Blog Tour ~ Celtic Sister by Meira Pentermann

Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

A man looking for his sister meets a woman running from her past. A notebook filled with cryptic clues leads them on an unexpected adventure. Celtic Sister is a tender portrayal of a woman propelled on the journey of her life - both literally and spiritually. Told with a compelling mix of realism and humor, the sensitive issues of marital abuse and alcoholism are woven into an unsolved mystery. The result is a meaningful tale of courage and love.

What Inspires Me to Write and How I Approach It?

Some people devote years making preparations to climb Mount Everest. The passion consumes them. Such a dream both impresses and mystifies me. I am unable to make it to the top of the forty-foot wall in my daughter’s climbing gym. Clearly, Everest is not on my bucket list. I also don’t like small, tight places, so we might as well add spelunking to the not-on-my-bucket-list column. Writing a novel, on the other hand, completed me. Now I cannot imagine a life without writing. It’s soul-nurturing. 

With the release of Celtic Sister, I’m entering into the next phase of my writing career: reaching others where they might be struggling in their life journey. Creating this story - which is part mystery, part women’s fiction, and part motivational – felt a little like jumping off a cliff with no parachute. I still have no idea where I’m going to land, and I doubt it will be a gentle touchdown. Amy Richardson will agitate some people and annoy others. This combination of cozy mystery, abuse drama, and recovery story doesn’t fit nicely into a genre. Nevertheless, it might touch someone’s life. If so, it will be worth the leap of faith.

I don’t really approach writing as much as it approaches me. When a story is brewing, it feels as if it is coming from someplace else. The ideas and characters flood my brain almost faster than I can write them down. It has always been this way. When I’m dry, my mind is completely blank; I couldn’t write to save my life. When a story assaults me, I lock myself in my room and clank away at the keyboard.

That being said, once a story is in development, I have a few routines which I find imperative. A continuity of facts spreadsheet helps me keep track of the characters. I give each one a birthday and a list of milestones. Then I chose a date somewhere in the future and use all the official sunrise/sunset and moon phase data from the period covered during the story. Vacations, cleverly disguised as research trips, give me vital information about the locations where the characters live and travel. I also utilize forums and other web resources to verify terrain descriptions and local customs. Composition notebooks, stashed in strategic locations, are essential. After several initial edits, I solicit the advice of beta readers. 

More edits follow before I entrust the document to proofreaders. While the proofreaders are examining the manuscript, I read it a page at a time in reverse order to catch additional mistakes and continuity errors. At some point, after the final edits and the HTML conversion, I have to walk away. During the last pass-through of Celtic Sister on my Kindle, I was making notes to change “a” to “the”. That’s when I realized it was time to let go.

Now that Amy Richardson and Sam Foster are wandering the cybersphere, I pray they will cross paths with those who need them most. That is what inspires me to write: the possibility of touching a reader’s life.

Meira Pentermann

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About the Author

On slow, snowy days in her Colorado home, Meira Pentermann enjoys cozying up on the couch with a novel. Naturally, snow is not a requirement; neither is the couch. In fact, she sees no reason not to indulge in reading three-hundred-and-sixty-five days a year. Dystopian science fiction, mysteries, and young adult titles top her Kindle list, but legal thrillers and chik-lit make an appearance now and then.

When not absorbed in writing or reading, Meira enjoys life's little moments with her family - the love and devotion of her black lab, the quiet wisdom of her artistic twenty-five-year-old, the trials and triumphs of her petite ninth grader, and the unlimited encouragement offered by her Dutch husband.

Meira strives to write stories that deliver the unexpected. She prefers down-to-earth characters that look and behave like regular folks. The prom queen and Adonis take a backseat to reclusive, soul-searching heroines and quirky, introverted gentlemen. Fina Meira on Twitter @MeiraPentermann.

The full tour schedule can be seen at www.elitebookpromotions.com/book-tours.

GIVEAWAY

The author is giving away ecopy of CELTIC SISTER to one winner of the Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway