Silver Dagger Book Tours
  • Welcome!
  • Current Tours
    • Book Tours
  • Book a Tour
  • Open Sign Ups
  • Contact
  • About
  • Welcome!
  • Current Tours
    • Book Tours
  • Book a Tour
  • Open Sign Ups
  • Contact
  • About
Silver Dagger Book Tours

 

Secrets of Hawthorne House - Book Tour and Giveaway

3/8/2019

45 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

The Secrets of Hawthorne House
by Donald Firesmith
Genre: Teen Paranormal Mystery

Picture
Matt's life changes forever when a family of druids moves into the dilapidated Victorian mansion next door. The story of an unlikely friendship, the clash of two completely different cultures, secret magic, and a search for the lost Hawthorne treasure.
Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. Matt’s misery started when a drunk driver killed his mother. Then his father moved him and his twin sister to the small town of Hawthorne in rural Indiana, as far as his grieving father could take from the ocean that Matt's mother had loved. At the new high school, three bullies are determined to make Matt miserable. And to top it off, Matt learns that the recluse who lives in the 'haunted house" next door is none other than Old Lady Hawthorne, the town’s infamous witch and murderer. Matt’s terrible summer is turning into an awful autumn when something quite unexpected happens. Old Lady Hawthorne’s niece and her three children arrive, and Matt meets Gerallt.


Add to Goodreads
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords

​

Picture
​The sun had just set as Matt, now transformed into a youthful vampire, walked out his front door to join Gerallt and Gareth for their planned evening of house-to-house candy extortion. Rising in the east like a pale pumpkin in the sky, a full moon peeked out from behind wispy translucent clouds. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and Matt drew his cheap black and scarlet cape around him with a flourish before striding out into the gathering darkness.
A thin mist was rising from the dew-drenched grass, forming a low layer of fog that darkened the shadows beneath the row of oaks lining Hawthorne Drive. Matt looked next door at the old Victorian mansion and was amazed by its transformation. Each tall window of the Hawthorne House framed a single colorful candle, burning with flickering flames of yellow, orange, or red. A few candles even burned with the same sickly shade of green that illuminated the bottom of the twin streams of smoke rising from the mansion’s massive stone chimneys. The green glowing smoke bubbling out of the chimney pots rose only a few feet before cascading down the gabled roof to become a low-lying fog. Matt was surprised to see a black shape suddenly swoop through the smoke, only to be followed by another and yet another. Large bats fluttered around the twin chimneys and the three towers, feasting on clouds of ghostly moths seemingly drawn to the pale green smoke. Matt had seen the occasional brown bat before, but never so many and never as big as these.
Only the short attic windows were without candles. Yet, while watching in wonder at the fluttering forms, Matt would have sworn that out of the edge of his vision he had seen a pale figure briefly looking back at him from one of the darkened windows. He looked back at the window, but the ghostly shape had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. It sent a shiver up his spine.
Walking slowly over to the Hawthorne’s gate, Matt admired the fantastic cobwebs that covered their fence, bushes, and even the lower branches of the trees. Not the thick cottony store-bought stuff he’d seen at the neighbor’s houses, they appeared to be real spider webs. Each one was outlined in diminutive droplets of dew and hosted what looked like a large black spider sitting smugly at its center. Matt was impressed; the webs looked expensive, and it must have taken lots of work to drape them so realistically.
The gate creaked mournfully as Matt opened it. Thirteen of the most intricately carved jack-o-lanterns he’d ever seen lined the front walk. Each had a different expression, some friendly and some almost terrifying, and every one worthy of wonder and envy. They were so incredible that Matt thought Gwyneth, her mom, and great aunt must surely have worked all day on them.
The fog was getting thicker. Gazing into the darkness on either side of the twin rows of carved pumpkins, he could just make out fairy rings of large, white toadstools around teepees of dried corn stalks and several giant pumpkins at least a yard across. To his right, what looked like a real skeleton hung suspended by a hangman’s noose from a lower branch of the huge oak in the corner of their front yard. To his left, another pair of realistic skeletons sat hand in hand in the small gazebo next to the fence between their houses. Clearly, Matt thought, the Hawthornes went all out on Halloween.
The covered porch was lined with more of the marvelous jack-o-lanterns. Cobwebs hung from the newly painted gingerbread trim and between the ornately turned spindles of the recently repaired railing. Leaning over to take a closer look at one of the webs, Matt jerked back in shocked surprise. Both the big black spider and its web were real! Turning in amazement, he went to the windows for a better look at the colored candles; they too were real with flickering flames burning yellow, orange, red, or green.
​

Picture
Picture
Picture
A geek by day, Donald Firesmith works as a system and software engineer helping the US Government acquire large, complex software-intensive systems. In this guise, he has authored seven technical books, written numerous software- and system-related articles and papers, and spoken at more conferences than he can possibly remember. He's also proud to have been named a Distinguished Engineer by the Association of Computing Machinery, although his pride is tempered somewhat by his fear that the term "distinguished" makes him sound like a graybeard academic rather than an active engineer whose beard is still slightly more red than gray.

By night and on weekends, his alter ego writes modern paranormal fantasy, apocalyptic science fiction, action and adventure novels and relaxes by handcrafting magic wands from various magical woods and mystical gemstones. His first foray into fiction is the book Magical Wands: A Cornucopia of Wand Lore written under the pen name Wolfrick Ignatius Feuerschmied. He lives in Crafton, Pennsylvania with his wife Becky, and his son Dane, and varying numbers of dogs, cats, and birds.



Website * Facebook * Twitter * Bookbub * Google+ * Amazon * Goodreads


Picture
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!

Mar 8
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Character Madness and Musings

Mar 9
Scrupulous Dreams
The Book Dragon

Mar 10
Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews
A Pinch of Bookdust

Mar 11
Anna del C. Dye official page – REVIEW
Twisted Book Ramblings

Mar 12
Antrim Cycle
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too!

Mar 13
Fiction, Food, and Foolishness
Better Read Than Undead

Mar 14
Readeropolis
2 chicks and a book

Mar 15
nanasbookreviews
Literary Gold

Mar 16
Rita's reading room
A Mama's Corner of the World

Mar 17
Bedazzled By Books
Books a Plenty Book Reviews

Mar 18
Java John Z's
Bookish Reviews

Mar 19
Bookriot
Inside the Insanity

Mar 20
Mythical Books
Dragon's Den

Mar 21
Book Review Virginia Lee
books are love

Mar 22
Books all things paranormal and romance
Girl with Pen

Mar 23
Midnight Book Reader
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read

Mar 24
Books, Authors, Blogs
Maiden of the Pages

Mar 25
United Indie Book Blog – REVIEW
Lady Amber’s Reviews & PR

Mar 26
Laurisa White Reyes, Author
Luv Saving Money

Mar 27
Book Reviews by Steph
Paranormal Palace of Pleasures

Mar 28
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
Rabid Readers Book Blog

Mar 29
The Moon Who Listens – REVIEW
SJ's book blog

Mar 30
My Chaotic Ramblings
Tracie’s World of Books

Mar 31
Breanna Hayse Romance
Yearwood La Novela

Apr 1
Lisa Book Blog
SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews

Apr 2
Matt Doyle Media
Stacking My Book Shelves!

Apr 3
Sylv.net
T's Stuff

Apr 4
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Teatime and Books

Apr 5
Tome Tender
eBook Addicts

Apr 6
A Modern Day Fairy Tale

Apr 7
Port Jericho – REVIEW
Chapters through life – REVIEW

Apr 8
Drops of Ink
Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Jazzy Book Reviews – REVIEW


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Picture
45 Comments
Janet W.
3/8/2019 06:11:19 am

I love this mysterious cover! Sounds like an entertaining read!

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
3/8/2019 09:53:52 am

The cover artist, Rudie Parfaite, is an environmental artist at a French videogame company. He totally captured the look of the house based on the architectural drawings I gave him.

Reply
Debbie P
3/8/2019 08:58:49 am

This sounds like an intriguing read. Nice and scarey.

Reply
Victoria
3/8/2019 11:28:07 am

Sounds awesome, thanks for sharing :)

Reply
Rita Wray
3/8/2019 11:35:39 am

I liked the excerpt.

Reply
Calvin
3/8/2019 12:01:26 pm

Sounds like you do lots of computer work, really is neat.. definitely see your talent. I like this spooky mystery.

Reply
Wendy Jensen
3/8/2019 12:15:26 pm

This sounds like a very interesting book that I would like to read.

Reply
Kelly D
3/8/2019 12:30:24 pm

I like the cover, it is spooky.

Reply
lynn clayton
3/8/2019 01:45:51 pm

oh what a creepy cover i love this

Reply
wendy hutton
3/8/2019 03:01:54 pm

thanks sounds like another great book, good luck with the tour

Reply
Elaine G
3/8/2019 04:52:26 pm

This sounds good. Thanks for sharing the excerpt.

Reply
Kelly Nicholson
3/8/2019 07:03:44 pm

What do you think of the book or the cover?

i like spooky houses,only i wouldnt buy one

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
3/8/2019 09:26:22 pm

You can find every review of the book on the following webpage: http://donaldfiresmith.com/hawthorne-house-reviews/

Reply
Denise Higgins
3/8/2019 08:58:09 pm

Love the cover

Reply
Dale Wilken
3/8/2019 09:59:43 pm

Great cover.

Reply
James Robert
3/9/2019 01:28:36 am

Hello! Thanks so much for sharing your book with us. Always fun reading about another book to enjoy.

Reply
Bea LaRocca
3/9/2019 10:40:16 am

Great cover, synopsis and excerpt. I'm looking forward to reading this story.

Reply
Jessie Redding
3/9/2019 07:10:46 pm

I'm a fan of this cover, it makes me think of magic and it's pretty :) !

Reply
Marcy Meyer
3/10/2019 12:00:13 pm

Great cover art! Sounds really good.

Reply
heather
3/13/2019 03:06:15 pm

I so want to read this one sounds good.

Reply
Cecilia R. Rodriguez
3/13/2019 07:06:39 pm

Sounds like spooky fun

Reply
Mary Cloud
3/13/2019 07:11:03 pm

No questions - the cover is interesting

Reply
Kelly Powell
3/14/2019 06:14:38 am

I love your book cover. I added on my goodreads list. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Kathy Cozzarelli
3/15/2019 12:27:15 pm

The cover looks great. The story sounds interesting. Go Hoosiers!

Reply
bn100
3/15/2019 05:46:05 pm

cool

Reply
Sandra Lee
3/16/2019 07:17:24 pm

The cover caught my eye to be honest, as well as the title. I was interested to see what it was all about. Great storyline, I’d love to see where it goes! Thank you for the opportunity.

Reply
June S.
3/17/2019 11:32:11 am

Sounds like my kind of book, good luck.

Reply
Serge B
3/17/2019 12:27:55 pm

I liked the cover, creepy house!

Reply
Angela Saver
3/19/2019 05:31:52 pm

I really enjoyed the excerpt and love the creepy cover!

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
3/20/2019 09:25:38 pm

Given how you liked the excerpt, I look forward to reading your review of the entire book. It will definitely make my day.

Reply
Mood Reader
3/22/2019 02:37:18 pm

Sounds great

Reply
Terri quick
3/22/2019 09:00:34 pm

Thanks for this giveaway

Reply
Lavender P.
3/23/2019 05:18:43 am

Thank you so much for writing this! Teenaged me would so love reading these type of stories, and heck, even adult me is interested~!

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
3/23/2019 10:21:40 pm

Many of the reviewers have been adults and it currently stands at 4.7 stars on Amazon US.

Reply
Chelle
3/23/2019 03:00:39 pm

great!

Reply
Jennifer Sparks
3/24/2019 08:06:08 am

I love this cover and have had my eye on this one. I love haunted houses, the imagery, the storyline, the creep factor. This one sounds like a really great story.

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
3/26/2019 06:52:36 pm

Jennifer,
Note that this is NOT your typical haunted house book. There is no ghost, but there is a strange family of "witches". It is much more about the characters, best friends, and the coming together of two families from radically different cultures and backgrounds. While the magic is real, it is not necessarily what you might expect.

Reply
Jan Lee
3/30/2019 07:37:51 pm

I like paranormal and I don't mind if it is for teens as long as it keeps my interest. I also like mystery and suspense, sooo this book looks like it would be one I'd really enjoy :)

Reply
vickie
4/2/2019 06:20:03 pm

So sorry hit enter too quick on the tweet today 4/2. Here is the link :)
https://twitter.com/vickievirt/status/1113218960412094464

Reply
vickie
4/2/2019 06:19:17 pm

Oh yeah, love it. Something spooky with the house and the boy all alone.
My kind of books

Reply
Daniel M
4/4/2019 07:25:58 pm

like the cover

Reply
Daniella Bonagura
4/6/2019 03:52:17 pm

Love the cover.

Reply
tiago rosado
4/8/2019 09:31:02 am

What do you think of the book or the cover?
Love the silhouette of the house against the moon on the cover. It makes it very mysterious
THX

Reply
Jerry Marquardt
4/8/2019 11:39:13 pm

I would like to give thanks for all your really great writings, including Secrets of Hawthorne House, and wishing the best in keeping up the good work in the future.

Reply
Donald Firesmith link
4/15/2019 07:21:46 am

Thank you all for your positive comments. And that you to Silver Dagger Tours for a great book blog tour.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Activity Book
    Adventure
    African American
    Alt History
    Anthology
    Apocalyptic
    Audiobook
    Australian
    Bdsm
    Billionaire Romance
    Biography
    Chick Lit
    Childrens
    Christian
    Coloring Book
    Comedy
    Coming Of Age
    Contemporary Fiction
    Contemporaryromance
    Contemporary Romance
    Cookbook
    Cozymystery
    Cozy Mystery
    Crime
    Cyberpunk
    Dark
    Dark Romance
    Drama
    Dystopian
    Educational
    Eroticromance
    Erotic Romance
    Fairytale
    Fantasy
    Financial
    Giveaway-hop
    Gothic
    Health-and-wellness
    Historical
    Historicalromance
    Historical-romance
    Holiday
    Horror
    Humorous
    Inspirational
    Legal-thriller
    Lgbtq
    Literaryfiction
    Mafiaromance
    Mafia-romance
    Magicrealism
    Magic-realism
    Mcromance
    Mc-romance
    Memoir
    Menage
    Middlegrade
    Middle-grade
    Military
    Mystery
    Newadult
    New Adult
    Nonfiction
    Paranormal
    Paranormalromance
    Paranormal-romance
    Parenting
    Pets
    Poetry
    Postapocalyptic
    Pulp-fiction
    Reverseharemromance
    Reverse-harem-romance
    Rockstarromance
    Rockstar-romance
    Romance
    Romanticcomedy
    Romantic-comedy
    Romanticsuspense
    Romantic-suspense
    Satirical
    Sciencefiction
    Science Fiction
    Scifi
    Scifiromance
    Scifi-romance
    Selfhelp
    Shortstories
    Short-stories
    Speculativefiction
    Speculative Fiction
    Sportsromance
    Steampunk
    Supernatural
    Suspense
    Sweetromance
    Thriller
    Timetravel
    Time-travel
    Urban
    Urbanfantasy
    Urban Fantasy
    Western
    Womensfiction
    Womens Fiction
    Ya
    Youngadult
    Young-adult
    Youngadultya
    Young Adult Ya

    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016

© 2021 Silver Dagger Book Tours