Blog Tour: Madame Picasso (Spotlight)

Publication Date: August 26, 2014

Harlequin MIRA

Formats: eBook, Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction







READ AN EXCERPT.



The mesmerizing and untold story of Eva Gouel, the unforgettable woman who stole the heart of the greatest artist of our time.

When Eva Gouel moves to Paris from the countryside, she is full of ambition and dreams of stardom. Though young and inexperienced, she manages to find work as a costumer at the famous Moulin Rouge, and it is here that she first catches the attention of Pablo Picasso, a rising star in the art world.

A brilliant but eccentric artist, Picasso sets his sights on Eva, and Eva can't help but be drawn into his web. But what starts as a torrid affair soon evolves into what will become the first great love of Picasso's life.

With sparkling insight and passion, Madame Picasso introduces us to a dazzling heroine, taking us from the salon of Gertrude Stein to the glamorous Moulin Rouge and inside the studio and heart of one of the most enigmatic and iconic artists of the twentieth century.

Watch the Book Trailer

Praise for Madame Picasso

"Early twentieth century Paris and Picasso's lost love come to enchanted, vivid life in Madame Picasso. With a deft eye for detail and deep understanding for her protagonists, Anne Girard captures the earnest young woman who enthralled the famous artist and became his unsung muse." - C.W. Gortner, bestselling author of THE QUEEN'S VOW

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Books-a-Million

iTunes

IndieBound

About the Author

Anne Girard was born with writing in her blood. The daughter of a hard-driving Chicago newsman, she has always had the same passion for storytelling that fueled his lifelong career. She hand-wrote her first novel (admittedly, not a very good one) at the age of fourteen, and never stopped imagining characters and their stories. Writing only ever took a backseat to her love of reading.

After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature from UCLA and a Master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University, a chance meeting with the acclaimed author, Irving Stone, sharply focused her ambition onto telling great stories from history with detailed research. "Live where your characters lived, see the things they saw," he said, "only then can you truly bring them to life for your readers." Anne took that advice to heart. After Stone's encouragement twenty years ago, she sold her first novel. When she is not traveling the world researching her stories, Anne and her family make their home in Southern California. When she is not traveling or writing, she is reading fiction.

Anne also writes historical fiction under the name Diane Haeger. For more information, visit www.dianehaeger.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Madame Picasso Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, August 25

Review at Flashlight Commentary



Tuesday, August 26

Review at Historical Fiction Notebook

Interview & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary



Wednesday, August 27

Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Interview & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Notebook



Thursday, August 28

Review & Giveaway at Words and Peace

Review & Giveaway at Kinx's Book Nook



Friday, August 29

Review at Scandalous Women

Review at Curling Up by the Fire



Monday, September 1

Review at A Bookish Affair

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past



Tuesday, September 2

Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair



Wednesday, September 3

Review at Gobs and Gobs of Books

Spotlight & Giveaway at Susan Heim on Writing



Thursday, September 4

Review & Giveaway at The Maiden's Court



Friday, September 5

Review at To Read or Not to Read



Monday, September 8

Review at Book of Secrets

Review & Giveaway at Mina's Bookshelf



Tuesday, September 9

Review at A Chick Who Reads



Wednesday, September 10

Review at Books in the Burbs



Thursday, September 11

Review at Ageless Pages Reviews



Friday, September 12

Review at Caroline Wilson Writes

Review at The Book Binder's Daughter



Monday, September 15

Review at Layered Pages

Review at Carole's Ramblings



Tuesday, September 16

Review at She is Too Fond of Books



Wednesday, September 17

Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books



Thursday, September 18

Review at One Book of a Time



Friday, September 19

Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time



Monday, September 22

Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee



Tuesday, September 23

Review at The Librarian Fatale



Wednesday, September 24

Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Review at WTF Are You Reading?



Thursday, September 25

Review at Kincavel Korner



Friday, September 26

Interview at Kincavel Korner

Book Blast: The Graham Saga by Anna Belfrage

Join Anna Belfrage as her beloved time-slip series, The Graham Saga, is featured around the blogosphere from July 28-August 15 with HF Virtual Book Tours and enter to win your own set of Books 1-6!

About The Graham Saga

This is the story of Alex and Matthew, two people who should never have met - not when she was born three hundred years after him.

It all began the day Alex Lind got caught in a thunderstorm. Not your ordinary storm, no this was the mother of all storms, causing a most unusual rift in the fabric of time. Alex was dragged three centuries backwards in time, landing more or less at the feet of a very surprised Matthew Graham.

In a series of books we follow the life and adventures of the expanding Graham family, both in Scotland and in the New World - and let me tell you it is quite an exciting life, at times excessively so in Alex' opinion.

Sometimes people ask me why Alex had to be born in the twentieth century, why not make her a woman born and bred in the seventeenth century where the story is set? The answer to that is I have no idea. Alex Lind is an insistent, vibrant character that sprung into my head one morning and simply wouldn't let go.

Seductively she whispered about terrible thunderstorms, about a gorgeous man with magic, hazel eyes, about loss and sorrow, about love - always this love, for her man and her children, for the people she lives with. With a throaty chuckle she shared insights into a life very far removed from mine, now and then stopping to shake her head and tell me that it probably hadn't been easy for Matthew, to have such an outspoken, strange and independent woman at his side.

At this point Matthew groaned into life. Nay, he sighed, this woman of his was at times far too obstinate, with no notion of how a wife should be, meek and dutiful. But, he added with a laugh, he wouldn't want her any different, for all that she was half heathen and a right hand-full. No, he said, stretching to his full length, if truth be told not a day went by without him offering fervent thanks for his marvelous wife, a gift from God no less, how else to explain the propitious circumstances that had her landing at his feet that long gone August day?

Still, dear reader, it isn't always easy. At times Alex thinks he's an overbearing bastard, at others he's sorely tempted to belt her. But the moment their fingertips graze against each other, the moment their eyes meet, the electrical current that always buzzes between them peaks and surges, it rushes through their veins, it makes their breathing hitch and ... She is his woman, he is her man. That's how it is, that's how it always will be.

Graham Saga Titles

Book One: A Rip in the Veil
Book Two: Like Chaff in the Wind
Book Three: The Prodigal Son
Book Four: A Newfound Land
Book Five: Serpents in the Garden
Book Six: Revenge & Retribution
Book Seven: Whither Thou Goest (November 2014)
Book Eight: To Catch a Falling Star (March 2015)

About the Author

Anna was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions.
 As a result she's multilingual and most of her reading is historical- both non-fiction and fiction. Possessed of a lively imagination, she has drawers full of potential stories, all of them set in the past. She was always going to be a writer - or a historian, preferably both. Ideally, Anna aspired to becoming a pioneer time traveller, but science has as yet not advanced to the point of making that possible. Instead she ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for her most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career Anna raised her four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive…

For years she combined a challenging career with four children and the odd snatched moment of writing. Nowadays Anna spends most of her spare time at her writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and she slips away into her imaginary world, with her imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in her life pops his head in to ensure she's still there.

For additional information regarding Anna, her characters, extra scenes, and teasers for her next books, have a look at Anna's website at: www.annabelfrage.com. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Book Blast Schedule

Monday, July 28
Broken Teepee
Kincavel Korner
bookworm2bookworm's Blog

Tuesday, July 29
So Many Books, So Little Time

Wednesday, July 30
A Bibliotaph's Reviews

Thursday, July 31
Book Drunkard

Friday, August 1
The Lit Bitch

Saturday, August 2
Book Nerd

Sunday, August 3
Literary Chanteuse
Just One More Chapter

Monday, August 4
A Bookish Girl
Historical Tapestry
To Read, Or Not to Read

Tuesday, August 5
CelticLady's Reviews

Wednesday, August 6
The True Book Addict

Thursday, August 7
Impressions in Ink

Friday, August 8
A Bookish Affair
The Mad Reviewer

Saturday, August 9
Historical Fiction Connection

Monday, August 11
Gobs and Gobs of Books

Tuesday, August 12
Pages of Comfort

Wednesday, August 13
History Undressed

Thursday, August 14
Passages to the Past

Friday, August 15
Mina's Bookshelf

Giveaway

To win a set of Anna Belfrage's Graham Saga (Books 1-6) please complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Two winners will be chosen. Giveaway is open internationally!

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on August 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter on August 16th and notified via email.
Winners have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

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Blog Tour: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (Character Spotlight + Giveaway)

Character Spotlight: Old Wong

My book, THE GHOST BRIDE, is a historical fantasy set in 1890s colonial Malaya (the old name for Malaysia where I come from) and is about a young Chinese woman who receives a marriage proposal for the son of the wealthiest family in town. The only problem is, he’s dead.

I had a lot of fun writing this book, based as it is on the blurred borderline between spirits and humans. In fact, there's strong Chinese literary tradition of strange tales set in the shadowy, elaborate Chinese ghost world, where nothing is as it seems and beautiful women turn out to be foxes. I enjoyed reading a lot of these stories when I was young, and I also heard many odd stories about ghosts while I was growing up in Malaysia. One of these, in fact, led to the creation of the character Old Wong.

When people ask me who my favourite character in this book is, I have to say that besides the main character Li Lan, my favourite has to be the cook, Old Wong. He's a crotchety old Chinese man who has worked for Li Lan's family since she was a child, and has seen their household fall into penniless straits. I based him on the numerous grouchy old Chinese people in my life who have constantly lectured and loved me. Writing dialogue for Old Wong was surprisingly easy. I just had to listen to the little voice that berates me in my head and translate what it said from Cantonese into English, retaining, of course, the occasional exclamation of "Cheh!" and "Aiya!" for good measure!

Old Wong has a secret in the book that I'll reveal to you (much to his displeasure). He can see dead people. This is also based on a real story told to me by friends. In fact, when I first watched the movie "The Sixth Sense", I let out a yelp of surprise and told my husband that this was exactly what had happened to my sister's friend's husband back in Singapore. I've actually come across two people who claimed to see the dead. I think it is, in some ways, a difficult gift to live with, and in writing Old Wong's character, I made it part of his general taciturnity and reluctance to talk much about himself. Still, because he can see ghosts, he's able to help Li Lan when she gets stranded in the spirit world. I really enjoyed writing about Old Wong - he is an unexpectedly funny character and I hope that readers enjoy him too.

Thank you so much for having me - it's been a pleasure!

[Photo caption: Characters from THE GHOST BRIDE, illustrated by Singaporean comic book artist Sonny Liew who is working on the graphic novel with me]

 

Author bio:

Yangsze Choo is a fourth generation Chinese from Malaysia. After graduating from Harvard, she worked in various corporate jobs while secretly writing fiction in her spare time. Yangsze eats and reads too much and often does both at her blog http://yschoo.com/

THE GHOST BRIDE

Oprah.com’s Book of the Week, a Carnegie Medal nominee, and Goodreads 2013 Best Fantasy finalist. THE GHOST BRIDE is a historical fantasy.

“One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride…”

Li Lan, a young Chinese woman, lives in 1890s colonial Malaya with her quietly ruined father, who returns one evening with a proposition — the fabulously wealthy Lim family want Li Lan to marry their dead son. After a fateful visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim’s handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets, before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever

 ***Giveaway***

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