32 Seconds by J. K. Pitcairn

Today, the blog is a stop on the virtual book tour for the novel 32 Seconds by talented author, Johanna K. Pitcairn. There's a spotlight, a bit about the author, and a few fun facts about the book and its writer. So read on, and enjoy!

32 Seconds by J. K. Pitcairn

To the average onlooker, the city of Los Angeles represents glitz, glamour, and the celebrity lifestyle. But to seventeen-year-old Julie Jones, the city is a vast host of problems she’s longing to get away from. The latest? An unfortunate disagreement with her ex-boyfriend Mark—one that could land her in some serious hot water.

So rather than face the troubles that torment her, Julie decides to run away from her old life and start fresh somewhere new. But her parents aren't on board with the plan, and she soon finds her bank accounts frozen and her wallet empty.

With just seventy-five dollars and a full tank of gas, the troubled teen is far too stubborn to turn around and head home. So what’s a girl to do?

What Julie doesn't know is that her travels are about to take her somewhere unexpected—a place where she’ll be forced to come face to face with the ghosts of her past in order to secure her future.

A tale of redemption, hope, and freedom lost and found, 32 Seconds is a thought-provoking exploration into the human spirit and the nature of forgiveness.

Available on Amazon

Random Fun Facts:

1) To trigger my inspiration, I binge on Netflix. I pick shows from any genre, and study the dialog and the plot. I also watch video game walkthroughs on YouTube. It's a great help to develop my characters.
2) I can't remember the last time I've had a bad case of writer's block. Plotting helps eliminate that issue. 
3) My biggest pet peeves: misspellings, grammatical errors, and inconsistent formatting. 
4) Julie Jones has named her car "Bubble", and when she swears, she says things like "shizzle", "shizzle nizzle" or "crapola in a peanut butter jar".
5) The original title for the first draft of the story, before it became 32 Seconds, was Death by Chocolate. 
6) Julie Jones loves In&Out burgers, and strawberry milkshakes. 
7) Julie is also a surfer. Her favorite beach is the one in Oceanside, CA. 
8) I'm a cat lover. I have four cats, and they all distract me from writing by taking turns and lying on top of my laptop.

About the Author:

Johanna K. Pitcairn has dreamed of becoming a writer since childhood--authoring her first novel at the age of nine, and countless poems, stories, and screenplays by the age of seventeen. Later, rather than pursuing a career as a director and screenwriter, she decided to go to law school, driven by her father's opinion that "writing does not pay the bills."

Ten years later, she moved to New York City, which inspired her to go back to the excitement, wonder, and constant change of being a writer. Pitcairn is a huge fan of psychological-thriller novels and movies, and delves into her hopes, fears, friends, enemies, and everything in between in her own writing.

Contact the Author:

Website I Blog I Facebook I Twitter I Goodreads I

The Independent Author Network 

Interview with Kikkina Rihki Destinu-Bantano

Today author Kikkina Rihki Destinu-Bantano stops by for an interview and to talk about her book, Angels in the City that Doesn't Sleep

Interview with Kikkina Rihki Destinu-Bantano

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself?

I am a New England (America) writer who graduated in 2009 from writing college.  I decided to do this after I started to write my first saga when I was 15!  It took me seven years to finally publish it!    I love angels, I am inspired by angels.


Can you tell us a bit about your book, Angels in the City that Doesn't Sleep?

Here is the synopsis of the book:

My name is Chrysti Neopli. I am a fifteen year old New Yorker. For the most part I am like any other teenager from New York. My parents are divorced and live in two different states. My mother lives in New York and my father lives in Maine. The only difference I have that most teenagers don’t share with me is that I am an innovative living angel. I am not by the book at all. I was born as a living angel and was raised in New York City as a human until I was eleven. That’s when I found out I had blue wings and that I had powers most people could only dream of. The truth is as an opportunity comes into my life I don’t want to go to Heaven again. I had been to Heaven before and it didn’t end well. I really don’t fit in there, just like I don’t fit in with anyone in New York either. I constantly split between Heaven and New York. The only thing different this time is the opportunity seems like it was given as a sign to make me deal with the past which I have to make extremely hard decisions to save the future of my friends.

How did the idea for the book begin?

The truth would be the fact I had just moved to a different town and everyone seemed to have forget about me.  Inspired by angels and always loved the feathered wings, I decided to write about a girl who was always stuck in the middle of the fact she was a living angel, split between Heaven and New York.


Why did you decide on a teenager as a main character?

I think when I began writing it, this was the age bracket I was in and I could relate to her. 


What first interested you in the fantasy genre?

I love to write fantasy genre because anything can happen and anything is possible.  It isn’t like real life where you are stuck sometimes an ending to a story you wish never happened. 


What is your greatest challenge as a writer?

The very first page!  I always begin to write it and to me it will never sound perfect.  I keep going at that first page for a very long time.  I have in several cases rewrote the book because of the first page didn’t get the hype I wanted.


Can you tell us about your writing process? Do you have a certain writing routine?

I search for a lot of different pictures online, so I can visually picture them and describe them in my books.  (For example, Azeen, a pure black tiger.  I honestly never realized that there were such a thing)


Who has inspired you as an author?

I have been inspired by A LOT of great authors out there!!  The one that really inspired me with his own story would be Ray Bradbury with the fact he kept writing and never stopped.  People told him his books would never make it, and now they are classics!


What’s next for you?
I am going to continue writing the ‘Angels in the City that Doesn’t Sleep’ Series!

Author Bio:


Kikkina Rihki Destinu-Bantano was born and raised in Maine, where she lives a quiet life.
She began writing at a young age and at fifteen she wrote Angels in the City that Doesn't Sleep. She set it aside for years until she was twenty four and then decided to have it published.

For more information on her books and more about Book Tours, Blog Tours, Radio Interviews, and free book giveaways please check her out on Facebook or Google Plus

The Within Blog Tour and a Review of the Book

I’m pleased to have this blog play host to Clare Marshall on her virtual journey as she does the blog tour circuit for her book, Within. Ms. Marshall is a talented author and fellow Nova Scotian. She has written a wonderful YA novel and here is my review...

Book Review of Within:

I enjoyed reading the novel Within by Clare Marshall very much. Now that is saying a lot because books in the YA genre are not generally something I read. But I found Within an engaging book, solidly resting in an authentic world of teenage life, laced with the flavour of a paranormal thriller.

The novel centers on three teen friends, Trinity, Zack and Ellie, whose world turns upside down when a car accident leaves Trinity with brain damage. The aftermath of that misfortune and Trinity’s condition steer them toward the paranormal and an unrepentant murderer.

Ms. Marshall has an excellent way with her characters, getting the teenage rendering right in my opinion, making her trio of protagonists realistic people, instead of whining or annoying. She makes the shift from dealing with teen issues like prom and jealousy to heart-breaking tragedy and unexpected treachery flow believably.

I enjoyed the portrayal of Ellie in particular; I found her character strong with the right mixture of teenage insecurity and angst. When dealing with emotional issues she comes across as genuine, a blend of hesitant and love struck, but not maudlin or foolish. Her growth from tentative youth to a more confident (and kick-ass) person grounds the book and allows the reader to identify with the character.

The plot was nicely written as well, although I did find some of the villainous motivation a bit vague and undefined for my taste, especially where it concerned the various henchmen. Still the novel contains thrills and great tension, with a wonderfully heinous main villain and an adroit cat and mouse undertone.

I would say that fans of YA (as well as the less than YA devoted like me) will favour this book and I recommend it.

(On a personal side note, I got a kick out of the city of Halifax as the setting. It’s not often I get to read about places I’ve actually been.)

Within

Trinity Hartell’s life changed after the accident. Left with irreversible brain damage, she becomes a burden to her mother, a cause for heartbreak for her boyfriend Zack, and a flattened obstacle for her jealous best friend, Ellie.
But then she starts writing. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the psychotic, murderous protagonist of her novel bears a striking similarity to the charming Wiley Dalton, a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election.

Or, perhaps not…

Within is available at:

Fairy Ink Press: http://www.faeryinkpress.com/books2/within
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0065LTOFU/
Amazon (print version): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0987779400/


You can find a complete list of Clare’s Blog Tour stops here:  http://www.faeryinkpress.com/archives/1183