Author Guest Post
Hello, I’m Alexandra Forry author of Timeless Endings. For this Guest Post today I’m going to give you some advice for beginning fiction writing by telling you how I started my first book. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada, I had grown up with all of the stories from family and friends about how the mafia kings and queens were living the high life before greed and envy destroyed them. As I started to dig into my city’s past, I was very intrigued by Tony Spilotro’s reign as the Las Vegas Mafia boss, in the 1970s. He had it all, running the Crime underworld, corrupt cops, hit contracts, money, and sex. Then when he could of had any woman he wanted in Las Vegas, instead he became romantically involved with a mob associate and a childhood friend Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal’s wife Geri Rosenthal. That was a big no-no to sleep with another man’s wife in the mafia.
This was all at the back of my mind since I was working on another project at the time. One night I was very bored, so I decided to try my hand at writing a Fanfiction to the 1995 movie Casino, a short story on my interpretation of the Nicky and Ginger’s affair. Then I thought to take it forward a generation and let their children (Ginger’s daughter and Nicky’s son) sift through the intrigue that colored their parents’ lives. I called it, Journey to the Past: A Casino Fanfiction.
I was spending all of my time researching and writing this Fanfiction. All of my family and friends just loved the story. By then I had three chapters on Fanfiction and a fourth chapter ready to go. My family felt it should continue in book form. Journey to the Past, no longer described the content of the manuscript, and then I found it! Omerta Affair! It was the perfect fit for the storyline. Omerta is the mafia code of silence.
I could have looked for an agent or I could self-published my book. Back then self-publishing seemed like the best way to go about getting my book published. So I make the tough decision and decided to become a self-publishing author, and I never have regretted it. You can make more money without paying an agent half of your income from your book publisher.
A few months went by, and I received a lot of feedback from reviewers and that’s when I decided to redo it. I took out the off color language and made the story’s main love scene more romantic. With that idea I thought I should rename it something that a woman would really want to pick and read. I re-titled it Timeless Endings.
Thanks for stopping by and happy reading.
About The Author
Alexandra Forry has an
incredible talent for living vicariously through the colorful and
intriguing escapades of her strong female characters and successful
leading men. Her first book, Omerta Affair, based on the true
story of mafia boss Tony Torino and his paramour Evelyn Rosenberg
has recently been adapted and re-released as Timeless
Endings – romance fiction. Her latest book, Wildflower, is
an adventure in coming of age for both a young orphan and her
repressed aunt who is trapped in a destructive marriage. It is a
beautiful story of life, hope, growth, and triumph and deals with
many of the traumas of youth, such as bullying.
Alexandra Forry is familiar with
life’s challenges. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada,
where she lives with her loving grandparents. Alexandra has
conquered the limitations of Cerebral Palsy to write exciting and
engaging novels. She has completed a number of talks and internet
book tours and is a member of the Las Vegas Romance Writers and RWA.
Amazon Author Page
Book Review
Timeless Endings by Alexandra Forry
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: February 27, 2014
Format: Paperback - 290 pages
Kindle - 564 KB
Nook - 215 KB
ISBN: 978-1496069993
ASIN: B00IOTVXEQ
BNID: 2940149364503
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Virtual Book Tour Cafe.
Evelyn turned toward the lights
of the city. The view was breathtaking as she stood looking down on
Las Vegas, lovingly wrapped in Tony's arms. It was a moment she would
keep deep in her heart, forever.
"Look at this-The City of Gold!"
Evelyn exclaimed as Tony kissed her forehead.
"And it's all ours, Eve!"
Thus begins a heartwarming and harrowing
tale of life and forbidden love lost to one generation and found in
the next. Caught between a turbulent love triangle that shook the
very foundations of the Mafia's Las Vegas Empire, and a deadly
struggle for wealth and power, Mob Boss and "King of Las Vegas"
Tony Torino, his mistress hustler and onetime showgirl Evelyn
Rosenberg, and her husband top Chicago mobster Charlie "Gus"
Rosenberg live and love in defiance of the violent and unforgiving
laws of the Mafia. All that remains is Evelyn's carefully preserved
diary left by Gus to be discovered by his daughter Adriane and Tony's
son Victor as they pack up her late father's belongings. Through the
vivid and brilliant use of flashbacks, juxtaposed with current
events, we witness one of the most beautiful and ill-fated love
stories of the last century. As Victor, a forest ranger who fled his
family's Mob past, and Adriane, an attorney being pressured to work
for the Mafia, read through the diary old hatreds and new alliances
rise leaving us to wonder if history will repeat itself.
Book Excerpt:
"Adriane,
look at what I found,” Victor said peering closely at the photo.
"What?"
she said, walking over to him.
"It's
a picture of your parents, my parents and two other couples sitting
on the sofa at your old home. Hey, I remember taking this photo at a
party!"
"Ah,
it must have been taken before my mom went and slept with your dad,"
Adriane said, looking at the photo.
"Seems
like your dad was trying to figure out what happened back in Las
Vegas. What a coincidence this is. We were just talking about it!"
"Victor!
It's a photo that my dad kept in his desk, nothing more!"
She
rolled her eyes as Victor looked over at her and then down at the
very bottom drawer of the desk. He bent down and pulled it open.
A
look of astonishment crossed his face.
"Adriane,
what if we have the story wrong about what happened in Vegas long
ago?"
"Victor,
did you forget? My dad told his side of the story to the person who
wrote that sickening movie. My dad had no reason to lie about what
happened!"
"If
you say so, but I think that you need to take a look in this drawer."
My Book Review:
Timeless Endings is a fascinating story that follows the journey of two people who seek to find out the truth about their parent's relationship.
Author Alexandra Forry weaves an intriguing Mafia tale set in Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Diego that follows longtime childhood friends Adriane Rosenberg and Victor Torino, as they embark on a mission to discover the truth behind their parent's forbidden love affair.
The story starts out in Chicago in 1962, when Mobster Tony Torino meets Las Vegas showgirl Evelyn McCann in a hotel, and they spend the night in Evelyn's room. Fast forward to San Diego in 2007, when Adriane and Victor are cleaning out her father Charles "Gus" Rosenberg's home after he dies from a heart attack. While going through her father's belongings, they discover old articles, pictures, Evelyn's and Tony's diaries, and a letter that Adriane's father had left her saying that it was time for her to know the truth about her mother and Tony's affair. As Adriane and Victor embark on their journey to discover the truth about their parents, the reader is transported back to the late 1970s - early 1980s Las Vegas, where they are introduced to Evelyn and Tony's love story, and all the intrigue, secrets from the past, and drama of the Mafia lifestyle. Along the way, Adriane and Victor discover that they share more than just a longtime friendship, could they also be following in their parent's footsteps?
Timeless Endings is a fascinating tale that engages the reader to follow the dual stories of Adriane/Victor and Evelyn/Tony in chapters that alternate between flashbacks to the past with the present time period. I am a huge fan of Mafia stories, and I couldn't help but become captivated by Evelyn and Tony's love story with all the drama and riveting twists and turns of living the Mafia lifestyle in the 1970-1980s Las Vegas. I thought that it was clever that the author intertwined both stories with the alternating time periods, it easily kept me engaged and turning the pages to see what would happen next.
Written in a creative style reminiscent of the classic Mafia movie Casino starring Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci, Timeless Endings is a wonderful love story that will take the reader on an emotional journey.
RATING: 4 STARS
Contest Giveaway
Virtual Book Tour
Tour Schedule:
May 12 - Introduction at VBT Café Blog
May 14 - Author Interview at Deal Sharing Aunt
May 18 - Spotlight at IndieWritersReview
May 20 - Spotlight at Jody's Book Reviews
May 22 - Spotlight at The Writers Revolution
May 25 - Interviewed at Bellevue Book Reviews
May 27 - Review & Interview at The Booksnake Etc.
May 27 - Guest Blogging at Lori's Reading Corner
May 29 - Spotlight at My Book Tour
June 1 - Reviewed at Dreams Come True Through Reading
June 3 - Spotlight at Books, Books The Magical Fruit
June 5 - Interviewed at Author CA Milson
June 5 - Guest Blogging at Infinite House Of Books
June 8 - Interviewed at My Life, Loves and Passions
June 10 - Interviewed at Bikers With Books
June 12 - 5 Things I Know For Sure at CAT Magazine
June 15 - Review & Guest Blogging at Jersey Girl Book Reviews
June 17 - Spotlight at Black Coffee, Brown Cow
June 19 - Guest Blogging at Ghost Rider Book Promotions
June 22 - XoXo Book Blog
June 24 - Interviewed at BK Walker Books Etc.
June 26 - Author 2 Author Marketing at BK Walkers Cafe
June 29 - 6 Besties at BK Walker Books
Thank you for hosting & reviewing this title. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book :)
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