Spotlight & Giveaway: The Road To Nowhere by Charles Lemar Brown

Posted December 7th, 2022 by in Blog, Spotlight / 53 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Charles Lemar Brown to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Charles Lemar Brown and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Road To Nowhere!

 
Thank you Sara and all of the Readers at Harlequin Junkie for inviting me to talk about my book today.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Grandparents love their grandchildren. It may not be a law, but it’s close. Will Tucker is no exception. And like most grandparents, Will will do everything in his power to assure that his grandson, Trey, has the chance to live a happy life. The problem, as Will sees it, is Trey is being manipulated by his fiancé and with the wedding just a couple of months away, the time to fix the problem is running out. As bad as Will hates traveling or being away from the ranch, he decides what Trey needs is time far away from Lisa, the fiancé. When Trey learns that he must chauffeur his grandparents from Oklahoma to California, he has no idea how the trip will change his life.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

Beautiful on the outside can hide a whole lot of ugly on the
inside if you let it.

A voice in his head that sounded a whole lot like Will
Tucker said, It’s your choice. You can either lay there and keep
letting’em kick you or you can pick your ass up off the ground
and start kickin’ back.

Trey, love is something that begins with
like and then grows. And if you work at it long enough and hard
enough, it will grow strong enough to get you through those times
when you really don’t even like each other much. And believe me
there will be some of those times. . .

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • I outlined this book one night in a motel room after getting a call from my youngest son about relationship problems he was having at the time.
  • To research the story, I traveled the very route that is taken in the book .
  • There is actually a little community in Oklahoma called Nowhere (you can google it on Google maps).

 

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

This story has two separate Hero/Heroine stories in it. And neither one of them began as an attraction.

 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

While writing this novel, I often found myself laughing at Will Tucker’s antics. And at other times, I would finish scenes with tears streaming down my cheeks. One of the most amazing things that I have found while doing the many edits required to polish this book is that those scenes still make me laugh and cry. I guess I thought at some point it would stop having that kind of effect on me . . . I can tell you, it hasn’t happened yet. Here’s a snippet of one of the scenes that still starts the water works flowing . . .

Suddenly, Trey stopped. As the three of them watched, he
raised his hands above his head, cellphone clutched in both of
them, and began shaking it at the blue sky above. He shook the
phone so hard his entire body began to quiver. Even without
seeing his face, Tess knew he was screaming. With the windows
up and the air conditioner running, the sound did not register, but
the pain in his posture sure did.

 

Readers should read this book….

Readers should read this book, not only for entertainment, but also for the hidden nuggets of truth found within it. The most helpful of these being that grandparents and parents want what is best for their grandchildren and children. And sometimes, the most gut-wrenching thing grandparents and parents have to do is save their children from themselves. While this novel is a fiction, those with grandchildren and children, I believe will find they can relate to it. Those younger readers, the grandchildren and children, themselves, I hope will read it and understand that not everything the elders do is simply to irritate them, but often it is our way of helping them make choices that will make their lives easier . . . and maybe a little happier.

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

Currently, I have two projects in the works. The first is a collections of shorts about two cousins and their families that live in a small rural town. The plan is to get this work of humor out by February 2023. The second project is another novel of fiction that deals with two cowboys. Both of them dealing with the aftermath of relationships that have gone wrong and the trials that come with moving on. This will be published in the summer of 2023.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A signed copy of The Road To Nowhere.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is most likely to draw you to a new author, the book cover, the blurb, or the first few lines of the book?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from The Road To Nowhere:

“It’s like this, Trey,” Will answered, “We’ve all got a little
bit of outlaw in us. Who we decide to run with will either feed the
outlaw or starve it out. The time and place we are born often does
the same. I’ve seen men from good God-fearing families turn out
bad because of who they decided to follow, and I’ve seen some
mighty bad men led away from an outlaw life by a good woman
they were lucky enough to have cross their path. And don’t think
for one minute that it is only men who have it in them, women do
too.” A quick glance at Maggie, and a wink at Trey, and he added,
“It’s just that they hid it a lot better than us men do.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

They say the shortest route between two points is a straight line, but Trey’s grandparents seem to be taking the long way to a destination he cares nothing about — in a state he has no desire to see.

Will Tucker has not been out of Oklahoma in over fifty years. Now he has planned a trip to California with his beautiful wife, Maggie, and his only grandson, Trey. Trey has a problem and even if Trey doesn’t know it, Will does. Can he fix it before the trip ends? Only time will tell and with each mile that passes precious seconds are flying by.
Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Charles Lemar Brown is a retired high school science teacher, who now spends much of his time
writing and traveling. He is also an avid photographer whose photographs have been sold around the world. He lives in rural Love County, Oklahoma, where he enjoys
spending time with his seven children and nineteen grandchildren. Left alone to long, he is likely to be found making TikTok’s, working out in his home gym, or kicked back with his cat, Tilee, watching whatever football game he can find on the television. His favorite quote is—what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and I ain’t dead yet.
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53 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Road To Nowhere by Charles Lemar Brown”

    • Charles Lemar

      Thank you so much for your answer. This will help me with my future projects.

  2. EC

    First, the cover catches my interest, then the blurb draws me in, and the first few lines will decide if the author will keep my attention. Basically, a combination of the three seems like the formula for me.

    • charleslemarbrown

      I like your answer. I read several different genres but there are some I don’t read and knowing a book’s genre is important to me. It’s worth mentioning that placing this book into a genre was a bit of a task. It has a love story in it, but everyone who read it did not think it qualified as a romance. It has a couple of cowboys and a cowgirl, but it isn’t a western. In the end, we placed it in Contemporary American Fiction and Family Life Fiction. If those are genres you like to read, I hope you will check it out.

      • Joyce

        The cover has to be eyecatching – or I don’t get to the blurb. The blurb leads me to the first few lines – and that is where I decide to commit or not.

        • charleslemarbrown

          Thanks for your response. The answers I’m receiving from this question have let me know I better polish everything before I send a novel out.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for responding to my question. From your answer and other’s, I am beginning to understand the importance of a good cover.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for answering this for me. As a beginning author, I sure appreciate input from readers.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for letting me know. The importance of not only the cover but also the blurb is becoming very clear to me.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you so much for your answer. And thank you ahead of time for reading it. I’m excited to see how much you enjoy it.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for your response to the question. It seems to me, from your answers and similar answers from others, that I should definitely make sure the cover stands out.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thanks so much for answering this question for me. As a beginning author, I am beginning to understand how important reviews are when trying to get a new book out there.

  10. Laurie Gommermann

    New authors
    Hearing about the book via blogs. I need to like the story’s premise. The back blurb is super important. The cover picture helps but doesn’t really influence whether or not I will purchase the book.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you so much for your answer. This is my very first blog experience and the feedback is definitely helping me look think about what I need to do with future publications.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for responding to my question. While several folks have mentioned the cover’s importance, I am getting more and more that find the blurb important. I’m beginning to understand the importance of both.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for letting me know. As a new writer, the information I am getting from this blog is definitely opening my eyes. I sure appreciate you taking the time to let me know what it is that draws you to a book.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for answering the question for me. I sure appreciate you letting me know what grabs your attention when you are looking for a new author to read.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for your response. I read a few different genres but always like to know a books genre before I begin it. This novel gave us some trouble in the genre area. After I got it written, folks started asking me what genre it was written in. I had no idea. After several readers finished it, the question of genre still hadn’t been answered. It has a couple of cowboys and a cowgirl, but it’s not a western. It has a love story, but we all agreed it wasn’t really a true romance. In the end it was entered into the American Contemporary Fiction, and Family Life Fiction categories. If these are genres you are interested in, I hope you will give it a try.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you so much for your answer. I’m finding that a cover that attracts attention is a must and then a blurb that sells it, or hooks the reader as you said, is just as important.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for answering my question. I have been tallying the answers I’m getting throughout the day and am finding that the cover and the blurb are the most common selling points. This is very good information for new authors like myself.

  17. Amy R

    What is most likely to draw you to a new author, the book cover, the blurb, or the first few lines of the book? Blurb

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for letting me know what grabs your attention. I’m finding all the answers I’m getting helpful.

  18. Mary C

    Cover draws me in, but the blurb is the deciding factor as to whether or not I purchase the book.

    • Shannon Capelle

      I always look at the blurb if its an author that is new to me and if it pulls me in i get it!

      • charleslemarbrown

        Thank you for your response. As a new author, I know I have a lot to learn and this experience has taught me much.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for your answer. As I chart the responses, it is becoming more and more apparent that a strong cover and blurb are needed.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for replying to my question. Yours is the second response that picked all of them. It is becoming very apparent to me that when trying to market my novels in the future, I need to make sure everything is polished.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for sharing with me. As I tally the answers I’m receiving, I’m finding that I have a couple of follow up questions. I’ve jotted them down for the next go around.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank your response to my question. By far the cover and blurb has been most chosen, but I am realizing how important it is to polish all three of them.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thanks for sharing your answer. Your response along with the others I’ve received is helping me to understand the importance of a good cover.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The answers I have received on this question have been real eye-openers for me.

  24. Patricia B.

    For me, the blurb tends to be most important. It sounds like this is a book I need to read. Trey’s situation sounds like exactly the situation one of our children is currently involved with. Sadly the marriage happened already.

    • charleslemarbrown

      Thank you so much for your answer. And I wish only the best for you and your family.

  25. charleslemarbrown

    Just wanted to take a minute and thank all of you for your input and and give a big shout out and Thank You to Miz Sara and the folks here at Harlequin Junkie for allowing me to take part. It has been a wonderful and memorable experience. Thank You All.