Guess what? I was sought out by author Jean Moynahan and asked if I would like to review her latest novel and do a giveaway on my site! She said she found my website when she was reading a book review of Jen J. Danna’s mystery, Dead, Without a Stone to Tell It.
I admit I hemmed and hawed a bit, at first. But then I decided to read the first three chapters of it to see if I got “hooked.” I did, so I sent her another email and agreed to do an an exchange of an autographed copy of her book for a book review and blog post, my standard offer to authors whose books I want to read.
I also agreed to run a giveaway!
(See below for more details.)
Who Is Jean Moynahan?
Jean Moynahan is the author of The Illuminated Vineyard and The Black Fountain Goddess. (While I didn’t read her first novel, I’d like to. If you want to know more about The Illuminated Vineyard, you can read the book blurb on Goodreads, you can read a review of it on Mystery Reviews and another at Kirkus Reviews. If you like what you see, you can buy it from Amazon.)
You can read more about Jean in her bio, below.
What The Black Fountain Goddess Is About
Before I tell you what this book is about, I have to point out that the book blurb on the back cover, in my opinion, does not do this book justice. I think more should be said to “hook” the reader or the potential reader. If I picked this book up in a bookstore, I would not buy it. It is too brief, and offers very little to the reader.
Here is the blurb:
In rural Oregon, two ritualistic murders a century apart appear linked to an ancient cult. Jacob Colt’s ancestor hanged for the first crime; now a beautiful professor may be involved in the second. As Jacob finds answers to troubling questions, one continues to haunt him: who, or what, is the Black Fountain Goddess?
What The Black Fountain Goddess Is Really About
The simplest way for me to tell you about The Black Fountain Goddess is to share with you my Goodreads review:
The Black Fountain Goddess is about a research assistant, Jacob Colt, who takes on the role of a detective as he attempts to learn of his family’s past and the murder his great-grandfather was accused of. He returns to his hometown, Howerton, where his father is a literary professor at the university, and from whom he is a bit estranged. While in Howerton, another murder occurs, Felicity Emerson’s.
Jacob learns of the existence of a book written by a member of one of his family’s rivals (Cornell Shire), obtains a copy and reads it, looking for clues to the past. He is befriended by an elderly librarian, Reeve Gillespie, who also reads the book, but before Jacob has a chance to speak to Reeve about his findings, Reeve dies unexpectedly.
In his quest for answers, Jacob encounters four women, who each play a part in helping him uncover new information. As he makes strides in gaining knowledge, more questions arise, about the Black Fountain and cult practices members of Howerton were engaged in.
Fraught with literary references, plays on words, plot surprises, twists and turns, and containing undertones of the supernatural, The Black Fountain Goddess contains a mystery within a mystery.
I personally enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Perhaps it’s because I thought it would be more about rituals and cults, and even Voodoo and Hoodoo, which really isn’t my “thing.” Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to join Jacob on his journey.
I encourage you to join him, too.
Win an Autographed Copy of The Black Fountain Goddess!
Jean Moynahan is going to give a copy of The Black Fountain Goddess to someone who leaves a comment on this post! The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter in two weeks.
The winner will receive a copy of The Black Fountain Goddess in his/her preferred format, too! If the preferred format is a physical copy, it will be signed by the author! That’s right, it will be autographed!
As a bonus, I”ll also give the winner a PDF of my e-book, Risky Issues. 🙂
How Long Will this Giveaway Last?
This giveaway will run from December 12 to 24th, 2014.
How Will You Know if You Have Won?
I will post the winner’s name on this blog on December 26th, 2014.
You will receive instructions on how to claim your prize.
This will involve emailing me, and indicating which book forrmat you prefer. You will have a choice of epub, Kindle, a physical copy, etc.!
Jean will then send you a copy of The Black Fountain Goddess, in your preferred format, and if you opt for the physical copy, she will also autograph it!
How Will the Winner Be Chosen?
The winner will be chosen randomly using Rafflecopter.
How Do You Enter this Giveaway?
Enter the contest using Rafflecopter, at the end of this post.
Where You Can Buy The Black Fountain Goddess
If you are interested in The Black Fountain Goddess, you can read the first three chapters on her publisher’s site.
If you don’t want to wait to read this mystery, The Black Fountain Goddess can be purchased from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble.
About the author, Jean Moynahan
Jean Moynahan was born in Oregon but raised in Arizona. Before finishing her university studies, she served two years in Germany with the Army Signal Corps, an experience that years later would provide the basis for her first published book, a romance entitled Captain of Hearts.
Jean completed a master’s degree in English literature at Arizona State University and has been a teacher ever since, specifically an adjunct college instructor in writing and literature at a community college in Oregon for over twenty years.
She has published a second romance, Painted Heart, and a mystery, The Illuminated Vineyard. The Black Fountain Goddess is her second mystery, and it was published in July of 2014 by Twilight Times Books.
Jean lives with her husband in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley.
You can connect with Jean on Goodreads, as she does not have her own website yet!
Cover art credit: Deirdre Wait [2014] High Pines Creative
(Give Dierdre a Facebook “Like” at High Pines Creative/ENG Graphic Services!)
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!
Thank you for entering the giveaway!
hi lorraine; first let me comment on your thoughts about the back cover. I have learned so much from you about marketing and writing good copy. you always come up with much better wording than i do for anything meant to sell. so i advise jean to listen to you and forward your comments to her publisher. I know they have teams of people who are supposed to know this business but hard work doesn’t always result in better work than you can get from someone with natural talent. now to the book. i probably wouldn’t have read it either because i also don’t go nuts about all the psychic novels that seem to be everywhere. love harry potter lord of the rings and even steven king’s dark tower but those are all more familiar to me. thanks for running the contest and for including a copy of your book of excellent short stories in the bargain. i do have a couple of questions. one, can this book be easily read and enjoyed without reading the first volume in the story. second, is there an audio version available? thanks so much for sharing my friend. xoxo max
Max, Jean’s two books are both stand-alones, I’m pretty sure, and so you can read one and not the other. Unfortunately, there is not an audio version available as of yet. Sorry!
Thanks for your kind words, Max. I hope the folks at Twilight Times take note of them!
Hi Lorraine,
I keep seeing you all over on other blogs, but I do not know you personally. Each time I see you I’m thinking I’ve got to go visit this lady, and finally I did.
One of my huge goals for 2015 is to extend my reach to other bloggers and build more relationships. I know it’s going to be time consuming, no doubt, but I realize that I need to do better than I have so far.
I do not know this author you referring too, but your review really comes from the heart. I’m sure she appreciates that. The fact that you’re saying that the back cover doesn’t do the book justice, that alone, would want to make someone investigate the book 🙂
I hope we could get to know each other better this coming year. In the meantime, have a great holiday seasons.
Sylviane, I can say the same about you! LOL I would like to know how to pronounce your name, too.
Thanks for the compliment on my review. This author doesn’t have an internet presence but she sent me an email, reaching out to me, as she saw a review I did for Jen J. Danna, on Wording Well, which is my main blog (that site originally contained all the posts from my first free blog on WordPress.com, Lorraine Reguly’s Life, and then when I moved to a self-hosted site, I renamed it Wording Well).
After realizing that I should narrow the contents of Wording Well, I created lorrainereguly.com and so am now posting content on this site that was previously found on Lorraine Reguly’s Life/Wording Well.
Anyway, that’s just a bit of history lesson about my blogs, Sylviane.
Thanks for dropping by, and I look forward to interacting with you further! 🙂
Max,
Thank you for your comments and interest. I know Lorraine replied, but perhaps I could also add to that…
THE BLACK FOUNTAIN GODDESS is definitely a stand-alone–as is my other mystery, THE ILLUMINATED VINEYARD. I have to say that although the publisher has sometimes listed THE BLACK FOUNTAIN GODDESS as “paranormal” suspense, I wrote it as more of a mainstream mystery with a hint of the supernatural. But I guess in these days of overlapping genres, it is sometimes difficult to know how to categorize mysteries. And I certainly took Lorraine’s comments to heart about back-cover copy. It is indeed difficult sometimes to hit the right note–feedback is always valuable!
Unfortunately, there is not an audio version available–only Kindle and trade paperback.
Thanks again for the interest.
Jean
Sylviane,
I agree about Lorraine’s comment regarding my back-cover copy–it probably would make me more likely to read the book, too:) I am grateful for Lorraine’s review exactly because it does “come from the heart” as do all of her reviews.
Jean
Hi, Lorraine,
First, thanks again for your interest, time, and talents in helping me reach potential readers for THE BLACK FOUNTAIN GODDESS. I so much appreciate comments from readers/reviewers–I do indeed learn from them and take them to heart. I think your honesty and enthusiasm in writing about books are what all of us authors hope for.
Also, now that I have finished–at last!–finals week, I look forward to reading your book, RISKY ISSUES. I know it has already received some very positive, insightful reviews on Amazon–and it awaits me on my Kindle:)
Jean
Jean, I know that people appreciate honesty and I have always written my blog posts from the heart, regardless of the topic. When it comes to books, I’ve written only one negative review. The author later changed the title of the book and re-published it under a different name. My only hope is that she altered the text, too. The book needed some improvements. Indie authors have the luxury of changing things at the drop of a hat, unlike traditionally published authors such as yourself.
I hope you enjoy the stories in Risky Issues, too. 🙂
Thanks for jumping in and responding to each person who left a comment here as well. That’s very nice of you!
My pleasure, Lorraine. I am grateful for each and every comment:)
Also, I finished the stories in Risky Issues and really enjoyed them! Your writing style is refreshingly direct and concise, but expressive, too. I especially related to the “bonus” true story about the loss of a pet as a child–you captured what that experience can mean to a young person very well.
Jean
Jean, like you, I’m grateful for the comments people leave!
Thanks for reading my book as well. I have a few different writing styles. Clearly, the bonus story is a bit different from the other because it is actually a true story, and so is written from the heart, in not-quite-like-a-reporter style.
I appreciate the compliments and, again, your responses to everyone here. 🙂
One thought on the back-cover copy, Lorraine:
I think you are correct that it probably doesn’t “hook” the reader as well as it might, but I have to take responsibility for it! As with most small publishers these days, Twilight Times has the author do her/his own blurb and copy material–usually with strict limits (25-50 words?) on length, depending on its purpose. So, I did struggle with trying to get as much on cover as possible, but there is definitely a learning curve. I can assure you that I will consider the blurb cover material more carefully next time.:)
Jean
Jean, is it possible to change the cover blurb at this late date? If so, perhaps I can help you come up with a more suitable synopsis that will hook readers into buying the book.
Let me know, and thanks for filling me in on this being your responsibility. I had no idea the onus fell on you to create this!
Lorraine,
I had thought of that, but it is a very limited run (again, small publisher), so I’m not sure Twilight Times would think it worth the trouble. But certainly for future books, I would think about seeking some help from someone like you who is probably more sensitive to the marketing aspects of publishing. Part of the problem was trying to cover all bases with a book that has elements of the supernatural (as you rightly pointed out in your review) but isn’t really a “paranormal'” book per se…
I think both yours and Max’s comments emphasize how important that precious space on a cover is for hooking readers.
Thanks for the feedback:)
Jean
This book does sound wonderful and I’m excited to possibly win a copy. (I’d prefer an autographed hard copy if I win!)
Lorraine, I’m going to check out your interview with a blind gal shortly. I hope you have a blessed Christmas!
E.G., grab a cup of coffee or tea for when you read the interview; it’s quite long (but fascinating)!
I’d opt for the autographed copy, too. 😉
Thanks for reading and entering this giveaway!
Merry Christmas, E.G.!
Hi, E.G.,
How nice of you to express interest in my book–and best of luck in the drawing. I will, of course, be delighted to autograph a hard copy for you should you win:)
Merry Christmas:)
Jean