Tour Stop | The Swan Bonnet by Katherine L. Holmes

Book Title: The Swan Bonnet

Author: Katherine L. Holmes

Release Date: July 16, 2013

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Publisher: GMTA Publishing, LLC

Presented by: As You Wish Tours

Interview with Katherine Holmes

Think about the past week... Tell us about your week as a type of landscape or a weather forecast.

A week to be outside and luckily, I’ve planned a half-vacation. Warm breezes ruffle the trees and the gardens and the creek nearby. Especially, the wildflowers are grown and varied. A project has presented itself from finding an internet gardening site that tells how to start a wildflower garden in a patch at first. I’ve felt like roaming and doing my creative work in my head. Feeling wistful after a day down at Lake Superior. Tall ships paraded in on August 1 and many people roamed the shoreline, welcoming sailors into the Duluth port where they gave weekend rides. After they went away, the masts stayed like a dream in the head. And the breeze brings in heavy clouds that go away like the day at the dentist’s. Up here, we have to treasure the summer, a priority to plan on.

List five adjectives to describe yourself.

Inquisitive, independent, empathetic, moody, humorous

You have multiple personalities, tell us about them.

A writer that sits at the border sometimes, even in a sort of sulk, though receptive and low-key.

A musician that is ready to be seen, not for looks but for grace and performance, as strong in personality as a flute player is.

The support person, there to get a job done or a meal done, somewhat brisk about it and letting the focus be on another person, getting along.

What punctuation mark best describes your personality? Why?

A character of mine thought that she was in parentheses socially in some scenes of the book and that might apply to me. Or I feel like that dreaded semi-colon, hanging between things.

If you were to name one piece of clothing that describes you, what would it be?

There are clothes that I keep for years. Most often, it is a gathered skirt, something casual and comfortable to wear.

Describe your favorite pair of PJ's.

I don’t usually wear pajamas but I have a favorite pair – they are flannel and very warm for colder days - evergreen color background with a large white floral design that reminds of snow.

Tell us about your dream wedding if money is not an issue.

My dream was to go on the honeymoon and have a very quiet wedding planned. Then a reception on return. I would wear a simple gown with Spanish lace if money wasn’t an issue or lace like that. I spent plenty of time on stage and it seemed like another performance so a quiet wedding might have more meaning for me.

Describe your ideal romantic date.

A spring or summer evening. Dinner out at a special restaurant. An outdoor concert or performance and then, walking along a lake. That sounds nice.

If you had to describe your life using three words, it would be?

Enjoyable. Disappointing. Conscientious.

BLURB

Swans are endangered in 1920s Alaska. Unbeknown to Dawn, her grandfather has shot an old swan out of mercy. In their coastal Alaskan town, her father buys the swan pelt, preventing her Uncle Alex, a fur trader, from selling it for export. Dawn’s father surprises her part-Aleut mother with a hat she helped to make and also with an idea to catch poachers. Dawn and her mother become involved with the suspicious effects of the swan bonnet besides its haunting effect. But after they encounter women from a ship and find out about a hunting party, they ride to the inlet. There are townspeople roving the shore too but who is the vigilante and who is the poacher?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine L. Holmes’ first published book was The House in Windward Leaves, an MG fantasy which became an E-book Finalist in the 2013 New Generation Indie Book Awards and a Juvenile Fiction Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. Also, she won Prize Americana for her short story collection, Curiosity Killed the Sphinx and Other Stories, published by Hollywood Books International. In April 2013, The Wide Awake Loons was released by Silver Knight Publishing. The Swan Bonnet, a historical novel, will be published in July, 2013, by GMTA Publishing. Katherine has worked with used and rare books in the last years. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website

Blog

Twitter

FACEBOOK PAGES

The Swan Bonnet

Katherine L. Holmes

The House in Windward Leaves

Wide Awake Loons

Curiosity Killed the Sphinx

THE SWAN BONNET BOOK LINKS

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Amazon Kindle UK

Amazon Paperback UK

B&N

Kobo

OTHER BOOK LINKS

The House in Winward Leaves

Wide Awake Loons

Curiosity Killed the Sphinx

**Tour Schedule**

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Disconnected Release Event!!

It's here, it's here, it's here!!!  

Get Disconnected by Bethany Daniels!  

Buy links for Disconnected:

Amazon ~ Barnes&Noble ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Disconnected:

Blurb: This is the retelling of Reconnected from Liam's POV.

A Fast Paced Love Story!

Liam and Katy were high school sweethearts. Shortly after they graduated they ran off to Vegas to get married. Liam does theater acting and it's there that he is discovered by Excite Entertainment and flown to L.A.

Once he's in L.A his marriage takes the backseat to rubbing elbows with Hollywood's biggest and brightest. One night Liam throws a big party and Katy comes into their house filled with half dressed women. When Katy says she's going to leave, Liam doesn't believe her until he comes home from filming and finds a note that tears him apart.

Four years later, he's tried to move on but never let go of the love he has in his heart for his Katy. It's in a little town they are filming in that their paths cross again and Liam has to try and convince Katy that their love is worth fighting for.



Reconnected:

Blurb: A fast paced love story!


Katy Warren thought her life was perfect. Then her new husband, and also highschool sweetheart, gets discovered while theater acting and gets swept away to Hollywood. Once there, things change. Liam throws himself into the Hollywood life and ignores Katy.

One night after a particularly crazy party, Katy can't take it anymore and leaves Liam and his celebrity behind but doesn't get an official divorce.

Four years later, Liam goes to Georgia for filming and crosses paths with Katy again. But now she's just Kate and she has a boyfriend and she doesn't want anything to do with her marriage. Liam has other plans.

Buy links for Reconnected:

Kindle    Nook    Kobo    Smashwords:    Sony:    iTunes:   Paperback  

Author Bio:

Bethany Daniel lives in Tx with her husband and 2 sons. She enjoys reading, photography and of course, writing. Bethany really found the passion for writing again this last year and came up with the idea for Reconnected after years of following Hollywood gossip and reading books about girls always chasing the guys and thought it would be nice for it to be the other way around. She is currently writing Disconnected, the story of Reconnected from Liam's POV.

Author links:

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EXCERPT:

Prologue

A party ruined my life. It was supposed to be all about making a name for myself and showing everyone that I was the new kid on the block, but my wife was in the background and she left me.

When I got home from shooting the day after the party, I thought she would be there waiting for me with a home cooked meal like always. She had told me she wanted to keep something normal while everything else was so make-believe. But when I came in, all that was there was a note:

"I'm leaving. I hope you have all the successes you've ever wanted. I won't be along for this crazy ride. Goodbye.

 Love, Katy"

I didn't believe her when she said she would leave. I thought she was just mad about all the girls in the house. I never thought she could really just be gone.

After I read that note, I tore the house apart. I ran through every room yelling her name and then I grabbed the phone and tried to call her over and over again. When she didn't answer, I called her parents. All Mrs. Parker would tell me was that she was safe and really upset. She said she was sure we could work things out, this was just the first of many fights married couples have. But she was wrong. Katy never came back home to me.

So I started drinking. I drank and drank until I could hardly move anymore. Mitchell Fallon said he was going to fire me if I didn't get over it because she's "only a girl" and there's plenty more where she came from. But he never got it. She's still more than just another girl to me, she's everything. And I blew it.

One morning I woke up and made myself think with a clear head. I was going to find her. Filming was on a break, so I took a few days and I drove home to my parents' house first.

"Sweetie, are you sure you're alright?" my mom asked me for the hundredth time after I got there.

"Yes. Because I'm going to find her, Mom. I have to. I'm going to go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Parker and make them understand that I need her! I'll apologize and Katy will come home with me."

My parents exchanged a look and I sighed with frustration. "Look, I'll be back later."

I walked out, hopped into my car, and sped down the route I knew by heart until I got to Katy's child hood home. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel until I had the courage to get out and walk up to the door and knock.

A few moments later, Mr. Parker opened the door and crossed his arms as he looked at me. "Liam."

"Mr. Parker, I need to know where Katy is." I wanted to sound like I meant business but it came out more as a plea.

He shook his head looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry son, I can't tell you that."

I glared at him. "She is my wife! I have every right to know where she is!"

He glared right back at me and stepped closer. "And she is my daughter. Do you have any idea what you put her through when you took her to that city? All you did was party and you forgot all about the wife you had that was right there with you!" He yelled through clenched teeth.

I flinched and stepped back as Mrs. Parker came around the corner to see what was going on.

She crossed her arms and came to stand next to her husband. "Hello, Liam."

"Please--please Mr. and Mrs. Parker. Tell me where she is so I can fix this," I pleaded with them.

Mrs. Parker looked at me sadly as she stepped forward and took my hand. "Liam, sweetheart, she needs her time." She turned to look at her husband.

"Katelyn's not in Nevada anymore."

My eyes widened and I had to bite my lip to keep from yelling and getting hit by Katy's dad. "She left the state? Just up and left?" I shouted, frustrated, and started pacing.

I couldn't believe this was really happening. If she wanted to teach me a lesson, well, she did.

"Where did she go? You have family all over the place! Who did she go to?" I yelled, and stormed back towards the door.

"Son, I think it's best if you get in your car and leave. Now." Mr. Parker glared at me. "You're just going to cause a scene, and I doubt that's real great for your… what do they call it in Hollywood? Image?" He shook his head. "Go on back.  If Kate wants to come back, she will."

"And what if she doesn't? What if I already screwed this up too bad?" I gulped and looked down at my simple black wedding band. When we ran off to Vegas to get married right after graduation, our parents were furious. But we were in love and this was supposed to be forever.

Maybe forever isn't forever when you live in Hollywood.

The whole drive back to L.A I started making a plan in my head. Any free days I got, I was going to spend contacting Katy's friends and family that I had information on. One of them was bound to know exactly where she was. Or maybe Katy's parents would slip up when they were talking to my parents. They're best friends. My parents are practically Katy and her brother Derek's other family. They couldn't keep her away from me. I just had to hope she'd come around. “We've known each other our whole lives, she has to know how much she means to me,” I thought as I smacked my fist against the steering wheel and turned into our very empty home.

There I saw the car of my new friend, Scott Adams, another up-and-coming actor that Excite had taken on. We got along good, and he liked to hang out-- especially since everything that had happened with Katy.

"Hey man, how's it going?" he asked as I got out of the car.

I shook my head and leaned against the door. "Not good. She's not even back home. She left the state. Her parents won't even tell me where the heck she went!" I kicked some rocks from the driveway into the grass.

"So now what?"

"Every chance I get, I'm going to contact all the people I know connected to her and figure out where the heck she is." I shrugged. "I really screwed up."

"I'll tell ya what, I'll help you." Scott smiled at me as we walked inside. "You really love her don't you?"

I plopped down on my very expensive leather couch and nodded. "I do. This city makes me different. I'm not the Liam that came from a theater in Nevada anymore. Here I'm Liam Warren, movie star, and I feel like I need to act the part." I ran both hands through my hair and squeezed them into fists. "I just forgot to stop acting when I came back home."

Morality for Atheist - Interview

This is an extremely quick read at under 50 pages.

Today we get to meet the author!  Please welcome Ms. Adams to the blog.




I've noticed that you don’t have much information on you online.  Is this because, as mentioned in your book: Morality for Atheists, atheism is still strongly frowned upon in our society? 

I was raised in a Roman Catholic family and my parents are still very much believers. Our family name is unique and I didn't want to alienate my family or make them unhappy so I decided to use a different surname. 

What inspired you to write a book on such a difficult subject?

It’s something that I feel very passionate about. I felt compelled to write the book and get my ideas out there. 

Do you have any other projects we can look forward to reading?

I’m working on a second book on a similar topic but it’s still a work in progress. 

What do you feel is the most difficult part about writing?

Ha, the sitting down and writing part.  I’m a terrible procrastinator so I really had to force myself to knuckle down and write!

What one thing stands out the most in your mind as a message you wish the general public to hear?

That being atheists and being immoral are two completely different things.

This book was much shorter than I had anticipated.  Do you have an extended version or possibly a series of writings that will work as a collection?

It is deliberately short. I intended it to be an introduction on atheism and morality. As I said I’m working on a second book which is on a similar topic.

What types/genres of books do you enjoy reading?

I enjoy thrillers, adventure and fantasy novels and philosophical non-fiction. 

How long have you been a writer?

This is my first published book but I've been writing for over a decade. 

Thank you so much for visiting us Mary-Louise. Best of luck with your books!!

About the Author:

Hi, I'm Mary-Louise Adams. Sometimes I write stuff down and sometimes people laugh. My life goals include getting a bigger place so I can adopt two Great Pyrenees or Bernese Mountain puppies (aww, puppies!) and getting over my fear of pigeons. Thank you.

Buy Link:

Amazon