Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Among the Pages by Sara R. Turnquist

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Among the Pages by Sara R. Turnquist. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt as well as a guest post. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Among the Pages
Author: Sara R. Turnquist
Publication Date: August 18th 2020
Print Length: 295 pages
Genre: Sweet Historical Romance

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A woman’s choice…is in question.

Brianne is a somewhat naïve college freshman. She becomes disillusioned as her professors and peers challenge many of her long-held beliefs. When she finds a diary that belonged to a distant relative, she hopes it will offer much needed distraction. And she is soon drawn into the story of a passionate woman who seems to whisper from the past.

In 1915’s New York, idealist and primary teacher Margaret struggles with the problems women face at home and in society. She is first timid about speaking her mind, but in time cannot keep her impassioned spirit hidden—not even from the gentleman who teaches in the classroom next door. His concern for her stretches the limits of their friendship, pressing into something more. Caught up in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, she faces down authority figures and others who question her beliefs.

And so, Brianne is whisked along on this journey as Margaret joins the fight for women’s rights, all the while trying to work through her own questions and experiences with modern feminism.

Before long, things spin out of control and she wonders where her newfound relationship fits into everything? Are there any clear answers? Will she land on her feet? Or be forever lost to herself?

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EXCERPT:

HISTORICAL TIME PERIOD (1915)
Margaret and Henry talk on a Sunday after church

She narrowed her eyes and bit at her lip to keep her surprise from showing. How did he know this? Surely he didn’t care about the Woman’s Movement. Or did he? Why should he? His precious Abigail was ever the dutiful, demure, docile girl that any man would seek. She wouldn’t be caught within a hundred yards of anything related to women’s rights.

He continued, “I also understand that anyone caught attending her speeches on Sunday is in danger of being thrown out of their church. You don’t want that, do you?”

“Maybe I do,” she shot back and looked away. His words stung. Perhaps more so because he wasn’t wrong. About any of it.

“You don’t mean that.” He craned his neck, trying to catch her eyes.

“What if I do?” She jerked her head, turning her features toward him. “Pastor Thompson said some harsh things today. I don’t know if I can continue to submit myself to the authority of a man who preaches in such a way.”

“In what way?” His voice was gentle. Try as she might, she could not find anything accusing in his tone.

“He made a several assertions without the Scripture to support it. Yet he insisted that the Bible was clear about the subject. I think a man of the cloth ought to be more careful when making such statements about the word of God without the proper foundation.”

Henry’s eyes searched hers. The deep brown fell soft upon her eyes and caressed her features with gentleness. How could she stay angry when she was losing herself in such dark warmth?

She averted her gaze. What was this? It would not do for her to be thinking about him this way. This was not proper! He was someone else’s beau.

“Listen,” he said, moving closer. “I’d regret if anything bad happened to you.”

She nodded, focusing on the lines of the sidewalk.

“I would have to teach your class and mine.” His voice became thick with sarcasm.

Her eyes shot to his and found his lips spreading in a huge grin.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sara is a coffee lovin', word slinging, Historical Romance author whose super power is converting caffeine into novels. She loves those odd little tidbits of history that are stranger than fiction. That's what inspires her. Well, that and a good love story.

But of all the love stories she knows, hers is her favorite. She lives happily with her own Prince Charming and their gaggle of minions. Three to be exact. They sure know how to distract a writer! But, alas, the stories must be written, even if it must happen in the wee hours of the morning.

Sara is an avid reader and enjoys reading and writing clean Historical Romance when she’s not traveling. Her books range from the Czech lands to the American wild west and from ancient Egypt to the early 1900s. Some of her titles include The Lady Bornekova, Hope in Cripple Creek, The General’s Wife, Trail of Fears, and the Convenient Risk Series.

Happy Reading!

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GUEST POST:

What Kind of Writer am I?
by Sara R. Turnquist

Writers can generally be put in one of two categories based on how they go about their projects. There are the pantsers, or organic writers. And then there are the plotters, or outlining writers. What exactly are these types of writers? And which one am I?

Pantser/Organic Writer: A pantser is someone who "writes by the seat of their pants"

There is no planning, there is no outlining, they just sit and write and let the story come as it may. Pantsing tends to be more work on the back end, giving you a fairly rough first draft. I've even heard it said that for a pantser, the first draft is just a very detailed plotting session. Take from that what you will.

Plotter/Outlining Writer: Someone who, to the opposite extreme, plans out the entire novel, sometimes down to the minutest detail. Plotters can have pages upon pages of notes, diagrams, charts, and whatnot before they ever write one word of the manuscript. Plotting may be a heavier workload on the front side, but it generally gives way to a more polished first draft.

So, what are you? What am I? It is mostly true that what you are in life (a list maker, a scheduler, etc) you tend to be in your writing. That is soooo not true of me. The idea of going to the grocery store without a list makes me anxious. Not having my day planned and a "To Do" list in hand would probably give me a panic attack.

However, I have been a total pantser when it came to my novels. I would just sit and write with very little idea about where I was going and how things would turn out. Vague ideas, I tell you...very vague. I loved letting the story unfold and surprise me this way. I would set the characters in motion and they would take over the story. It is true that once you’ve established a character, from then on the way they will react and interact is pretty set. I mean, you can't have them do something or react in a way that is outside of their established character, right? So, through the twists and turns of the plot, you can let your characters lead you where they will go. Pantsing is exciting and exhilarating.

But... As I have learned more and honed my craft, I have seen the wisdom of taking time to plot…even a little. Perhaps doing some character development. This deepens the character, and thus the reader’s experience of them. And as I began to do some plotting with characters, I found that the novels did go deeper and flowed with greater ease and speed. After the bit of character development, I sit down and pants my way through the story.

So, what do you call that? If I’m not truly a pantser or a plotter, what am I??

A plantser.

That, my reader friends, is pretty much the writing groove where I live now. And it suits me rather well.

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GIVEAWAY:

One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

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