Mailbox Monday

Sunday:
THE EX by Alafair Burke ~ eBook via Prime
WHAT REMAINS TRUE by Janis Thomas ~ eBook via Prime
Monday:
KEEPING LUCY by T. Greenwood ~ eBook from St. Martin’s via NetGalley
Wednesday:
MY SISTER IS MISSING by Carissa Ann Lynch ~ eBook Witness Impule/Harper Collins via NetGalley

1. Every Christmas, I ________________.

2. The day after Christmas, I ______________________.

3. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and _________.

4. All I want for Christmas is _________.

1. Every Christmas, I tell myself that desserts are non caloric 🙂.

2. The day after Christmas, I like to just relax and read.

3. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and I usually am scrambling wrapping last minute gifts but this year I have everything wrapped..

4. All I want for Christmas is to be with my family.

Mailbox Monday

Sunday:
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT by Catherine Ryan Hyde ~ eBook via Prime
Wednesday:
THE MILITARY WIFE by Laura Trentham ~ ARC TPB from MacMillan Publishers via GR win
Thursday:
FAMISHED: An Ash Park Novel (Volume 1) by Meghan O’Flynn ~ Amazon d/l
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS by Kristi Belcamino ~ eBook via Booksweeps
Friday:
A LOWCOUNTRY CHRISTMAS by Mary Alice Monroe ~ Signed HC from Author via win Friendsgiving
RAPID FALLS by Amber Cowie ~ eBook from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley
FORGET YOU KNOW ME by Jessica Strawser ~ eBook from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

1. I really need to ___________________.

2. My favorite Christmas ( or Hanukkah) decoration is __________________________.

3. It’s beginning to look a lot like _________.

4. This time of year, I eat my fair share of _________.

1. I really need to sort through all the Christmas shopping deliveries and start wrapping everything.

2. My favorite Christmas ( or Hanukkah) decoration is our Hallmark dated ornaments.
   We get one every year since we got married and now have 37. I have started the same tradition for my sons and my granddaughter with each one representing something that is significant for the particular year..

3. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

4. This time of year, I eat my fair share of cookies.

Are you all done with your holiday shopping? If you are, or not, here’s a chance to win something for yourself!! And as book lovers, there is nothing better than a book. Right? Well, how about 20 books?!

I’m teaming up with Book Trib to spread the word about their giveaway!!!!!!

As part of our holiday giveaway promotion, BookTrib will be giving away 20 books each week to one lucky winner through the month of December. Who needs to feel cozy and safe when you can feel frightened and paranoid reading a fantastic thriller? Like what you see? Enter for a chance to win lots of great titles and be sure to check in next week to see what our new box might have in store for you!

Synopsis:

Bob Fiske — the 74-year-old dinosaur who’s taught Honors English and coached varsity football for five decades — is missing.

To his Winners, class favorites Fiske designated over the years for their potential to “Live Big,” it’s heartbreaking. Fiske did more than inspire with soaring oratory; he supported their ambitions into adulthood. Four of his brightest former stars reunite to find him, putting high-octane careers on hold, slipping police barricades, racing into the wilds of Northern Michigan for clues about the fate of their legendary mentor.

Others don’t see a legend. They see an elitist whose time has passed.

When a current student — female — disappears just hours into the Winners’ search amid rumors of inappropriate meetings, the Great Man’s reputation is a shambles.

Feints, betrayal, explosive secrets from their own pasts: as facts emerge, each Winner must decide how far they’ll go for Fiske. Can the truth redeem him? Or has this cult of hyper-achievement spawned a thing so vile none of their lives will survive intact?

“An exhilarating and emotionally astute mystery.” ~ Kirkus

Book Details:

Genre: Upmarket Mystery, Thriller
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: December 1st 2018
Number of Pages: 332
ISBN: 1732255202 (ISBN13: 9781732255203)
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Author Bio:

Jeff Bond is a Kansas native and graduate of Yale University. He lives in Michigan with his wife and two daughters, and belongs to the International Thriller Writers association.

Welcome!
Writing and Reading:

Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?

I do, from both. I keep a running document of story ideas – categorized into “short,” “novella,” and “novel” – and try to add at least one per day. Generally it’ll be something inspired by my day, an interesting person I crossed paths with or situation I or one of my kids faced; or by a news story.

I subscribe to The New York Times on Kindle and live in constant regret for not reading it cover-to-cover, because every time I do, I find a great germ of a story.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?

It varies. I’m a big upfront plotter, and before I sit down to write any scene at the level of dialog or physical description, I’ll know all the major plot points. (Which is not to say they can’t change later, either based on my own or early readers’ thoughts.) Sometimes the climax comes to me first—if you have a well-defined protagonist and antagonist, you can often imagine how they ought to collide for maximum effect.

Other times, particularly if the element driving a story is character or setting/milieu rather than situation or episode, I’ll just start brainstorming complications and possible twists, sprinkling them throughout an outline, and the plot emerges sort of all at once.

Are any of your characters based on you or people that you know?

While I certainly steal certain traits or mannerisms, I don’t have any characters – at least in The Winner Maker – that’re very close to real people. It can be tempting to do with minor characters. For example, if you want to quickly characterize a setting and know a person who typifies that place, you feel like just rolling them out with a different name. I try not to.

With major characters, in my experience, it can’t really work. You’re always going to need something different to support your plot or maximize conflict – even if it’s just a stray hobby or expertise.

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?

I keep it pretty simple. Coffee and laptop. A café, library, or botanical gardens in good weather. I used to write in the early morning hours before going to a regular nine-to-five job, which conditioned me to write anywhere and make use of small windows of time.

Tell us why we should read this book.

The Winner Maker is unique in that it delivers high-octane thrills and reversals in the style of Harlan Coben or James Patterson, but does it using complex, likable characters you’ll recognize from real life.

I thought Kirkus Reviews captured this well: “Bond collapses two distinct literary genres into one seamless novelistic whole: a mystery and an emotional drama…The novel’s central mystery is thrilling, but the true spine of the tale is the fragile connections between the past Winners, who must not only investigate Fiske’s disappearance, but also the authenticity of their lives and friendships.”

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Gillian Flynn, Tana French, Jonathan Franzen, Nick Hornby, Harlan Coben

What are you reading now?

For me, Beartown by Fredrik Backman. To my kids, Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary.

Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?

My follow-up is called Blackquest 40. It’s more of a go-go thriller than Winner, a fresh take on the Die Hard formula about San Francisco tech workers whose office is locked down for a forty-hour corporate training exercise—or so they’re told as the story begins.

I’m just finishing final edits and plan a mid-May release.

Fun questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?

I’m afraid parenting duties have eroded my knowledge of current movie actors who might play my Winners–in their late twenties—but for the title role of Bob Fiske, the missing teacher, I’ll take Ian McKellen.

Favorite leisure activity/hobby?

Basketball when I can find the time, and listening to audiobooks every morning while walking the dog.

Favorite meal?

Pozole, a pork and hominy Mexican stew.

Thank you for stopping by CMash Reads and spending time with us.

Catch Up With Jeff Bond On:
Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook!

Read an excerpt:

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jeff Bond. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on December 1, 2018 and runs through January 1, 2019. Void where prohibited.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

Mailbox Monday

Monday
THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain ~ signed HC from Author
BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND by Heather Gudenkauf ~ eBook from Harlequin via NetGalley
Tuesday
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan ~ signed HC from Author
Thursday
SAY YOU’RE SORRY by Melinda Leigh ~ Prime eBook
Friday
THE LAST ROMANTICS by Tara Conklin ~ ARC TPB from Harper Collins

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2018 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

I enjoyed this Challenge and am so excited that Anna is hosting again in 2019. Join us!!! Sign up HERE

When I first saw the prompt for this month, my first thought was diamonds. I think it is true that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Who doesn’t like diamonds? Even my Dad loved diamonds and would say they were an investment.

The second thing that came to mind was the sparkling and shining lights on a Christmas tree.

And both these thoughts brought me back to the Christmas when I was 8 years old!

Under our tree were three brown lunch bags each tied with a bow. One for my Mom, another for my sister and the third bag had my name on it, all from my Dad. Of course, the three of us were curious, so when my Dad wasn’t around, we tried figuring out what could be in these brown lunch bags. We all agreed that we could feel walnuts. I remember my Mom saying, that she thought my Dad had lost it and had gone off the deep end.

Knowing that the three of us were anxious to see what was in those bags, my Dad prolonged the opening of the gifts for as long as he could. That year, the only presents we were truly interested in were those three lunch bags filled with walnuts and tied with a bow. I’m sure he enjoyed every second that went by aware that he was torturing us. I remember he had a huge smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

Finally….he gave each of us the bag with our name on it. We were right, the brown bags contained walnuts. But the walnuts surrounded a small jewelry box. Each held a diamond ring. This is the ring that he picked out for me when I was just 8 years old.

I will always remember and cherish that Christmas, recalling his big smile, the sparkle in his eye and the sense of pride that he fooled the three of us. Sadly, 8 years later, right after Christmas, my Dad passed away.

A memory that I hold dear and is as vivid today as it was so many years ago.