This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Guildie Cynthia Toney’s book, “6 Dates to Disaster (Bird Face series, book three).” It is an SOA winner.
Teaser:
When Wendy’s family has money problems, she must find a way on her own to see Mrs. V and Sam again—but in the process will she lose everything she counted on for the future, including David?
Summary:
For her mom’s birthday, Wendy finds an old jewelry box at a flea market—the perfect gift for someone who loves salvaged junk. But inside the box is a cryptic note that appears to have been written recently. Who wrote the note, and did the intended recipient ever see it?
Wendy’s curiosity leads her on a search with boyfriend David at her side and eager to help.
But Wendy needs more personal and urgent help—the financial kind—because her stepfather has lost his job. The family’s plan to visit Alaska on vacation is headed down the sewer like a hard Louisiana rain. How will Wendy ever see Mrs. V or Sam again?
When an opportunity arrives in the form of tutoring Melissa, one of the Sticks, Wendy’s money problems appear to be solved. Until the arrangement takes a turn that gets Wendy into trouble like never before.
And in the final months of ninth grade, she might lose everything she counted on for the future.
Benefits to the Teen and the Family:
This story addresses academic honesty and communication with parents and demonstrates how abandoning either might affect a teen’s relationships and future.
“6 Dates to Disaster” is a Finalist in the Grace Awards.
Website: http://www.cynthiattoney.com
Blog: http://birdfacewendy.wordpress.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/birdfacewendy
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/CynthiaTToney
Twitter: @CynthiaTToney
Instagram: @CynthiaTToney
Pinterest: Cynthia T. Toney, YA Author
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiattoney
Excerpt:
A tightly folded piece of blue paper was stuck in the back corner of a drawer. I pulled it free and unfolded the bottom of a page from one of those small-sized spiral notebooks people use for journals. It had one edge of ragged paper fingers torn from the spiral, but the paper felt crisp and looked clean. Where had I seen paper like that before? I opened it.
Meet me in the park after the Mardi Gras parade. It was written in a loose, flowing script that could belong to a male or female. No signature. How odd.
My back straightened.
Someone had hidden this note. Hidden it where no one else would find it, shoving it like that to the rear corner of a drawer so small. To keep the meeting a secret without throwing away the note—and still be able to look at it again later. Or, maybe the note never arrived where it was supposed to go.
My curiosity kicked in like it had when I’d learned about a lost uncle no one in the family wanted to talk about.
Who’d written this note, and where was the person it belonged to? One thing for sure—the sender must be someone important to the recipient.
My eyes narrowed. Was the note a directive for a romantic rendezvous? An exchange of some sort? What? How did an old jewelry box wind up at the flea market with what appeared to be a new note still inside?
If the message referred to this year’s Mardi Gras parade, it was scheduled for next Saturday.
Anticipation drummed in my chest.
What if the sender or the recipient showed up at the park next Saturday and no one else came?
I threw away everything from inside the box but kept the note.
Bio:
Cynthia writes novels for preteens and teens because she wants them to know how wonderful, powerful, and valuable God made them. Her contemporary and historical fiction has twisty plots with elements of mystery and romance—because life is complicated. Ask any teen! Cynthia’s Bird Face series (so far) includes 8 Notes to a Nobody, 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status, and 6 Dates to Disaster. Her coming-of-age historical, The Other Side of Freedom, releases August, 2017. She lives in Texas with her husband and dogs.
Buy Links:
Amazon Paperback:
Amazon Kindle edition:
Barnes & Noble Paperback:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/6-dates-to-disaster-cynthia-t-toney/1125288374?ean=9781944120245
Books-a-Million Paperback:
http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dates-Disaster/Cynthia-T-Toney/9781944120245?id=6564263577253
Tweet: Her goal is Alaska. Her family is broke. Is a chance to make money the answer to a prayer—or the road to disaster? www.amzn.com/B01MXUMV8K
Michael Fraley
Michael Fraley has been editing and posting the CWG Book Blast since 2016. He's adapted the Arthurian portion of Geoffrey of Monmouth's “Histories of the Kings of Britain” to the comic page, has worked in book illustration, graphic design, and has also served as a newspaper columnist. In 2019 the story of his conversion to Catholicism was told in Nancy Ward's book Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story. His primary area of study is in the Jewish roots of the Church, with an emphasis on the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle of James. He holds a MA in theology from St. Joseph's College of Maine and a BFA in fine art from Indiana University. He can be reached at michael@michaelfraley.com