April 2021 Virtual Book Tour –Janett Zizumbo

About the Author

Janett Zizumbo was born in Chicago, IL, USA and currently resides in Veracruz, Mx. She has received a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and a Masters degree from University of South Florida. She is a writer, illustrator, visual artist, and teacher.

Being bilingual as a child, she always found it difficult to find resources to help with her fluency. Specifically, having grown up in the United States she only had the opportunity to learn English academically and learn Spanish through conversation with family. This is where she got the idea of creating stories for bilingual children to read and have easy access.

The Kangaroo / El Canguro

During my stay in Australia, the family and I spent some time in one of the nature reserves in Melbourne, Australia. We went during dusk and had a small picnic watching kangaroos hopping around completely unfazed by our presence. It was such a surreal moment to live. A pair of joeys playing with each other inspired me to write this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Durante mi estadía en Australia, la familia y yo pasamos un tiempo en una de las reservas naturales de Melbourne, Australia. Fuimos durante el anochecer y tuvimos un pequeño picnic viendo a los canguros saltando completamente imperturbables por nuestra presencia. Fue un momento tan surrealista para vivir. Un par de joeys jugando me inspiraron a escribir este libro. Espero que lo disfruten tanto como yo al escribirlo.

Readers are absolutely perfect for building fluency. These readings include a story, along with reading comprehension questions and a writing/drawing exercise all in Spanish and English.

This reader is a bit more advanced aimed at 1st grade2nd grade students slightly advanced with fluency.

Los Readers son absolutamente perfectos para desarrollar la fluidez. Estos Readers incluyen una historia, junto con preguntas de comprensión de lectura y un ejercicio de escritura/dibujo, todo en Español e Inglés.

Este lector es un poco más avanzado y está dirigido a estudiantes de 1º a 2º grado ligeramente avanzados con fluidez.

What it contains/ lo que contiene:

  • An E-book in Spanish and English/ un E-book en Español e inglés
  • Reading comprehension questions in Spanish and English/ Comprension de lectura
  • Vocabulary/ Vocabulario
  • Writing portion/ejercicio de escritura
  • Drawing portion/ ejercicio de dibujo
  • crossword puzzle/ crucigrama
  • Total of 17 pages/ 17 paginas en total
  • An audio will be included on the website to help the student understand the pronunciation

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April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Sahara Roberts

About the Author

Sahara Roberts caught the writing bug early in life. She enjoys writing Dark Romance and Romantic Suspense. Her days are filled with international trade issues (the legal kind) and her evenings writing steamy romance.

She is currently working on Blood Ties, a Dark Mafia Romance series, along with the first spinoff, Rise of Faust, set in South America.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys socializing on Facebook and Instagram or watching The Blacklist, Pure, and My Hero Academia.

Sahara lives in South Texas with her beloved husband and their three furry overlords. She enjoys cooking, baking, and cake decorating, but she would certainly prefer to have someone else do the dishes.

A Dark Mafia Romance Blood Ties Series

Stealing Iris

Dante meets the lovely Iris Gloria during a chance stop at her family’s market. He also comes face to face with Conrado Villa, who’s been trying to work his way into Dante’s network. 

Conrado’s smart enough to catch Dante’s interest in Iris and makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

Despite knowing Conrado’s out of his league when it comes to working with criminal elites, Dante decides to bring him onboard.

Dante’s taken by Iris, but he knows something’s wrong and Iris isn’t talking. Is she working with Conrado to pull one over on him? Or is there more to this than meets the eye?

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April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Laura Roberts

About the Author

Laura Roberts writes contemporary romance and short women’s fiction, with steamier stories under the pen name Laure L’Amour. She currently lives in Sacramento, California with her artist husband and their literary kitty, Percy. When she’s not writing, she can be found editing manuscripts for indie authors, transcribing reality TV (her day job), watching rom-coms, testing chocolate recipes, or searching for more typewriters to add to her collection (a Royal Quiet DeLuxe, an Olympia SM9, and a Hermes 3000, frequently featured in her Instagram posts @LauraRobertsRomance). You can find out more about Laura and her work at her website, Buttontapper.com.

Sacramento Love

A short series of love notes to the city of Sacramento, Sacramento Love features 26 fictional meet-cute romances—each sparked somewhere within California’s state capital. Follow along as our cast of local characters meet one another in diners, dive bars, coffee shops, restaurants, parks, and at some of Sacramento’s most beloved landmarks from the American River Parkway to the mysterious Ziggurat.

A sweet (and occasionally spicy) fictional companion to author Laura Roberts’ forthcoming travel guidebook, Sacramento From A to Z, each of the Sacramento Love stories embrace the spirit of the city while travel and other activities in the real world are on hold. Lift your spirits with the joy of meeting someone new, a little romance, and a lot of Sacramento Love!

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April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Erma Note

About the Author

Author Erma Note is originally from the suburbs of Chicago. After moving to Mexico to volunteer with an orphanage, she ended up meeting her husband and becoming a permanent resident in Mexico. They are raising three children in Mexico City, and they love visiting the myriad of museums, archaeological sites, markets, churches, and other beautiful, historical places Mexico has to offer. Erma felt compelled to share her love for the beautiful capital city of Mexico in her children’s book “Travels with Grace.”

Travels With Grace

Grace is a bicultural, bilingual girl living in Mexico City who loves to travel and learn new things. She is excited because her cousin, Connor, is coming to visit from the United States. Grace and her mom put together a plan to teach Connor about this city in Mexico: its language, food, culture, and important places. What new things will they do and see? A portion of the proceeds of this book will be donated to Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage.

Is the title of your book significant?

“The main character’s name is Grace, but there is another meaning behind the title. It’s also about traveling gracefully… Being a gracious traveler, to me, means having respect for the local people, their traditions, their language, and their values. In addition, one of the most important things about traveling to a new country, in my opinion, is really getting to know the people and places that are the heartbeat of that country. I love having conversations with local people and learning from them, whether that is an artisan in Santa María del Río talking to me about her woven textiles, or a Yucatecan cigar vendor telling me his story as we share a soda in the sunny downtown square. Learning to speak Spanish has opened a lot of doors for me, and that is one part of traveling gracefully…being able to communicate with the local people whose guest I am,” said Erma.

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April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Sarah Flores

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About the Author

Sarah Flores is an Engineer turned English teacher and author of the highly rated Ordinance 53.  

Sarah’s passion for science fiction and fantasy make an excellent backdrop for her series of short stories that encourage deep thinking and discussion for her readers.  

Ever one to push the boundaries of tradition, her stories are designed around the feeling of a moment leaving the reader to debate and search for answers from within.

Ordinance 53 

This series of short stories draws the reader into their own inner depths.
Read with an open imagination, philosophizing with the characters on their journeys.

From the Author

I have always loved writing for fun and for emotional relief.  After several years of writing and a lay-off, I decided to compile them into a book.

I used Amazon KDP to publish my book since these are unique stories and I was doing this for me, not for a big payout.

The most difficult story I had to write was the breakup. It was about my divorce and the feelings I was dealing with at the time. However the relief of being able to share the feeling and having others recognize it, was therapeutic for me.

I hope you enjoy my stories and discuss them with others. Each person’s view of the world can drive a different understanding of the story and what it means.

April 2021 Virtual Book Tour– C.E. Flores

C.E. Flores was born in the Eastern United States and currently lives in central Mexico. She received her Bachelor’s in Education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and picked up her husband while studying there. She writes about her wild and crazy off-grid life in rural Mexico as well as references books for expats, writers, bloggers, preppers, and herbalists.

The Writer’s Toolkit from Ultimate Bundles Available June 7 – 11

A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing Your Book Series

A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing Your Book

With the A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing Your Book series you will be able to format and market your self-published book right! Click on the links below for a preview of each book!

Book Building: A Beginner’s Guide to Crafting Your Book will help any novice or experienced author create a manuscript that is a delight to the senses, making it more attractive to potential publishers.

–In Book Hawking: A Beginner’s Guide to Marketing Your Self-Published Book, you’ll learn about simple and inexpensive ways to let the world know about your book.

–Getting discovered on Amazon doesn’t have to be like finding a needle in a haystack with Book It: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing on Amazon.

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Surviving Mexico — Adventures and Disasters
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Check out this quick video highlighting C.E. Flores’ current books!

Road Trip Visitors

If you’d like to meet the other female authors featured during the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2021, you’ll find the complete list in the Reflections post here. Thanks for stopping by!

April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Daryl Devoré

About the Author

Two writers in one. Daryl Devoré writes hot romances with sexy heroes and strong heroines and sweet romances with little to no heat. She has several published books available on Amazon in ebook or print, and available at other book retailers via Books2Read.

Daryl (@daryldevore) lives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and 2 cats. Daryl loves to take long walks on her quiet country road or snowshoe across the back acres, and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth, and a meteorite. She’s been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flown high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter, and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life’s an adventure and Daryl’s having fun living it.

What do dragons, knights, and romance have in common? Grab a copy of multi-published author Daryl Devore’s medieval fantasy romance!

The Last Dragon

A sorcerer craving dominance merged with a dragon, the power overwhelmed him causing him to split into three dragons. Demora ruled thought, but was lost in time. Yidithe offered protection, shining like the light of the sun. Ayrradex craved chaos, revelling in destroying souls. 

Many knights died, attempting to slay the devil beast. One knight, Prince Hawkyns, did not fear death. He’d lost everything. Away on a mission when Ayrradex attacked his father’s kingdom, Penrythe, Hawkyns returned to find his noble father – feeble and defeated. His wise mother – crazed. His beautiful wife and unborn child – dead. Only a pile of ashes remained for him to bury. He knelt before his King and vowed to slay the devil-beast or be slain. 

Derry was born with powers that terrified her parents. They delivered her to a nunnery to be raised in secret. Jathe, a wise sorceress, discovered the young girl and trained her to one day use the secret hidden in her soul.

Legends spoken around campfires hinted the sole way to destroy Ayrradex was when the hearts of a knight and a golden dragon became one. But after a vicious battle with Ayrradex, the golden dragon was thought to be dead. 

Can Prince Hawkyns’s bravery and Derry’s powers end the reign of the devil-beast’s terror?

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Common Traps for Aspiring Authors

There are sooooo many traps; it’s like a minefield out there. I am only going to briefly discuss a couple.

#1 – Agents will reject a book if you____(fill in the blank)

Choices

  • Used a prologue
  • Used an epilogue
  • Used a prologue and an epilogue
  • Used the word “as”
  • Used adverbs
  • There’s a typo in manuscript
  • Used too many dialogue tags
  • Didn’t use dialogue tags
  • Book is too long
  • Book is too short

If I felt so inclined I could ask my writer friends and probably come up with 10 more reasons, but those 10 were the first that popped into my head.

I have actually asked an agent, “Is it true that any book that has a prologue is automatically rejected?” I think she is still laughing.

No, none of my 10 reasons are true. But people will tell you not to do it. Why? Because they saw it on Twitter/online/in a writers group not to do it. So therefore it becomes the truth.

Write your book. Accept there are going to be rejections, but know that the rejection was NOT because you had the word “as” in your story. 

Possible real reasons – Your book didn’t match with that agent. The genre of your story – that agent is swamped with it. The story didn’t pull in the agent.

#2 – Learn the rules of writing.

This topic I could write a 1,000-page tome on. So instead, I will limit myself to 100 words.

Experienced authors pontificate – New writers should first learn the rules of writing. When I was a new author, I’d respond – What are the rules of writing? Response – crickets.

What I’ve learned – there is NO secret book of the rules of writing. I repeat – there is NO secret book of writing rules. It is not locked in some secret vault in Switzerland. It does not exist.

Someone might publish a book about it, but that is her/his opinion. Not THE actual rules.

What does this all mean? Write your book. Stop worrying about what everybody else says. Just write your book.

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April 2021 Virtual Book Tour — Christina Lynn Lambert

About the Author

A few years ago, I read my first romance novel and I was hooked, so much so that I decided to give the idea of writing a story a chance. Love, courage, hope, and second chances are a few of my favorite themes. My stories include a fair amount of sarcasm, suspense, steam, and violence. When I’m not writing, I enjoy spending time outside and finding ways to avoid cooking. I live in beautiful Virginia with my husband, two daughters, and a sweet, hairy monster of a dog. 

Tiger’s Last Chance (Stranger Creatures book 3)

Tiger’s Last Chance (Stranger Creatures book 3) is Sean and Nikki’s story. The books in my Stranger Creatures series take place in the fictional town of Great Oaks, Virginia. Great Oaks is a wild, wonderful place full of some strange but amazing people- shapeshifters, psy, and more. Each book in this steamy, suspenseful, paranormal romance series features a different couple on their journey to happily-ever-after. 

A little about the story

While working a case, Sean Whitman is tortured for information, drugged, and bitten against his will by a shape shifter. The fallout ruins his career. Needing a fresh start, he leaves town and opens a private investigation business. Learning to live life sober isn’t easy, but he makes it to the two-year mark.

When Detective Nikki Jackson with the Great Oaks, Virginia Police Department calls him to ask for his help as a consultant on a case, he’s captivated by her sweet, slightly Southern voice. In person, she’s unlike any other woman he’s encountered, and nearly impossible to resist. But could the sexy detective ever want a man like him?

After Nikki’s last dating disaster, the mountain lion shifter has sworn off men. Then she meets Sean, and with every second she spends around the tall, dark-eyed man, her resolve crumbles. Despite the undeniable attraction between them, Sean seems determined to push her away.

An investigation into missing refugees leads Nikki to the discovery of a radical political group’s horrifying plot for dominance. Traitors are embedded within the very organizations meant to keep shifters safe. As the list of people she can trust dwindles, she calls on Sean to help her unravel a web of deceit.

As Nikki and Sean fight for survival, his fear of losing her could become a reality. Will he get one last chance to show her he loves her?

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What I’m Working On Now

Book 4 of the Stranger Creatures series is in progress! I’ve been working on Luke and Jordan’s story.
After surviving a battle with cancer, Jordan decides life should be about taking chances. She’s never met another person with psy abilities before, until Luke. Though she’s still nowhere as bold as she wishes she could be, she has an idea that would allow her to spend more time with him.

Luke agrees to Jordan’s plan to spend the holidays together and even though he wants something more permanent than their holiday arrangement, he vows to keep that thought to himself. Would Jordan still want him if she knew his past?

Can they stop an elusive research company from experimenting on vulnerable people or will Luke and Jordan’s time together be over too soon?

April 2021 Virtural Book Tour — Gail Baugniet

About the Author

Gail M Baugniet is the author of the Pepper Bibeau mystery series with the latest novel, Island Cruise Homicide, set in Hawaii. Early careers in law enforcement and the insurance industry fueled her interest in writing mysteries. She is a member and past president of Sister in Crime/Hawaii. Gail’s book of linked poetry, Another New Beginning: 70 Poems for 70 Days, was gifted to 70 family members and friends in celebration of her 70th birthday. A historical novel, Shards of Memory – Oral History in a Heartbeat, is based on her decades of family genealogy research. After twelve years of security dispatching for Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu, she turned to writing full-time, including short stories published in several anthologies.

Pepper Bibeau Mysteries

Insurance Investigator Pepper Bibeau’s field work shouldn’t include her involvement in homicide cases. But whether her assignment takes her to Chicago in For Every Action; to Boston in Blood Red Homicide; to Honolulu for With Fiery Vengeance and Island Cruise Homicide; or keeps her in Wisconsin for Deadly as Nature; and Neshoto Junction Homicide, she is either finding a dead body or finding herself implicated in the investigation of a dead body. Either way, these cozy novels offer entertaining reading for soft-boiled mystery lovers.

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