Permanent Spring Showers Blog Tour! (+$10 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Permanent Spring Showers

Author: Scott D. Southard

Series: N/A

Pages: 472

Date Published: 2015

Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing

Format: Paperback

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:
Professor Rebecca Stanley-Wilson is having a very bad season. Her husband has just admitted to having an affair. And it was with one of her students.

Blame it on a desire for revenge (or way too much alcohol), she then has had one of her own. Unfortunately for her, her affair was with one of the great upcoming painters of his generation. The ramifications of that one torrid evening will not only be felt across her life but over the entire art world.

Sexy, funny, and very surprising, Permanent Spring Showers is the tale of one very memorable springtime and how it impacts a group of unique artists and dreamers. From the writer who is creating a new literary movement (through outright manipulation) to the hopeful Olympian with the failing marriage to the romantic wondering what he did wrong to drive his love from him, each tale walks the line between reality and fantasy. And waiting at the end of the line is a very important painting… and possibly the revolver used in the Lincoln Assassination.

~Creating an Anti-Romance: The Fun of Betrayals and Sex in Permanent Spring Showers ~

For over a year I was the Jane Austen guy.

Before Permanent Spring Showers, I wrote the novel A Jane Austen Daydream, a fun re-imagining of her life; turning it, in a way, into one of her own tales. The reaction to the novel was really great and it spread quickly through the different Austen circles. It was even reviewed by the Jane Austen Centre in Bath!

Yet, whenever I was interviewed about the book (as well as in the many reviews) my gender would always come up. I was definitely in a world not used to a guy intruding upon. I was like the dude who was invited by mistake to the bridal shower. Chick lit (which is a term I never liked), romance, historical romance, etc., my book appeared on each of the sites around the women’s fiction genres. I’m not complaining about the attention! Not at all! Like I said the reaction to the book was always awesome. It is just that I became in many eyes a romance writer, and that was it.

I’ve never been a fan of the idea of genres. I think when an author latches on to a genre it can limit them. And when I set out to write A Jane Austen Daydream, my goal was not to write a romance novel. I had a great idea and twist (I’m all about surprises in my stories), and that book had a doozy. That is why I wrote it, and in the end it worked.

But then what?

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So maybe after Austen I wanted to rebel? Be shocking? Make the Austen readers blush?

I can’t be certain, but writing Permanent Spring Showers (my new novel) became a lot of devilish fun for me. The story begins with an affair. 

In the morning, right before Professor Rebecca Stanley-Wilson is set to leave for a literary convention, her husband admits to having an affair… and to make matters worse it was with one of her college students.

This affair sets off a chain reaction that slowly begins to build over the novel. Rebecca, while in Chicago, has an affair of her own. But hers was with one of the up-and-coming painters of his generation. That evening of passion will inspire a work of art of such beauty and power that it will capture the attention of not just the art world, but the entire globe. This is only one of the plots that are intertwined throughout my novel. Sex, betrayals, secrets, Permanent Spring Showers follows a volatile three months in the lives of its characters.

Yes, Ms. Austen, we are not in Chawton anymore.

Humorously, I began to describe Permanent Spring Showers on my site as an “anti-romance.” For all of the characters were making choices for the wrong reason, loving the wrong people. Everyone was cheating or betraying the other. One of the things I particularly love about the book is how much the cast hides from “friends” and “lovers.” For example, I might have one character say something which might mean something different to each of the other people listening.

One of the things I can promise readers about my novels is that I am always about finding the new path. I want my works to surprise and to stand out from each other. I never like to think I write the same thing twice. So how would I describe Permanent Spring Showers then?

It’s not all about sex and love (it’s not one of those kind of books), there is a lot that goes on in this new work. I think safely the only thing  you can describe it as is literary fiction. It’s very rich, with a lot of layers. I could not be more proud of my sexy little rebellion.

I hope you enjoy my new novel. 

~Try an Excerpt!~

“What are you thinking? She’s an escort!”

“I’m in love, Steve. After sitting through the first twenty minutes of this lunch, it’s obvious you certainly still remember what that feeling is like.” He pushed his plate forward.

"But Clark…” I began.

He interrupted, “And it’s not like she wants to do that her entire life, Steve, if that is what is troubling you. She is doing it to pay for college.”

           

I stopped, the car of my mind shifting gears again. “Wait, did you say ‘is’? Do you mean she is still doing it?”

“Well, times are tough all over,” Clark replied far too calmly for my taste. “Have you seen college tuition rates this year?”

“And she’s really in college?” I asked, shocked. I began to wonder if I was on one of those TV shows and a camera was hidden in a bush nearby me.

My shock was perfectly mirrored by the opposite reflection of the casualness of my brother.

“You didn’t think I would marry an idiot did you, Steve? I need to be mentally challenged, you know that. She is studying education; her dream’s to teach third graders.”

“You’re engaged to a hooker…”

“Escort,” he corrected quickly for a third time.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically. “You are engaged to an active escort who wants to be an elementary school teacher?”

“Yes,” Clark said with a dramatic point across the table at me. “And Steve, this is where you come in. You need to help me introduce her to mom and dad.”

~Meet Scott!~ 

Scott D. Southard is the author of A Jane Austen Daydream, Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare, My Problem With Doors, Megan, 3 Days in Rome and Me Stuff in addition to his latest release, Permanent Spring Showers. His eclectic writing has also found its way into radio, as Scott was the creator of the radio comedy series The Dante Experience. The production was honored with the Golden Headset Award for Best MultiCast Audio and the Silver Ogle Award for Best Fantasy Audio Production. Scott received his Master's in writing from the University of Southern California. Scott can be found on the internet via his writing blog “The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard" where he writes on topics ranging from writing, art, books, TV, writing, parenting, life, movies, and writing. He even shares original fiction on the site. His blog can be found at http://sdsouthard.com. Scott is also the fiction book reviewer for WKAR's daily radio show Current State.

Scott D. Southard will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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