3: Revenge of the Castle Cats

BUY BOOK HERE ON AMAZON

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This just dropped into my inbox today and I decided to share it with all my wonderful readers. This giveaway is open until December 18^th.

They are giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card and 10 Kindle copies of The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 1. Head over to their Facebook page for more details.

http://www.facebook.com/TheGrimmChronicles?sk=app_228910107186452

 

or enter the rafflecopter giveaway below:

 

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the grimm chronicles giveaway

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200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm unleashed their stories upon the world. Literally. Now the characters of the Grimms’ stories walk among us. With every day that passes, they grow more evil. They are the Corrupted, and only a hero can stop them.
For 18-year-old Alice Goodenough, that means taking precious time off from her summer vacation. In addition to volunteering at the local library, Alice must stop the Corrupted who are now actively hunting her down. With the help of her magic pen and her trusty rabbit friend, the world has suddenly gotten a lot more complex. The Corrupted are everywhere, and only Alice can see them for what they truly are.
This book contains the first 3 episodes of the critically acclaimed series: Episode 1: Prince Charming Must Die!
Episode 2: Happily Never After
Episode 3: Revenge of the Castle Cats

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This just dropped into my inbox today and I decided to share it with all my wonderful readers. This giveaway is open until December 18^th.

They are giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card and 10 Kindle copies of The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 1. Head over to their Facebook page for more details.

http://www.facebook.com/TheGrimmChronicles?sk=app_228910107186452

 

or enter the rafflecopter giveaway below:

 

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FICTION FROLIC FOR ALL HALLOW’S READ-OCT 1ST THROUGH OCT 19TH

Help Raise 1,000 books for charity and enter to win $200, signed books and swag!
We are excited to share about an ambitious blog tour—Fiction Frolic for All Hallow's Read—where ten authors from several genres are working hard to raise 1,000 books in three weeks for Books for America.
From October 1st to 19th, donate a new book (or books!) and earn extra bonus points in a huge giveaway that these authors are hosting.
Two winners will each receive the following PRIZES!
$100 Amazon G.C.
5 signed books from the authors hosting the event
A swag bag
Plus—in honor of All Hallow's read, gift a signed copy of one of our books to a friend!
With a total of $200, 12 signed books (including the gifted books) and major swag, what better way is there to raise books for charity and celebrate All Hallow's Read?
Each author participating is also donating signed copies of their books to Books for America, an awesome charity that is officially sponsoring their event and excited to be involved with All Hallow's Read. In 2011, Books for America donated more than $800,000 worth of books and materials to DC area schools, shelters and dozens of other educational programs and organizations.
The authors are blogging throughout the event at The Fiction Frolic Blog.
· 10/1-5 Read about how books shaped their love for reading and writing.
· 10/8-12 Read their scariest, funniest or craziest Halloween experiences, or learn about their favorite Halloween themed book or movie, or favorite work of "dark" literature.
· 10/15-19 Enjoy some flash fiction, short stories and novel excerpts.
So donate, share, and look for daily ways to enter to win. Donate to charity for bonus points!.
This event is sponsored by:
Eleanor T Beaty, author of the YA paranormal Veiled Mist
Brewin' author of the supernatural horror, The Dark Horde
Andy Gavin, author of the fantasy horror, The Darkening Dream
Laxmi Hariharan, author of the YA fantasy, The Destiny of Shaitan
Kimberly Kinrade, author of the YA paranormal thriller/romances, Forbidden Mind & Forbidden Fire
Richard Long, author of the supernatural thriller/horror, The Book of Paul
M.C. Mars, author of the mind-bending novel, Burner
Melissa McPhail, author of epic fantasy Cephrael's Hand
Sheryl Steines, author of She Wulf & Days of First Sun
Pavarti K Tyler., author of the Lit Fic Shadow on the Wall and the erotic horror Consumed by Love


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BOOK OF PAUL WHIRLWIND BLOG TOUR-GUEST POST

HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG. TODAY, RICHARD LONG IS STOPPING BY MY BLOG FOR HIS BOOK OF PAUL BLOG TOUR STOP. I HAVE 3 DIFFERENT POSTS THAT I’M POSTING TODAY SO SIT BACK, RELAX, AND GRAB A VIRTUAL DRINK AND SNACK FROM THE BAR. THERE IS A GIVEAWAY GOING ON THAT’S PRETTY NEAT SO MAKE SURE YOU ENTER THAT BEFORE YOU LEAVE

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POST # 1
GUEST POST BY RICHARD LONG

Please enjoy this guest post by Richard Long, author of the nail-biting supernatural thriller, The Book of Paul. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.  

The Tarot

A guest post by Richard Long

  Laura gave me my first tarot deck. It was a Crowley. A lot of people get creeped out by Crowley decks, much as they would have been creeped out by Crowley, I imagine. He called himself ‘The Great Beast.’ To me, he seemed more like a big joke. “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law!” Stop it, you’re killing me.

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You just read the opening lines of The Bone King, a prequel to The Book of Paul. They happen to be true. Laura gave me my first deck. I still have it and use it. In fact, I’ll be using it shortly to provide Skype tarot readings for two lucky winners of my Whirlwind Blog Tour. I’m looking forward to the readings. The winners? I suppose that depends on which cards come up. Actually, I don’t give scary tarot readings, I just write about scary tarot readings. People have enough fear and stress in their lives without me throwing more gas on the flames. Besides, the three scariest trump cards--The Hanged Man, Death and The Tower--can all be interpreted in very unscary ways. Most of the time. William, the narrator of The Book of Paul, lives in the East Village/Alphabet City of New York in the years before gentrification made it a much less fun and frightening place. He makes a living doing tarot and numerology readings, same as the author did at the time. Like me, he is also a collector, but that’s where the similarities end. He collects ancient occult codices, some covered in human skin. He collects other things that are even more…disturbing. The mythology of The Book of Paul is based largely on my very unique (so unique you’ll never see it anywhere else) interpretation of the twenty-two trump cards of the tarot. As William endeavors to unravel Paul’s nefarious intentions, he discovers an arrangement of the trumps that reveals the true story being told. In the following excerpt from one of William’s journal entries, Paul congratulates William on his discovery (which is not revealed, so no spoiler alert!) and rewards his efforts with a very special gift to add to his collection, and the promise of an even greater prize. A fabulous tarot reading from Richard Long? A Kindle Fire? No, William isn’t as lucky as three of you wonderful readers. He’s about to have his very first look at The Book of Paul, a gift that comes with a very hefty price tag.

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“You’ve done exceptionally well here,” Paul said, “but you’re never gonna get to the bottom of this no matter how many of those old books you poke your nose into.”

“And that’s because…”

“For starters, those writings were deliberately intended to disguise the truth in countless metaphors and scrambled codes to keep the idiots at bay. They’ve been translated, and re-translated back into the original demotic, Coptic or Greek countless times, every scribe adding his own pontifical touch in his glorious interpretation. Of the more accurate writings, there’s more missing from the tracts than what remains, as you’ve seen in the Drivel of Mary. You’ve about as much luck hitting pay dirt in those dustbins as those literalist born-agains have of seeing the Rapture. However, I have a gift for you that should prove far more enlightening, if you apply yourself with half the dedication of these research efforts.”

He reached deeply into his pocket and told me to close my eyes. “Don’t go using yer second sight and spoil the surprise.” I nodded and felt him place a large rectangular object in my left hand. “Okay, open ’em.”

It was a tarot deck. Older than any I’d seen. The paintings were incredibly detailed and absolutely exquisite. I turned them over one by one, The Hero, The Herald, The Oracle—all the trumps labeled with Paul’s titles. “These are amazing!” I said, awed and yes, flattered by his incredible gift. I had a hard time spitting it out, but I managed to say, “Thank you.”

“You’ve earned it,” he grunted, taking the cards back before I had a chance to look at the rest of them, setting the cards down gently on the table. “But don’t stay up too late gazing at them. This deck can be quite…entrancing.”

“Is there something else I should know about it?” I asked apprehensively.

“Indeed, there is. Get a good night’s sleep and meet me in the chapel tomorrow. I’m bumping you up to the advanced class, so make sure your eyes are bright and your head is clear. You’ve earned a little taste of the Gospel according to Paul.”

  As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Book of Paul eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copy of The Book of Paul for just 99 cents
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event

About The Book of Paul: A cross-genre thriller that combines the brooding horror of Silence of the Lambs with the biting humor of Pulp Fiction. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. About the author: Richard Long is the author of The Book of Paul and the forthcoming young-adult fantasy series The Dream Palace. He lives in Manhattan with his wonderful wife, two amazing children and wicked black cat, Merlin. Visit Richard on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

SULAN BLOG TOUR-GUEST POST BY CAMILLE PICOTT

My stop on the Sulan Blog Tour is a guest post of Camille Picott writing as Billy Long, character from Sulan. THANK YOU  VIRTUAL AUTHOR BOOK TOURS FOR INVITING ME ONTO THIS BLOG TOUR

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Grab a bean bag chair and something to drink from the bar.
FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW FOR ENTRY TO WIN 1 ECOPY BOOK OF SULAN-COURTESY OF CAMILLE PICOTT

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Managing Uncle Zed Author Camille Picott writing as Billy Long, a character from Sulan A Guest Post for Heather & Earth’s Book Nook September 24, 2012 Most days, it’s just me and Uncle Zed. Mom only comes home once a month from her job, so it’s up to me to take care of my uncle. He’s a retired mercenary. Before I was born, he was captured by a North Korean corporation and tortured pretty bad. Almost twenty years later, he’s still got PTSD. He has some pretty rough days, but I’ve figured some good ways to keep him calm. 1. Keep track of the land mines Uncle Zed is obsessed with landmines. Luckily, we live on 200 acres in Humboldt County. Zed can go nuts and bury his landmines anywhere he wants on our property. His current favorites are the 76Qs from Anderson Arms. They spray a neural gas that paralyzes its victims for up to thirty minutes. He’s got some of the old fashioned kind that blow up, but after he killed a few deer Zed stopped using them. I made one rule about landmines: Zed is not allowed to bury them unless I’m with him to plot the locations on my tablet. He’s pretty calm most days, so long as he can go out and bury half a dozen of them. 2. Help him stock up on ammunitions Zed has an extreme fear of running out of firearms and being attacked. Once, when Mom was away on a job for two months, I helped Zed install a hidden fallout bunker on our property. (Zed and I have funds that Mom doesn’t know about. I make black technology and he sells it.) Anyway, we cleaned out our account to install the bunker. It was totally worth it. Now we have a place to put all the weapons that Zed buys and Mom never has to know about them. Zed is calm because he has lots of guns and explosives and feels safe, and Mom is happy because Zed is calm. Life is good with the fallout bunker. 3. Trick him into taking his medication Zed always makes excuses for not taking his medication. Usually I just threaten to rat him out to Mom. That usually gets him to take it, but sometimes he’ll spit them out when he thinks I’m not looking. Then I remind him he’s a better shot when he’s had his meds. That always gets the pill down his throat. I know most people wouldn’t approve of the way I manage Uncle Zed. I say, why fix a system that isn’t broken? Zed is pretty happy and calm most days. Sure, every once in a while he’ll have a bad freak-out session. Those are the days he sneaks into the forest in full mercenary gear and spends hours shooting at imaginary attackers. But those days are few and far between. Most days, Zed is happy to hang out in his bunker and polish his guns. On really good days, I hear him singing to himself.

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FIND CAMILLE AT THE FOLLOWING PLACES ON THE WEB

WEBSITE: http://www.camillepicott.com/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/pixiupress

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/camille.picott

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DEATH ON A LONG SHIP BLOG TOUR- GUEST POST BY MARSALI TAYLOR

Death on a Longship by Marsali Taylor

Guest Post

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Our Viking heritage is all around us, says Marsali Taylor, author of the Shetland-set detective novel: Death on a Longship.

The Vikings ruled Shetland for over five hundred years, from their arrival in the north around 735 to the hand-over to the Scots in 1468, and their influence is everywhere you go in modern Shetland.

Look at the names on a map! Aith, or Eid, my own village, is old Norse for 'isthmus' - it occupies the land between two bays. Brae, where Death on a Longship is set, means 'broad' - it's a wide inlet. When my heroine, Cass, guides her replica longship into the Hams of Roe, she reflects that, 'This would be my big test as skipper, to bring the ship in to shore without an engine, just as the Vikings had done, and in this place too. Hams came from the old Norse ‘hamar’, a landing place. I liked that idea.' Roe (from the same Viking word as the Scots Gaelic 'ruaidh'), means 'red' - the island of Muckle Roe is the big, red island.

 The Vikings didn't just leave the place names. They also left their language, and in spite of the 500 years of Scottish overlords that came after them, the Shetland dialect is still scattered with the words they spoke. In the last paragraph, I had to think for words like 'bay' and 'inlet' instead of the word that came naturally: voe, a long sea inlet. There are words for strength of wind: a grain o wind, a flan, a stour, a flying gale. There are two words for you; if you were speaking formally, you'd use the English 'you', but with a friend, you'd say 'thee' and 'thou', except that as 'th' is pronounced 'd' in Shetland, 'dee' or 'du': 'Noo dan, boy, foo's du? Is dee midder aboot?' ('Now then, boy, how are you? Is your mother about?') - and notice the grammar, foo is du? (how is you?) instead of the English how are you?

  Older Shetlanders insist that if they talk broad dialect in Norway (where Vikings are originally from), they have no difficulty making themselves understood.  Before the Vikings came, the Pictish Shetlanders lived in round houses. The later traditional crofthouse is long and low, with the house, barn (for hay) and byre (for animals) all in a straight line, just like the Viking house excavated at Jarlshof. They used to say, too, that there were no remains of Viking houses in Shetland - well, not where archaeologists could get at them, for canny Shetlanders weren't going to waste a good trodden floor and stones to hand. When the old crofthouse was past living in, they re-built on the same site. The Viking foundations are there, all right, but they're still being used!

 The Vikings were sailors, first and foremost. When my heroine, Cass, launches her restored longship, she marvels at their boatbuilding skills: 'Ah, they were seamen, those long-dead Vikings. She breasted the waves as if she was rejoicing in the sea. We raised the yard, and the ochre and red striped cotton sail billowed out, caught the wind, and Stormfugl rose with it, the helm suddenly lightening. I looked forward at the milky horizon, at the great curve of sail above me, and sent up a thanksgiving for the day.' Go to Shetland's museum, in Lerwick, or better still, to any country regatta, and you'll see Viking boats: double-ended yoals, rowed by six men, or the light-weight flyers called Shetland Models, crewed by three, and some still with the single sail hanging from a horizontal yard, just as on a Viking ship. Even the everyday rowing skiffs are double-ended.

  Like their ancestors, the Shetlanders used the sea as transport. It wasn't a barrier, it was a road. Look again at a map of the North Sea that puts Shetland in its proper place. Before cars took over, we were the centre of the northern trading universe. Those Vikings who built their house at Jarlshof were fish traders, selling provisions to the ships going on to Faroe, Iceland, Greenland, America - we know this because of the size and quantity of fish 'lug bones' found. Later, in medieval times, Shetland was the centre of the Hanseatic League, trading between north Germany, Norway, Denmark. The Dutch fishing vessels filled the muddy bay of Lerwick so thickly that you would walk across them to the island of Bressay, a mile away.

 Later still came the whaling vessels, on their way to Jan Mayen island for seals, then to Baffin Bay. While the women worked the laand, Shetland men went to sea from March to September, to earn cash to pay their rent. In the two world wars, more Shetland men were lost, proportionately, than from any other county in Britain, mostly as merchant seamen. Don't under-estimate the little old man in his cap and boiler suit; in his days with 'the Merchant service' he's probably seen more foreign lands than you've ever dreamed of!  And the people themselves, have they kept that Viking look? Well, yes, many have. I was in Yell recently, north of Mainland, where the Scots word 'tatties' (potatoes) comes out as the Norwegian-sounding 'tauties', and the man taking the money on the ferry could have come straight from a Viking ship: not very tall, but broad-shouldered, with red-gold hair, worn long, and a magnificent red beard. Tall, fair girls are rarer, but you still see them. If you asked a Shetlander which he felt closer to, the Norwegians or the Scots, there'd be no hesitation about the answer:

 'The Scots were interlopers. The Norskies, they're our cousins.'

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Death on a Longship Blurb

When she talks her way into a job skippering a Viking longship for a Hollywood film, Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived - even though it means returning home to the Shetland Islands, a place she hasn't set foot on since she ran away as a teenager to pursue her dreams of sailing. When a dead woman turns up on the boat’s deck, Cass, her past and her family come under suspicion from the disturbingly shrewd Detective Inspector Macrae.

Cass must call on all her local knowledge of Shetland, the wisdom gained from years of sailing, and her glamorous, French opera singer mother to clear herself and her family of suspicion - and to catch the killer before Cass becomes the next victim.

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Giveaway Info
 Marsali is giving away THREE prizes; a copy of Death on a Longship at each blog stop on her tour, a 1^st place grand prize giveaway at the end of the tour of some silver Viking-inspired jewelry from the Shetland Islands, and a 2^nd place $15 Amazon gift card.

 1) To win a book: leave a comment on this blog post to be entered to win a book (open internationally for ebook or the US, UK, and Canada for a print book). Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends five days after the post goes live.
2) To win Viking-inspired Jewelry OR a $15 Amazon gift card: Click the link to go to the contest’s website and enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the post. A first and second place lucky winner will be selected on October 1st. First place person gets to choose which grand prize he/she wants. The second place person gets the remaining grand prize. Open to every country.

  Here’s the contest’s website >

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  Marsali’s Bio

 Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland’s scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland’s distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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