Nick Wilford Book Release Day, Fated Soulmates Giveaway, and First Annual #AtoZChallenge Book Reviews, Tour, and Blog Hop! -- D. A. Stansil

elcome to the first Annual #AtoZChallenge Book Reviews, Tour, and Blog Hop!

Today's author is Deborah A. Stansil!

Twisted Tales (2016, adult horror)

Twisted Tales is a collection of twenty-seven short horror stories. Ranging from crazed stalkers, killers, dealing with the Devil and everything in between, this collection shows the darker side of human nature in all its black glory.

Journey through the twisted minds of the central characters as they make their choices, and watch their lives spiral out of control.

Hate them, empathise with them, and stay on your guard. There’s a dark streak in all of us just waiting to come out.

Excerpt: "That piece of writing caused more trouble for me than I could ever imagine. It cost me my friends, most of my family and of course my freedom. They feed me the platitudes – “it’s for my own good” “they want to help me”. None of them make up for my freedom. I’m not in prison, at least not in the traditional sense. I’m in an institution for the criminally insane. It’s no different. How can it not be prison when I’m not allowed to leave? I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me take you back to how it all happened. After all, it’s not like I’m short on time."

Delve into the dark side of human nature with Twisted Tales, a collection of short stories from horror writer @randommusings29

Get it here in the US; get it here in the UK!

Why did you take part in the A to Z Challenge the year that your book was given life?
I did it for the first time the year before and I loved it and I really wanted to get my fiction out there. Twisted Tales was my first book!

Why did you start blogging?
I wanted to get back into writing for an audience. It was only ever going to be a short term thing, but I fell in love with it, and here I am, four years later.

Do you have any other books coming out soon?
I have a new novel coming out this year hopefully.

What other books do you have available?
Twisted Tales 2, Twisted Tales 3, The Joker, The Mirror, The Asylum Tour, Lacey Patrick and the Wizard of Darkness, eBook Like a Boss, Start Your Blog Like a Boss, Optimise Your Blog Posts Like a Boss, Parodies and Piss Takes.

Do you have a brief writing tip?
Just write. A first draft is just that. Let your words flow and go where your mind takes you without focusing on perfection. Perfection comes much later.

Where did the idea for this book come from, other than the alphabet and the A to Z Challenge?
Partly from observation of human nature, partly from my own twisted imagination ;)

What writing goal do you hope to accomplish this year?
I want to finish up the novel I'm currently working on and write a new short story collection. I'd also like to write at least one more non-fiction book and get started on another novel.

As a reader, what most motivates you to buy a new book to read?
The cover.

What does your desk/writing area look like? Do you have any special writing habits? My "office" as I refer to it is actually my bedroom. I love sitting on the bed, my feet up and my laptop on my knee writing away. I find I just write better when I'm comfortable as opposed to sitting at a desk.
[Love it! This sounds so cosy!]
I tend to write with an open notebook beside me, because I often come up with a line or something I want to use later on in a book, and if I don't note it down straight away, I forget it almost instantly. I also have a habit of going back to edit while I'm writing. I know it's a bad idea, and I don't do any deep stuff, but when inspiration really strikes, my head works faster than my hands and I end up with a ton of typos and those glaring red lines drive me crazy.


Find out more about Deborah A. Stansil and get in touch:
Blog
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Amazon
The Writer's Den Group



This week also marks the release of Nick Wilford's latest book: Corruption (Black & White #2)

Wellesbury Noon and Ezmerelda Dontible have found themselves in a position where they can make their native land somewhere that lives up to its name: Harmonia. However, they’re setting their sights further afield for their number one task: eradicating the disease that has plagued the neighbouring country of Loretania for generations and allowed the privileged Harmonians to live in a sterile environment.

After dispatching a team of scientists to Loretania, armed with cratefuls of an antidote and vaccine and headed up by their friend, Dr George Tindleson, Welles, Ez, and Welles’s brother Mal – who grew up in that benighted nation – start to worry when they hear nothing back, despite what they had agreed. Commandeering a fishing boat to follow the science team over the sea, they soon find that, while the disease may be on the way out, a new kind of infection has set in – the corruption they thought they had stamped out in Harmonia.

Can they get to the root of the problem and eradicate it before even more damage is done to an innocent people?

Hi Deniz!
Thanks for hosting me as part of my blog tour.
Today I’d like to introduce you to a bit of a salty dog -- he’s new to the open waves but it’s like they were always meant to be his home.
Over to Captain Kriftey...

Hello! Captain Kriftey here. I’d like to introduce you to my merry band of fishermen. We’re all new to the game but we’ve taken to it like, well, ducks to water. I’d heard that phrase before but never knew what it meant. A remnant of the old days. See, no one in Harmonia ever went down to the seaside until that young lad Wellesbury and his young lady Ezmerelda tipped over the system. Everyone just stayed in their place, really, but it’s funny. I can’t imagine not being out on the roaring open waves now. 

We had fish before, but it was that horrible, synthetic stuff that’s conjured out of a few molecules in a machine. Don’t know how we put up with it, but then we didn’t know any better. The real thing doesn’t even compare! After they overthrew the Reformers, they were looking to go back to more natural, healthy ways, and that included fishing. Never seen the sea before but I responded to the call for fishermen, thinking it would be a nice change of scene. They were building boats out of the same stuff they build houses out of here. Rock solid, guaranteed not to sink. When I saw the vessel I was to command, I felt a little bit in love. They picked me to be captain because I’d led a team of solicitors and they said I had transferable skills. Boy, was I glad to leave the paper pushing behind! I’d had enough of that cooped-up life.

But I wouldn’t change my job for the world now. I’m going to have to look up my family tree because I feel like seafaring’s in my blood. That was all forbidden before. You didn’t know where you came from, the future was the only thing that mattered. Now, we’re being encouraged to explore our ancestry. That’s what I like about the new lot. The human touch.

Title: Corruption

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: YA dystopian Series: Black & White Series #2 of 3

Release date: 11 February 2019

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing

*** Warning – this book contains themes that some sensitive readers may find upsetting. ***

Purchase links: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks / Add it on Goodreads

Meet the author:

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at his blog or connect with him on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon.

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I hope you've enjoyed this blog hop post and book release celebration! Thanks for coming by, Nick!

As if that wasn't enough, there's also a Valentine's giveaway going on:

Do you like it short and sweet, and contemporary?

Are you in a swashbuckling historical mood?

Maybe you're looking for some shifting paranormal or a sexy spy? Got you covered.

They've even got Cupid himself.

You can find all this super sexy romance and multiple giveaways in the Fated Soulmates giveaway, and visit Tara for an Amazon giveaway!

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As for me, my mini-goal for this round of A Round of Words in 80 Days is to simplify! I purged a few items off shelves and in cupboards at home (not books!) and generally tidied up most things while on maternity leave (it's never as minimalist as it could be, and I've actually lost a set of keys!), and I also tried to create a list of long-term goals, in order to be able to focus on one project at a time.

While in school, though, I unfortunately have no time for editing, and can only write story scenes here and there. I'll just think of reading as filling the well, for when I can concentrate on the stories once more...

Hope you enjoyed meeting Captain Kriftey and discovering Twisted Tales!

As a reader, what most sends a shiver down your spine?