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

Witches Protection Program - Book Tour and Giveaway

7/5/2019

39 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

Witches Protection Program
by Michael Okon
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy 

Picture
Wes Rockville, a disgraced law-enforcement agent, gets one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he’s reassigned to a 232-year-old secret government organization.

The Witches Protection Program.

His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar cosmetics company’s diabolical plan to use witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in witches…and believe in himself.

Filled with adventure and suspense, Michael Okon creates a rousing, tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern-day New York City.



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


Picture
Picture
​“Follow me, kid.” She led him down a gray hallway with mulberry-colored carpet, more plush than anything he’d ever seen in a governmental office. The place had to be a city block wide, with corridors branching off to other conduits. Here and there, a doorway opened. Wes saw that many were filled with groups of people sitting at polished conference tables. Some rooms were dark, with shades drawn, the light of a presentation on screens peeking through the slats of the blinds. Staff walked through the hallways, nodding to each other. Some were in pairs. All had a badge hanging on a chain or attached to a pocket. He squinted, but he couldn’t make out the impression on the shield. Forget about attempting to read it. He shrugged; while it looked official, it was unfamiliar. For a person who grew up with an entire family in law enforcement, he found it odd that he’d never seen it before.
“What is this place?” he asked.

“This is where the magic happens,” she told him cryptically.

She opened the door, whispering, “Prepare to be amazed.” Then, with a giant pop of her gum, she disappeared.

“Where…” Wes turned, looking for the woman, but couldn’t see her anywhere. “Where is…”

“Oh, she’s gone. Come in already,” a male voice ordered impatiently.

Wes spun to the speaker, his eyes settling on a small man seated at a glass desk. He was in a neat gray suit but wore a black turtleneck, which made him look like some odd, eccentric leftover from the beatnik generation. He was older than Wes’s father, Wes guessed somewhere north of sixty, with the thickening middle of a sedentary life, a tanned complexion, and silver hair. His chubby face sported a neatly trimmed goatee. Wes wondered where his beret might be. The man studied Wes with interested black eyes that glowed with merriment.

“What kind of department is this?”

“Mr. Wesley Paul Rockville. Son of Harris and Melinda, brother to Lauren and Andrew. Tough act to follow. Runt of the litter?”

Wes bristled, wondering where this pint-size dude got off calling him a runt. At six foot three, he was hardly considered small. “I fail to see what this has got to do with my reassignment,” he said icily.

The older man ignored him. “The young gun who had his free will sucked right out of him.”

“No one took my free will!” Wes shouted, his face hot.

“I think Miss Genevieve Fox did a pretty nice number on you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Alastair cocked his head, a smile playing on his lips.

“I don’t think this is funny, um…Alastair. I’m getting out of here.” Wes had had enough. He was pissed and hungry.

“Sit down, Agent Rockville. It’s time you learned about your new assignment.”



Picture
Picture
Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.

Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads


Picture
Love the title Witches Protection Program- How did you come up with it?
The idea of a secret government agency that protects witches was born out of the one place I do all my thinking. The bathroom. I was in my bathroom one lovely evening in the fall of 2014 and gazed at my wife’s pile of trashy magazines. Since I’m more inclined to read a screenplay or novel while doing my duty, I figured I could take a break and peek through some entertainment pop culture. I flipped the pages and noticed a picture called Wetless Protection Program in some script font above Neil Patrick Harris’s head. I think it was NPH. But in my eyes, I read it as Witches Protection Program and said, what a great title. I then realized I goofed and it said Wetless, not Witches. What a silly idea. A government agency that protects witches. I turned the page to some story about Brangelina or whatever, and my eyes popped open. I turned the page back to Wetless. That’s it. I got my next book idea. Witches Protection Program.  I began creating the story that night and within a week of that fortuitous encounter in my master bathroom, I had a full beat sheet following the adventure of Wes Rockville and Morgan Pendragon.
 
Wes, the protagonist is dyslectic., why did you make that part of his character?
Perfect heroes are rarely heroes. Heroes must have flaws, tics, issues, that they must overcome. That’s what life is all about. We are all heroes and have to overcome the obstacles in life. I wanted people to identify with Wes and his struggles because we all have them. It really is that simple. If I would have made Wes into this beefy hunk that could solve a riddle by snapping his fingers, the readers wouldn’t identify with that. Wes has to have real human issues, and not being able to read is one of them.
 
Does Morgan Pendragon embrace her witch skills?
Well, you’d have to read the book to find out, but the short answer is YES.


Both the frog and gummy bat scene were hysterical if not a little mocking of magic. Why did you write them that way?
I have a wicked sense of humor and I wanted to incorporate everyday items that readers are familiar with (i.e. frogs, gummy spiders…etc…). I wanted readers to see the gummy worms come to life in their minds, to see Wes and Morgan shrink down to frogs to break into the Pendragon labs in Jersey. I wanted the readers to feel that if Wes and Morgan can go through this, they could as well. I didn’t want the magic to feel cheesy or fake. So I used real things to make it feel real to the readers.
 
If it was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main roles?
Easy. Channing Tatum as Wes. Christoph Waltz as Alastair. Zendaya as Morgan. Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, or Halle Berry (whoever is available) as Bernadette. Emma Stone as Scarlett.  They can reach out to my film agent with their availability.
 
You built a world where witches exist alongside everyday people. Do you see this as even possible?
Absolutely! I drive around NYC frequently and I’m always wondering if the woman who just passed my car was a witch, or if that dude in a business suit is a warlock (hint, hint at the WPP sequel). That happens more times than you can imagine.
 
Everyone loves the character, Junie. What made her so enjoyable?
Junie is a mish-mash of my great-aunt Junie, and my aunt Marilyn. The real Junie has since passed, but my aunt Marilyn is a character in real life. She is gruff, cool, funny as hell, and will tell you exactly how she feels. And if you go to her house, she’ll cook you something right off the stove (just like Junie in WPP). I feel safe with Marilyn, who is a Bronx native and she’ll tell ya about it.
 
Where do you find the characters you write about? Are they pure invention?
Characters speak to me. Most characters have a piece of me in them. But others are actors/actresses in my head or people I’ve known my entire life.  For example, I’m no cop. I can’t shoot anything if I tried, but Wes is. And he is based on this friend of mine who is an NYC Police Officer. I incorporated Channing Tatum, and voila, Wes is born. Alastair was an amalgamation of Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained and my own father. A stern, yet sympathetic father figure who will stop at nothing to protect his family, and what is right in this world. All my characters are mishmashes.
 
The book was originally published under the author Micheal Phillip Cash, your pen name. Can you give us the back story.?
It’s a pretty incredible story that I have a hard time believing. I wrote Monsterland and self-published it in 2015. My mom is my publicity manager and she blitzed the bloggers with my book. That fall I was reading a book called Selling a Screenplay by Syd Field. In the book, there was an entertainment attorney named Susan Grode who seemed very knowledgeable about the publishing and film industry. I told myself, when I receive my first contract, I’m going to reach out to her to see if she could help me. About two months later, I received a post on Facebook from an agent in London who asked to represent me. I said sure and asked him to send me a contract. I emailed Susan and introduced myself and mentioned that I had someone who wanted to rep me and I was hoping she could read this contract. She told me before I sign with this London agent, why don’t I meet her friend in Brooklyn, an agent named Nick Mullendore with Vertical Ink Literary Agency. I met Nick for lunch and he signed me that day as his client. That evening, Susan brought me on as her client as well. Nick began trying to sell my book Monsterland to the big publishers and, it was rejected. Throughout his attempts of selling, he had a call with a film agent and he was pitching her a romance novel. She said she wasn’t really into romance and was looking for something with monsters. He sent her my book Monsterland, she read it over a weekend, and we had a call that Monday. She told Nick and me if we get the book published, she will get it into a producer’s hands to make into a film. Nick found a publisher called WordFire Press owned by Kevin J. Anderson, who has written all the Star Wars and Dune canon books. WordFire signed me to a two-book deal for Monsterland 1 & 2. After the deal was signed, my film agent did what she promised and got my book into the hands of a billion-dollar grossing producer who is now shopping my book to certain studios.  In two years, I went from a self-published author to a published author with a literary agent, an entertainment attorney, a film agent, a two-book publishing deal, a publicist, and a producer who is interested in turning my book to a film. It’s been one wild ride, to say the least.
  
Is this version different?
A few things have changed, but not much. However, there are some changes. The script I submitted to my agent who is shopping it around to the studios now is NOTHING like the book.
 
What are you working on now?
LOTS of projects! I have 5 manuscripts completed including Monsterland 3.  A few new screenplays I’m playing with. Exciting things on the horizon, so stay tuned.
 


Picture
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

​
July 5
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Craving Lovely Books
Scrupulous Dreams

July 6
nanasbookreviews
Readeropolis – GUEST POST
Reign of Fantasy

July 7
Book-Lover
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too!
The Bookshelf Fairy

July 8
The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'
Character Madness and Musings – GUEST POST
The Book Dragon

July 9
YA/NA Book Divas
A Pinch of Bookdust
Twisted Book Ramblings

July 10
Cats Luv Coffee Book Reviews
Literary Gold

July 11
Antrim Cycle
Java John Z's

July 12
The Magic Of Wor(l)ds – GUEST POST
2 chicks and a book

July 13
Bedazzled By Books
Book Corner News and Reviews

July 14
Always Love Me Some Books Blog – GUEST POST
Reviews and Promos by Nyx – GUEST POST

July 15
Books a Plenty Book Reviews
Books all things paranormal and romance

July 16
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
books are love
Word Processor, Romance, Cats, Kids and Creed

July 17
Tome Tender
Drako's Den
Triquetra Reviews

July 18
FUONLYKNEW
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'

July 19
Bookworm for Kids
Books, Authors, Blogs

July 20
Dragon's Den
Educated Book Freak

July 21
Viviana MacKade – GUEST POST
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼

July 22
the bookworm lodge
Jazzy Book Reviews – GUEST POST
Plain Talk Book Marketing – GUEST POST

July 23
Breanna Hayse Romance
Girl with Pen

July 24
Books Direct
Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST

July 25
The Avid Reader – REVIEW
eBook Addicts

July 26
❧Defining Ways❧
Luv Saving Money

July 27
A Wonderful World of Words
Maiden of the Pages – GUEST POST

July 28
ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ – GUEST POST
Midnight Book Reader

July 29
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
Paranormal Palace of Pleasures

July 30
Paranormal Romance Trance
raeblake.com

July 31
Sapphyria's Book Reviews
SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews

Aug 1
Lisa Book Blog
Speculative Fiction Spot

Aug 2
Better Read Than Undead
Stacking My Book Shelves!

Aug 3
Sylv.net
Teatime and Books

Aug 4
T's Stuff
Yearwood La Novela

Aug 5
KayBee's Bookshelf, A Literary Blog – REVIEW
Anna del C. Dye official page

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Picture
39 Comments
Janet W.
7/5/2019 07:05:34 am

Great cover!! Can't wait to read this!

Reply
Elaine G
7/5/2019 09:26:51 am

Enjoyed reading the post. Sounds like a good book.

Reply
Shirley Ann Speakman
7/5/2019 09:27:20 am

The book sounds really good and intriguing, I enjoyed the post I like finding out how the idea for a book came about. Best wishes with your tour Michael.

Reply
Rita Wray
7/5/2019 11:11:00 am

Sounds like a good read.

Reply
Kristen
7/5/2019 01:17:01 pm

The cover makes me think of our visit to Salem MA....I feel like they'd have something like that there.

Reply
Calvin
7/5/2019 01:26:37 pm

Sounds really interesting, never heard of something like that.. nice imagination. Great concept for a story.

Reply
Debbie P
7/5/2019 04:26:45 pm

This book sounds like a fantastic read. Great cover!

Reply
wendy hutton
7/5/2019 05:23:28 pm

very nice cover, the book sound great

Reply
Mood Reader
7/5/2019 08:20:21 pm

Sounds good!

Reply
Dale Wilken
7/5/2019 11:52:03 pm

The book sounds really great.

Reply
Serge B
7/6/2019 12:11:31 pm

Cool concept, I liked the cover

Reply
heather
7/6/2019 02:30:31 pm

This is so my kind of book and I love the cover too. Good luck on the tour.

Reply
LYNN CLAYTON
7/7/2019 12:31:21 pm

LOVE THE COVER LOOKS LIKE A GREAT READ THANK YOU

Reply
Aubrey Daniels
7/7/2019 01:23:00 pm

Love the cover. Sounds like a great read!

Reply
Lisa F.
7/7/2019 04:46:04 pm

Did the writer actually work in business and finance, or just go straight into writing?

Reply
Terri Quick
7/7/2019 09:32:10 pm

I love the colors on the cover

Reply
Renee Collins
7/8/2019 02:17:04 pm

Love the cover a d the book sounds really interesting. I cam looking forward to reading it.

Reply
Marcy Meyer
7/8/2019 04:47:46 pm

Fun and cute cover. Looks good. Sounds like an interesting read.

Reply
Mary Cloud
7/8/2019 07:18:35 pm

No questions - the cover is nice

Reply
Kelly Nicholson
7/9/2019 02:48:16 am

What do you think of the book or the cover?

are we talking witch cops? thats a twist

Reply
Beyond Comps
7/9/2019 04:07:43 am

Great looking cover!

Reply
Bea LaRocca
7/10/2019 02:49:02 pm

Great synopsis and excerpt. This sounds like an exciting series!

Reply
Carole D
7/12/2019 02:47:27 pm

This sounds like a great summer read! Love the cover!

Reply
Mya Murphy
7/14/2019 01:41:54 pm

Amazing cover!! Eye-catching!

Reply
Emmaline
7/15/2019 12:18:22 am

Clever play on words for the title! Interesting how witches need protection when they usually have spells for that.

Reply
TAMMY HUDSON
7/15/2019 10:49:01 pm

This has a great cover. Sounds like a great read something I have never read before. Thanks for the chance.

Tighefan42 atgmaildotcom

Reply
rana durham
7/21/2019 04:31:35 pm

I LOVE THE COVER WHAT OTHER GENRES WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE ???

Reply
Linda Gawthrop
7/25/2019 01:39:35 pm

Just the thought of a witches protection program made me smile....

Reply
Starla
7/25/2019 09:20:19 pm

I find this cover to be super interesting! The excerpt gives me insight into this read which really is intriguing!

Reply
Sarah L
7/27/2019 12:47:01 am

Looks like an interesting book. The title makes me laugh.
Thanks for the contest. 

Reply
Corey Hutton
7/28/2019 01:00:02 am

Good luck with the book and Thanks for the giveaway.

Reply
Daniel M
8/1/2019 07:10:07 pm

like the cover

Reply
Sarah L
8/2/2019 12:00:18 am

oops. copied the wrong tweet into the form. Should be: https://twitter.com/slehan/status/1157153550239072256

Reply
Teresa D Kunberger
8/4/2019 07:10:52 pm

This cover looks fantastic!

Reply
Heather
8/5/2019 04:32:58 pm

I liked the excerpt.

Reply
Maria
8/5/2019 05:02:30 pm

WOW this looks amazing, love the cover and the title.

Reply
Celeste Herrin
8/5/2019 08:15:49 pm

This book would make a great TV show! I would definitely watch it!

Reply
Dave Gibb
8/5/2019 08:46:16 pm

wow very cool.

Reply
Jerry Marquardt
8/5/2019 11:33:02 pm

I would like to give thanks for all your really great writings, including Witches Protection Program, and wishing the best in keeping up the good work in the future.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Win a FREE tour here!
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Sign up for tour updates!

    New tours. All genres. All ages. All the time.

    Thank you!

    You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

    RSS Feed

    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
    Epic Fantasy
    Eroticromance
    Erotic Romance
    Fairytale
    Fantasy
    Fantasy Romance
    Financial
    Giveaway-hop
    Gothic
    Graphic-novel
    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
    Mythology
    Native American
    Newadult
    New Adult
    Nonfiction
    Paranormal
    Paranormalromance
    Paranormal Romance
    Parenting
    Pets
    Poetry
    Politics
    Postapocalyptic
    Pulp-fiction
    Reverseharemromance
    Reverse Harem Romance
    Rockstarromance
    Rockstar-romance
    Romance
    Romantasy
    Romanticcomedy
    Romantic Comedy
    Romanticsuspense
    Romantic Suspense
    Satirical
    Sciencefiction
    Science Fiction
    Scifi
    Scifiromance
    Scifi Romance
    Selfhelp
    Shortstories
    Short Stories
    Special Needs
    Special-Needs
    Speculativefiction
    Speculative Fiction
    Sportsromance
    Steampunk
    Supernatural
    Suspense
    Sweetromance
    Thriller
    Timetravel
    Time Travel
    Travel
    Urban
    Urbanfantasy
    Urban Fantasy
    Western
    Womensfiction
    Womens Fiction
    Youngadult
    Young-adult
    Youngadultya
    Young Adult Ya

    Picture

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    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