Monday, September 25, 2017

Blog Tour, Guest Post, and Giveaway: A Year in the Company of Freaks by Teresa Neumann






Book Details:

Book Title:  A Year in the Company of Freaks by Teresa Neumann
Category:  Adult Fiction,   515 pages
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Publisher:   All's Well House
Release date:  Dec 21, 2015
Tour dates: Sept 11 to 29, 2017
Content Rating: PG + M (Little violence and profanity, no f-words, no sex, but some drug use)

Book Description:

It's 1972 and a seismic clash-of-cultures is rattling northern California. In the redneck town of Trinity Springs, rumors of hippies migrating up from San Francisco have residents bracing for an invasion. When Italian-American hometown boy and Berkeley graduate Sid Jackson is busted for growing pot on his deceased parents' farm, locals suspect the assault has begun. Will a crazy deferral program devised by the sheriff keep Sid out of prison? Or will a house full of eccentric strangers, a passionate love interest, and demons from his past be his undoing?

A "disarmingly appealing" tale of discrimination, transformation and restoration, Freaks is bursting with intrigue, drama, comic relief and romance. Reviewers agree this five-star, coming-of-age classic "very much reflects the attitude and mood of the times."

A Year in the Company of Freaks: A Marriage of Reality and Romance

True confession: At heart, I’m a romantic; an “old-school romance” sort of girl. What that means exactly is open to interpretation, but for me “old-school romance” is Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Humphrey Bogart and all his leading ladies – strong men and equally strong-willed women, magnetically attracted to each other even as they lunge and parry and spar towards a final, inevitable tango.

In other words, as a romantic, I cheered when Anne Shirley ended up with Gilbert Blythe and wilted when Jo March married the staid Professor Bhaer instead of her ardent beau, “Laurie!”

That said, none of my three books, including A Year in the Company of Freaks, are what you’d call “romance novels.” Still, deep relationships – especially love – are at the core of all them. Without that key element, a great story can only go so far. Why not have comedy AND love? Drama AND love? Sci-fi AND love?

For me, the best stories are a heady combination of all the universals of real life: a cast of diverse characters, love, loss, angst, humor, desperate challenges, dangerous choices and sometimes dire consequences, family and friends we can’t live with but can’t live without. In fact, it’s the tension of opposites who, though they may often drive us crazy, give balance to our own weaknesses.

But what I absolutely desire most in a story – what I need most – is hope: hope that flaws are redeemable; hope that love prevails; hope that justice is served. It’s hope that carries us through the toughest times of life and, on a much smaller scale, through a book (or movie) that has us desperately longing – please, God! -- for a “good” ending.

It’s why I hated the movie The Perfect Storm but loved Life is Beautiful. Both films were based on true stories and featured hopeless story arcs. The difference was that, despite its sad ending, Life is Beautiful left me with an inexplicable sense of hope for humanity whereas The Perfect Storm left me never wanting to step foot on a boat again and wondering why in the world ANYONE would want to be a commercial fisherman for a living.

Life is distressful enough as it is without investing precious hours, nay days, into a book that leaves a reader more depressed than when they started.

I always write with this philosophy – the marriage of reality and romance -- in mind. So readers beware and enjoy!

Praise for A Year in the Company of Freaks:

“This coming of age story will draw the reader right in. Teresa Neumann demonstrates how much she values relationships in her writing … a precious skill. I held my breath all the way through to the final few pages. Five stars!” — The San Francisco Book Review

“As it relates to the complicated clash of culture and counterculture, Freaks acts as an authentic, strongly Seventies book. Northern California works as a strong presence in the novel that is vivid and omnipresent, but never overwhelming. Sure to intrigue and entertain, Freaks will have its digs in you before you realize how involved you’ve become.” — The Manhattan Book Review



To read more reviews, please visit Teresa Neumann's page in iRead Book Tours.


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About the Author:


Author of highly-acclaimed "A Year in the Company of Freaks," Teresa was raised in a large Midwest family and now lives in Oregon. She is also the author of "Bianca's Vineyard," and its sequel, "Domenico's Table." Both books are based on the true stories of her husband's Italian family in Tuscany. In addition to enjoying family, writing, reading, meeting her readers, wine tasting, traveling, and all things Italian, Teresa loves playing the fiddle with other musicians.
Connect with the Author:  Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter





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Ends Oct 7










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