The Wall by David Pereda

 

This post is part of a book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. David Pereda will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

THOMAS BERTRAM is an American living in San Salvador with his fiancée CECILIA. They own a popular neighborhood restaurant and plan to wed soon. Thomas's dream is to obtain a resident visa for Cecilia and return to the United States.

DOMINGO JIMENEZ and his wife BLANCA own a small repair shop across the street. Domingo's dream is to move to America as well so that his seven-year-old daughter NANCY can grow up speaking English and having a good education and a better life than he and Blanca had.

When armed gang members invade their neighborhood to demand "protection" money and threaten them with death if they don't pay, Thomas and Domingo's dreams for the future take on a new perspective. They decide to flee the country with their families through Guatemala and Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.

But their journey is more challenging than expected, and they face a myriad of difficulties and must overcome multiple obstacles that put not only their dreams but also their lives at risk.

Read an Excerpt

The two young men who entered the restaurant in San Salvador were slender and about eighteen, maybe younger, with scraggly adolescent beards and fashionable jeans full of holes.

It was Monday morning, and Thomas Bertram was preparing the dining area for the lunch service. After tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Marines, Thomas's entire body reacted physically to trouble when he saw it—and this was trouble. The hair on the back of his neck bristled, and he felt a swarm of tiny butterflies inside his stomach.

Gang members?

Thomas smoothed out the wrinkles on the clear-plastic tablecloth of the last of the six Formica-topped tables and rearranged the four matching chairs. As he straightened to his full height, he checked the time on the wall clock: 11:25.

“We’re not open yet,” he said in Spanish. “We open at noon.”

The young men didn’t answer. They wore tight jackets zipped up to the chest, one olive and the other red.

Tight jackets in summer in El Salvador?

Thomas realized how short and skinny they were when Olive Jacket strolled toward the counter near him—he barely reached Thomas’s shoulder. Red Jacket stayed by the door, staring at Thomas.

“Man, you’re tall,” Olive Jacket said as he slid past Thomas.

He had a squeaky voice, like a door needing oil. Thomas watched his receding back, wondering what the young men wanted, even though he had a suspicion—which was confirmed when he noticed the tattoo on Olive Jacket’s neck sticking out from under his jacket. He could only see a portion of it, but he knew what the letters meant: MS-13.

Definitely gang members.

About the Author:

David Pereda is the award-winning author of eleven thrillers and mainstream novels. His books have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards twice. He has traveled to more than thirty countries around the world and speaks four languages.

Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching, Pereda had a successful international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among others.

A member of MENSA, Pereda earned his MBA from Pepperdine University in California. He earned BA degrees in English literature and mathematics at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He loves sports and has won many prizes competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.

Pereda lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches mathematics and English at the Asheville-Buncombe Community College.

Website: http://www.davidpereda.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Pereda-Writer/345490998614
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidPeredaAVL
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/davidmpereda
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/David-Pereda/e/B002BML17Q%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095137M8S/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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Tour Book by Rachel Pfennig Hales

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Pfennig Hales will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It’s show night. You’ve bought tickets and are waiting with your friends. The lights drop. The darkness swells in anticipation. A collective cheer grows. A breath of silence. Then, that first chord screams from the speakers. Lights flash to flood the stage, radiating as the concert comes to life.

We are there, too, in the dark under the show, behind it, and above it.  Each prop or cool trick, every costume or scene change requires the hidden help of someone behind the scenes. In a few hours, you will have gone home, but we will still be here, tearing it all down. We will pack up the gear, load up more than a dozen tractor trailers, and head out to the next city. Tomorrow, we will build the production again in a new building. We’ll greet another audience. We’ll put on another show.

From load in to load out, watch a production build toward show time. Hear true stories from the rock and roll roadies who’ve helped create the world’s biggest concert tours with interviews from dozens of touring technicians.

Read an Excerpt

I feel the buzz of my alarm before I hear it. The vibration starts slow and soft, gradually growing both stronger and louder. It doesn’t matter. I will silence it altogether before anyone else can hear it. It is dark as I snooze the alarm. I try to avoid looking at the screen so my eyes will stay adjusted to the limited light in our sleep area. I know it reads 5:36 a.m. My body is tired, but my mind is already churning. I doubt it ever really stopped in the four hours since I curled up to sleep, but that’s the pace on tour. There are eight other people sleeping either below, next to, or behind me. I always try to claim the top, front, driver’s-side bunk in the bus. There are usually six beds on each the left and right hand sides, stacked three tall in the middle of the bus, separated by a narrow hallway. Twelve people makes for a crowded ride, so the ideal range is seven, leaving a couple of bunks open for overnight bags. At least in the United States. I used to sleep on the top right, in the back row of bunks. Only a thin wall separated my head from the TV mounted in the corner of the lounge, and all night long, I could hear whatever was happening back there. Steady, thumping bass, violent video games, porn. It didn’t take long to decide the front bunks were more my style. Some people prefer the bottom, but I don’t mind climbing the other beds like a ladder to reach my nook up high. Once I’m up there, I am alone.

About the Author:

Rachel Pfennig Hales has always loved show business. From theater as a child, to a brief stint in television production, she found her niche in live event production. Rachel was able to start her career touring around the world with the Black Eyed Peas, and then with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now, she is the Client and Community Development Manager at Rock Lititz, helping with various touring rehearsals and building up the live event culture on campus. Rachel also does a lot of writing, within the live event industry and beyond. She has BAs from DePauw University, an MA in English Studies from National University, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rapfenhales
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21459950.Rachel_Pfennig_Hales

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tour-book-rachel-hales/1139103274
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1735664847

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Smart Bitches Buy Bitcoin by Branden LaNette

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Branden LaNette will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It seems like everyone’s talking about Bitcoin these days. Still, a lot of people just don’t get it. Or they assume Bitcoin is just for tech-savvy millennial guys or rich investors like Elon Musk.

As for women, many of us didn't get a great financial education. Some of us shy away from conversations about money and investing especially if it has to do with the crazy world of cryptocurrencies.

What to do? Start with this brand new short, fun, and easy read,"Smart Bitches Buy Bitcoin: A Simple Guide for Women Who Want to Learn the Truth About Bitcoin and Control Their Financial Future.”

The book is designed to help women understand the current financial situation, why Bitcoin could be the life raft they need, and how to get started investing in it. Don’t leave your economic future to chance just because it seems scary or confusing and this is the perfect book to get you started.

Read an Excerpt

Maybe the only thing that says “cool” more than celebrity endorsements are celebrity investments. Besides Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey, there are some big-name celebrities who have made the leap into crypto, including:

Snoop Dog, Mark Cuban, Kanye West, Hugh Laurie, Floyd Mayweather, Bill Gates, Jamie Foxx, Richard Branson, Ashton Kutcher, and Drew Carey.

Notice anything about this incredible list of leaders, celebrities, and generally smart people? You got it.

They’re all guys.

According to one brokerage study released in early 2021, women make up only 15 percent of Bitcoin traders. This must change, bitches, which is why we wrote this book.

The good news is things are starting to turn. Crypto buying platforms are reporting that investments by women are skyrocketing by double and triple-digit percentages.

And just as we were editing this manuscript, Paris Hilton was asked if she was invested in Bitcoin and she said, “Yes, I’m very, very excited about it, it’s definitely the future.”

Bitcoin as an investment was once thought of as a contrarian idea. It is fast becoming a consensus position.

And if you don’t think being invested Bitcoin is a good idea after reading this section, there’s nothing more we can do to help. As the saying goes, we can explain Bitcoin to you, but we can’t understand it for you.

About the Author:

Branden LaNette doesn’t look like a typical author but she has long ignored what she “should” do, say and look like. On her own at a very young age, Branden eventually found herself with the wrong guy, the wrong job, and a bleak future. The fairytale she was promised as a child never materialized.

Finally, Branden decided that she wanted something different for her life, and realized no one was going to do it for her. Prince charming wasn’t coming to save her—she’d have to save herself.

Step by step, decision by decision, through major trials and tribulations that would stop most people in their tracks, Branden learned how to turn heartbreak into happiness and self-judgement into inner joy.

Today, Branden LaNette is an entrepreneur, coach, speaker, wife, and stay-at-home Mom to six C-section babies (ages 1-16) and way too many f-ing pets. Somehow, however, she manages to juggle all of this effortlessly (a blatant lie) while pushing her way through the kinds of fear and self-doubts that whisper within all of us (totally true) to achieve her goals. Her most recent dream come true is this book, one that is destined to have a major impact on millions of women across the globe (or at least nine people in Michigan.)

Through it all, she has found her happiness, her joy, and more importantly, her voice.

Author Info:

Website: http://BrandenLanette.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Branden.Lanette
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Branden_Lanette
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/Brandenlanettel

Buy link: Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Bitches-Buy-Bitcoin-Financial-ebook/dp/B093YDDRF7
Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1947814540

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