I’m happy to announce that In the Wilderness, Book 2 of the Egypt trilogy, is on tour this week, starting today Oct. 2 until Friday Oct. 6. This is a virtual book tour that will make stops at other book blogs in order to garner exposure and reviews. This is a great opportunity for those of you who have not yet purchased the book to learn more about it and hear what others think. At the end of the tour, I will be giving away a signed copy of the first book, Coming Out of Egypt.

Don’t miss out.

You can follow the tour at the sites listed below where you’ll have a chance to participate in the giveaway.

On A Reading Bender – Oct. 2

The Indie Express   – Oct. 3

Texas Book Nook   – Oct. 4

Momma and Her Stories  – Oct 5

All Things Bookaholic – Oct 6

RABT Book Tours Reviews – wrap up

For those of you who still don’t know what In the Wilderness is all about, here’s a short blurb to whet your appetite:

In The Wilderness – Book 2

Tortured by guilt over killing her father, a crime for which she was never punished, Marva Garcia longs to confide in someone.  But who? Cicely, her former teacher-turned-surrogate – mother, is soon to marry the detective who suspects Marva of murdering her father, and she is too ashamed to confide in her friend Jason who has a romantic interest in her. The only person who knows what she did is her younger sister June whom she was trying to protect when the crime occurred. But June insists they keep quiet about it to avoid Marva being thrown into prison.

Certain that the police will one day arrest her, Marva sees suicide as her only option. But before she can carry out her carefully-laid plans, something terrible happens – something that uncovers her closely guarded secret and leaves her groping in the wilderness. Will Marva now be punished for her crime, or will she receive forgiveness and understanding?

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Sometimes when I browse Amazon or other book sites and read blurbs, I realize that there are other books whose subject matter is similar to mine. I have read some of those books, but in all honesty, I don’t like reading about child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Really? Then why did you write about it, I can hear you scream. The question is justified, and the answer is simple. I think it’s something that needs to be spoken about, exposed, denounced until the world ceases to turn a blind eye to this scourge in our midst. So, I’m not  knocking other novels that portray sexual abuse. They all have their place, although I cannot read graphic details about horrible things done to a child. In this series of articles, I will show you why I think you should read my Egypt series.

First, take a look at the short synopsis:

When Marva accidentally kills her father while trying to protect her younger sister June from him, she anticipates a new beginning far from “Egypt” where they once lived. But her new life is not what she envisioned. The strain of trying to elude the detective who suspects her, cope with her rebellious younger sister and hold down her job in a man’s domain drive her to drink. When Cicely, her former teacher, intervenes and leads the girls to Christ, Marva finds some measure of peace, but guilt over her crime and the desire to save June from disgrace force her to contemplate suicide. Fortunately, a serious accident derails her plans, and both Marva and June discover their true calling – to serve God, and others, with all their heart and with all their strength.

In the next post, one reason why you should read the Egypt series:

No graphic scenes of sexual abuse.

Book 2 In the Wilderness is now on preorder for 99c. until 8/17. Get your copy now by clicking https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072WB8N25

If you have not yet read the first book and would like to do so, you can click  here.

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Now that the elections are over, we can go back to what we enjoy the most – reading. The days are shorter, the nights are longer and cooler, just right to snuggle up with a good book.

But before you reach for that book that’s been gathering dust on your nightstand, stop and think for a moment. What do you look for in a good book? What makes you pick up the book in the first place? I would guess the first thing would be the cover, but you don’t just want to admire the cover, you want to read what is between the covers.

So what tickles your fancy? Is it the plot, the characters, or the beautiful prose? For me, I would say all three, and if you can place all of that in a breathtaking setting, you have a fan for life.

Notice I didn’t mention genre, even though there are certain types I will not read. Horror, vampire and detective novels with lots of blood and gore turn me off. As does erotica.

There was a time when I would have included sci-fi, fantasy and dystopian novels in the list. Then one of my friends decided to venture into worlds unknown and wrote her first sci-fi novel, Story In The Stars, and I was hooked. Then along came Hunger Games and I was drawn in, hook, line, and sinker.

So what was it about these two books in particular that kept me turning the pages?
1. Plot – this has to be compelling enough to keep me reading. While I love descriptive passages, they shouldn’t be so long that they draw me out of the story. Also, even though it is fiction, the plot should be believable.
2. Characters – I must fall in love with them. I must understand their motive and be able to defend them even when they slip up, as real people sometimes do.
3. Prose – Think of it as the special ingredients you add to a meal to make it mouthwatering and appetizing. Every morsel you bite should stimulate your taste buds for more. So it is with your writing. If it is flat, with grammatical errors, typos, lacking flavor, then it will not appeal to your reader no matter how great the story line is.

What kinds of books do you like? What is on your bookshelf or in your kindle right now? If you are looking for a book with a compelling plot, lovable characters, and flavorful prose, pick up a copy of Coming Out of Egypt, now available for just .99c on kindle. Or you can download it for free on Kindle Unlimited.