Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Secrets of the IN-group by Carolyn Re and Loretta Re

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Secrets of the IN-group by Carolyn Re and Loretta Re. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you as well as a guest post regarding social media. There's also a tour wide giveaway to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more excerpts, guest posts, interviews, reviews, and more. Enjoy!

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Title: Secrets of the IN-group
Authors: Carolyn Re and Loretta Re
Publisher: Resisters
Publication Date: May 2nd 2019
Print Length: 366 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction

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A small town. A world wide web. Is the net really a friend?

What do you do when the children have flown the nest and you have time on your hands?

Six women in the Australian riverside city of Albury realise that, without social media skills, they’re staring irrelevancy in the face. Their book club won’t cut it any more. It’s time to go virtual.

But their decision to plunge into the on-line world brings shocking revelations and unexpected outcomes. Friendships, new and old, are tested and their lives teeter on the edge of collapse. They must navigate a path through the chaos. But who exactly can they trust?

Goodreads * Amazon * 

Barnes & Noble * IndieBound * Kobo

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EXCERPT:

[Denise has sent off a valuable package she sold on Ebay. She’s waiting anxiously for payment from Nancy, her regular customer in the US.]

Now the panic was rising to a crescendo again. Logging into her bank account for the tenth time in thirty minutes wasn’t going to make ten thousand dollars appear miraculously in her account, but it was all she could do. Each viewing made her heart pump harder. Could there be a delay because it involved so much money this time?

Two days later, and still no sign of the payment, she sent a frantic email.

Nancy, the money hasn’t arrived and I posted your package days ago. What’s happened?

A reply arrived the following day, but it wasn’t what she was expecting.

Dear friends, it read. Our dear Aunt Nancy is in hospital after suffering a stroke. The stress of her beloved mother’s death recently has played its part and the doctors can’t say how well she will recover, so we ask for your thoughts and prayers at this very sad time. Stacey (Nancy’s niece)

Denise stared in horror. Poor Nancy. But what a terrible time for this to happen. It would surely delay the money being forwarded. Denise’s heartburn became a little worse.

She sent an email back to Stacey, saying how sorry she was to hear the news and how she hoped for Nancy’s full recovery, but received no update. She waited a few days before sending another email to enquire about Nancy’s health, but rather than hearing from Stacey, she received a return message...

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Carolyn Re worked for over twenty years as a general practitioner before turning to writing. No longer needing to produce serious medical and scientific articles, she's now writing contemporary fiction for older women. Carolyn lives in the regional city of Albury, New South Wales, with Ziggy the whippet and three contented chickens.

Website * Twitter

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Loretta Re is a former lawyer who is now writing novels and screenplays. Her book for middle grade readers, Stand Up and Cheer, is a story inspired by the rescue of the Uiver DC2 over Albury during the 1934 Centenary Air Race. It was voted one of the best books for literacy and language development in 2015. Loretta lives in Sydney and is on the board of Writing NSW.

Website * Twitter

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GUEST POST:

- Do you believe that we rely on social media too much to be happy? Why or why not?

The more we engage with others, the happier we are, and social media is a great way of connecting with family and friends, and of meeting new people with similar interests anywhere in the world. Who would think that two sisters writing a novel set in their small town in Australia could reach out to readers a world away so seamlessly? That’s just one way we’ve found social media can promote happiness.

There’s a difference, though, between using social media in an active way to nurture happiness, and using it passively to observe other people’s lives. Scrolling for hours in a never-ending search for ‘Likes’, or feeling like a loser by making comparisons with more beautiful or successful ‘winners’, can turn social media into a monster.

Our novel, Secrets of the IN-group tells the story of older women who haven’t grown up with social media, are unsure of it and even a little fearful. They don’t belong to the generation that naturally reaches for their iPhone as soon as they wake, but they do need to learn how social media works. Once they’ve been introduced to it, they become keen students. The problem is, they’re naïve and trusting.

The story has unexpected twists and shocks as the women in the IN-group discover the best and worst of social media. They all find new passions and connect with people around the world. One, much to her surprise, finds herself with a legion of followers she wasn’t even seeking. But social media also comes with a downside for some of the women when it exposes secrets that could destroy their world, and brings in strangers intent on harming them.

Used with care and generosity, social media can tackle loneliness, introduce us to worlds we never knew existed and teach us almost anything. It helps us feel connected and happier, so it’s not surprising that we’ve all come to rely on it so much. On the down side, it can make our lives a lot more difficult. It’s up to us how we use it.

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GIVEAWAY:

Carolyn Re and Loretta Re will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway