The Happy Booker: blog tour

Welcome to my stop on the Touching The Surface blog tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. I was so excited to join this tour because, not only does Touching the Surface have a gorgeous cover, whats inside is even better. Thanks so much Kimberly Sabatini for stopping by The Happy Booker to share 10 of the things readers should know about this book.

Ten Things Every Reader Should Know About
Touching The Surface

Guest post by Kimberly Sabatini

10. TOUCHING THE SURFACE is a paranormal, afterlife story that reads like a contemporary.

9. The afterlife in TTS is called the Obmil, which is Limbo spelled backwards. The full name is the Obmil Center for Progression.

8. The lyrics for Annie Lennox’s song “Little Bird” are used at the beginning and the end of TTS. Birds, both real and origami play a roll in the story.
http://youtu.be/ETHw7GCB9fw

7. Every soul in the afterlife has a distinct scent. That way, when I soul begins a new life in a new body, they can still be recognized. Elliot’s soul smells like freshly cut wood and dark chocolate.

6. Deep thoughts on TTS: Insta-love isn’t actually insta-love if you’ve known someone over more than one lifetime. Love triangles are sometime actually love knots and they’re bigger and more complicated than just romance.

5. Most of the characters in in TTS spend a chunk of time being unlikable, but that is part of growing.

4. I think of chapter titles as the accidental, secret poem of the book…

the other side of the surface
circles in the sky
reunions
creation variation
unguided
the distribution of guilt
the walls between us
silhouettes
suspending disbelief
tilt
revelations
still waters run deep
questions
choices
optical illusion
the things we don’t see
the funny thing about wishes
creating distance
bellyaches
go with the flow
complications
the rain on the pain
near misses
already gone
falling of flying?
remembering blue
frozen in place
choose your coincidence
the third time lacks charm
a twist of faith
deeper understanding
hell and back
rubber band
the be present

3. Souls at the Obmil must attend Workshop and Delve for their memories in group therapy sessions. When Delving, a soul and all the other souls participating, can’t interact with anyone who is still alive. They also can’t change what’s happened in the past. It’s hard work, but they must look to the inside to figure out some important things about themselves before they can move on.

2. My intent was to not have preachy messages or religious directives in TTS. The goal of this book is to resonate and connect. I like to think of it more like Mad Libs--you bring your own experiences and plug them in.

1. What I figured out from writing TOUCHING THE SURFACE: Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives.
Thank you so much for having me over to spend time on your blog. I really appreciate it. And thanks so much to all the folks who’ve stopped by the Book Tour. I hope you love TOUCHING THE SURFACE.

Thank you so much Kimberly. I LOVE what you said about the chapter titles being the accidental poem. And the quote “Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives” certainly resonates with me and I’m sure with many others.
Thanks everyone for stopping by The Happy Booker for my stop on this tour. Please be sure to comment, enter the fabulous giveaway, and visit the other blogs on the tour listed below.

Week One

July 8 – The Book Cellar – Guest Post (w/link to review)

July 9 – Alluring Reads – Review

July 10 – The Happy Booker – Guest Post

July 11 – In Bed With Books – Interview (w/link to review)

July 12 – The Book Belles – Review

Week Two

July 15 – Parajunkee – Guest Post

July 16 – Reader Girls – Review

July 17 – Books Complete Me – Interview

July 18 – Imaginary Reads – Review

July 19 – The Irish Banana Review – Review

Experience the afterlife in this lyrical, paranormal debut novel that will send your heart soaring.

When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.
Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.
As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | GOODREADS

About the Author

(Photo credit: *Author photo by Dawn Sela Photography - www.dawnsela.com.)

Kimberly Sabatini is a former Special Education Teacher who is now a stay-at-home mom and a part-time dance instructor for three and four year olds. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and three boys.
Kimberly writes Young Adult fiction and is represented by Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency. TOUCHING THE SURFACE is her debut novel. (Simon Pulse – Simon & Schuster, October 30, 2012)

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | BLOG | GOODREADS

The Giveaways

A SIGNED hardcover copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini to FOUR (4) winners – US ONLY.
A SIGNED hardcover copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini to ONE (1) winner – International ONLY.
Giveaway #1 is US only. Giveaway #2 is International only.
Must be 13 or older to enter.B
Giveaway ends July 22 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific.
Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter and contacted by email.

Requirements
Must answer a question to determine which giveaway they want to enter – US or International.
Must leave a comment about the book.
Optional entries: Like Kimberly Sabatini on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and Tweet (daily) about the tour/giveaway.
All giveaway options are weighted evenly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Melanie Shawn's The Crossroads Series –

What Makes Being At A Crossroads In Life Such a Compelling Theme?

The writing team of sisters Melanie and Shawna discuss why they chose the theme of “Big Life Choices” for their Crossroads Series.

Robert Frost, in his immortal poem, describes one of the biggest conundrums in life.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood”

There is something so gut-wrenching about facing a metaphorical fork in the road. You can only go one way, and the what the rest of your life will look like is based on that one monumental decision.
Of course, people face these crossroads in life every day. They decide whether to enter or leave relationships, they decide what job to take and what job to pass on, they decide whether to move across the country or not. They decide whether the time is right to start a family.

It's not the rarity of the experience that makes the facing a crossroads so compelling, it's the struggle. We all do it. We go back and forth mentally, we try to see down the divergent paths to envision what our lives would be like under each of the two sets of circumstances we are choosing between, even though we know that's folly! There's no way for us to predict the outcome.

The truth is, the only way to make a big “crossroads” kind of decision is to follow your heart. You have to ignore the clenching in your gut, the uncertainty, the little voice in your head that says you aren't good enough, and just...leap. You have to take a giant leap of faith.

Decisions. Choices. Crossroads.

We knew immediately when the concept occurred to us that it simply had to be the theme of our second series of novels. There is such a great arc, and there is so much rich emotional material for mining, in a situation where one or both of the characters have to dig deep, determine what is right for them, and then take a huge leap of faith.

Of course, since we're romance writers, we know that leap will pay off for them. They will take that scary jump only to land in their lover's arms and find out that they were launching themselves right into their own HEA all along.

But the “good stuff” is in how they manage to get to the point where they feel ready to jump!

Bio:

Melanie Shawn Bio

Melanie Shawn is the writing team of sister duo Melanie and Shawna. Originally from Northern California, they both migrated south and now call So Cal their home.

Growing up, Melanie constantly had her head in a book and was always working on short stories, manuscripts, plays and poetry. After graduating magna cum laude from Pepperdine University, she went on to teach grades 2nd through 8th for five years. She now spends her days writing and taking care of her furry baby, a Lhasa Apso named Hercules. In her free time, her favorite activity is to curl up on the couch with that stubborn, funny mutt and binge-watch cable TV shows on DVD (preferably of at least eight seasons in length - a girl's gotta have her standards!).

Shawna always loved romance in any form - movie, song or literary. If it was a love story with a happy ending, Shawna was all about it! She proudly acknowledges that she is a romanceaholic. Her days are jam-packed with writing, being a wife, mom aka referee of two teens, and indulging in her second passion (dance!) as a Zumba instructor. In the little free time she has, she joins Melanie in marathon-watching DVDs of their favorite TV programs.

They have joined forces to create a world where True Love and Happily Ever After always has a Sexy Twist!

Book Description:

Jason Sloan is known as Harper’s Crossing’s resident Romeo, and he’s never had to work too hard to live up to that nickname. With his easygoing charm, whiskey-colored brown eyes, and sinfully sexy half smile, women just seem to fall all over themselves when he’s around.

Well...most women, anyway. Katie Lawson’s the one woman who isn't putty in his hands, and she's the only one he’s ever wanted in his arms.

Katie Lawson left Harper's Crossing in the middle of the night ten years ago, immediately after her high school boyfriend Nick's funeral. She left behind all memories of Nick, and she left behind her life-long best friend, Jason Sloan.

Now she's on the fast track to junior partner at one of San Francisco's top law firms. She's made a life for herself that's all about maintaining order and sticking to the rules. Rule #1 is keeping herself WAY too busy to think about all that she ran away from. If she can do that, after all, she can keep everything under control.

But that rule is about to be broken. She’s headed back home to be the maid of honor in Nick’s little sister’s wedding. It's time to face the truth she's been avoiding all these years, the same one that sent her running ten years ago - that maybe she didn't lose her first love the summer after high school. Maybe her first love has been waiting for her all this time, at home in Harper's Crossing.

Excerpt:

My First Excerpt

Katie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She snapped it shut. She tried again. Same result. She imagined she looked like a trout on the banks of a river, flapping her mouth open and shut for no apparent reason.

The realization of how silly she must look gave her just the extra edge of courage she needed to jump off the cliff.

“Jason, I...I wanted to...I wanted to tell you that...” she steeled herself for what she knew her physical reaction would be as she forced herself to look up into those gorgeous brown eyes, which resembled nothing so much as pools of warm and melty milk chocolate...

The expression on Jason's face when she raised her eyes brought her up short. She narrowed her eyes.
“Why do you look so smug?” she asked suspiciously.

Rather than answering, he smirked and bent down, putting his mouth right next to her ear. His hot breath assailed her neck and she began to feel light-headed again.

Wait...was this....OH NO! Panic attack #2 might be on the horizon.

Not in front of Jason, PLEASE, not in front of Jason, Katie begged the Universe. It seemed like the Universe must have more important things on its mind, however because - oh, lord. Now the shallow breathing was starting.

Jason's breath on her neck, however, was anything but shallow. It was deep. And heavy. And warm. And full of desire. And...oh, man, that lightheadedness was just getting worse and worse.

Jason had her pinned up against the trunk of her car. Her mind was screaming at her to push him away and RUN as fast and as far as she could. Hey, it had worked in the past. Her body, however, was sending her some very different signals.

“I'm not smug, Kit Kat,” Jason informed her, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.

“Wha...huh...?” Katie mumbled.

Jason laughed lightly, “I was just saying that I'm not smug. Just happy to know that I still get under your skin.”

Katie didn't respond. She didn't even really hear what he said, she'd stopped trying to pay attention to the words. Stupid words. They just got in the way of listening to his voice...that silky, deep voice.
Jason traced his thumb down the back of Katie's neck slowly, sensuously, and then continued across her shoulder and down her arm. When he reached her waist, he slipped his hand around her easily, spreading his fingers slowly and firmly, grasping her back with a familiarity that felt as dangerous as it did comforting.
His thumb began to gently massage the small of her back, sending sharp zings of electricity ping-ponging off of her nerve endings. She wanted to stop those little zings of pleasure in their tracks. She wanted to ignore, suppress, deny...anything!

She needed to push him away and get some distance is what she needed to do. Her knees began to buckle. Any time now, a little voice in the back of her head whispered. Any time you want to get a jump on creating that distance would be perfect.

That was, however, not what Katie did. No matter how hard her lizard brain screamed at her to push him away...step away...jump away...DANCE away, even...all Katie found herself doing was looking up into his chocolate brown eyes as she melted into his embrace.

Katie heard a low moan escape from Jason's throat and was suddenly hyper-aware of how close their lips were to each other. A shiver ran through her as she contemplated the nearness of those delicious, sexy lips.
Katie's breathing became more labored, but not in an out-of-control, panic-attacky kind of way. No, it was more of a body-coming-alive-for-the-first-time-in-years kind of way.

She vaguely wondered what was going to happen next, but couldn't make herself focus too much on the future. Not when the present was this flipping interesting!

Her brain might be telling her to get out of this situation, to think about the consequences – but her body was perfectly content to ride this little scene out and see where it went thankyouverymuch.

Why did it seem that she was utterly incapable of listening to her brain in any situation where Jason Sloan was involved?

Links:
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://bit.ly/myfirstamazon
B&N: http://bit.ly/myfirstbarnes
Website: http://melanieshawn.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melanieshawnbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelanieShawn
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mka92etUNsE