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Thursday 26 May 2016

☀ Luck of the Irish - Liz Gavin

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Luck of the Irish, a Contemporary Paranormal Romance by (first published 30 September 2014, and then serialised; this revised and complete second edition , Elessar Books, 296 pages).

Don't miss the promotional guest post by author Liz Gavin where she shares with us Useful Tips on Creating Covers.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below.  Read the first two chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Luck of the Irish is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library and it is on sale for ONLY .99!

Author Liz Gavin will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.   Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).


Synopsis | Teasers | Author Guest Post | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

Keira Ashe’s parents are great but her mother has overprotected her for years. Now, this twenty-two-year-old Bostonian has graduated from college and can go on a trip she has been planning for years. She fears her shyness may get in the way of her enjoying what could be a life-altering adventure. However, Keira feels her luck is about to change when she meets gorgeous bartender Declan Slane.

Declan Slane is twenty-six and works at a hotel bar in Dublin. He hasn’t been very lucky in his love life so far. Also, he has got a troubled past he has chosen not to revisit in order to keep his sanity. Because he isn’t looking for a girlfriend, Declan isn’t very pleased to meet a certain breathtaking American who walks into his bar one afternoon.

Get a taste of adventure and heartache as Keira spreads her wings and matures while she gets to know her great-grandparents’ home country – Ireland. Hold your breath when she faces tough decisions and dangers. Root for Keira while she weighs up the consequences of making love for the first time. Bite your nails when she comes across unforeseen threats.

Liz Gavin’s second full-length novel is hard to put down just as it is hard to pinpoint its genre. She has woven an intricate web around her characters that will leave readers breathless. In the sizzling concoction, this talented new author poured heart-warming romance, heart-stopping suspense, and a dash of heart-searching paranormal. Take your pick. Regardless of the literary genre you might favor, Liz Gavin’s writing will take you to a whole different side of it.

Teasers

Excerpt | Author Guest Post |

Excerpt


     When Declan opened his eyes again, he didn’t know how much time had passed. The house was deadly quiet. O’Hallon was nowhere to be seen. Sluggish, Declan crawled forward and sat up beside Keira. He could barely breathe, due to the effort to move and the loss of blood, but he pulled her lifeless body onto his lap and held her close. He hugged her tight against his chest. He buried his face in her hair, which was covered in blood, and cried like he hadn’t cried since he was a little boy. He felt like he was six again.
     “Please, please, don’t leave me, Keira.”
     His sobs filled the air. He balled his hands into fists, frustrated because Keira didn’t respond. He couldn’t face the evidence that she wasn’t able to answer him.
     “This is my fault, too. He wouldn’t have killed you, if I had let you go with him.”
     He sat there, rocking back and forth for a long time, hanging on to her as if he could bring her back by sheer power of will. The thought that she was gone forever caused such burning pain in his chest, much stronger than the one from the bullet. He couldn’t breathe.
     “Please, don’t go. I can’t bear it if you leave me, too.”

Author Guest Post

First of all, I’d like to thank the awesome team at Goddess Fish Promotions for putting together this blog tour.  YOU ROCK!!
     Second of all – and equally important – thanks to the host for having me and Luck of the Irish on your blog today.  You’re much appreciated.
     Now let’s move on to the actual post. LOL
     Writing a novel is time-consuming to the point we neglect family and friends.  It’s so distracting we walk around with our heads in the clouds, hearing dialogs no one else can hear and seeing things that aren’t there. Authors tend to concentrate on the creative process and neglect boring ‘details’ such as covers, format, and promotion.  Please note I put the word details between quotation marks because these things are HUGE for authors.  More so for indie writers.
     Most of us don’t have the funds to employ a team of awesome, creative people to take care of covers, formatting, promoting and so on.  We must do things on our own.  Although, I haven’t been publishing for a long a time I have been very lucky so far.  I’ve found great resources online, which I’d like to share with you

CREATING COVERS


     You know that old saying ‘you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover’, right?  Well, the thing is most people do that.  Some people do that all the time.  In my defense let me make it clear I know covers can be misleading.  A beautiful cover image doesn’t mean the content is to one’s liking.  On the other hand, a plain-looking cover may hide a treasure inside.  However, I often wonder – why not combine an excellent story with a compelling cover?
     Easy! Right?
     Well… it’s not that simple.  For starters, you need a picture you can use but it must be one you took yourself to avoid facing copyright issues.  If you don’t have one you’ll need to find a high resolution image with the appropriate dimensions on a royalty-free stock image website.
     Does it still sound simple?
     If you’re an author, you know it isn’t.  If you’re a reader, let me give you a challenge.  Think about a book.  Any book.  Think about its storyline and main characters.  Forget its actual cover and go online searching for an image you think conveys the storyline and characters.
     How long did it take you to find it?
     Great.  You have your image.  Is the picture royalty-free?  Is it ready to be used on the cover of your book?  Do you need to edit it?  Do you need to include a title and the author’s name?  How do you do that?  How long will it take you to finish your cover?
     Phew!  I’m tired already.  Aren’t you?  Told you it wasn’t that easy!  Now you have an idea of what it takes to offer readers a decent-looking cover.
     Although editing pictures can be tricky, I’ve discovered good ‘how-to’ videos on Youtube teaching the basics about Photoshop.  I’m still learning and it’s a great program but I know it can be intimidating as well. There’s another very good website for editing images which offers user-friendly features.  It’s called PicMonkey.  As for royalty-free stock images my favorite source is Big Stock Photo because they have variety and high-resolution quality at fair prices.
     Hope I’ve helped you guys!!  Thanks for stopping by today!  Enjoy the tour and remember to check out the other blog stops for more chances at winning the giveaway!!

Luck of the Irish
ONLY .99!

purchase from Amazon.co.uk purchase from Amazon.com purchase from Barnes & Noble find on Goodreads

About the Author

When Liz Gavin was in Second Grade - just a couple of years ago, really - her teacher told her mother the little girl should start a diary because she needed an outlet for her active and vivid imagination. She was a talkative child who would disrupt the class by engaging her colleagues in endless conversations. She loved telling them the stories her grandfather used to tell her.

Apparently, the teacher wasn’t a big fan of those stories, and Liz’s mother bought her a diary. She happily wrote on it for a couple of months. Unable to see the appeal of writing for her own enjoyment only, she gave up on it. She missed the audience her friends provided her in class. She went back to disturbing her dear teacher’s class.

Since then, she has become a hungry reader. She will read anything and everything she can get her hands on – from the classics to erotica. That’s how she has become a writer of erotica and romance, as well.

As a young adult, she participated in a student exchange program and lived in New Orleans for six months. She fell in love with the city and its wonderful inhabitants. NOLA will always hold a special spot in Liz Gavin’s heart. Nowadays, living in Brazil, Liz’s creativity has improved many times because it’s such a vibrant, gorgeous and sexy country.

Welcome to her world of hot Alpha males and naughty, independent women. Add a touch of the paranormal in the presence of some wicked souls and you’ll get the picture.

Follow Liz Gavin:

Visit the author's blog Visit the author on Facebook Visit the author on Twitter Visit the author on their Amazon page Visit the author on GoodReads

Giveaway and Tour Stops

Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
Remember to comment to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Luck of the Irish's tour at:

Mar 8: Independent Authors
Mar 10: Linda Nightingale...Wordsmith
Mar 15: Lampshade Reader
Mar 17: Megan Morgan
Mar 22: Christine Young
Mar 22: The Snarkology
Mar 24: LizaOConnor
Mar 29: Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 31: EskieMama Reads
Apr 5: Louise Lyndon Romance Author Hear Me Roar
Apr 7: Rachel Brimble Romance
Apr 12: Romance and Authors That Rock
Apr 14: Hope. Dreams. Life... Love
Apr 19: Writer Wonderland
Apr 21: BookSkater
Apr 21: Long and Short Reviews
Apr 26: T's Stuff
Apr 28: Two Ends of the Pen
May 3: Where the Story Comes First
May 5: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess ✍
May 10: Underneath The Covers
May 12: Blog of Jacey Holbrand
May 17: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
May 19: Ali - The Dragon Slayer
May 24: Beyond Romance
May 26: BooksChatter
May 31: Booklover Sue
Jun 2: Sharing Links and Wisdom
Jun 7: Lisa's Louisiana Home
Jun 9: Reader Girls
Jun 14: Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews
Jun 16: Wendi Zwaduk ~ Romance to Make Your Heart Race

31 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting

Harmony Kent said...

Best of luck with your book tour, Liz! LOVE the new book cover!!! What do you have in the pipeline? :)
BooksChatter, it's great to stop by and 'meet' you :)

BooksChatter said...

Hi Harmony,

nice to 'meet' you too :-D

James Robert said...

Thanks for hosting this giveaway, have a great Thursday!

Marcy Meyer said...

Love the cover! Enjoyed the excerpt too!

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks guys for putting this tour together.

Liz Gavin said...

Hey, sweetie! So glad to see you here! Between the Masters program and day job I haven't been writing at all. :( But I've been having a lot of fun translating your newest book "Interludes". LOL

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks for visiting and good luck with the giveaway!

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks. I did the cover and this excerpt is one of my favorite scenes in the book. :D Good luck with the giveaway!

Liz Gavin said...

BooksChatter - thank YOU for putting together such an awesome post. You've made Luck of the Irish look so much better for it. Love the whole thing but the link to the 'Look Inside' section rocked my world! :D

Victoria Alexander said...

Really great excerpt, thanks for sharing!

imbigwillie said...

Thank you!

Rita Wray said...

Thank you for the excerpt.

MomJane said...

I really loved this tender excerpt.

Ally Swanson said...

I enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. Looking forward to checking out this book.

Nikolina said...

I really enjoyed reading the entire post, thank you!

Ally Swanson said...

I have added this book to my TBR list and look forward to reading this book!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great read, hope I'll have a chance to read it soon!

Ally Swanson said...

Congrats on the new book and good luck on the book tour!

Ally Swanson said...

Happy Memorial Day! Hope you have a fabulous holiday! Can't wait to read this book!

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks for visiting. This scene is one of my favorites as well! Glad you liked it.

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks for the support. Good luck with the giveaway.

Liz Gavin said...

Thank YOU for visiting and supporting!

Liz Gavin said...

It's a powerful scene. Glad you liked it! :D

Liz Gavin said...

Glad you liked the excerpt because it's one of my favorite scenes! Plus Luck of the Irish is my most personal book! :D Best of luck with the giveaway.

Liz Gavin said...

Thank YOU for the support. Good luck with the giveaway!

Liz Gavin said...

Glad you did that! Thanks for the support and best of luck with the giveaway!

Liz Gavin said...

Hope so too. Thanks for visiting and supporting.

Liz Gavin said...

Thanks for visiting!

Unknown said...

I loved reading about the process involved in creating a cover. Thank you.

Bube said...

Thanks for the great excerpt! :)