Sapphyria’s Book Promotions presents the 1-Week Virtual Book Tour for Deluge by Mike Dubisch and Carolyn Watson-Dubisch – YA Graphic Novel (December 11-15, 2023)

About Deluge:

About the Book:

12 year old Laura was just a normal girl from Seattle when her mother decided to move to a mysterious town in the midwest. The moment they arrive in their new home hundreds of frogs rain from the sky. Her quirky new neighbor has a house full of knick knacks and odd tiny creatures beckoning from the shadows, and there’s a terrible curse on the town that makes every summer storm a life threatening event. Welcome to the town of Deluge.

Book Details:

Genres: YA Graphic Novel

Page Count: 50

Add to Goodreads: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202409014-deluge

Purchase from Amazon: 

https://amzn.to/3uNW4dH

Follow the Book Tour:

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/12/book-tour-schedule-deluge-by-mike.html

Mike and Carolyn Dubisch began collaborating artistically at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. They married soon after graduating and began working together. Their first major project was designing rides on the Turn of the Century Carousel that was displayed in Grand Central Station in New York, The L.A. Auto Show in California, Also in Washington D.C., and New Orleans. Their comic book adaptation of the Japanese fable Urishima Taro, initially created for a fundraiser for the tsunami victims in Japan, was licensed by FOX in 2013.

Mike Dubisch is well known for his fantasy art and comics, including art for Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons and Aliens vs Predator. Carolyn Watson-Dubisch is a multiple award winning author and illustrator of 18 children’s books, working with multiple publishers and authors. Her work has appeared in Highlights for Children Magazine, Hopscotch Magazine and she designed and illustrated a regular feature in Whimsy Magazine for 5 years. Their most ambitious project, the all-ages graphic novel series “The People That Melt in The Rain”, is the product of over 10 years of development.

Social Media Links:

This year seems to have zipped by much too fast. Our family is already
hinting for me to cook their favorite dishes for Christmas dinner. One wants a ham
with gravy from drippings. Another is pleading for green bean casserole, while
another wants fresh asparagus spears and dinner rolls. Me, I have a sweet tooth
and am looking forward to a home baked apple pie, of course ala mode, for
dessert. 😊 One thing the entire family is
looking forward to is my special dressing. Here’s the recipe for you.

Preheat oven 350° F. 

Soak craisins, or raisins,
in warm water to soften for fifteen minutes. 

Melt butter in a frying
pan. Sauté celery and onion until opaque, about 7 minutes.

Drain craisins. Combine
all ingredients in a medium size bowl, then season with salt and pepper.  Pour chicken stock to moisten ingredients and
mix lightly.

Grease an oven safe pan
them scoop in mixture.

Bake 25 – 30
minutes.

Merry Christmas,

Emma

Here’s a peek at my Christmas collection. I hope you enjoy it.

Winter storms
swirling snow and unexpected guests on the eve of Christmas, the pungent
fragrance of fresh pine boughs, springs of mistletoe hung with red ribbons, and
a stolen kiss underneath the kissing ball comprise scenes of Christmas in the
country. Ice skating anyone? Have a cup of wassail and toast your toes in front
of a warm fire while you enjoy four short stories of sweet Regency Christmas
romances. 

Amazon Link

Emma Lane is a gifted author who writes cozy mysteries as Janis Lane, Regency as Emma, and spice as Sunny Lane. 

She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own. 

Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.

Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.

About It Hurts Every Time:

“Death is not the end, sir,

No, sir, not the end of the line,

Just remember what I say to you;

It hurts, baby,

It hurts every time.”

Pluto Garcia is a lieutenant in the Community Militia of Morrisette, a post-communist city-state where a miracle drug has advanced enough to allow the dying a second chance at life by launching them into the nearest available universe in which they are still alive.

In his latest incarnation, Pluto is tasked with investigating the death of Krishna Klein, a brilliant but troubled philanthropist who has been found with a bullet in his head following a week-long bender. With the aid of his assigned partner, Esther Dupont, Pluto uncovers a techno-fascistic plot to plunge the flawed Utopia of Morrissette into authoritarian control once and for all.

Follow the Book Tour:

https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/11/book-tour-schedule-it-hurts-every-time.html

The other day I wanted a quick easy meal, so I peeked into the pantry to see what I had on hand. I found cans of chicken, green chiles, corn, black beans and cream of chicken soup, and some tortillas, so I set out to create something. Here’s what I came up with. We liked it, and I hope you will too.

Quick Oven Quesadilla

Preheat oven to 350° F

In a skillet over medium high heat brown the tortillas on both sides.

While tortillas are browning, mix chicken, corn, beans, chilies, olives, soup, cheddar cheese and water. Heat the mix in a large saucepan stirring until well mixed and beginning to bubble.

Lightly spray the bottom of a cake pan or baking sheet. Lay one tortilla in the pan, top with about ¼ cup mix (for a large tortilla, less for smaller tortillas) onto top of browned tortilla, spreading mix almost to the edge. Top with ¼ cup of finely shredded Mexican cheese. Repeat with other tortilla and 3/4 cup mix. Save left over mix for another day’s use, or you can double the tortillas and make a bigger meal the first time.

Bake about 10-15 minutes or until cheese on top has melted and you can see filling bubbling. (I’ve also baked this for a shorter time at a higher temp when was in a hurry.) Turn off oven and switch to the high broil setting on the oven and broil until cheese on top begins to brown.

Remove from oven. Cut and serve with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, guacamole, salsa or other Mexican side toppings.

If you want to make several stacks at a time lay the base tortillas on a baking sheet and assemble as many as your ingredients allow. Number will depend on the size of your tortillas.

If you only make one stack, or 2 smaller individual servings, the first time you can use the remainder of the filling for a second quesadilla meal or as filling for enchiladas. It will make about 4-6 enchiladas depending on the size of your tortilla. Warm your ingredients before assembling the stacks or enchiladas to cut down on heating time in oven. Make a cheese sauce, or other Mexican sauce to cover the enchiladas and top with shredded cheese. Heat in a 350° oven until cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.

While your dinner is cooking, check out Catherine’s multi-award-winning Inspirational Romantic Suspense The Nun and the Narc. Partially set in Mexico, the heroine, Sister Margaret Mary, an adventurous novice, dines on some unusual marketplace snacks. 

Where novice Sister Margaret Mary goes, trouble follows. When she barges into a drug deal the local Mexican drug lord captures her. To escape she must depend on undercover DEA agent Jed Bond. Jed’s attitude toward her is exasperating, but when she finds herself inexplicably attracted to him, he becomes more dangerous than the men who have captured them by making her doubt her decision to take her final vows. Escape back to the nunnery is imperative, but life at the convent, if she can still take her final vows, will never be the same.

Nuns shouldn’t look, talk, act, or kiss like Sister Margaret Mary O’Connor—at least that’s what Jed Bond thinks. She hampers his escape plans with her compulsiveness and compassion, and in the process makes Jed question his own beliefs. After years of walling up his emotions in an attempt to become the best agent possible, Sister Margaret is crumbling Jed’s defenses and opening his heart. To lure her away from the church would be unforgivable—to lose her unbearable.

Multi-award-winning author Catherine Castle has been writing all her life. A former freelance writer, she has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit (under her real name) in the Christian and secular market. Now she writes sweet and inspirational romance. Her debut inspirational romantic suspense, The Nun and the Narc, from Soul Mate Publishing, has garnered multiple contests finals and wins.

Catherine loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, watching movies, and the theatre. In the winter she loves to quilt and has a lot of UFOs (unfinished objects) in her sewing case. In the summer her favorite place to be is in her garden. She’s passionate about gardening and even won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club.

Learn more about Catherine Castle on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out Catherine’s Amazon author page and her Goodreads page. You can also find Catherine on Stitches Thru Time and the SMP authors blog site. thors blog site.

Outside
the kitchen window of our home on Long Island, New York, it was a cold and
windswept November morning of 1970. Thanksgiving Day was approaching, and I
missed my family back in Ohio sorely. Oh, how I wished I could be with them;
but it wasn’t to be. I needed a distraction and decided the best way to
accomplish it was to lose myself in a painting. I gathered fall deco items I
had placed around the house and set them up on my kitchen table in a
composition I deemed worthy of a still life. A sheet of watercolor paper taped
to my board, and with my simple little pads of watercolor paints, a couple of
brushes, and a stick of charcoal to rough in the initial shapes, I got to work. 

The charcoal shapes came together easily.
As is typical of the way I tackle most jobs, I touched my paint-loaded brush to
the item on the paper that I thought would be the most difficult to render—which
was the stem of the pumpkin. My first attempt was a total bust, as was my
second and my third. By then, my heart was galloping in my chest with utter fury
at myself. I pushed away from the table and paced the floor—across the length
of the kitchen, into the hallway, into the living room, and back again and
again…pace, pace, pace…and then a voice sounded ‘round my ears. “Empty your mind
of what you ‘think’ a pumpkin stem looks like and paint only what you actually
see!” I had heard the instruction from my teacher in a painting class I had
taken years before, but obviously it had failed to register in my brain. I
returned to the table, emptied my mind, and painted only what I saw with my
eyes. Voila! In no time at all, the still life painted in a primitive style I
had hoped to execute appeared with what seemed very little further effort on my
part. It was almost like magic. 

I learned a big lesson that day, not
only related to the art of painting, but also to the art of living. Our
preconceived notions (opinions, prejudices, attitudes, and so many other
absolute doctrines we hold in mind) blind us to the truth of things.

With my humble painting titled,
CORNUCOPIA, I wish all of you an open-minded, a clear-eyed, and a very happy
holiday season.

Linda Lee

Here’s
a peek at multi-award-winning
author and artist Linda Lee Greene’s latest book, Garden of the Spirits of the Pots, A Spiritual Odyssey. It is a blend of visionary and
inspirational fiction with a touch of romance. The story unfolds as ex-pat
American Nicholas Plato journeys into parts unknown, both within himself and
his adopted home of Sydney, Australia. In the end, the odyssey reveals to him
his true purpose for living. The novella is available in eBook and paperback.

Driven by a deathly
thirst, he stops. A strange little brown man materializes out of nowhere and
introduces himself merely as ‘Potter,’ and welcomes Nicholas to his ‘Garden of
the Spirits of the Pots.’ Although Nicholas has never laid eyes on Potter, the
man seems to have expected Nicholas at his bizarre habitation and displays
knowledge about him that nobody has any right to possess. Just who is this
mysterious Aboriginal potter? 

Although
they are as mismatched as two persons can be, a strangely inevitable friendship
takes hold between them. It is a relationship that can only be directed by an
unseen hand bent on setting Nicholas on a mystifying voyage of self-discovery
and Potter on revelations of universal certainties. 

A blend of
visionary and inspirational fiction, and a touch of romance, this is a tale of
Nicholas’ journey into parts unknown, both within his adopted home and himself,
a quest that in the end leads him to his true purpose for living. 

AMAZON BUY LINK 

Multi-award-winning author and artist Linda Lee Greene describes her life as a telescope that when trained on her past reveals how each piece of it, whether good or bad or in-between, was necessary in the unfoldment of her fine art and literary paths.
Greene moved from farm-girl to city-girl; dance instructor to wife, mother, and homemaker; divorcee to single-working-mom and adult-college-student; and interior designer to multi-award-winning artist and author, essayist, and blogger. It was decades of challenging life experiences and debilitating, chronic illness that gave birth to her dormant flair for art and writing. Greene was three days shy of her fifty-seventh birthday when her creative spirit took a hold of her.

Garden of the
Spirits of the Pots is available in
eBook and/or paperback on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/GARDEN-SPIRITS-POTS-SPIRITUAL-ODYSSEY-ebook/dp/B09JM7YL6F/

Pastels
and acrylics painting, “Coppers” by Linda Lee Greene

Ready for an easy take on a classic recipe? Then
let’s get stuffed! Of course, I’m talking about gorging on my Savory Stuffed
Peppers. The bell pepper is an excellent
vessel for stuffing meat, rice, and, of course, cheese. It’s strong enough to
hold its shape in the oven, and the flavor is subtle enough to go well with
just about anything. This perfect
comfort food will fill you up, and keep you satiated for hours. Plus, it’s a
great recipe to cook in your home, cottage, or camper any time of the year.
With a prep time of 15 minutes tops, and total time of 1 hour, 20 minutes,
these tasty mega-morsels will serve 6 of your famish family members or friends.
Serve with a salad of your choice and a glass of your favorite red or white
wine. Cheers!

Savory Stuffed
Peppers

Preheat oven to
400° F (200° C). 

In a small saucepan, prepare rice
according to package instructions.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat
oil. Cook onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and garlic
and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add ground beef and cook,
breaking up meat with a wooden spoon until no longer pink, 6 minutes. Drain
fat.

Return beef mixture to skillet, then stir
in cooked rice and diced tomatoes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Let
simmer until liquid has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes.

Place peppers cut side-up in a 9” x 13”
baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Spoon beef mixture into each pepper and
top with Monterey Jack cheese, then cover baking dish with foil.

Bake until peppers are tender, about 35
minutes. Uncover and bake until cheese is bubbly, 10 minutes more.

Garnish with parsley before serving.

While you’re digesting your stuffed
peppers and finishing off the last sips of your wine, why not put your feet up
and relax on the couch with a good book? May I suggest a visit to Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really
adventurous, a trip back in time with The
Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, either series will
transport you to another time and place, leaving the busyness of life far
behind.

Here’s a glimpse of the premises for both my young adult series

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…

Chosen
by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep
history safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past to
restore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time.

Children are the keys to our future. And now, children are the
only hope for our past.

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…

Imagine a teenager possessing
a psychic ability and struggling to cope with its freakish power. There’s no
hope for a normal life, and no one who understands. Now, imagine being uprooted
and forced to live in a small tourist town where nothing much ever happens.
It’s bores-ville from the get-go…until mysterious things start to happen.

Welcome to Fairy Falls.
Expect the unexpected.

The Last
Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:

The Last
Timekeepers and the Noble Slave, Book #3

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last
Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book #2 Buy
Links:

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last
Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book #1 Buy Links:

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Legend of
the Timekeepers, prequel Buy
Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen
Psychic Mystery Series:

Lost
and Found, Book One Buy
Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

Blackflies and Blueberries, Book Two Buy Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀