#NEW RELEASE – THIRD BASE

Can’t wait to read the new release by PC Zick!

P.C. ZICK

I’m happy to announce the release of my romantic baseball story, Third Base. The writing of the love story between Adriana Moretti and Tomas Vegas is my tribute to love on many levels. First, I wrote about a team that has captured my heart in the past five years. The Pittsburgh Pirates were in a major two-decade long slump when I moved to the Steel City. I’ve watched them grow, improve, and win, so I put them as the winning team at the forefront of Third Base. Also, the couple’s instant attraction, despite the road blocks in their way, rises above it all.

It’s my favorite kind of love story, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. Thank you for your support for all my writing efforts.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

Apple

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It’s Monday! What are you reading?

2a2It’s Monday! What are you Reading?

 

 

This week I read “Behind the Bar” by PC Zick.

 

 

 

81G7RBonO5L._SL1500_The first thing that came to mind while reading this story was the movie “The Breakfast Club” –except ten years later. The relationships are intricate and sometimes painful as there tends to be a lot of psychological baggage carried from teenage years into adulthood, especially when done in a group like these characters. Sometimes one must forgive and forget to move on, but in the case of Susie Williams, one must remember in the first place. Susie is a young woman who has blocked out a majority of her abusive childhood, until her friends help her piece the puzzle back together.

I absolutely loved these characters, especially Sally Jean, and the final conversation between Susie and Sally Jean literally brought tears to my eyes.

“Behind the Bar” is the second book in the “Behind the Love Trilogy.” If you start with this book, you’ll find the first few chapters move pretty fast, and you’ll have to figure out who everyone is, which I’m sure is explained in more detail in the first book. That being said, you can start with this book and catch up quickly, not feeling as if you’ve missed anything because this is a stand-alone story. I guarantee you will love this group of misfits and find yourself going back to the first in the series “Behind the Altar.” The third in the series, “Behind the Curtain,” will be released soon, and I can’t wait!

For those sensitive to adult language and situations, there is a little bit in this book, but not enough to curl your hair.

088eb14324190ad8956eff.L._V146807737_SX200_Check it out at Amazon!

Visit Ms. Zick’s website!

Work in Progress Blog Tour

I’m excited to participate in a different kind of blog tour today. It’s the Work in Progress Blog Tour!

088eb14324190ad8956eff.L._V146807737_SX200_One of my favorite authors, PC Zick (photo), nominated me to share with you my current Work in Progress. Check out Patricia’s WiP on her blog HERE and her books on Amazon HERE.

The rules of the tour are:

  • Link back to the person who nominated you.
  • Nominate other authors.
  • Write the opening line(s) of your first three chapters from your WiP.

Since I’m super late in joining the tour and my other author friends have already participated, I’m only nominating one writer, so you have no excuse but to check her out…

downloadAnna Belfrage! Anna (photo) is an amazingly talented writer responsible for the eight-book “Graham Saga.” Check out her blog HERE and her books on Amazon HERE.

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And now…

My current WiP is the second book in the Culpepper Saga. Our hero, John, is spending most of his time in the colony of Virginia, but his family is living in England under the dark cloud of a civil war. Here are the opening lines of the first three chapters of my WiP, “John Culpepper the Merchant,” releasing in May 2015.

Chapter 1 – The King

The King marched into the room, unannounced. His footfall echoed off the stone walls as he paraded through the middle of an active session of Parliament and was greeted with stunned silence.

Chapter 2 – John

John Culpepper had been sitting idle in Jamestown for the last ten months. He had never tarried in Virginia for such a length of time before.

Chapter 3 – The Doldrums

She sat idle, unmoving in the dim morning light. Her sails hung limp just as they had for the last two days. John restlessly stared across her bow at the unending sea of glass that lay before him.

It’s Monday! What are you reading? “Live from the Road”

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I’m reading one of my favorite authors…

PC Zick

“Live from the Road”

 

 

 

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“Live from the Road” is a story of two friends, Meg and Sally, and their road trip across Route 66. They are escorted by their grown daughters, and the four women each have their own personal demons to face during the trip. Some of their struggles are shared with each other, some kept private.

There were idiosyncrasies in this story that made me giggle. At each stop, they invite whomever they ran into to join them, and a lot of people strangely took them up on the offer. I would never be that open to invite strangers to join my vacation, but I have some girlfriends who would do something that crazy, so it’s not all-together impossible. At one point, they had four or five cars in their caravan. I thought the concept of strangers joining on one’s vacation was a little weird, but then I realized I had joined them, too. I was traveling the Route with them, experiencing the sites and sorting through the personal problems. The road trip mimicked the trip through life – the inner journey. The part I loved best was Meg’s 50-year-old brain struggling with her own mid-life crisis. I found myself thinking her thoughts many times. Perhaps these are the thoughts of every mature woman.

 

“Live from the Road” blurb

Live from the Road takes the reader on an often humorous, yet harrowing, journey as Meg Newton and Sally Sutton seek a change in the mundane routine of their lives. Joined by their daughters, they set off on a journey of salvation enhanced by the glories of the Mother Road.

Along the way, they are joined by a Chicago bluesman, a Pakistani liquor store owner from Illinois, a Marine from Missouri, a gun-toting momma from Oklahoma, and a motel clerk from New Mexico.

Death, divorce, and deception help to reveal the inner journey taking place under the blazing desert sun as a Route 66 motel owner reads the Bhagavad-Gita and an eagle provides the sign they’ve all been seeking.

Enlightenment comes tiptoeing in at dawn in a Tucumcari laundromat, while singing karaoke at a bar in Gallup, New Mexico, and during dinner at the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona.

The trip isn’t always easy as laughter turns to tears and back again. However, the four women’s lives will never be the same after the road leads them to their hearts – the true destination for these road warriors.

088eb14324190ad8956eff.L._V146807737_SX200_PC ZICK – Author

P.C. Zick began her writing career in 1998 as a journalist. She’s won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction. She describes herself as a “storyteller” no matter the genre.

She’s published five works of fiction and two nonfiction books.

She was born in Michigan and moved to Florida in 1980. She finds the stories of Florida and its people and environment a rich base for her storytelling platform. Florida’s quirky and abundant wildlife – both human and animal – supply her fiction with tales almost too weird to be believable.
Her fiction contains the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. In her novels, she advances the cause for wildlife conservation and energy conservation. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion.

“This is one of the most exciting times to be an author,” Ms. Zick says. “I’m honored to be a part of the revolution in writing and publishing.”

PC’s website

PC’s Amazon Page

PC’s blog

#Civil War Journal on Special #Sale

A RARE PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Check out this amazing book by author PC Zick! It’s a journal of a real Civil War soldier, and fortunately for us, he was also a great writer. It’s on sale right now for $0.99, so forward this info to your Civil War buff friends. They’ll love it! Where else can you get a real piece of history for that price?

Living Lightly

Civil War Journal of a Union Soldier , the memoir of my great grandfather, is on a Kindle Countdown deal this week. March 22 and 23, the Kindle version is only .99 cents. On March 24, it goes up to $1.99 for four days, before reverting back to its original price. If you haven’t downloaded the journal yet, here’s your change to take advantage of this special offer. The book is also available in paperback for $6.93.

Here’s an excerpt from 152 years ago this week. Harmon Camburn brings the sights, sounds, and sensibilities of the regular infantry soldier to light with his riveting prose.

Click on cover for Amazon page Click on cover for Amazon page

March 21, 1862 – The bugle sounded “Strike Tents.” Taking the road up Hampton Creek a mile or so, we crossed the bridge and passed through the ruins of Hampton. This was the oldest town and had the oldest…

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Thank you all for a successful book tour!

elly cover_webI’d like to blog a gigantic thank you for a successful ELLY HAYS book tour. I have to admit it was majorly stressful putting it all together, but in the end, the stress and preparedness paid off. Everything went off without a hitch. I’d like to thank my hosts: Pat Fitzhugh, Anna Belfrage, Ionia Martin at Readful Things, Sandi Layne, Patricia Zick at Writing Whims, David Lawlor, and Christoph Fischer. These folks are the nicest bunch of bloggers, authors, and friends a girl could ask for.

Now, without further ado, here are the winners of the eBooks offered at various stops. If you’re name is here, please email me at LoriCraneAuthor@gmail.com and claim your prize. The prize is a copy of your choice of OKATIBBEE CREEK or AN ORPHAN’S HEART and it can be claimed as a Kindle or Nook.

Nov 5 this blog Elly Hays video debut – NikiMarie

Nov 7 Anna Belfrage’s blog – Sharron McAvoy

Nov 8 Readful Things – Julian Froment

Nov 13 Writing Whims – Francis Guenette

The $25 Amazon gift card prize for signing up for my newsletter will be announced Nov 18 in the newsletter. Still time to get in on the drawing!! Hurry up! Sign up at http://www.LoriCraneAuthor.com.

If you’d like to see what we chatted about at the Nov 4 online release party – click HERE. If you’d like to see our live Nov 16th Twitter chat, go to Twitter and search hashtag #ellyhays. Hillarity ensued as I tried to get author PC Zick to sell author Anna Belfrage’s book during PC’s book tour. Leave it to the blonde to mess things up. Yeah, that’s me. ♥ you all!

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ELLY HAYS book tour – Last Stops: Reviews and Twitter Chat!

elly cover_webThe last stops of the ELLY HAYS book tour are for reviews.

One is on the other side of the pond at author Christoph Fischer’s and the other is right here in the U.S. at author PC Zick’s. They are both amazing and talented authors, and I’m thrilled they both liked Elly. I respect their opinions greatly and feel a huge sense of humility and thankfulness for their kind reviews. Pop over and tell them both Hi. Check out their books while you’re there.

 

 

 

 

 

twitter-chat-tree-11The very last stop of the tour will be tomorrow (Saturday, Nov 16, 4-5pm Eastern) for a LIVE Twitter chat. If you’ve ever thought about putting your own stories out into the world, come chat with us and we’ll be happy to point you in the direction. I’ll be joined by authors PC Zick, Anna Belfrage, Pat Fitzhugh, Beem Weeks, and book cover designer/formatting genius/video trailer producer/swag guru Rob Hess from Elite Book Design. Come asks us questions and hang out.

Join us through www.Tweetchat.com and use hashtag #ellyhays. If you’re not familiar with Tweetchat, it is a live, single-conversation Twitter feed, so you don’t have to surf through other Tweets. Also, you only have to put in the hashtag to join the conversation and don’t have to add it with every Tweet – Tweetchat will automatically do it for you. Gotta love technology!

See you tomorrow!!! ♥

 

My ELLY HAYS book tour is stopping at Writing Whims today!

elly cover_webELLY HAYS is at Writing Whims today!

If you’ve ever wanted to know anything about me but were too shy to ask, author PC Zick at Writing Whims did the asking for you. Run over to her page HERE and read my amazing and jaw-dropping answers. 😛

THEN, comment on the interview and be entered to win a free eBook.

THEN, check out PC Zick’s books on Amazon HERE. Her latest is a “Civil War Journal of a Union Soldier” which is a real journal of a real person who was really there. It’s stunning. I read it! I also loved “Trails in the Sand.”