Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for SOUP: The Future Is Past And Present by Travis Haugen. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have a guest post for you. There's also an excerpt as well as a tour wide giveaway. Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour for more guest posts, excerpts, interviews, reviews, and more. Enjoy!
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Author: Travis Haugen
Publication Date: October 18th 2018
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
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Scott Yonge exploded onto the national consciousness at the 2001 Garrett Awards and quickly rose to legendary status on the wings of his music and his whirlwind romance with independent film actress Michelle Zoe. What should have been a perfect life was interrupted by an ultra-right wing militant group called the American Freedom Force and its leader, Colonel Randall, who forces Scott to choose between his life and that of his son. After his heroic sacrifice, his family is left to pick up the pieces and forge ahead to a future in the vacuum he left behind.
Now, in 2021, his son Hedley inherits music for himself, becoming a star in his own right as technology gives new life to the medium. Scott's daughter, affectionately known as Soup, throws herself into unravelling the mysteries of her family's history. Michelle commits herself to keeping them all together and trying to make sense of life without the one she loves. Through it all, the AFF looms in the shadows, threatening to resurrect the pain they have just begun to overcome.
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EXCERPT:
“I wish Brian could have come with us,” Carolyn says. “Mom, how could this be? How could we have not known about the interconnections all these years?”
“We were not supposed to know,” Margret says. “The links run long and deep, too deep for coincidence. It’s beyond me, but we’re learning what we need to know when we need to know it.”
“But why St. Louis?” Marki asks. “What brings us all together on this day in this living room?”
“I believe I have the answer,” June says. “It pains me to tell my story, but I understand now that it needs to be told.
“I grew up in Kansas City, in a house not far from the Petersons’. I’ve known Duke and Harold all my life. We went to school together, played together. Harold was the younger, a most serious young man, but I could always make him laugh. Maybe that’s why he married me. Duke was quite the opposite, more my type in many ways. He had a wild streak, what we used to call a free spirit. They were both too young to fight, but Harold felt he was part of the war while Duke despised everything about it. Harold loved Duke, but they never quite saw eye to eye on anything. Everything, all the kind things you said about Duke, are true. Take it from me, I know, I dated Duke back around 1952, long before I married Harold, God bless his soul.
“I loved Duke, but I was eighteen and impatient. He had the wanderlust. He joined up with the carnivals when times were tight, and I hardly saw him. I ended it before we got started really, and he settled in Canada a few years later. I moved to St. Louis chasing work, that’s when I again crossed trails with Harold, back in ’62. Duke was out in 1964 for the wedding; that was the last I saw of him. Harold and Duke came to blows over something and Duke just disappeared from our life. That’s a shame. His influence might have changed things for our Hughie, but who can say for sure.
“Hugh was born in 1968. I was getting on in years, so we thought we’d best do it while we still could. He was an only child, so naturally, we spoiled him. If I could go back and do things over, I would, but that’s not the way of the world is it? I’m so sorry about what happened to you, Hedley, that awful business with Robert Carlson—Colonel Randall to most of the world. You and your sister lost your father. Your mother lost her husband. I don’t know if I could have changed any of that, but I would have tried if I’d known how. You see . . . Hughie was AFF.”
The room goes cold at the words, a light gasp involuntarily escaping Michelle’s lips as she fights for air.
“Let me get this straight,” Michelle says. “You’re saying your son, essentially related to us, was involved in that mess?” She tries to suppress her fury “Hughie was a good boy for most of his life,” June says. “But he never quite found himself, never quite figured himself out. I was ecstatic when he was offered a high paying job with E-Lok. Finally, he would settle down and get his life together. But that man, Robert Carlson, he fed on people like my Hughie, people unsure of themselves, directionless people ripe for the plucking. How could I have known? How could any of us have known?” She breaks down then, sobbing uncontrollably as the others look on.
Michelle walks to her, crouching down to her level in the wraparound arm chair. She hands the elderly lady some tissues from a small box sitting idly on a nearby end table. “You are as much a victim of the AFF as the rest of us in this room,” Michelle says. “I have no idea the level of involvement your son had in the scheme of things, nor do I wish to know. But the knowledge would change nothing. I have no misgivings towards you. You’re one of us, not one of them.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Travis was born and raised in the prairies of Saskatchewan, lived in Calgary for over 25 years and presently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Travis Haugen has spent forty years of his life touring on the road as a musician and has spent hundreds of hours in recording studios. Travis spends much of his time writing songs, writing stories, playing music and spending valuable time with his family and close group of friends.
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GUEST POST:
- What real life mystery do you believe would make a great novel?
There is a stretch of high way in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, referred to as the High Way From Hell. Over the past approximately 20 years, many people have simply disappeared into thin air while traveling or hitch hiking along this route. The words serial killer has not been kicked around by the authorities, but people don’t vanish without a reason. Truth or fiction, either way, I believe there is a great story waiting to be told.
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GIVEAWAY:
Travis Haugen will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. Be sure to leave a comment at a different blog stop on the tour to increase your chance of winning. Good luck!
Thanks for sharing this book with us. I think we all enjoy reading about new books we previously didn't know about. Also, thank you for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you again James!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful read!
ReplyDeleteHi Maria, this is the first book published, however, there are more books in the series that should be published within the year.
DeleteThank you for being a host on our tour!
ReplyDeleteI really like this cover. It's simple, but eye catching.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim,
DeleteThe goose was drawn by a young artist from Calgary, Haley Craw. Haley is currently in the United Kingdom, attending an art institution. The eye-catching fountain blue background came from my niece, Candy. I had this dreary, stormy background. Candy's suggestion is way more better, lol. Candy also came up withe the phrase, 'An Interactive Musical Thriller'. which perfectly describes the book.
Woohoo! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. We appreciate the company!
DeleteI'd like to thank All The Ups and Downs for hosting us today, and especially thank all of you readers for stopping by and checking us out. The tour has been great fun for Candy and myself, and I expect it will continue to be so.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rita for following the tour!
DeleteThanks for sharing the great post!
ReplyDeleteNice to see you checking in Victoria!
DeleteAre any of the characters based on real people?
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting question. I first read 'Hedley', which my Uncle Travis wrote before SOUP (we are working on getting Hedley to the publishers later this year), I brought it up to him that there were certain characteristics or names that were from family or family friends. He did not set out to base any characters on real life people. And i would not say that a certain character is from a live person but characteristics from live people. Hope that makes sense?
DeleteYes, Candy got it right. Actually, I did not see the similarities, Candy pointed them out to me. That's one of the many, many reasons why she has become invaluable to the the One Song Project!
DeleteWe all draw from our experiences; I suspect the same is true for authors, but sometimes, we're too close to the story to see similarities to living, breathing flesh. I do know that the characters feel alive to me. I consider them friends, in an abstract sort of way.
It's like you read my mind and knew that I needed to read this!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a chance to read it Mya. I think you will enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nancy, and welcome to our tour!
Deletethanks sounds like an amazing book, thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy. It does have its twists and turns. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteWhat do you most enjoy about writing?
ReplyDeleteHi Caryl,
DeleteThe thing about writing is, good day or bad, writing takes you to another world where you can be whoever or whatever you want. Writing leaves me with an extremely powerful feeling of peaceful well being, while managing to supercharge me with energy and leave me exhausted in the same breath. And it's cheaper than chocolate, lol.
My question is where to go to write your stories
ReplyDeleteI usually write late at night, sitting at my makeshift desk in my makeshift office in the middle of my living room. I write mostly via my PC, but pen in hand works too, if that's all I've got at the time.
DeleteLove the excerpt! Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy, there were so many good parts of the story to share, it was hard to only pick a few excerpts. I am glad you found it interesting.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, St. Louis. That scene led to my favorite quote from the book. It was from Hedley, to Michelle (his mother), shortly thereafter.
ReplyDelete"I don't buy all the fate crap. I never have, but all of us ending up in the same living room in St. Louis on the same day, looking for the same person for entirely different reasons, where do we file that?"
Thanks for the comment, Judy.
I loved the excerpt from this book. I'm definitely going to be reading this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. I hope you do pick it up. If you have half the fun reading it as we did making it, then we'll all be happy, lol.
DeleteThanks again.
Sounds like a really great read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dale. If you are an e-book reader, I'd highly recommend that format. Th interactivity between the book and the music from the website is a simple click away. It works well with the printed copies also. Simple instructions are included in the 'Note From the Author' page at the beginning of the book. Thank you for the comment.
DeleteEvery family has its ups and downs but dayum.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard,
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's not as though they go looking for trouble, but they do seem to be able to find it without much of a problem. To think that all they want, is to live a simple life in Ada, Oklahoma, but no one will let them do that, lol.
And so, to bed. On behalf of my niece, Candy, out in Edmonton, and myself here in Winnipeg, I'd like to wish you all a very good night. Thanks for having us today, folks. It's been fun!
ReplyDeletedo you feel like any of these characters are you?
ReplyDeleteHi molli,
DeleteThe character of Scott Yonge has been compared to me, but I don't think he is me so much as who I wish I could be.
The cover art seems appropriate for the book. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paula. The reason for the Canada Goose reveals itself throughout the story. The goose itself was hand-drawn by a young woman from Calgary, Haley Craw, now attending art classes in England. The fountain fill blue came from mt niece, Candy, as well as the phrase 'An Interactive Musical Thriller.
DeleteI enjoyed the excerpt and guest post!
ReplyDeleteHi Angela,
Deletenice to hear from you, thank you for your comment. Stop by to see us on the rest of the tour.
Once again, I say good night. Thank you, and joy to you all!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful read. Love, love, love the cover.
ReplyDeleteHi Veronica,
DeleteI'm a day late, but thank you for your comment. As I've said, Candy played a big role in the design of the cover. I'm glad we stuck to our guns with the publisher on it.
The cover is nice. Thanks to Candy for the input.
ReplyDeleteI agree, thank you Candy, and thanks to you for the comment.
Deletefine book cover, and the book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deb,
ReplyDeleteThe cover has garnered a lot of attention on the tour, and we thank people for noticing. As I said above, I can take little credit; it was Haley Craw who drew the Canada Goose, and my niece, Candy, who introduced the fountain fill blue into the equation. I'm just the octopus in the room, lol.
I would love to learn more about the High Way from Hell mystery!
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria,
DeleteNo one's 'disappeared' in a while, but no clues yet as to the whereabouts of the missing. The case has never been solved. You gotta wonder if it ever will be...
So intriguing!
DeleteHi Victoria,
DeleteYes. People in the area believe the perpetrator may have moved on. Or maybe it's a seven year itch kind of thing. It is a mystery of the highest order.
I am very intrigued by the cover.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra,
DeleteThanks for commenting. The meaning of the cover reveals itself throughout the story. You encounter the geese early in the story, and you turn the last page with their vision in your eyes.
Who are some of your favorite authors right now?
ReplyDeleteNiall Ferguson (The Square and the Tower), and Peter Ackroyd. Peter's History Of England series is outstanding. also, the Book of Joy by The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams, are high on my list.
DeleteI would love to read your book.
ReplyDeleteHi Bridgett,
DeleteAnd we would love to have you read the book. If you are into e-books, I highly recommend that format for the interactive aspect, but it works well with the printed copies too.
Thanks for commenting.
This book sounds like a fascinating read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie,
DeleteWe think so, but we may have a slight bios, lol. The plot does have its twists and turns.
Thanks for commenting.
The book sounds very interesting. I noted your mystery vanishings on the "highway to hell". British Columbia has another weird mystery as well...all those feet.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra,
DeleteYou got one on me there. I think I'll have to revisit and find out about those 'feet'.
Thanks for the info!
looks like a fun one
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel,
DeleteIf people have half the fun reading the book as we did making it, then we'll all be smiling, lol. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI loved your bio. Traveling as a musician must be so exciting.
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey,
DeleteYes, I had quite a time of it on the road. I can't say it was the best time of my life; the best time is the time you live in, but I certainly would not give up those years or times for anything.
Thanks for the comment.
I liked both the excerpt, and the book cover.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Juana,
DeleteI played a big part in the excerpt, lol, but not so much the cover. That was mostly my niece, Candy, and Haley Craw, a young artist from Calgary. Haley also drew the illustrations inside.
Well folks, I'd like to thank you all for dropping in on out tour. We had a regular riot these past weeks. On behalf of my niece, Candy (she's away on courses this weekend), and myself, we'd love to wish you all a great summer 2019!
ReplyDeleteBye for now. hope to see you soon!