Guest Post: MY HEART WEEPS by Pamela S. Thibodeau

My guest today is the award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux, Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story! 

 

Pamela's newest  release is MY HEART WEEPS. The story tells of Melena Rhyker who is devastated by her husband's death. Relief comes in the form of an artist's retreat at the Crossed Penn ranch in Utopia, TX. She rediscovers a forgotten dream as her artistic talent flourishes into that of a gallery-worthy artist. Will she have the courage to follow the path she was destined to travel?

Garrett Saunders has been on the run most of his life. Abused and abandoned as a child, he escapes the clutches of a past filled with pain and shame, and hides from his calling as a Native American healer. His years as a CIA agent aid in overcoming his childhood and honing his talent and skill as a fine art photographer. 

 

Follow their journey as two people who come from totally different backgrounds, but share gifts of gigantic proportions, find meaning and purpose in the Texas Hill Country.

 

And now for an excerpt!

Within moments after Anne left, Melena came in.

“Anne shouldn’t have bothered you.”

“Anne didn’t send me.”

“So why are you here?”

Had she not seen the devastation in his eyes and on his face earlier, Melena would have taken offense at his demeanor. “I wanted to see if you’re all right.”

“I’m not sure how I am right now.”

Concerned at the defeat in his tone, Melena placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know this isn’t the time or place to discuss what happened, but I hate to think of you up here all alone. I need to get back down to the show. Why don’t you come with me?”

“I’m sure my career is over.”

“I wouldn’t say that. There are more people down there who appreciate your work and are much more supportive of the artist they’ve come to know and love—despite never seeing you—than some strange man hell bent on starting a scene.”

“What about your children?”

“My children are among them.”

He turned to her then and her stomach clenched at the depth of shame, anger and sorrow in his expressive eyes. He removed her hand from his shoulder, closed the distance between them with a single step, and cradled her face in his hands. Melena leaned into him and lifted her face, anticipating his kiss. His lips trembled against hers, a soft brush of mouth on mouth as his hands trailed down her neck and shoulders then around her back to embrace her more fully.

Melena’s hands glided up his arms and around his neck, fingers dipped into the dark depths of thick hair caressing his collar, then eased back as he ended the kiss in slow degrees. He buried his face in her hair. A shudder shook his entire frame.

“Thank you.”

The ache in his voice fisted around her heart. Melena took a step back, held his hand in hers and together they went downstairs.

My Heart Weeps is on sale for a limited time @ 99cents and FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

Purchase Link: https://bit.ly/MyHeartWeeps

Links:

Website address: http://www.pamelathibodeaux.com

Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/psthibnewsletter

 

Face Book: http://facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux

https://www.facebook.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib @psthib

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pamelasthibodea/

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1jUVcdU

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pamela-s-thibodeaux

Instagram: https://instagram.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

Pam is giving away 1 Ebook, 1 Autographed Print Book, 1 Audio Book, a $15 Amazon Gift Card, a 1-month Audible membership and a SURPRISE Giftpack to 6 lucky winners! Names will be collected throughout the tour which ends Sept. 30th. Winners will be notified, and prizes awarded by October 10th. (1 prize per person)

 

Blog Tour Dates/Stops: 

8/25 Jana Richards’ Romance Story Board Blog 

8/27 Beverly Bateman’s BLOG 

9/1 Valarie Goree’s Facebook Page 

9/5 D. V. Stone’s Campfire Blog  

9/9 Jacqueline Seewald’s BLOG 

9/11 Linda Rondeau’s Snark & Sensibility Blog 

9/14 Patricia Kioyno’s Four Foxes, One Hound Blog 

9/18 Diane Burton’s BLOG 

9/22 Alicia Dean’s BLOG 

9/25 Jeny Hickman’s BLOG 

9/30 Linda Nightingale’s Author…Musings Blog 

 

For more information : https://southernwritersmagazine.blogspot.com/

 

 

HEAVEN'S BLUE IS BACK!

At long last, HEAVEN'S BLUE is available once more in a digital format with a brand new cover designed by Taria Reed. The book garnered EPIC's eBook Award for Best Inspirational way back in 2005. Now you can download it not only on the Kindle, but at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and several other ebook distributors.

But best of all, HEAVEN'S BLUE is also available in a new paper edition! Isn't it beautiful? I'll be giving away TWO of the proofs of this book. One has little notes written in it by me, but otherwise it's in good shape. Although, as a proof copy it has a gray bar right across the heroine's face. 😢

If you'd like to win one of the proof copies, sign up now at http://penelopemarzec.weebly.com/contact-me.html Make sure you write HEAVEN'S BLUE in the comment box so I know you are hoping to win one of the books. The drawing will be held on August 16, 2019. The winners will be contacted at that time.

Many of the reviews from the original edition are long gone, but I saved them all in a folder. 😊
One of my favorite reviews was written in Romantic Times. The last line of that review said, "Marzec's inspirational novel is a wonderful blend of hope, love and belief forged in the fire of adversity."

I'll be lowering the price of the ebook edition to $0.99 in the next few days. It will be featured in Bargain Booksy on Saturday, August 3, 2019, and in Ereader News Today on August 4, 2019. 

Win A Reusable Shopping Bag!

This lightweight, reusable shopping bag could be yours! It's adorned with the new cover for my December release, The Cowboy's Miracle, from Prism Book Group. If you're feeling lucky, comment below. I'll select one winner on Friday, October 28, 2016. So be sure to sign up now.

If you win, you'll have a cowboy to carry your groceries home for you. :-)

Name That Book Contest

FUN, PRIZES GALORE, 

and specially priced 99 CENT books through October 7th.

Fill out an entry form now at:

http://www.prismbookgroup.com/name-that-book

​

I will be giving away a $5 gift certificate to Amazon at

​

8 p.m. on October 7, 2016

There will be MANY prizes offered by other Prism Book Group authors. 

Make sure you LIKE Prism Book Group's Facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/PrismBookGroup

​

 One of the books published by Prism Book Group which will be on sale this week for 99 cents is my own. 

​Download a copy now at 

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Celebrating the Release of DADDY WANTED with a Contest

I am thrilled! Tomorrow, June 19th, is a big day. Daddy Wanted will be released. If you would like to know more about this sweet romance you can read a review at Romance Junkies' website: http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Daddy_Wanted.shtml. The digital edition will be only $2.99! You can buy it at the Prism Book Group page tomorrow. Click HERE.

I can't share champagne with everyone but I can offer a contest, which is always fun--especially if you win. So I'm giving away three $10 Amazon Gift Cards. To enter the contest, you simply have to do two things:

1: LIKE my Facebook fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/penelopemarzecbooks.

2: Add a comment to this post.

The contest ends at midnight on Thursday, June 27th.

Winners will be announced on Friday, June 28th, here and on my fan page.

Just think of the things you can do with $10 on Amazon!

Guest Post: Katie O'Sullivan

Today is a very special day. Katie O'Sullivan is here to talk about her new book from Crescent Moon Press and it is terrific! :-) Don't forget to enter her contest. (See the instructions below.) You could win a copy of her book.
Hi, Penelope! Thanks for inviting me here today to introduce myself and talk a little about my new release, SON OF A MERMAID.

I’m an author, an editor, and the mother of three teenagers. I live year round on Cape Cod, near the beaches and crashing waves that make this area a magnet for tourists three months of every year. The ocean and sandy shores remain even after the tourists pack up to go home, and my family takes full advantage of life surrounded by all this natural beauty.

The true locals call people like me “wash-ashores” – someone who visits Cape Cod for a vacation or a season, and ends up staying. Which means, I’m not really from here. Originally from New Jersey, I spent summers on the Jersey Shore. My husband grew up in the Boston area, and although his childhood summers were spent here on the Cape, he’s considered a wash-shore too.

When we started our own family, we wanted our kids to have the same memories of beach days and sailing lessons that my husband and I each have. We bought a summer cottage here on Cape Cod, and after several years we made the decision to move here full-time.

Although the opening scenes of my book take place in Oklahoma, most of the action takes place on Cape Cod, both above and below the surface of the Atlantic. The main character, fifteen-year-old Shea MacNamara, grew up on a farm in the middle of the U.S. He’d never even caught a glimpse of the ocean or learned to swim… when suddenly strange dreams start haunting him. Dreams of drowning, and dreams of mermaids.

He has no idea why he would be dreaming about drowning, when it was a tornado that destroyed his farm and changed his life. Just as he has no clue as to who – or where – his mother might be, only that she disappeared from his life right after he was born. It’s only after moving to Cape Cod that the pieces start falling into place.

In the following excerpt, we catch a glimpse of one of Shea’s nightmares.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Excerpt from SON OF A MERMAID, 2013 from Crescent Moon Press

The blue-green coolness swirled around him as his body tumbled down through the water, arms and legs flailing as he struggled to hold his breath. Millions of tiny bubbles of precious air traced the path of his descent, escaping from his clothing and through his nose.

Eyes wide even as the water rushed past, he watched a huge school of shimmering minnows part down the middle as they swam around him, surrounding him like a silvery box. Turning his face upward to the surface, he could see the blue sky receding further and further as he sank deeper into the water’s depths.

His throat and lungs burned from the effort of holding his breath. Darkness pressed hard against his eyes, and swirls of strange colors danced in front of him as his whole body strained against the lack of oxygen.

I need to breathe, he thought wildly, his whole body feeling like it was on fire. I can’t hold out much longer. His feet finally hit the mucky bottom with a thud, coming to a stop as the mud swirled around his legs.

There, hovering before him in the water, swam a beautiful woman with flowing golden hair…and a green fish tail that sparkled with golden flecks among the scales.

A mermaid.

Her big green eyes looked so familiar, like the ones he saw in the mirror every morning. She smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand. His head pounded as searing pain ripped through his throat, as if his entire body would tear apart any second from the effort of holding his breath.

The mermaid squeezed his hand and nodded. The pain receded as Shea stared into her eyes, lost in their green depths. As she nodded to him again, he opened his mouth to exhale the stale air that pounded like a jackhammer in his lungs. Large bubbles rushed to the surface as he struggled to breathe, but there was no air to be had. Only salty ocean water rushing in to fill his mouth, his lungs, his body...


Shea woke with a start, clawing at the sheets and disoriented for a full minute before remembering where he was. At the Hansen’s house. Because his own home – the farm where he’d lived and worked all his life – was gone, swept away and crushed by the freak tornado.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Thanks again, Penelope, for inviting me to visit! Readers, be sure to leave a comment below and enter the official Rafflecopter giveaway You could win an ebook copy of SON OF A MERMAID, or a cool beach stone mermaid necklace or other swag!

If you want to learn more about me and my mermaids, you can find us in the following spots online:

Follow the Blog – http://katieosullivan.blogspot.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatieOSullivan
Twitter - https://twitter.com/OkatieO
Check out the website at http://www.katie-osullivan.com
Add Son of a Mermaid on Goodreads: Son of a Mermaid

Amazon Buy Link: Son of a Mermaid
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Like My Fan Page, Win a Book

I will give away FOUR paper editions of The Fiend of White Buck Hall tomorrow night (November 10, 2011). Due to a dark cover, it has not received much attention, which is sad because it is a great story! (Warning: It is a rather spicy paranormal.)

To enter the contest go to http://www.facebook.com/penelopemarzecbooks. That is my fan page. Click the LIKE button at the top of the page and become a fan, in addition leave a comment on this post. The four winners will be posted both here and at my fan page tomorrow night.

Hurry up and sign in to win. Good luck!

The lucky winners in the contest are Jenn, Deanna, Leann, and MarkD! Thanks for playing!

Amazing Contest Response

I set up a new contest for Labor Day at my website. I will be giving away two diskettes. One contains an HTML file of my very first book, Sea Of Hope, and one is an HTML file of another one of my books, Heaven's Blue. They are both EPPIE award-winning inspirational romances. Since they are on diskettes, you need to have a disk drive to use them. Some computers no longer have disk drives and diskettes are becoming obsolete.

But if you do have a disk drive, the contents of the diskettes will open up in your browser where you can read my e-books.

The response for the contest so far has been nothing short of mind-boggling. Evidently, my contest was listed at another site on the web frequented by those who love to enter contests. :^)

News travels fast on the web, but this means that the competition for those two diskettes is getting really fierce.

I'm going to need a really big container to put all the names in when it's time to draw out the winner.