The Gospel According to Prissy
by Barbara Casey
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GENRE: Mystery
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BLURB: Three Army veteran misfits, a college dropout, an unmotivated high school graduate accused of murder, a controversial warden of a women's prison, and a little girl with the gift of prophesy – these are the people 31-year-old Lara Kruger invites into her life after suffering a miscarriage, a divorce from an abusive husband, and unemployment.
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EXCERPT
The young child skipped through the tall trees and underbrush, unaware of the
puddles created by recent rains or the low-lying tree branches and vines that
swiped at her coveralls and scratched her bare arms. Hugging a doll that showed
the wear of a favorite toy and a faint smudge of chocolate ice cream, the child
pushed forward with determination. She knew where she wanted to go, and her face
showed the intensity and resolve of a person much older than her five years. The
black woman wearing the uniform of a prison guard struggled to keep up with her
young charge. The thick green tangle of natural forest growth and uneven turf
was more of a challenge to a woman her size and stature.
The child stopped when she reached a clearing, that place in the woods that
wasn’t quite so overgrown and where the wild vegetation had been pressed from
previous visits. In front of her was a tree, magnificent in size, ancient in
age. She had reached her destination. She called it, quite simply, “the place.”
Quietly, reverently, she approached the tree, reaching out and touching the
familiar rough surface and its many irregular crevices. She squatted where some
roots had pushed upward and were now gnarled and covered in bark before
extending downward again deep into the soil. It was between two of these large
root formations that the child placed the doll – a throne. Her hand explored the
curvature of one darkened root, first touching the soft green moss, and then the
small indented place that held water whenever it rained. It was moist.
Satisfied, she knelt. Then, lowering her head and folding her dimpled hands
together, she started to pray.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Originally from Carrollton, Illinois, author/agent/publisher Barbara Casey
attended the University of North Carolina, N.C. State University, and N.C.
Wesleyan College where she received a BA degree, summa cum laude, with a double
major in English and history. In 1978 she left her position as Director of
Public Relations and Vice President of Development at North Carolina Wesleyan
College to write full time and develop her own manuscript evaluation and
editorial service. In 1995 she established the Barbara Casey Agency and since
that time has represented authors from the United States, Great Britain, Canada,
and Japan. In 2014, she became a partner with Strategic Media Books, an
independent nonfiction publisher of true crime, where she oversees acquisitions,
day-to-day operations, and book production.
Ms. Casey has written over a dozen award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction
for both young adults and adults. The awards include the National Association of
University Women Literary Award, the Sir Walter Raleigh Literary Award, the
Independent Publisher Book Award, the Dana Award for Outstanding Novel, the IP
Best Book for Regional Fiction, among others. Two of her nonfiction books have
been optioned for major films, one of which is under contract.
Her award-winning articles, short stories, and poetry for adults have appeared
in both national and international publications including the North Carolina
Christian Advocate Magazine, The New East Magazine, the Raleigh (N.C.) News and
Observer, the Rocky Mount (N.C.) Sunday Telegram, Dog Fancy, ByLine, The
Christian Record, Skirt! Magazine, and True Story. A thirty-minute television
special which Ms. Casey wrote and coordinated was broadcast on WRAL, Channel 5,
in Raleigh, North Carolina. She also received special recognition for her
editorial work on the English translations of Albanian children’s stories. Her
award-winning science fiction short stories for adults are featured in The
Cosmic Unicorn and CrossTime science fiction anthologies. Ms. Casey's essays and
other works appear in The Chrysalis Reader, the international literary journal
of the Swedenborg Foundation, 221 One-Minute Monologues from Literature (Smith
and Kraus Publishers), and A Cup of Comfort (Adams Media Corporation).
Ms. Casey is a former director of BookFest of the Palm Beaches, Florida, where
she served as guest author and panelist. She has served as judge for the
Pathfinder Literary Awards in Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida, and was
the Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators from 1991 through 2003. In 2018 Ms. Casey received the prestigious
Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for
her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing
and other areas. She makes her home on the top of a mountain in northwest
Georgia with three cats who adopted her, Homer, Reese and Earl Gray - Reese’s
best friend.
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Casey/e/B001K7S4IW%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
The book will be on sale for $0.99 during the tour.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Barbara Casey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thank you for hosting me and for your interest in my book, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY. I look forward to spending time with you and your bloggers. All best. ~Barbara
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteLove the blurb. Lots of drama in those lines. Thanks for the chance. It sounds good.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments.
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