Blog - Dreaming Big

Fiction Book COVER REVEAL 'Hair Power' by Piers Anthony, coming soon from Dreaming Big Publications

6/30/2016

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Terminal cancer patient, Quiti, walks into an abandoned building planning on taking her life.

Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth.

Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor.

Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien’s life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature’s gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought. As her powers grow and her deadly illness goes into remission, Quiti quickly realizes that there are those that would want to use her for her abilities and is forced to leave behind everything that she knew.

Will this blessing curse her to a life on the run, or does the mysterious hairball have more in store for her?

Piers Anthony, author of the New York Times bestselling Xanth series, brings together humor and adventure in this original story of loyalty, friendship, extraordinary powers, and hair.

COMING SOON FROM DREAMING BIG PUBLICATIONS!

'Another Sunrise in His Day' by Donal Mahoney

6/30/2016

Another Sunrise in His Day

Will I walk again,
Tillie mumbled,
lost in the fog of

her knee operation.
The surgeon predicted
she'd toss her cane away

in two months.
Still in a fog, she asked
if she'd walk the way

she walked before,
with the same locomotion,
as her husband called it,

a walk he studied
through binoculars
behind lace curtains

from the upstairs window
sitting in his wheelchair
as she strolled through

the garden, picking a
bouquet, creating another
sunrise in his day.

Donal Mahoney

Book Blitz for 'Gypsy Love' by Angela McPherson and Lynn Vroman

6/30/2016

Gypsy Love
Angela McPherson & Lynn Vroman
Publication date: June 28th 2016
Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance

Two centuries ago, Adrian vowed to seek revenge against the Gypsy woman who bound his spirit for eternity. Despite how far under the dirt Miryah Kotorara’s bones lay, he won’t stop tormenting the Kotorara bloodline. The person doesn’t matter, only the name.

Until her.

Dr. Mia Kotorara has spent the last ten years trying to forget her Gypsy heritage. Ostracized by her family and emotionally damaged, Mia throws herself into her work to fill the void. She forgets everything from her past—except for the man who solely exists in her dreams.

When reality and dreams collide, Adrian and Mia find something they never expected. Love.

Magic will bring them together, but it may not be enough to mend Mia’s broken heart and Adrian’s lust for revenge.

The Kotorara curse is never satisfied.

As the curse threatens everything they have overcome, Adrian and Mia must fight to save what matters most—each other.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

Adrian

Their routine never changed. Smack the alarm clock for fifteen more minutes of grunting, snoring sleep. Grumble when the contraption bleeped its nauseating music again. Shower, wake the children in the next room, eat some sugary swill, and leave for a day of school or work. Day, after day, after day.

If I hadn’t already hated these rotting people, their boring lives would’ve put me over the edge.

Unfortunately, my life, or lack thereof, mirrored theirs. An apparition only had so much to do to fill the time. My routine never changed, either, not for over two hundred years. Yes, the families would turn into other families as generations progressed—I lost count of how many had passed—but they were all from the same insane bitch of an ancestor. I wasn’t too particular. All they required was the right name.

The little things kept my sanity. Push the clock out of reach. Adjust the water until it grew frigid or scalding, depending on my mood. If I were really on point, I dumped that slop they shoveled into their mouths every morning onto the floor for the mangy dog. So what if these specific Gypsies hadn’t cursed me. A curse, I might add, undeserved. Two hundred years built enough anger to spread vengeance without prejudice.

Pathetic, but those little things were all I had. Not much else to occupy my time, and as any good haunt would do, I followed the man, Luca, to the city after he dropped his children off at school–every day.

I wouldn’t have been a decent ghost if I hadn’t at least tried to heave him into oncoming traffic as he scurried to his custodian job. I’d been practicing that trick for years, coming so close a few times. Once I perfected it, the push would probably be at the back of the wanker’s grandson. Hell, great-grandson. Unlike them, I had eternity on my side. But one day, a few of the sodding Gypsies would decorate the windshield of a city bus.

Not today, though. Luca weaved around the crowd while I slinked through it, body after body. The beastly man tended to hurry, always late due to his nightly drinking binges, and I enjoyed tripping him up in his rush, a skill I had mastered. A millisecond of physical contact might not get anyone smacked with a speeding car, but stumbling in a hurry irritated even the most patient person, which Luca wasn’t.

“Christ!” He grabbed a lamppost in time to save his face from the pavement. “Knock your shit off. I ain’t got time for it today.”

To an outsider, the bloated man appeared as if he spoke to himself. But I knew better.

“Well, good thing for you I’ve plenty of time for us both,” I answered him. Even though he couldn’t hear me, we’d had plenty of conversations over the years, as I had with his father, and his father before him. I used to rage, scream until my voice grew hoarse. Not a blooming soul ever gave any indication they knew I existed. To answer now became habit, needing to speak to him as if I had a voice left in the world.

Unfortunately, I’d become as much a part of this heathen family as every other bastard whelped by the likes of a Gypsy bitch. My story became an heirloom, passed from generation to generation. The angry ghost of Miryah Kotorara’s curse. No one had the ability to see me, much less hear a damn word I had to say. Bad luck, a faulty alarm clock, a stumble on nothing, all of it blamed on something none of them really believed in. Me.

In truth, no one believed in me except for maybe Luca, probably the reason I chose him to annoy instead of his brother this generation. What good were all my efforts if the person I haunted thought me a fantasy? I was a curse to a god who didn’t exist for the rest of the family. My attempt to scare, kill, or maim them in some way ended up being part irritation, part fun story to repeat at dinner parties.

Even vapor had pride, and the Kotorara clan stomped on it any chance they had.

Luca straightened his jacket and mumbled curses as the crosswalk light blinked to proceed. Oh, to have the power to push his fat, greasy body into a lorry. I swiped at his back, my hand disappearing through his skin and blubber.

One day, you tosser.

As soon as we hit the curb, Luca stopped. If I were matter, I’d have rammed into his back. Instead, I whooshed through his body. Times like these, I was grateful for the lack of senses, not particularly fond of body odor, sweat, and soft man flesh.

“Well, come on, then. Move your bloody arse.”

Even if he could hear, I doubt he would have listened. Luca directed his attention to a sleek building in front of us, a scowl twisting his lips.
I followed his gaze, frustrated as if I were the one late for work. “What has your attention, fat man?” My eyes landed on a woman who focused on the building, her hair so dark it almost shined blue. Her slim shoulders stiffened before she turned—and saw me.

GYPSYLOVE123

Author Bio:

Born and currently residing in Texas, Angela shuffles three active children (not including her husband) all over the place. She works in a busy pediatric doctor's office as a nurse during the day and writes at night. She is addicted to coffee and chocolate, laughs a lot, often at herself and is willing to try anything once. When Angela isn't rushing kids around, working or writing, she's reading. Other than life experience, Angela turns to a wide variety of music to help spark her creative juices. She loves to dance and sing though her kids often beg her not to.

Connect with Angela:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

--

Born in Pennsylvania, Lynn spent most of her childhood, especially during math class, daydreaming. Today, she spends an obscene amount of time in her head, only now she writes down all the cool stuff.

With a degree in English Literature, Lynn used college as an excuse to read for four years straight. She lives in the Pocono Mountains with her husband, raising the four most incredible human beings on the planet. She writes young adult novels, both fantasy and contemporary.

Connect with Lynn:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

'A Nuclear Childhood' by Donal Mahoney

6/29/2016

A Nuclear Childhood

What if your parents
had never met
had never married

had never yelled
at each other
and instead had wed

someone they loved
and lived peacefully
all those years.

That would have been
their Eden but you
shaking there now

decades later
wouldn’t be with us
cursing the tremors

of a nuclear childhood
you still remember
long after they’re dead.

Donal Mahoney

Fiction Book Review for 'Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans' from Jaime Ramos and Pro Se Press

6/29/2016

Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans
By David Michelinie, Jennie Wood, Chris Magee, Nancy Hansen, Jaime Ramos, Brant Fowler and Lee Houston Jr.
Published by Pro Se Press
Reviewed by Amy Owings

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Technological Singularity Event left the world’s governments trembling. War ravaged the land as humans faced off with the Nanite Army of Fire. Eventually the world was plunged into darkness. When the world regained its senses, technology had been reduced to the level of the 1800s. The world governments no longer existed, until one Dr. Fulbright began rebuilding English society in New Southampton. Fate seemed to intervene when Dr. Fulbright’s lab exploded and carved a giant crater in the center of the city. With Dr. Fulbright dead, the struggling city was left without guidance or authority. Authority was regained when brutal Queen Anne anointed herself the new city monarch. Anne quickly established a brutal regime bathed in blood and violence. In light of death and oppression, the people of New Southampton seek saviors. In the darkness, some have heard the call for Revolution. Beings that have crawled out of the time of the Singularity to give the people hope. Many call these harbingers of salvation the Posthumans. The Posthumans have risen from the ashes.

Genre: Cyberpunk/Superheroes
172 pages

MY REVIEW

4 out of 5 stars
Although I typically don’t read this kind of cyberpunk/genre fiction, I have to say that I really enjoyed this anthology. It reminded me slightly of a McSweeney’s collection, what with its focus on action and tenacious characters. Each story was able to maintain a unique voice while still fitting with the other stories to build a three-dimensional dystopian world. The action and plot, especially the one concerning the tyranny of Queen Anne, built up through each story and then met a satisfying resolution. The characters were strong and likeable; my favorite was definitely Simon. Enjoyable read.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

David Michelinie has written more than 600 comic book stories, as well as two novels. His comic book biography of Mother Teresa won the Catholic Book Award for Best Children’s Book, and his work on the acclaimed Iron Man “Demon In A Bottle” saga was awarded a Certificate Of Merit from a prestigious anti-alcoholism foundation.

Jennie Wood is the creator of Flutter, a graphic novel series published by 215 Ink. She is also the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me. Jennie is an ongoing contributor to the award-winning, New York Times best-selling FUBAR comic anthologies. She writes non-fiction features for infoplease.com and teaches at Grub Street, Boston's independent writing center.

Nancy Hansen is an avid reader and prolific writer of fantasy and adventure fiction. She is the author of the novels Fortune’s Pawn, Prophecy’s Gambit, Master's Endgame and Forged By Flame, as well as several anthologies and novellas. Nancy currently resides on an old farm in beautiful, rural eastern Connecticut with an eclectic cast of family members, and one very spoiled dog.

Lee Houston, Junior is the writer-creator of Hugh Monn, Private Detective and Alpha the superhero, published by Pro Se Press. His other creative credits include serving as the Editor-In-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine and writing numerous short stories. In what he laughing refers to as his “spare” time, Lee is an avid reader of pulps, science-fiction, detective/mystery stories, fantasy, and comic books.

Brant Fowler is the Co-Publisher of Last Ember Press, where he writes the comic books Wannabez and The Last Ember. He won an Editor's Choice Award for his poem “The Abyss” while in college. The Eye of the Mind is his first published prose work. Brant was born in Georgia, raised in Arizona, South Carolina (on a wildlife preservation island), and Kentucky, and now resides in Texas with his dog Trixie.

Chris Magee is a writer and veteran. During his third deployment to Operation Desert Storm, Chris and his squad, members of the elite Special Airborne Ranger Seal Artillery Composite Provisional squad, part of Team 'Merica, discovered a cache of gold bullion while on a suicide mission. Being the sole survivor of the mission (making him a suicidal failure), he decided to keep the gold for himself, instantly becoming a billionaire. Chris then embarked on what he felt he was truly meant to do, be a billionaire playboy with no real job. This led to many adventures doing "special" contracts with the CIA, FBI and CBS. In his free time, Chris enjoys keeping the world safe for himself, chasing very attractive younger women, and spending time with his wife and children.

Jaime Ramos is a fiction writer who resides in the St. Louis area with his wife, son, two dogs and a cat. Jaime serves as Chief Editor and creator of the super-hero themed anthology Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans, which is being published by Pro Se Productions. Jaime also is an assistant editor on the book Legends of Pulp, published by Airship 27. Jaime enjoys football, movies, cooking and playing make-believe with his son Thomas. Jaime has an idyllic life with wife Phyllis, who is a constant source of encouragement.

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.

https://smile.amazon.com/Singularity-Rise-Posthumans-David-Michelinie/dp/1533534209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466960763&sr=8-1&keywords=singularity+rise+of+the+posthumans

Book Blitz Tour for 'The Everlasting Circle' by Juliana Haygert, Everlast #3

6/29/2016

The Everlasting Circle
Juliana Haygert
(Everlast #3)
Publication date: June 27th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult

The war is approaching and the time to find enough allies for an army is running out. As is Nadine’s life.

Though Micah would love to spend more time trying to find a solution for Nadine’s impeding death, she would rather focus on strategies to win the war. With a new hero, a new god, and new abilities, Nadine starts to believe they might actually have a chance to chase the darkness away from the world.

Until betrayal drags them back to step zero.

Lost and angry, Nadine almost gives up. Almost. Her time on this Earth might be ending, but she has too much to do before she’s ready to die. Against all odds, Nadine will keep fighting to win the war until her very last breath.

Genre: New Adult Fantasy. Warning: strong language, sex scene. This is the 3rd book in the Everlast trilogy. May contain spoilers of the previous books.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Google Play / Kobo

Everlast_Trilogy_Ad Teaser3-Everlast Teaser4-Everlast

Author Bio:

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in North Carolina and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram / Newsletter

GIVEAWAYS!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

See this box? Let's called it a Juliana's Mystery Box. What is inside? Well, like the name says, it's a mystery, but I can tell you it's bookish And I'm gonna give it away on Aug 1st … How can you try to win it? Simple. Sign up for my newsletter! http://eepurl.com/CKsmX If you're already a subscriber, awesome! You're already on the run. If you aren't, then sign up now! On Aug 1st I'll randomly choose a winner! Good luck! . . *disclaimer: this giveaway is mine and mine alone. Facebook, instagram, twitter, and any other social media have nothing to do with it! . . #authorsofinstagram #igauthorlife #newslettergiveaway #bookgiveaway #giveaway

A photo posted by Juliana Haygert (@juliana.haygert) on Jun 11, 2016 at 6:28pm PDT

Book Review for ‘Jesus Calling: My First Bible Storybook’ by Sarah Young, illustrated by Antonia Woodward

6/28/2016

Book DescriptionJesus Calling® Bible stories with Jesus Calling devotions are now available for toddlers!
Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook includes simple Bible stories accompanied by short messages of Jesus’ love for children. Delightful art makes this a perfect companion to Jesus Calling for Little Ones.
You already know and love the Jesus Calling® brand, and the new Jesus Calling My First Bible Storybook is the perfect way to introduce your littlest ones to the Bible and to Jesus and His love. You and your family will enjoy this Bible storybook night after night.

MY REVIEW: 1 star. I just don’t see how many books of the same exact thing the market can support. I mean seriously, the same scriptures that are in every children’s book are in this one. It’s a board book, so your babies aren’t going to rip the pages, but there just isn’t anything special about another book like this. Publishers normally want to accept books that are different than the others on the market. There’s nothing different about this one.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. I was not required to post a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

'War Feasts Forever' by Donal Mahoney

6/28/2016

War Feasts Forever

A refugee from another country tells me
people thrive on proving their beliefs
more than understanding one another.

They will let a stereotype fall on others
like a cheap dress as long as it fits
the image of someone they’ve created.

People are more dangerous when their rules
are more important than their values, he says.
Belief is like water and must be transparent.

If people accept those who are different,
everyone sits down to a banquet of peace.
Otherwise war feasts forever.

Donal Mahoney

Boook Blitz Reveal for 'Concealed' by Christina Bauer

6/28/2016

Concealed
Christina Bauer
(Beholder #2)
Published by: Ink Monster LLC
Publication date: October 25th 2016
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

As a Grand Mistress Necromancer, Elea commands the ultimate power over spirit and bone… Magick that she’ll need in order to rescue her friends from the evil Vicomte Gaspard. In a matter of days, Gaspard will kill thousands of Necromancers by draining their magick, along with their life force.

To find and free her fellow mages, Elea must venture into some of the most dangerous places in the realm. What starts off as a rescue quest could easily turn into a suicide mission. And with the handsome mage Rowan along to help, Elea may be risking more than her life. Her growing feelings for Rowan might put her heart on the line, too.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo

Concealed

Sequel to:

Author Bio:

Christina graduated from Syracuse University's Newhouse School with BA's in English as well as Television, Radio, and Film Production. Her day job is in marketing for companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and Zerto. Back in the go-go 90′s, she founded her own software start-up, Mindful Technologies. Christina believes that, upon close examination of Tolkien's text, it's entirely possible that the Balrog was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

NEW RELEASE! 'The Bacchanal, and Other Horrific Tales' from Dreaming Big Publications

6/28/2016

From Dreaming Big Publications, The Bacchanal and Other Horrific Tales is a collection of horror stories available in ebook and paperback format.
AMAZON LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Bacchanal-Other-Horrific-Tales-ebook/dp/B01H3Z1O6I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467097635&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Bacchanal
EBOOK PRICE: $2.99
PAPERBACK PRICE: $12.00
BACK COVER BLURB: An artist whose love for his wife has horrific results.

A babysitting job gone horribly wrong.

A talent agency that promises success no matter what; even if you are the one standing in the way.

This chilling collection of modern horror stories is sure to have you peeking warily around corners and walking just a bit faster down dark streets. Full of both creepy events and morbid humor, The Bacchanal stands as a testament to humanity’s love of being afraid and of frightening others.

Humanity’s fear of the unknown and fascination with the supernatural are masterfully depicted in these eleven stories. Though the supernatural elements are the centerpiece of the collection, it is the believable actions of the ordinary humans, both evil and well-meaning, that will send shivers down readers’ spines.

AVAILABLE NOW!

Thank you!
Kristi King-Morgan, Editor-in-Chief