Welcome to my stop on the book blast for Relatively Normal Secrets by C.W. Allen. This book blast was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as the blast wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on book blast for more content. Enjoy!
--
Author: C.W. Allen
Publisher: Cinnabar Moth Publishing
Publication Date: September 7th 2021
Print Length: 244 pages
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery Adventure
~
Like most siblings, Tuesday and Zed don't always get along. Unlike most siblings, their arguments are over things like whether their parents are hiding a life of crime, or are simply the weirdest adults on the planet. When they decide to go on the hunt for some solid evidence, things get weirder than ever: two thugs with shape-shifting swords show up, their dog shows off some tricks she definitely didn't learn in obedience school, and even their treehouse turns out to be more than meets the eye.
Their escape leaves Zed and Tuesday stranded in a land where robots and holograms live alongside quaint medieval villagers and soldiers on horseback. Soldiers who insist their father is a disgraced fugitive, and their dog a legendary monster.
If they ever want to see their parents again, they'll have to learn to work together. After all, they've got a mysterious code to break, secrets to unlock, bandits and soldiers to outwit, and a rowdy dog whose antics are getting more outrageous by the minute. Even if they manage to evade the eerie secret police and uncover enough clues to figure out what's really going on, they're not sure they're going to like the truth.
Zed and Tuesday will have to decide who to trust and what really matters, or they'll never get back to normal (whatever that is.) Because when it comes to normal, everything is relative.
Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble *
Bookshop * Google Books * IndieBound *
---
EXCERPT:
At lunch, her father was the headlining topic of conversation. Perhaps, everyone joked, he was some kind of secret agent—if anyone found out what he really did all day, he'd have to erase their memories or have them deported to Jupiter. Tuesday made a hasty decision: better to ride the wave of laughter, than drown in it. This was ridiculous, of course!
Of course it was.
Tuesday heaved her backpack onto the lunch table and made a production of searching for a missing paper until the cafeteria’s collective attention bounded on to a new distraction. She retrieved last week’s History assignment and tried to look intensely interested in reviewing it, staring through the page with unfocused eyes while zoning out to the satisfying snapping sound her carrot sticks made, the pitch falling rhythmically as her teeth chopped each one shorter and shorter.
The newly-hatched suspicions about her parents’ routines burrowed in with the rest of the doubts nesting in her brain. It wasn’t just the way they sidestepped any mention of their lives before they had children. It wasn’t just their odd taste in names. It was just—oh, everything.
Her last name should have been different, for one thing; Tuesday was sure of it. Her father wouldn’t say what it might have been, but anything else would have been fine with her, really. Anything that wouldn’t make her a walking punchline. If her parents hadn’t been so weird, her mother would have taken her father’s last name when they got married, like normal people. Then Tuesday could have inherited his name, instead of just his face.
---
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
C.W. Allen is a Nebraskan by birth, a Texan by experience, a Hoosier by marriage, and a Utahn by geography. She knew she wanted to be a writer the moment she read The Westing Game at age twelve, but took a few detours along the way as a veterinary nurse, an appliance repair secretary, and a homeschool parent.
She recently settled in the high desert of rural Utah with her husband, their three children, and a noisy flock of orphaned ideas. Someday she will create literary homes for all of them. (The ideas, not her family.)
Relatively Normal Secrets (Cinnabar Moth Publishing, Fall 2021) is her debut novel. She writes fantasy novels for tweens, picture books for children, and short stories and poems for former children. Her work will appear in numerous anthologies in 2021. She is also a frequent guest presenter at writing conferences and club meetings, which helps her procrastinate knuckling down to any actual writing.
---
GIVEAWAY:
C. W. Allen will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!
(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions assumes all responsibility for everything related to this giveaway.)
Looks like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHow long was the writing process?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! Usually a novel takes me 7-9 months. Relatively Normal Secrets took three years due to a series of complicated life stuff (moved, renovated a fixer-upper house, arrival of Kid #3, moved again).
Delete"a noisy flock of orphaned ideas". Wonderful phrase!
ReplyDeleteSharing this with my granddaughter, she will love the mystery.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very good book.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a fun read, and I really like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a fun story.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your book!
ReplyDeleteNice to learn about your new book.
ReplyDeleteNice to learn about your new book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book. I like the cover and excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and the book sounds enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteNice book cover and the book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeletesounds like a good book
ReplyDeleteIt's the 31st here so here's my comment: Where on earth do you find the time to write as well as homeschooling 3 children?
ReplyDeleteLOL it takes discipline for sure! Mornings are usually reserved for independent work - I write while they watch PBS Kids or Crash Course, read, or do online courses like Duolingo. After lunch we get down to business (but not to defeat the Huns).
DeleteI may be needing your advice re. house renovation if things go according to plan!
DeleteBest of luck!
DeleteI'm going to need it!
DeleteThe excerpt is interesting. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.
ReplyDeleteabfantom at yahoo dot com
My daughter would love this book. She's all about mysteries these days.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds great & the cover is awesome!
ReplyDeleteMy niece would enjoy this book. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI think it is fun to learn about the life of the author as you read the review of their book.
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
what made you start writing fantasy novels for teens and not adults
ReplyDeleteGreat question! In all honesty, most of my personal for-fun reading is in the Middle Grade space too. So the short answer is, I write the books I want to read. Tween readers are amazing - still interested in magic and possibility, curious about new ideas as they develop an independent view of the world, but also bound by the challenges of not being taken seriously by society and not always being allowed freedom of choice and movement. I think the challenges tweens face make their stories more interesting - adults can go and do whatever they choose to, but kids have to worry about not having money or transportation or permission. I hope my readers enjoy a fun adventure, but also see themselves in the characters and feel that vicarious thrill of succeeding despite the obstacles.
DeleteWe have grandkids who would love this book!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing it with us.
Just spent an hour learning about Hoosiers. Thank you Google!
ReplyDeletesounds like a fun one
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great book for kids!
ReplyDeleteWhere has been your favorite place to travel to?
ReplyDeleteI don't get to travel as much as I'd like. Iceland and Scotland are on my "someday" list though!
DeleteFeel free to visit us in Ireland anytime!
DeleteIreland looks lovely too! Dinner round at yours then? ;)
DeleteIt sounds like a great book, with a nice pretty cover.
ReplyDeleteYou write in a lot of genres. How do you relax with all the characters vying for your attention?
ReplyDeleteI usually have one novel and one shorter project in the works at a time (or occasionally a handful of short projects between novels.) The short projects are done in a matter of weeks, where the novel will be in the works for a year (and then there's marketing after.) But I don't see it as juggling competing characters, just having different circles of friends. When I'm done talking to one group of my imaginary friends for the day, I check in and see what the others are up to.
DeleteWhen I get a new novel idea but don't have time to pursue it right away, I jot down my ideas for it in a new folder on my computer, and occasionally add to it if I think of something that would fit well. By the time my plate is clear of other projects and I'm ready to come back to it, I have a good start on an outline already waiting for me.
Sounds like a good read
ReplyDeleteNice cover
ReplyDeleteFabulous cover
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your book, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHow many books have you published?
ReplyDeleteThis is my first published novel. I have two more books with publication deals, but it's too early to announce details. And there are five more books I will be contributing short work (a poem, essay, or story) to this year. There's a complete list on my website: https://www.cwallenbooks.com/books
DeleteIt sounds awesome and cute cover !
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting book
ReplyDelete