Welcome to the blog tour for From Then to Now by Mitzi Mensch! Read on for details and a chance to win a print copy of the book!
From Then to Now
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Author House
From Then to Now is a novel within a novel. Maggie figures that, with events being so old, it is safe to tell all. Figuring wrong is her first mistake. Downloading the manuscript onto her grown daughter’s computer is her second mistake.
Andrea is dismayed to discover Maggie’s infidelity in her first marriage and shocked to learn of her grandmother’s cloistered pregnancy and forced adoption of her newborn daughter. She uses the Internet to find the people mentioned in her mother’s story, more to satisfy her own curiosity than to bring her mother peace.
From Then to Now spans six decades and addresses changes, both individual and societal, in attitude, perception, and awareness. These changes, triggered in part by outside world events, bring about personal understanding achieved only after loss is experienced and enlightenment has been attained.
Add to Goodreads
Excerpt
I must have gone too far on Waialae Avenue because all of a sudden I was on a freeway and then the freeway turned into a winding road cut through a sheer cliff. There was no place to turn around so I kept going and watched in wonder at the water pounding the rocks below and the vast expanse of blue ocean beyond. I was ten minutes late for my assignment. This was the road — I recognized it — where they had filmed Blue Hawai`i, with Elvis. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. So far all I’d seen was Schofield, Waikiki, downtown. Now I was in Hawai`i. The assignment no longer mattered. I stopped at a look-out point called the Blow Hole and peered down at a rock with a hole in it where the water spouted up like a whale. I watched, mesmerized, for time indeterminate, enthralled at the energy of the ocean. I had to see more. Continuing on I drove past a beach where body-boarders sailed through the surf and flew through the foam, flipping just in time to escape the fury before the waves crashed straight down on the sand with frightening ferocity. When I thought I’d seen all the glory this island could possibly offer, I came to another place where the road steepened precipitously and the view was more spectacular, if imaginable, than before. I craned my neck to see what beauty lay beneath the guard rails but the sharp curves forced me to focus on the wheel. I turned the bend and there was Sea Life Park on the mountain, or mauka side of the road as Glen had taught me to say, and on the ocean side, or makai, was Makapu`u. I drove down, parked, took off my shoes, walked to the beach. It was so beautiful. I sat on a rock to take in the majesty and totally gave up on the assignment. I thought of Michener’s words in the first chapter of Hawaii, the book I was reading, about the creation of the islands. About the force deep below the sea which built and grew until volcanic eruptions burst through the surface and left molten deposits which cooled and became rocks. I thought about the birds, from far away, flying over, dropping seeds, creating vegetation. I thought about the marvel of how these islands were formed, then found, and inhabited, and now here I was, a tiny, insignificant speck on the face of the earth, sitting on a rock, at the edge of an island, in the middle of the sea, in the most beautiful place in the world. As I felt the water lap at my feet and the sun caress my skin I knew, without a doubt, I was the luckiest person who ever lived. When I finally got back to my car there was a cop, writing a ticket.
Available on Amazon and at Author House
About the Author
Mitzi Mensch was born and raised in New England and attended college in Vermont. An island girl at heart, she moved to Hawai’i, where she has lived long enough to be a kama`aina.
Giveaway: For a chance to win a print copy of the book, click the link below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour Schedule
August 31st
Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com
Tsarina Press (Spotlight) https://www.tsarinapress.com
Meli’s Book Reviews (Review) https://melisbokreviews.wordpress.com/
September 1st
Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com
Didi Oviatt (Spotlight) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com
September 2nd
B is for Book Review (Spotlight) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
Bookriot (Spotlight) http://anjedah.wordpress.com
@joanna.zoe (Revie) https://instagram.com/joanna.zoe?igshid=1xipr7pa6a9zl
September 3rd
PoptheButterfly (Spotlight) https://popthebutterfly.wordpress.com
Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/
The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com
It’s My Life (Review) https://itsmylifejen.wordpress.com/
September 4th
Book Reviews by Satabdi (Review) http://satabdimukherjee.wordpress.com
@the.b00kreader (Review) https://www.instagram.com/the.b00kreader
Crossroads Review (Spotlight) http://www.crossroadreviews.com
Blog Tour Organized By:
Thank you to our Patreon Supporters:
- Christine (https://purplemanatees.org)
- Chris Connors (https://thisandthatbooksca.wordpress.com)
- Zayne
Get your name/blog added to our blog posts and Youtube videos by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/breakevenbooks
I did the “Do I have That Other Book” challenge! I participated in the original challenge when I had first started my channel and wanted to try out part two! Let me know if you have done this challenge and how fast you got! Check out the video below:
