Around the world with Kate Moretti...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to welcome Kate Moretti back to CLC to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, The Blackbird Season. She's here to finish our "Around the World" theme month and has one e-book to share with a lucky reader!

Kate Moretti is the New York Times Bestselling author of three previous novels and a novella, including Thought I Knew You (New York Times bestseller), While You Were Gone, Binds That Tie, and The Vanishing Year (Goodreads Choice Award nominee--Mystery/Thriller category for 2016).

​Kate has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for twenty years as a scientist and enjoys traveling and cooking. She lives in Pennsylvania in an old farmhouse with her husband, two children and no known ghosts. Her lifelong dream is to find a secret passageway.

Visit Kate online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
In a quiet Pennsylvania town, a thousand dead starlings fall onto a high school baseball field, unleashing a horrifying and unexpected chain of events that will rock the close-knit community.

Beloved baseball coach and teacher Nate Winters and his wife, Alecia, are well respected throughout town. That is, until one of the many reporters investigating the bizarre bird phenomenon catches Nate embracing a wayward student, Lucia Hamm, in front of a sleazy motel. Lucia soon buoys the scandal by claiming that she and Nate are engaged in an affair, throwing the town into an uproar…and leaving Alecia to wonder if her husband has a second life.

And when Lucia suddenly disappears, the police only to have one suspect: Nate.

Nate’s coworker and sole supporter, Bridget Harris, Lucia’s creative writing teacher, is determined to prove his innocence. She has Lucia’s class journal, and while some of the entries appear particularly damning to Nate’s case, others just don’t add up. Bridget knows the key to Nate’s exoneration and the truth of Lucia’s disappearance lie within the walls of the school and in the pages of that journal.

Told from the alternating points of view of Alecia, Nate, Lucia, and Bridget, The Blackbird Season is a haunting, psychologically nuanced suspense, filled with Kate Moretti’s signature “chillingly satisfying” (Publishers Weekly) twists and turns. (Courtesy of Amazon.)


Countries you've visited:
When I was eighteen, my family took my sister and I to France and Belgium. I still remember St. Malo as the loveliest place I’ve ever been in my life. We stayed in an hold house and I had a bed with a canopy and windows you could open like Cinderella every morning. Then after college, I backpacked a small chunk of Eastern and Western Europe: UK, Greece, Italy, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands. After I was married, my husband and I honeymooned in Italy and went back again a few years later with his family. I love traveling and now that my children are getting older, I can’t wait to start showing them the world, to see it through their eyes.

Favorite book that takes place in a different country:
My favorite book of all time is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, which takes place at Manderly, set in the English countryside, based on Cornwall. I’ve never been to Cornwall, but the picture I have in my head is of foggy, spooky moors, dense woods, a character in itself. One day!

Which languages do you speak fluently?
Sadly, only English. I’ve taken Spanish and German in various high school and college courses and tried to learn Italian before one of our trips, but I don’t think I have a knack for picking it up. My husband actually did a lot of translating on our trip, I think being immersed in Italian brought out his natural language skills!

Favorite celebrity from a different country:
I’m a complete Anglophile so I’ll have to say Colin Firth or Keira Knightly. I adore Kate Winslet and Emma Watson, too. Oh, then there’s Idris Elba. And I’ll always love Hugh Grant. Ok, I can’t pick a favorite.

Something you own from a different country:
When I was in Venice I bought an oil painting off a Venice street like a complete tourist and I don’t even care. It’s so beautiful and it hangs in my dining room. The image is the street I was standing on when I bought it. I think it was a hundred dollars, and I still feel like I got a bargain.

Closest friend from a different country:
You know, it’s funny. When you have kids elementary school age, your world becomes very small, almost insular (it’s a topic I’m exploring in my next book!). I’m lucky that I have writing, which forces me into the huge, wide world. Because of social media, I’ve made writer pals in Canada, Australia, the UK, South America. I wouldn’t say I have a close friend that lives in another country at the moment, but I always feel like I have connections and acquaintances from all over the world. It’s truly amazing!

Thanks to Kate for visiting with us and sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends October 3rd at midnight EST.

Go-to-Gay: Far away festivities

If you give a Go-To-Gay a topic, he will then take it and run with it, making us laugh along the way. He does that once again with our "Around the World" theme.

Take it away, Keith!





La la la la la - It goes around the world

I love to travel. I am usually up for most any adventure offered up to me. “Travel the world,” is my most used answer when asked what I would do if I won the lottery.

Ideally, that sounds great. I mean, who wouldn’t want to do that. Imagine how many “likes,” “hearts,” and “retweets” you would get for a picture of yourself standing on the steps of the Taj Mahal (not really sure if the TM has steps, I’m just assuming). I would also be one of those people who take a picture of themselves “holding up” the leaning tower of Pisa. Yes, I am that guy. DON’T JUDGE.

Realistically, I don’t think I would actually want to go everywhere around the world, because let’s face it, I am a wuss. I am a spoiled, entitled American. I admit it. I don’t care. If your culture is shockingly different than mine, I probably would prefer learning about it online or from an informative documentary. For instance, I MUST HAVE a modern toilet that is attached to working plumbing. I MUST HAVE food that is something other than insects or parts of animals I normally don’t eat. I would PREFER to visit places that have good toilet paper readily available, access to full bars and modern kitchens, and some air conditioning.

That being said, there is a great big world out there that I haven’t seen. Places that I would go and want to go and, hopefully, will go. While thinking about this post, I decided to make a list of the places and things I wanted to see most. Then, I found even better stuff. There are some tremendous festivals out there if you just look hard enough. I now have a list of the ones I want to attend at some point. Here is part of that list:

Keith’s Festivals “I Must Attend List”

The Baby Jumping Festival – Spain

The origin of this festival dates back to the early 1600’s. It is held early during the feast of Corpus Christi. The gist is this: all parents who have had babies during the year since the previous festival, bring their children out and lay them down on pillows in the public street. Then men dressed as devils make their way through the crowd and whip bystanders with switches before running down the street jumping over the babies. This hurdling somehow blesses the babies and forgives them for man’s “original sin.” To add to the intrigue of this festival, the Pope and the Vatican have been trying to stop it for years, but these rebel-Catholics won’t stop. This takes places every June in the town of Castrillo de Murcia.


Lopburi Monkey Banquet – Thailand

I have never been, but apparently Thailand has thousands of monkeys that hang out at its temples and in its streets. Hungry monkeys. During most the year, these monkeys are a nuisance, and people must be careful not to have their lunch or snacks stolen by a sneaky simian citizen. But come November, the people of Lopburi, Thailand, celebrate these quirky fellas, and treat them to a massive food banquet. It’s basically an all-you-can-eat for monkeys only. Each year, over 800 pounds of bananas, apples, ice cream, and other monkey favorites are devoured at the festival. This is to say thanks for the good luck and fortune the monkeys bring to the people of the town each year. The guests of honor are also known to have quite the food fights while feasting as well. This takes place the last Sunday in November in Lopburi.

World Toe Wrestling Championships – England

The story goes that tired of England always losing at all international sports, George Burgess invented this sport in hopes that his home country would dominate. George apparently had lots of faith in the strong toes of the British people. As fate would have it, though, a dang Canadian soon came along and out-toed all the home players and took the crowd. Honestly, the colonists ruin everything (Are Canadians considered colonists? I’m not really sure, and I am on a deadline, so throw me a bone here.)

But from the ashes of Burgess’ dashed global toe domination, came the sport of toe wrestling. There is even an official Federation. THAT MEANS IT IS REAL. There is even a starting chant that is done before each match: “One, two, three, four, I declare a toe war,” or some variation of that. Each year, the world championships are held in Ashbourne, and while not an official festival, there are plenty toe-related festivities centered around the competition.

That’s the top three from my new list. How about you? Where in the world would you like to go? Are there any festivals that you know of I should add to my itinerary? Please let me know in the comments below. Let’s create a Chick Lit Central Must See Festival List!

Keith Stewart is the author of Bernadette Peters Hates Me – True Tales of a Delusional Man. A native of Appalachia, he splits his time between his hometown of Hyden and nearby Lexington, Kentucky. His blog is www.astrongmanscupoftea.com. You can find him on Twitter at @Shiglyogly and Facebook at @AMSCOT (A Strong Man’s Cup of Tea). He is a regular contributor to HumorOutcasts.com and the GoodMenProject.com. He lives with his husband, Andy, and their two dogs, Duke and Dudley.

Kaira Rouda's wonderful world...plus a book giveaway

Today, Kaira Rouda is here to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, Best Day Ever! She's answering our questions for our Around the World theme and we think you'll enjoy what she has to say. Thanks to Graydon House, two lucky readers are about to have their best day ever, when they win copies of this book.

Kaira Rouda is a USA Today bestselling author. My books have won several Indie Excellence Awards, USA Book Awards, the Reader’s Choice Awards and honorable mention in the Writer’s Digest International Book Awards. Her previous novels include ALL THE DIFFERENCE, HERE, HOME, HOPE, IN THE MIRROR, and THE GOODBYE YEAR. Her modern romance novels are set on beaches, including the Indigo Island series and the Laguna Beach series. Kaira lives in Southern California with her family and is at work on her next novel. Visit her at her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Synopsis:
Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, at their lake house, just the two of them. And he's promised today will be the best day ever.

But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, a spike of tension begins to wedge itself between them and doubts start to arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage, really?

Forcing us to ask ourselves just how well we know those who are closest to us, Best Day Ever crackles with dark energy, spinning ever tighter toward its shocking conclusion. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Countries you'd like to visit:
Anywhere I haven’t been yet - but specifically, Vietnam and Thailand are at the top of my list. Also, Croatia. And, well there are so many places to see in this beautiful world.

Favorite foreign food:
Indian Food, specifically papadum, dark lentils, and sag paneer. Yum.

Favorite foreign film or movie that takes place in a different country:
Life is Beautiful (Italy, poignant) and Love Actually (England, heart-warming)

Something that interests or fascinates you about another part of the world:
I love listening to people speak different languages. I particularly love listening to French being spoken, especially if I’m sitting in a beautiful cafe in Paris.

Something you own from a different country:
We live in such a connected world, we are all surrounded by things from other countries. I’m writing this as I look up and see three beautiful African fertility dolls I found in South Africa.

Closest friend from a different country:
I’m blessed to have friends who are here in the states from all over the world. We live in a wonderful, historically inclusive and welcoming country. It’s what makes our country great. Unless you are a Native American Indigenous person, you’ve come here from a different country at some point.

Thanks to Kaira for visiting and to Graydon House for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends September 24th at midnight EST.

Eva Woods' foreign flair...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Jamie Drew

We're pleased to have Eva Woods at CLC today to feature her latest novel, Something Like Happy (How to Be Happy in UK). Today, she's here to talk about her foreign travels as part of our "Around the World" theme. Thanks to Little Bird Publicity, we have one copy to give away!

Eva was born in Northern Ireland in the early eighties, and now lives in London with her musician boyfriend, where she spends a lot of time dodging urban foxes and tutting at people who are too slow on escalators. She likes to think of herself as being a cross between Jessica Fletcher (only slightly younger), Carrie Bradshaw (only with fewer shoes), and Sylvia Plath (only more....alive). Eva writes crime fiction as Claire McGowan. Aside from writing novels, she teaches creative writing workshops. She enjoys travelling, reading, and drinking far too much tea.

Visit Eva online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Annie Hebden is stuck. Stuck in her boring job, with her irritating roommate, in a life no thirty-five-year-old would want. But deep down, Annie is still mourning the terrible loss that tore a hole through the perfect existence she'd once taken for granted—and hiding away is safer than remembering what used to be. Until she meets the eccentric Polly Leonard.

Bright, bubbly, intrusive Polly is everything Annie doesn't want in a friend. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day—which is why she wants Annie to join her on a mission…

One hundred days. One hundred new ways to be happy. Annie's convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey that will force her to open herself to new experiences—and perhaps even new love with the unlikeliest of men—Annie will slowly begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, there's still joy to be found in the world. But then it becomes clear that Polly's about to need her new friend more than ever…and Annie will have to decide once and for all whether letting others in is a risk worth taking. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Countries you've visited?
I think it’s close to 40 – this year I went to Peru and also Denmark for the first time.

Favorite foreign cuisine?
That’s a tough one – either Japanese or French.

Favorite foreign film or movie that takes place in a different country?
I’m a big fan of Battle Royale, though it scares me a bit, too.

Something that interests or fascinates you about another part of the world?
I love the café culture in Paris. I have dream of going to live there for a while and just writing in cafes, soaking up the atmosphere, and working on my books.

Favorite item from a different country that you can't get in your own country?
I’m very upset that we can’t get all the flavors of M&Ms in the UK. It makes no sense!

Which languages do you speak fluently?
French, and also some Chinese and Spanish.

Thanks to Eva for chatting with us and to Little Bird Publicity for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends September 19th at midnight EST.

Kate O'Keeffe is a woman of the world...plus a book giveaway

Today we're glad to feature Kate O'Keeffe as she takes us around the world in eighty seconds (or so). Her latest novel, Two Last First Dates is the second in her Cozy Cottage Café Series and can be read as a stand-alone. This series is also an armchair adventure to New Zealand. Perhaps you'll want to travel there after reading these books. Thanks to Karan & Co, you have a chance to win the first book in this series! Visit all the stops on Kate's tour.

Kate O'Keeffe is an award-nominated author of fun, feel-good romantic comedies. She lives and loves in beautiful New Zealand with her family, two scruffy dogs, and a cat who thinks he's a scruffy dog too. He's not: he's a cat. To date, Kate's written the chick lit series, the Wellywood Romantic Comedy Series, and the new Cozy Cottage Café Series. Visit Kate at her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

To Paige Miller, Two Last First Dates sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.Paige is having a rough time. She's unhappy in her career and her One Last First Date ended in total disaster. Now, she has to figure out what to do professionally and personally. Life as a spinster with fifteen cats doesn't sound too bad, though.

Deciding to give up on love, Paige begrudgingly befriends Josh Bentley, the friendly coffee delivery guy, while helping out at the Cozy Cottage Café. His T-shirts make her eyes roll, but their runs have become an important part of her day and a blessing to her waistline, because Bailey's cakes are too good to pass up.

Meanwhile, her best friends offer to find Mr. Right for her, and all Paige has to do is let them. Then, the man of her dreams walks through the door. Marcus Hahn is as good-looking as he is charming, and any thoughts Paige had of being alone with those fifteen cats, fly out the window. Now, she just has to hope her friends choose him as her Last First Date.

But in the end, are Two Last First Dates enough to find The One?

Read the Cozy Cottage Café series
Book 1: One Last First Date 
Book 2: Two Last First Dates--Available now! 
Book 3: Three Last First Dates - coming October 31, 2017 
Book 4: A Final Last First Date - coming early-2018

Countries I’ve visited:
I love to travel! I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled to and lived in a few countries, so here’s my list, in no particular order: New Zealand, Australia, Rarotonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, United States, Canada, Mexico, Iceland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Chzec Republic, The Netherlands, Cyprus, Turkey, Belgium, Austria, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia.
I still feel like I have so much more to see in this wonderful world of ours, particularly South America, which I have yet to get to. One day!

Favorite foreign cuisine:
This has to be a tie between Thai and French. I love the freshness, flavours, and spice of Thai food, but nothing can beat a pastry from a Parisian patisserie with its flaky, buttery, yumminess. Bliss.

Favorite book that takes place in a different country:
That would have to be one of my all-time favourite books, A Room With a View by D.H. Lawrence. It’s set in England and Italy, and I adore Florence where Lucy Honeychurch goes on vacation.

Which languages do you speak fluently:
Really, the truthful answer is only English, although I have enough French to be able to be answered in French while in France, which, if you’ve ever travelled there, you will know is quite something! I would love to be able to speak fluent French, and I have been learning to speak Thai as we adopted our son from there.

Something that interests or fascinates you about another part of the world:
Wow, there are so many things! One thing I am fascinated by is different religions, and love to visit places of worship: The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Notre Dame in Paris, the temples of Thailand. I went to Dharamsala when I was in India where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. Although he was out of town, I got to play table tennis against some Tibetan monks - and was soundly beaten by them, I can tell you!

Closest friend from a different country:
That would have to be my friend, Anna. She’s half English and half Spanish, and she lives in the UK. We met when we worked together in New Zealand, and we clicked straight away. She’s straight-shooting, witty, and fun, and I can always rely on her for a wry comment to bring me out of myself. I miss her!

Thanks to Kate for chatting with us and to Karan & Co for sharing her book with our readers (as part of the blog tour).

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Kathryn R. Biel's international sugar rush...plus a special giveaway

It's September and Kathryn Biel is here to celebrate the release of her 10th and latest novel, Once in a Lifetime, by participating in our latest theme month, "Around the World!" She has a  $5 Amazon gift card for a lucky reader.

Telling stories of resilient women, Kathryn R. Biel hails from Upstate New York where her most important role is being mom and wife to an incredibly understanding family who don't mind fetching coffee and living in a dusty house. In addition to being Chief Home Officer and Director of Child Development of the Biel household, she works as a school-based physical therapist. She attended Boston University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The Sage Colleges. After years of writing countless letters of medical necessity for wheelchairs, finding increasingly creative ways to encourage insurance companies to fund her client's needs, and writing entertaining annual Christmas letters, she decided to take a shot at writing the kind of novel that she likes to read. Kathryn is the author of ten women's fiction, romantic comedy, contemporary romance, and chick lit works, including Live for This and Made for Me. Please follow Kathryn on her website, Facebook, and Twitter, and sign up for her newsletter.  (Courtesy of Kathryn's website.)

Synopsis:
Ten years ago, the Sassy Cats were at the top of the charts until Callie Smalls walked away to pursue her career in fashion and television. The other four members—Angie, Tabitha, Mandy, and Daphne—were left to fend for themselves and continue on with their lives.

That is, until the day when Callie decides to book a gig for the group at a major music festival, without talking to her former band mates. Scattered across the country, at different points in life, can they rekindle the magic in the music?

A soccer mom who's husband doesn't know about her past. A fading star, sacrificing all to stay in the spotlight just one second more. A party girl, challenged with her most important role yet. A tiger mom, fighting for her son. A desperate woman, unhappy and alone.

A lot can change in the course of a decade. Will it be harmony or hatred for the Sassy Cats? (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Countries you'd like to visit:
Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, Italy. Scotland is a must after reading Outlander.

Favorite foreign food item: 
Éclairs and cannoli. I have quite the sweet tooth.

Favorite foreign film or movie that takes place in a different country: 
Amelie (we went to see it right after returning from our Paris honeymoon so it holds a special place. Plus, it’s delightful.)

Favorite celebrity from a different country: 
Tom Hardy (sigh—fans self)

Something you own from a different country:
I have a beautiful embroidered Christmas table topper from a little shop in Paris, as well as a rug from the Middle East (I like to call it Persian but I think my brother probably got it in Abu Dhabi).

Favorite item from a different country that you can't get in your own country: 
That’s tough because I feel like we can get almost anything here, if we’re willing to pay enough. Probably good old Cadbury chocolate.

Thanks to Kathryn for visiting with us and sharing an Amazon gift card with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends September 11th at midnight EST.