I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the A MISFORTUNE OF
LAKE MONSTERS by Nicole M. Wolverton Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
Author: Nicole M.
Wolverton
Pub. Date: July
2, 2024
Publisher: CamCat
Books
Formats: Hardcover,
Paperback, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 304
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/A-MISFORTUNE-OF-LAKE-MONSTERS
When legends bite back.
Lemon Ziegler wants to escape rural
Devil’s Elbow, Pennsylvania to attend college―but that’s impossible now that
she’s expected to impersonate the town’s lake monster for the rest of her life.
Her family has been secretly keeping the tradition of Old Lucy, the famed (and
very fake) monster of Lake Lokakoma, alive for generations, all to keep the
tourists coming. Without Lemon, the town dies, and she can’t disappoint her
grandparents . . . or tell her best friends about any of it. That includes Troy
Ramirez, who has been covertly in love with Lemon for years, afraid to ruin
their friendship by confessing his feelings. When a very real, and very hungry
monster is discovered in the lake, secrets must fall by the wayside. Determined
to stop the monster, Lemon and her best friends are the only thing standing
between Devil’s Elbow and the monster out for blood.
For readers who enjoy Harrow
Lake by Kat Ellis, House of Hollow by Krystal
Sutherland, Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain,
and The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst.
A deleted scene or a scene
from another character's POV.
The original finished
version of A Misfortune of Lake Monsters was in close third person, past
tense, though still told from both Lemon’s and Troy’s point of view—and it
emphasized Darrin’s Jewish heritage much more. Through various edits, third
person became first person, and a seder dinner scene at Darrin’s house was
scrapped as the plot evolved. Still, I love that scene, not least of all
because a good friend was kind enough to check it over for errors—and also
because I love ritualized dinners.
The dining room glowed
bright and cheery. The long table was set with a pristine white cloth, white
plates and bowls at each place, next to napkins set with matzo. Dr. Flanagan
gestured Lemon in and smiled. Darrin’s mother’s hair was as out of control as
his but dark blonde. She straightened her scarf, loose around her pale neck,
and pointed to a chair. “Don’t you look nice, Lemon. Glad you could make it.”
“Thanks for inviting us.”
Lemon sat and squirmed on the lofty cushion beneath her, sure that a raft of
questions and accusations would come her way any second. If Darrin knew
something was happening, his parents probably did, too. Devil’s Elbow was the size
of a postage stamp. Plus, Darrin’s dad had to have heard the emergency call on
his own scanner. She was lucky he hadn’t personally shown up to her house in
the ambulance. She braced herself, waiting.
“It wouldn’t be Passover
without you and Troy.” Mr. Flanagan leaned forward in his chair, planted his
skinny elbows on the table, and scratched his mustache.
“Stop flirting, Dad,” Darrin
said with a grin. “It’s unbecoming of a man of your years.”
“Oh, come on. Your father’s
sexy. And he cooks.” Dr. Flanagan reached to place a large silver platter in
front of her husband.
Lemon had been coming to
dinner at the house long enough to recognize everything on the plate. The
boiled egg, parsley, and lamb bone were easy enough, but it had taken her a
while to figure out the tiny bowl of horseradish, the charoset salad, and the salt
water. It didn’t matter how many times Darrin ran her through the Seder plate,
though—she never could remember exactly what everything represented. At least
focusing on the food kept her from worrying about the onslaught of the third
degree and what might be happening back at the lake.
Darrin’s sister careened
into the room in a blur of dark blonde and turquoise, and the sweet smell of
candy perfume. “Oh, gross.” She flung herself into the chair next to Lemon’s.
“You’re old, Dad. Old people are not
sexy.” She flipped a hank of hair over her shoulder and set her cell phone on
the table. “Could we get started? Jenny’s supposed to call me in an hour.”
“Far be it from me to get in
Jenny’s way,” Mr. Flanagan said.
“You’re eleven, Betsy,”
Darrin said, “What could you possibly have to talk about that’s so important?”
“Shut up, Darrin,” Betsy
said and folded her arms over her chest in a gesture that looked so much like
Darrin’s, Lemon almost laughed.
She let her shoulders
unknot. Maybe there would be no inquisition after all. Small mercies.
“Why don’t you all shut up while I bless the wine and
matzoh, hmm?” Mr. Flanagan said, grinning.
Darrin’s mother chuckled and
slid into a chair before lighting the two candles set in silver holders on the
table. Darrin and Troy sat at the other end of the table, and Troy caught
Lemon’s eye and smiled. She returned his smile and for the eight billionth time
in the last couple of days, thanked the universe for giving her Troy. She was
still totally unhinged over this monster business, but at least she wasn’t
alone. He’d been amazing, tendency to blab when nervous notwithstanding. More than amazing.
While Mr. Flanagan recited
the berakhah, Lemon relaxed—really relaxed—for what seemed like the first time
in a week. In this house, nothing could go wrong.
I think we all have our
preferences for how a story is told—in the end, the first-person, present tense
point of view in A Misfortune of Lake Monsters works, though I often
find myself wishing there would have been space to explore additional themes
that had been originally planned. You know what they say: kill your darlings…
and in horror that often means more than your beloved characters.
About Nicole M. Wolverton:
Nicole M.
Wolverton is
the author of the adult psychological thriller The Trajectory of Dreams (2013)
and served as the editor of Bodies Full of Burning (2021), an
anthology of short horror fiction through the lens of menopause. She is a
Pushcart Prize-nominated writer of short stories and writes creative nonfiction
and essays as well. Her work has been published in over forty anthologies,
magazines, and podcasts.
Subscribe to
Nicole’s Newsletter!
Website | Instagram | Threads | TikTok | Goodreads
| Amazon | BookBub
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of A MISFORTUNE OF LAKE MONSTERS, US Only.
Ends July 23rd, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
|
6/24/2024 |
Deleted Scene/IG Post |
|
|
6/25/2024 |
Book Playlist/IG Post |
|
|
6/26/2024 |
Top 5 Books/IG Post |
|
|
6/27/2024 |
Interview/IG Post |
|
|
6/28/2024 |
Review/Top 5 Movies Post/IG Post |
|
|
6/29/2024 |
Dream Cast/IG Post |
Week Two:
|
6/30/2024 |
Excerpt |
|
|
7/1/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/2/2024 |
IG Review |
|
|
7/3/2024 |
IG Review |
|
|
7/4/2024 |
IG Review |
|
|
7/5/2024 |
Review |
|
|
7/6/2024 |
IG Review |
Week Three:
|
7/7/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/8/2024 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/9/2024 |
IG Review |
|
|
7/10/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
7/11/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
7/12/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/13/2024 |
IG Review |
Week Four:
|
7/14/2024 |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/15/2024 |
IG Review |
|
|
7/16/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
7/17/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/18/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
7/18/2024 |
IG Post |
|
|
7/19/2024 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
|
7/19/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.