So glad you could join us this wintry morning. 😊
Today's guest is brand new to our blog so please join me in giving Meryl Tobin a huge SW LA ...
W-E-L-C-O-M-E!
Hope you're staying warm over there in Australia today, Meryl. It's chilly here pretty much all over the US and definitely too cold for my blood here in Louisiana. Please tell us about your book and what makes it special to you.
Because he didn’t ‘fit’ and I wanted to make him fit, I played the ‘What If?’ game until I came up with a plausible reason. Once I came up him as my hero, Joe, and my setting Broome, a heroine, a title and the outline of a plot soon followed.
Blurb: On a working holiday in Australia's cosmopolitan Outback town of Broome in 1986, Jodie, a young book designer and artist is open to romance and adventure.
What makes it special
1. To me: Apart from it being my debut novel and so a big thrill to have it published, it’s the response of readers as I didn’t know what to expect. Readers who have been to Broome tell me they can picture all the places I describe and those who haven’t been there feel as though they are visiting it with my characters. Some have now put a visit to Broome on their bucket lists.
2. To my readers: I’ll let them speak for themselves. Here are some of their comments....
Kathryn McKean: I liked the innocence of the main characters, the setting and the suspense and I always love a happy ending. I felt sad to finish the novel. I felt like I had lost some new friends that I had made and whose company I enjoyed.
Felicia Di Stefano: Finished your book. Very much a page turner kept me up till 1.30 am one morning.
Wow what a thriller. Would never have worked out the end!
Anonymous: Just as well...[for the ending] as the sexual tension had built up unbearably!!
Rose Chapple: I can imagine it as a movie or series, but I guess that's another thing altogether. I hope it's doing well, and that the American market is taking off. You might be personally responsible for an increase in tourism!
Valwyn Beggs: I was transported into another world, the Broome Underworld, in your novel. What a thriller! So many twists and turns! I was soon lost every time I tried to follow a car chase.
Janne Morrison: Just had to let you know I have just finished reading 'Broome Enigma' and absolutely loved it!!! I could not stop reading it and was disappointed when it finished - I hope there is a sequel in the pipeline!! Such a great assortment of very relatable characters and plausible and fascinating storyline. Totally unpredictable and so many twists and turns made it such very enjoyable reading - thank you!!!!
Andrea Francesconi: I thought it was interesting that you set the story back in the 80s - the pre mobile/internet world! I can't begin to imagine how daunting it would be to take off for parts unknown without the luxury of immediate communication options. I think that this provides an opportunity for tension to build and develop to a climax... Thanks once again for the book, it has now migrated to my bookshelf along with other treasured books.
Great feedback! Can you share your cover, blurb, an excerpt and where we can find Broome Enigma & your bio with us please...
I'd be happy to!
At the holiday village where she is staying, she meets Joe, a young man who works there. Despite the strong attraction between them, the many unknowns about his earlier life keep them apart. To try to uncover his mysterious past, they travel to Perth and back to Broome and are drawn into not only bizarre but also dangerous situations.
Is Joe the person she thinks he is, or is he some alter ego? Can Jodie and Joe stop their relationship from developing until they have answers and know if he is free to love her?
Excerpt: A big gust of wind rocked the van and flung Jodie hard against Joe. He pushed her off.
“Joe, it’s me, Jodie! Wake up, wake up!”
“Jodie, is that you?” He threw his arms around her and buried his head in her chest.
She brushed his hair back from his sweating face.“Take it easy, Joe. Take deep breaths. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
He stopped shaking and pulled back from her. “What’s happening?”
“It’s the cyclone. Don’t you remember?” Another huge gust shook the van and sent Jodie sprawling on Joe’s bunk and into the wall. “Ow, that hurt!”
She picked herself up and rubbed her head.
The van rocked violently again. Joe and Jodie grabbed for handholds.
“Quick, come into my bed with me, Joe. It will be safer there.” Tripping and feeling their way along the wall, the two made their way to the double bed and clambered in.
Her breathing coming in short spasms, she lay on her back and took deep breaths. The storm whined and screeched about her, and the roof creaked and scraped. “Oh, my god, the roof’s going to take off any minute!”
Joe’s arms enveloped her. “Hush, everything will be all right. But will you be okay if we have to make a run for it?”
“Yes.” She let out a sob. “But I like our chances better in here than out there.”
Joe kissed her forehead. He pulled her closer and they lay locked against each other while the storm raged around them.
Broome Enigma is on sale on at least 40 websites in at least 16 countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and USA AND at GoodReads.
MY BIO: A former secondary teacher, Australian writer, Meryl Brown Tobin has published 22 books, including a novel, travel book, educational puzzle books and poetry books, and hundreds of poems, puzzles, short stories, articles, cartoons and comic strips. A guest on Ch7’s children’s TV program The Book Place, she and a presenter read her children’s picture storybook LEFTY.
Apart from family and home, her interests include travel, bushwalking, conservation, current affairs and social justice issues. The Tasmanian Tiger fascinates her, and she’d love to prove it is not extinct.
Connect with me at the following links...
https://sites.google.com/view/merylbrowntobin-author
https://www.facebook.com/meryl.tobin.18
https://amazon.com/author/meryl-brown-tobin23
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6422807.Meryl_Brown_Tobin
https://bsky.app/profile/merylbrowntobin.bsky.social
Wonderful! Thanks SO much for sharing your book with us today, Meryl. We wish you the best of luck and God's blessings in all things.
Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight guest friends and that you'll check back weekly for another edition of Saturday Spotlight.
Oh, and be sure to check out our Featured Author and Featured Book (in the sidebar)!
Until next time, Happy Reading.
PamT
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