Monday, October 17, 2016

Blog Tour + #Giveaway: McGrave's Hotel by Steve Bryant @stevebryant52 @chapterxchapter @tantrumbooks



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It’s 1936, and nearly twelve-year-old JAMES ELLIOTT is a bellhop at McGrave’s Hotel, there a year since the night his parents died while on a spy mission into Nazi Germany. 

JAMES craves a goodbye message from his parents, but is distracted by troublesome guests who require his help. 

Assistance with locating a missing and priceless mummy, wrangling mutant spiders, and attaching the head of a bridegroom is just the kind of hospitality guests have come to expect while at McGrave’s hotel where guests are dying to check in. 

But over the course of one frightful evening, James will team with Death’s daughter to fight Nazi sympathizers, monsters, and the undead in this riveting, deathly, historical adventure story unlike any you’ve read before.
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McGrave’s Hotel by Steve Bryant 
Publication Date: October 11, 2016 
Publisher: Tantrum Books

 

An Interview with Steve Bryant

What inspired you to write McGrave’s Hotel?

McGrave’s Hotel is a tribute to my parents, who lived through the big band era of dining and dancing and danger played out in hotels and nightclubs. As I mention in the book, I also found inspiration at the movies, especially the Saturday matinees of my childhood. I particularly loved the classic black and white horror films that featured multiple monsters, sometimes Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, and the Wolf Man all in the same feature. It is no wonder that I would one day write a story that contained vampires, mummies, oversized spiders, and assorted ghosts and ghoulies.

When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I have always written. When I was very young and read only comic books, I wrote and drew comic strips. I later studied short story writing formally in college.

What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?

Outside our local library, reading choices were limited to Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books. By the fourth grade, I belonged to the Science Fiction Book Club and received a new book every few weeks. These were the first “adult” books I read.  I was ten or so.

What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

I am drawn more to the style of the author than to any genre. It helps, though if there is a love story going along with the main action story.


What is your favorite book?

Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game by William Kennedy.

You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

F. Scott Fitzgerald. No one writes love stories better.

If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?

I’d love to return to my own childhood, to spend a day with friends and relatives who are no longer with us, and to have the opportunity to be nicer to them, especially to the shy kids who never got our attention, or to my parents to whom I owe so much.


When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?

It’s easy to write. It’s difficult to write well. I find that writer’s block isn’t a problem if I first outline in detail. Then it is fun to flesh out the story

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

No. I had many dogs and one parakeet when I was young.

What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?

I love all desserts, especially strawberry shortcake in season. For entrees, it’s hard to beat shrimp and grits.

Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?

Write all the time, constantly trying to improve. Take Steve Martin’s advice: Be so good they can’t ignore you.
About-the-Author2
Steve Bryant
 
Steve Bryant is a new novelist, but a veteran author of books of card tricks. He founded a monthly internet magazine for magicians containing news, reviews, magic tricks, humor, and fiction, and he frequently contributes biographical cover articles to the country’s two leading magic journals. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.
 
giveaway2
Giveaway Information:  Contest ends October 28, 2016

·        One (1) winner will receive a scrabble tile book cover charm (US ONLY)

·        Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of McGrave’s Hotel by Steve Bryant (INT)
 

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