Saturday, December 31, 2022

Virtual Tourist 12/30/22

 

Table of Contents

News/MusingsStoryOrigin Swap 1
Virtual Tourist – Ghostwire TokyoDTN 2
It’s Cold Outside Group PromoMagical Winter Fantasy Group Promo
New Year’s Fiction Group PromoPutting the Science in Science Fiction GP
Reviewers Corner!

Greetings!

I hope you had some fabulous holidays! ❄

We’ll soon be ringing in 2023! Eek!

News/Musings

I spoke too soon about being past the EBM (Evil Back Muscle). A sneaky unknown player had been lurking this whole time. The Ninja Overlord! He makes camp at the hip castle. When he’s ire is awakened, he throws darts at the EBM to get him riled up! What’s truly weird is that the Ninja Overlord never hurts! (Unless one presses down on the hip area.) So this whole time, he’s been playing politics and making sneak attacks!

You’re in my sights now, Ninja Overlord! I’m doing some quick massaging with a tennis ball twice a day to try to keep him from causing trouble. The rascal!

So for a week, I got to do nothing again. Just when I was putting out a decent amount of words on the current manuscript. But I’m ramping up again. Hopefully, not jinxing myself once more. 😋

Trivia/Research bit – Zashiki-warashi – These are yokai (spirits) that live in rooms or storage places. They are sometimes pranksters but are usually thought of as benevolent as they can bring good fortune. They typically show themselves as children, with their hair covering more of their faces.

The word chiropractor was first used in print by D. D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, in the 1895 book The Chiropractor’s Adjuster.”

I tried my hand at writing new blurbs for the last few months but with sales tanking the last couple of months, I bit the bullet and got a package on discount. Some of the books are with Zumaya Publications, but I can use the new blurbs through Author Central and if they seem to work, I’m sharing it with them in case they want to revise them from that end.

First up is In the Service of Samurai.

In the Service of Samurai by Gloria Oliver

New Book Blurb for In the Service of Samurai!

Thrust into political intrigue from beyond the grave, can a boy rise from the depths of despair to become an unlikely hero?

Feudal Japan. Toshiro “Toshi” Chizuson respects his station. Though his master is frugal to a fault, the young cartography apprentice has plenty to eat and dedicates himself to growing his skills in trade. But the burgeoning mapmaker is horrified when a skeletal samurai enters the shop at dusk and carries him off to serve on a ship of the dead.

Discovering the lifeless crew needs his help to finish the mission they failed to complete in life, Toshi toils to decode foreign charts and instruments. But after a ghostly saboteur attempts to destroy his work, the terrified teen fears he’ll join his ghoulish shipmates in perpetual unrest.

Can Toshi break a sinister maritime curse and finally bring justice to the lost souls?

In the Service of Samurai is a page-turning YA novel. If you like resourceful heroes, meticulous historical detail, and stories of the supernatural, then you’ll love Gloria Oliver’s epic coming-of-age tale.

Buy In the Service of Samurai to sail into adventure today!

What did you think of the NEW blurb? Does it strike a chord? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you!

Extra content today:

1) StoryOrigin Swap 1 (Freebie)

2) DTN Swap 2 (Freebie)

3) It’s Cold Outside – Get Cozy! Group Promo (Ending)

4) Magical Winter Fantasy Group Promo (Ending)

5) Putting the Science in Science Fiction Group Promo (Beginning)

6) New Year’s Fiction Group Promo (Beginning)

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

Wrath of Persephone

Wrath of Persephone

StoryOrigin Swap 1 (Freebie)

How does a maiden become a monster?

Kore, a daughter of Demeter and Zeus, has never been so happy. She lives on Mount Olympus and has grown into a powerful young spring goddess. She spends her days frolicking through nature with the other immortals her age, and she’s even fallen in love with a handsome god of sunlight. Her life is perfect—that is, until the night she catches the eye of Hades, King of the Underworld.

When Kore refuses Hades’s advances, he kidnaps her and forces her to marry him. He even changes her name to Persephone—stealing the last bit of agency she still has. In the end, Kore is forced to let go of the world above.

To survive her new role as Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, Kore will have to embrace the darkness and grow into the vengeful goddess she was always destined to be.

Ghostwire Tokyo

Bethesda’s urban fantasy game is full of Japanese history, detail, and new creepy crawleys. (Oh, I’m on a theme! Didn’t even plan it! Bwahahahaha!)

You can see all the currently uploaded pics here.

20221229114904 e70295fa me

This is a zashiki-warashi (see the trivia/research box for a little more info) that was stolen from a lady. The thief brought bad luck to himself by taking her. The quest is to find her and set her free.

20221229114908 de152bd5 me

A public bath house. It’s segregated for men on the left and women on the right.

20221229114912 17f0161c me

Inside the public bath house. You pick a station and wash your body and hair, then rinse off. Only then can you enter the hot water pools to soak and wash your worries away in the back of the room.

20221229114913 8a5ef41c me

It was rather funny that when all the people disappeared from the city, mystical cats took over all the convenience stores. He’s wearing a ‘happi’ jacket—a traditional coat usually worn during festivals.

20221229114917 d4047c50 me

Throughout the city, you also find mystical vendor cats who also want collectibles you run across in your travels. This one wants antiquities. What cracked me up was that they start wearing some of the items you bring back. This one put on an ‘oni’ (demon) mask.

20221229114921 6710c6bf me

In the game, you go to a bunch of different temple and shrine complexes as you purify gates.

20221229114922 334e9329 me

One of the gates needing purification. You can see the fox spirit statues (kitsune) and other temple items.

20221229114927 8f377725 me

This was a weird side quest. A trash vortex has opened up sucking in garbage and random spirits. Like ewwww. LOL.

The Vengeance Trail

The Vengeance Trail

DTN Swap 2 (UBL)

Is someone from her past trying to kill Lady Fan…?

1796, England – When Lady Ottilia Fanshawe finds herself launched into a river and fighting for her life, she becomes convinced someone pulled her under the water.

And when a dead body washes up on the riverbank, her theory becomes a certainty.

Lady Fan recognises the dead woman as someone connected to one of her past cases.

Had the woman been spying on her? Was she Lady Fan’s attacker? If so, why was she killed?

Lady Fan is desperate to unravel the mystery but her dedicated husband, Francis, is determined to keep her out of harm’s way.

She is devastated when cracks appear in her marriage, but she knows she cannot give up her sleuthing if she is to protect herself and her family.

Who is targeting her? And why?

Can Lady Fan solve the mystery before everything she holds dear comes crumbling down around her…?

It's Cold Outside - Get Cozy! Group Promo

Get cozy this December with the It’s Cold Outside—Get Cozy group promotion! Snuggle up with a good book, a cup of hot cocoa, and a cozy blanket. You’ll be glad you did! Last Chance!

Magical Winter Fantasy Group Promo Banner

Looking for a way to escape the cold this winter? Look no further! Fantasy reads are the perfect way to transport yourself to a warmer, more magical world. See what’s up for grabs during the Magical Winter Fantasy Group Promo! Last Chance!

Putting the Science In Science Fiction Group Promo Banner

Looking for SF reads that are all about Putting the Science in Science Fiction? Look no further than our group promo for January 2023! It’s active now!

New Years Fiction Group Promo Banner

A New Year is coming, and what better way to greet it than reading! This mixed genre group promo of free reads is right up your alley! New Year’s Fiction Group Promo.

🌟 Shout out to Reviewers Corner! ðŸŒŸ

Thanks this month go to:

Black JAde – D.K. Graham

Jewel of the Gods – S.V. Farnsworth

A great big thanks to all the reviewers this month!

(Do you want your name in here, too? All you need is to post a one or two-sentence review at Bookbub, Goodreads, Amazon, or send me a link if it’s posted elsewhere and I will add you here next round!)

Happy New Year Graphic

May 2023 be awesome for everyone!

 

Gloria

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...