Hello everyone~ I started a virtual book tour for The Clover City Files series this week. You can find the links to all my stops here. And, some bloggers are featuring a giveaway! I hope you’ll drop and say “Hello” along the way!
Thank you to the wonderful folks at the Mystery Section blog for featuring my latest series, The Clover City Files. You can read an excerpt from the second book in the series, The Spice Code. Please stop by and say “Hi!” You can follow this link. See you there!
I love meeting my characters for the first time. They introduce me to their fears and childhood traumas, lovers, phobias, triumphs, and all the bone-rattling potholes of their lives. I call it the pre-writing process. It’s the massive iceberg of work and discovery created before page one of the manuscript and holds up the shiny new story for the world to see. The submerged portion of my world that gives the plot its buoyancy. And answers those pesky questions like, “Why would they do that?”
Have you ever had a flashback that immediately redirected your focus and shifted your energy in a good way? I recently had one of those. My writing instructor suggested that I take my favorite novel, flip it open to the center pages, and read the scene at the midpoint. He taught me that from those pages I could peek into the mind of the author and learn the most revealing components in the story because the action at the midpoint tells it all. Ask yourself a few basic questions, he said. What is the setting? How are the characters interacting? And what is at stake?
Have you ever had a conversation stuck in your head? That’s what it’s like as an author. Some characters are very chatty when you creating the plot and building worlds. Amira Cooper is the main character in my new book, The Taste of Rain, The Clover City Files Book 1. I had the wonderful opportunity to reveal what it’s like to ‘hear’ Amira in a blog post at Dru’s Musings. I hope you’ll check out A Day In My Life – Amira Cooper and leave a comment.
The Taste of Rain by Barbara Howard
College student and part-time health aide, Amira Connors, wants nothing more than to graduate and successfully launch a non-profit with her latest crush, Attorney Darius Browne. But when a nursing home patient (Claire Stewart) shares shocking details surrounding her husband’s death, Amira pieces together the fractured memories and helps law enforcement identify the actual killer. But is he? Or have Claire’s ramblings entangled Amira into becoming the next target?
Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.
The Taste of Rain by Barbara Howard
Release Date: June 6, 2023
SHORT DESCRIPTION:
College student and part-time health aide, Amira Connors, wants nothing more than to graduate and successfully launch a non-profit with her latest crush, Attorney Darius Browne. But when a nursing home patient (Claire Stewart) shares shocking details surrounding her husband’s death, Amira pieces together the fractured memories and helps law enforcement identify the actual killer. But is he? Or have Claire’s ramblings entangled Amira into becoming the next target?
LONG DESCRIPTION:
In “The Taste of Rain”, we follow the story of Amira, a college student who works part-time as a health aide at a local nursing home. One day, she meets an elderly resident, Claire Stewart, who confides in her that her husband was killed years ago, but nobody believed her.
Amira is hesitant to believe Claire at first, but as she gets to know her better, she realizes that there might be some truth to her story. Amira decides to investigate the case and help Claire find the killer.
She must navigate through the complexities of the past and present to find the truth and bring justice for Claire.
Along the way, Amira faces challenges both personally and professionally. She must balance her college studies with her part-time job and her investigation. She also learns to confront her own biases and assumptions about aging and the elderly.
“The Taste of Rain” is a mystery that explores the themes of trust, aging, and justice. It is a heartwarming tale of the unlikely friendship between a young college student and an elderly resident, as they work together to uncover the truth, and solve a decades-old murder.
Anastasia Pollack’s blog, Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, featured us on Book Club Friday! It’s an interview with the main character of my latest book, The Taste of Rain. Stop by and read what Amira Cooper had to say about me and all the shenanigans we got into together.
The Taste of Rain is available for pre-order here and on Amazon.
Synopsis: College student and part-time health aide, Amira Connors, wants nothing more than to graduate and successfully launch a non-profit with her latest crush, Attorney Darius Browne. But when a nursing home patient (Claire Stewart) shares shocking details surrounding her husband’s death, Amira pieces together the fractured memories and helps law enforcement identify the actual killer. But is he? Or have Claire’s ramblings entangled Amira into becoming the next target?
Barbara Howard - Author 