Book Blitz: CHICKEN FUN by Mary Jo Huff

 

Children's Picture Book

Date Published: 06-01-2023

Publisher: Storytellin' Time Press

This fun-filled rhyming picture book for very young learners will provide an introduction to numbers and counting while children are having a good time. There are ten chickens as they play in their backyard, getting up to a variety of shenanigans such as running from bees, playing baseball, dancing and even going on a date.

 

About the Author

Mary Jo Huff is a passionate storyteller, award-winning author, songwriter, and Early Childhood Educator who believes in the magic of words, rhythm, and imagination. Her creations have earned top national honors, including the NAPPA Gold, iParenting, Parents’ Choice, Dove, Teacher’s Choice, Kids’ First, and Mom’s Choice awards.

Children giggle and grow with her stories — from the mischievous adventures of No, No, Ebenezer, a spirited dachshund with a big heart, to the playful journeys in Chicken Fun, Going on a Gator Hunt, and The Predictable Persimmon.

As a seasoned educator and master storyteller, Mary Jo has inspired audiences in 47 states and three countries, sharing her love of language through staff development sessions, author visits, and children’s programs that burst with laughter, learning, and joy.

A dynamic keynote speaker, Mary Jo has graced Early Childhood conferences nationwide, leading hundreds of high-energy workshops and professional development events. With a heart for nurturing both children and teachers, she draws on 38 years as a center director — where she guided a team and cared for 115 bright, curious young minds every day.

Through every story, song, and puppet, Mary Jo invites children and educators alike to discover the wonder of storytelling and the power it must connect hearts, spark creativity, and make learning unforgettable.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter: Mary Jo Huff

Goodreads

Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/ChickenFun

Amazon

Bookshop

Blog Tour: SEE ME by Lynn Crandall

SEE ME

by Lynn Crandall

 

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GENRE: Contemporary Fantasy

 

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BLURB:

 

Skye Stone runs a local coffee shop called Coffee Is. Like the name of her shop, she likes things simple and to the point. But she’s more than just a businesswoman in Auralia. She’s fighting for her life as an Aeon and working hard to save her town and her world. Like the other Aeons, she uses her special ability in her battle against Dark Sides. Her’s is reading auras and connecting with her ancestors for help. After all, a lot is at stake, so she can use all the help she can get. But as darkness is getting harder and harder to thrive in, she’s not sure even her ancestors can save the day.

 

Cooper Munson, a former bounty hunter turned doctor of psychology, and Aeon as well, has prided himself on being a solid member of their little band of light workers, using his ability as an empath to define truths and manage others. But the constant interaction with Dark Aspects is disorganizing his very soul. He can’t see a way through for him back to balance in light and love.

 

Cooper and Skye are not alone in the mission, they know. But things are getting complicated, and with darkness closing in, stronger and stronger, will they survive long enough to save the world from Dark Sides? What will they have to do to truly save their town and their world?

 

In the climactic conclusion of the Dark Sides series, will the Aeons prevail and change the balance between dark and light for good? Or will Dark Sides, with despair and oppression, rule take down Auralia, then world? Can Cooper and Skye go deeper into darkness and learn the truth about love and light before it’s too late?

 

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Excerpt Three:

 

Skye drummed her fingers on the top of the table she sat at inside Coffee Is. The morning was moving along smoothly, but anxiety churned her insides. She didn’t need to look at a calendar, she knew what the date was. This day was special, and was always laced with fear that started in the pit of her stomach and rose up to the middle of her chest, chasing her heartbeat into a sprint.

 

She knew what she wanted. To run. Run far away fast. Hide deep in the earth where they couldn’t find her, ever. But that wasn’t the answer, she knew. Facing the day, accepting that the danger of the cult she’d grown up in was in the past, and grounding in the present was her best strategy for peace. She knew it. Staying present was a whole other thing.

 

“Want a warm up?”

 

Her employee suddenly at her side startled Skye, but she covered it. “Sure. Thank you. How is your day going?” she asked.

 

The young woman gave her smile. “We’re busy, but everything is going well.”

 

“Good to hear.” Skye nodded. “Keep up the good work. Oh, and turn down the music.”

 

The young woman moved to another table, and Skye sighed. She had so much to be grateful for: a great business, wonderful employees, a beautiful circle of companions in the Aeons. But this day reminded her of the terrible ordeal she and her parents had endured. It should be a day to celebrate because it is the day she escaped. It could easily signify freedom from the cult’s oppression. She’d been so young when they’d lived there, though, its teachings had embedded inside her. Even as an Aeon, the foundational conditioning of the cult remained hard to break.

 

Skye took a sip of her coffee and focused on its richness. The bell dinging on the door set her nerves on edge. It was not new. It told her people were coming and going. But it triggered a memory, and suddenly her inner vision clouded.

 

A bell ringing in the courtyard at the commune summoned members of the community to a meeting. Fear gripped her heart as she took her mother’s hand, and she looked up to see her father’s face harden. What did it mean? Was someone getting punished for trying to escape?

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

After cutting her writing teeth as a feature writer for commercial and trade magazines, a reporter for newspapers and radio, and an executive editor for a communications company, award-winning author Lynn Crandall tuned her voracious appetite for stories to writing contemporary and paranormal romance, women’s fiction, and romantic suspense. In her books, she enjoys taking readers on emotional journeys with relatable characters who refuse to back down, and face challenges and tribulations with heart and soul. She believes every love has a story, and hers is with one handsome husband and a large, beautiful circle of family, including her cat Winter.

 

Links:

Website https://lynn-crandall.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lcrandall246/?hl=en

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LynnCrandallAuthor

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/lynncrandallwriter/

TikTok @lynnkelynnwriter

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Lynn Crandall will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Blog Tour: A HUNDRED BLACK SUNRISES by Tamela Miles

 

Keeping secrets keeps you alive.

Sienna would know.

A Hundred Black Sunrises

A Friday the 13th Story

by Tamela Miles

Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance

A hundred different ways to break your heart, a hundred different ways to take your last breath. Sienna and Finn are exploring their strange attraction to each other until strange becomes something sinister. The clock is ticking as they fight to unravel the mystery of what draws them together on fateful Friday, the 13th.

 

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Tamela Miles is a California State University San Bernardino graduate student with a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and a former flight attendant. She grew up in Altadena, California in that tumultuous time known as the 1980s. She now resides with her family in the Inland Empire, CA. She’s a horror/paranormal romance writer mainly because it feels so good having her characters do bad things and, later, pondering what makes them so bad and why they can never seem to change their wicked ways.

She enjoys emails from people who like her work. In fact, she loves emails. She can be contacted at tamelamiles@yahoo.com or her Facebook page, Tamela Miles Books. She also welcomes reader reviews and enjoys the feedback from people who love to read as much as she does.

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the A Hundred Black Sunrises Giveaway Here

Spotlight: SHIBBY MAGEE by Carrie Kabak

When their bold and brassy mother, Vera Coffey, disappears after declaring she was born into Ireland’s Traveller community, a traditionally nomadic ethnic minority, Shibby and her twin sister Dorah are left behind in a settled family already cracking at the seams. Under the iron rule of their rigidly prejudiced grandmother, the girls grow up on opposite tracks: Dorah, brash and arrogant; Shibby, bruised and unmoored.

As Shibby stumbles into adulthood, she’s drawn to men who either abuse or discard her. Though she finds stability in the fast-paced chaos of a restaurant kitchen, a question continues to gnaw: is her future in the rooted life of the settled, or on the open road to God only knows where?

With the steadfast support of a chosen few—Alice Duffy, housekeeper turned surrogate mother; Moochie de Barra, an affectionate stand-in for an emotionally absent father; and Kitty Dooley, who embodies the fierce pride and harsh realities of Traveller life—Shibby begins to confront hard truths about cultural identity, family, and what she desperately needs to find where she truly belongs.

In the tradition of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, and Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island, Shibby Magee is a warm yet incisive Irish tragicomedy about a woman shaped by childhood abandonment and social prejudice as she struggles toward dignity, love, and self-possession.

Richly drawn, multidimensional characters and evocative storytelling, with thoughtful exploration of identity, family, and belonging—Bev Saludo, Goodreads reviewer

Carrie Kabak has a true gift for descriptive prose—every scene is sensory, textured, and alive. Funny, tender, and completely immersive… I stayed fully invested in Shibby’s journey from beginning to end—Theresa Von Colln, Goodreads reviewer

Purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/SHIBBY-MAGEE-Carrie-Kabak-ebook/dp/B0GK52NYRB/

Blog Tour: HOOK, LINE, AND MURDER by GG Calpo

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. GG Calpo will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What does Meg, a retired kindergarten teacher, do when the killer of her husband and only child still walks free a year after dirt had covered their graves? Go rogue, of course!

When the detective responsible for Meg’s nightmares takes over the murder investigation of her former student, Meg hunts the killer down with help from her friends. Their cozy lunches at Sweet Buns Café turn into tactical meetings while these retired grade school teachers get themselves in trouble better suited to those in their twenties. And to put the icing on their cream scones, someone is after Meg. Is it the killer? Or has Meg uncovered secrets better left buried with her loved ones?

Read an Excerpt:

The day was beautiful, with clear skies and a mild snap in the air. It was cold yet warm with the right amount of heat from the sun, making it the perfect spring day. Motorboats and sailboats dipped in and out of the water, out by Poet’s Bay. And at the edge of the harbor were the fishermen, alone or in groups of two or three, a rod in their hands and their tackle boxes opened beside them. We rounded the corner, almost done with our walk, when we saw mothers dragging their children away and fathers covering the eyes of the children in their arms. Pushing against the stream of parents scrambling away were others whose eyes were fixed on the man by the harbor’s edge. A man on whose fishing line dangled a catch with, what I thought were, red fins and a red tail swaying lazily around the hook.

Red? In the salt waters of Poet’s Bay? As I stood there trying to figure out what I was seeing, Barbara shoved her way into the crowd. I followed, my curiosity getting the better of me. Murmurs of “Good morning” and “Good to see you, Mrs. B” trailed behind me, changing to “You sure you want to see this, Mrs. B?” and “I wouldn’t go any further if I were you, Mrs. B.” We fetched up to the front and looked down on the ground before us while the fisherman beside us puked his guts out.

It wasn’t a fish he had caught

Instead, on the ground was a hand. Just a hand. Nothing else.

About the Author:

A retired CPA and lawyer, GG Calpo now writes cozy mysteries and urban fantasies. She blends her experiences as a Filipino American immigrant with the everyday stories of life around her. She spends her time reading, crocheting blankets and sweaters for her five grandchildren, watching mystery TV shows and taking long walks in her neighborhood. She resides in Central New Jersey, with her husband and two corgis, Whiskey and Nugget.

Website: http://www.ggcalpo.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/gg.calpo
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gg.calpo
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/194657776-gisella

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2YT1P7B
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hook-line-and-murder-gg-calpo/1148773282
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hook-line-and-murder/id6755481320