Blog Tour Stop #3 - Kim Fielding

It's stop three on my blog tour today!  Visit Kim Fielding's blog and check out the next stop on the Sins of Another Blog Tour, including the "soundtrack" to Sins of Another.  Also remember to pick up the giveaway clue while you're there. 

http://kfieldingwrites.blogspot.com/2013/04/please-welcome-jessica-skye-davies.html

Giveaway information: http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com/2013/04/sins-of-another-giveaway-contest.html

Thanks again, Kim!

"Sins of Another" release day!

Here we go!  Today Sins of Another is officially released, and it's already got a good review from MM Good Book Reviews.

To celebrate, I'm going to give a free answer in the Sins of Another Blog Tour giveaway contest.  For information about the contest, go here.

Sins of Another contest!

Between now and May 29, 2013 I’ll be including clues in my blog tour stops and my own blog entries to references made within Sins of Another. 

Here’s how it works: You get the clue from the blog posts and keep track of the answers on your own.  After the last clue has been posted (May 29, 2013), email me at jessicaskyedavies@gmail.com

Make sure you follow the blog tour over the next couple months as I’ll be giving away swag bags, a goodie hamper, and a copy of Sins of Another.

This week’s clue: 

While in hospital, Padrig receives a "holy card," a small card a bit bigger than a business card, usually with an image of a saint or religious event depicted on the front with information and/or a prayer on the back.  The one Padrig receives is of this "Little Flower" who is listed as the patron saint of, "AIDS sufferers; Australia; aviators; bodily ills; florists; France; illness; loss of parents; missionaries; Russia; tuberculosis."  Who is this saint?

Answer: 

St. Therese of Lisieux

Blog Tour Stop #2 - Elizabeth Noble

Today I'm over at Elizabeth Noble's blog talking about defining romance for established couples.  Come on over and don't forget to pick up the next clue for the giveaway!

http://www.elizabeth-noble.com/3/post/2013/04/loose-pyjama-bottoms-and-thin-t-shirts-vs-tight-trousers-and-shiny-shirts.html

Giveaway info: http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com/2013/04/sins-of-another-giveaway-contest.html

Thanks again, Elizabeth!

Excerpt from Sins of Another

With just a week to go until the release of Sins of Another, it's time for a sneak-peek!  You can find an excerpt at Dreamspinner Press by clicking that link, where you can also pre-order your copy, either paperback or eBook.

You can also read here.  And since this is a home stop in the SoA tour, there's also a clue in the giveaway contest at the end :)

Excerpt from the Foreword and Chapter 1: 

Read on for more:

Guest Spot: Andy Gordon

Hey, look who it is with us today - Andy Gordon!  He's here to talk about the concept of reality in romantic fiction.  Andy is the author of two titles out with Dreamspinner Press, The Last Grand Master and (Un)Masked, and he's presently working on a third, Purpose.  The floor is yours, Andy!

Reality, what a concept.

Read on for more:

Blog Tour Stop #1 - J.R. Loveless

Come on over to J.R. Loveless's blog and check out the first stop on my Sins of Another Blog Tour!  Don't forget to catch the giveaway clue while you're there.

http://jrloveless.blogspot.com/2013/04/author-spotlight-jessica-davies-sins-of.html?zx=c766b56a59669c6d

Giveaway information: http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com/2013/04/sins-of-another-giveaway-contest.html

Big thanks to J.R. for hosting me!

Sins of Another giveaway contest!

Announcing!

Between now and May 29, 2013 I’ll be including clues in my blog tour stops and my own blog entries to references made within Sins of Another. 

Here’s how it works: You get the clue from the blog posts and keep track of the answers on your own.  After the last clue has been posted (May 29, 2013), email me at jessicaskyedavies@gmail.com

Winners will be chosen from those who get the most answers right.

Make sure you follow the blog tour over the next couple months as I’ll be giving away swag bags, a goodie hamper, and a copy of Sins of Another.

Sins of Another pre-order

Sins of Another is now available for pre-order in paperback and eBook formats!

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3787&cPath=399

One morning Padrig Kennedy comes home to find his partner, Nick Glenfielding, in bed with another man. Shocked, hurt, and vulnerable, Padrig flees and meets a stranger who seems to offer comfort—but he force-feeds Padrig a steady diet of drugs and prostitution instead. When he finally surfaces from his hell, it’s to another system shock: he’s now HIV positive.

Nick descends into darkness as well. Devastated by losing Padrig, he finds no consolation in the legal career he doesn’t love and tries to find solace in alcohol, spending his days in an ever-deepening haze.

Padrig and Nick find each other again, but their relationship can never be the same. If they’re to stand any chance of a future together, they must do the improbable: make sense of the past and learn to cope with new burdens they’ll bear for life. 

Review of: Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy - 4.5 Stars

You know what one of the coolest things in the world is?  Finding books by fellow writers’ from your publisher in your local library.  I previously reviewed Felicia Watson’s Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela, which I also later found at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s main branch.  So when I found Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy – now in its second edition at Dreamspinner and also available in audiobook - I snapped that up.

Available here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3198&cPath=55_113

Read on for more:

Guest Spot: Grace Duncan

The week after St. Patrick's hopefully brings recovery from the Irish Flu (yes, i fell victim!)  To help that recovery along, we've got Grace Duncan here today.  And she's sharing some of her pretty, pretty boys.  That makes everything a LOT better!  And by a LOT i mean somewhat NSFW ;-)

Read on for more:

Guest Spot: Lex Chase

Today I've got Lex Chase visiting.  She's here to chat with us about Pawn Takes Rook, part one of her Checkmate superheroes series.  Check it out!

Read on for more:

Aliments: Sustenance and Libations - On potatoes

Of course there’s only one thing this month’s series could possibly be about.  And it isn’t green beer.

Read on for more:

Guesting on: Cate Ashwood

Come on over to Cate Ashwood's blog and check out my interview!  Thanks so much to the lovely Cate for hosting me.

Review of: The British Devil by Greg Hogben – 5 Stars

This month’s review is The British Devil by Greg Hogben, published from Dreamspinner Press in July 2012.  Available here:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3123

Read on for more:

Guest Spot: Kim Fielding

Today, please welcome Kim Fielding, here to discuss endings, Pancake Parts (what a great term!), and her new release, Venetian Masks - available in paperback and e-formats.

Read on for more:

Aliments: Sustenance and Libations - Empanadas

This month’s installment of “Aliments” is going to be super simple.  Firmly into the middle of February, we’re probably all a little tired of winter, and heavy eating that takes a lot of prep and doesn’t do our New Year diets any favors.  Either that or those New Year diets have you ready to cave and run for the junk food.

A couple weeks ago I found myself craving empanadas.  Couldn’t be much easier, cheaper, or tastier.  They’re a filling snack or can be a good light meal option.  This recipe is more similar to the Caribbean style of empanadas (Dominican, Cuban, Jamaican) than the South American (Argentine) style, which tend to leave lots more stuff in them.  

Read on for more:

Guest Spot: Matthew Lang

Today we're kicking off yet another new series here - guest spots!  Our esteemed first guest blogger is Matthew Lang, author of recently released The Way You Are.  Matthew is sharing some writing tips with us and you're going to want to check out his plot generator!  Without further ado, I'll turn it over to Matthew:

Click below to read more:

Review of: Moving On by H.J. Holt – 4 Stars

And now to kick off another series on my blog, book and film reviews!  To start off, I’m reviewing Moving On by H.J. Holt, published from Dreamspinner Press in July 2012.  Available here:  

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_646

Moving On is the story of a young man, Luke, who’s been dealt some tough hands in life.  His home life back in the American Midwest was significantly less than ideal and involved not just the fostering system, but his own mother’s attempt to use him as a scapegoat for her drug running operation.  Even his boyfriend only adds to Luke’s troubles and self-esteem issues.  So Luke decided to beat town and immigrate to the UK where we meet him working at a burger joint in Bristol. 

When Luke meets Paul at a club, they hit it off straight away.  Paul is a teacher who has family money and is doing quite well for himself.  Paul has a few years on Luke, but that’s not much of an issue for them.  Paul’s social status (including the attitudes of some of his mates) and the fact that Paul is still grieving the loss of his partner several years ago, however, might complicate a growing but uncertain relationship.

Read on for more....

Inauguration Day

By now most of the world is probably aware that President Obama’s second term in office officially began this Monday (well, it was Sunday, but we have the big show of it on Monday), which was also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  I’m pretty well convinced that inaugurations should always be held on public holidays to give more people (especially children) the opportunity to watch one of our country’s most important ceremonies.  Who has watched an inauguration and not, for even just a passing moment, imagined themselves up there taking (or administering) an oath of office, singing a song of patriotism, or reading a poem of hope and unity?  

It’s a great thing for young people to have that sort of inspiration. 

I can’t help myself, sometimes I still get all proud of this old place.  The trips I’ve taken to DC in the last couple years have been inspiring, despite all the political gridlock, hokum, and euchring, when I’m there, I still feel a sense of hope at what can be accomplished.  Miss Smith Goes to Washington, if you will. 

And there was so much for young, and somewhat less young, people to be inspired by Monday. 

Read on for more....

Aliments: Sustenance and Libations series - On Gin

With my renewed approach to bloggeratin' - i cheerfully offer the first in my food/drink series "Sustenance & Libation."  To start things off properly, today's topic: gin.

As evident in the quote at the top of the page ("In the absence of anyone to be rude to, i'm going to the pub for an unspecified number of gin and tonics."  Captain Stephen Peacock, Are You Being Served?), i am a gin drinker.  Generally, i find people either love it or hate it.  There's not much in between.  I also find that gin drinkers are some of the most loyal to their brands.  I'm certainly not above the occasional Bombay or Beefeater, but i'm first and foremost a Tanqueray lady.

Gin, as most alcoholic beverages, has a long history.  It's stock really rose circa 1700 when it got quite popular in England (the country it is still most associated with).  Of course, not everybody was thrilled about that back then and gin got labeled with a low-class-inebriate's reputation.  Gin fell out of favor rather quickly after that, but it was back again by the Victorian era, and like most things popular during the Victorian era, it had come back with a major style upgrade.

Alas, the whole Prohibition thing knocked gin back down a peg or two, particularly that "bathtub" bit.  But once again, gin recovered well enough.

Read on for more....

rolling into 2013

I'm going to start signing up guest bloggers and be making some guest spots of my own pretty soon.  Hoping to get my blog developed and on a regular track.  I'm thinking i might schedule things on a monthly basis, such as monthly guest spots, monthly recipes (food and/or drink), monthly reviews (book and/or film), and other such features. 

Watch for further developments soon!

World AIDS Day 2012

December 1 is World AIDS Day.  I never knew a world without HIV/AIDS, i was born in 1983.  Some of the first people i knew were lost to AIDS.  I have only vague memories of Harry and of Rick, but i know they were there for a time.  And then not anymore.  I've known others since then, others who have had positive diagnoses and others who have had "scares."  I remember what it was like pre-HAART and how scary it was back then.  I don't know if a lot of younger people do understand the gravity we knew then.

Somehow or other, this has become the focus of my education and future career in social work.  Right now i'm concentrating my education in community-level research on HIV prevention.  It's a natural fit, really.  I'm a writer, a bookish person, and though i think i could do direct practice (counseling, etc) well enough, i don't think it's quite my calling.  I have always cared deeply about HIV/AIDS awareness, though, and this is a way i can do something on a broad scale.  I love the work i do and knowing that i can have an impact through my skills.

Of course, my other career is writing.  A few weeks ago i signed the contract for my first full-length novel.  Haven't even gotten into edits yet, so i don't want to be giving away too much (but there's a projected release date of Spring 2013 - April or May).  What i can tell you, though, is that this one is quite different from Possession, but maybe no less scary.

Read on for more....

holidays PSA

Ok, so i know i need to get more consistent about social media again.  And it really ought to do with writing and literary matters.  But that's not what i'm here to address today.  Today is a PSA.  Maybe it's the copious amount of red wine from last night, maybe it's hormones, maybe it's Mercury retrograde, but i feel like this needs to be addressed and the air cleared.  This may go long and will get personal.

Read on for more....

Saying goodbye

Goodbye, my fuzzy little angel.  Mummy's going to miss you so much.

Memorial Day 2012: Remember

Much is made on Memorial Day of flags and uniform white grave-markers in tidy rows.  There are frequent admonitions to remember those who gave all, and why we Americans have the freedom to have a day off to grill hamburgers and drink beer. 

Those things aren’t bad.  They just miss the point. 

Read on for more....