This week, my wonderful efriends here in the blogosphere are helping me launch my prehistoric fiction novel, Survival of the Fittest.
Five tribes. One leader. A treacherous journey across three continents in search of a new home.
I’ll be visiting their blogs to chat about the book, the process, and anything else on their minds. Some of the questions we’ll cover:
- Could Xhosa (the main character of Survival of the Fittest) really have traveled with a wolf companion?
- Survival of the Fittest hints at a spiritual side to man. Is that accurate?
- What popular books are in the prehistoric fiction genre?
- Most scientists believe Homo erectus couldn’t talk. How did Xhosa and her People communicate?
- What one characteristic would you say allowed Xhosa to survive in a world populated with Sabertooth Cats, violent volcanoes, and predatory species who liked to eat man?
- How do you differentiate Xhosa (this book’s main character) from the human species that probably led to her extinction?
- How did Xhosa tell time and count?
- Did Xhosa have any type of culture—art, music, that sort?
- Why did you write a book in such a tiny niche?
- Is there a goal to writing this story?
- This is part of a series. What’s that about?
- Who would enjoy reading Survival of the Fittest?
- I have a Confession: I’m a Whale Reader (guest post)
- The Where in a Novel: How to Portray Setting When You Can’t Get There (guest post)
Here’s the schedule from March 7th-21st (and beyond) of who I’ll visit and the question I’ll answer:
Please join me whenever you can. I’d love to chat with you.
Summary of Survival of the Fittest
Chased by a ruthless and powerful enemy, Xhosa flees with her People, leaving behind a certain life in her African homeland to search for an unknown future. She leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands but an escape path laid out years before by her father as a final desperate means to survival. She is joined by other homeless tribes–from Indonesia, China, South Africa, East Africa, and the Levant—all similarly forced by timeless events to find new lives. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, danger, tragedy, hidden secrets, and Nature herself, Xhosa must face the reality that this enemy doesn’t want her People’s land. He wants to destroy her.
Early Review
From the extraordinary Ronel Jaanse van Vuuren, If you haven’t discovered her blog, Ronel the Mythmaker, you’re missing out. She is my go-to person on book marketing and more. Ronel kindly read an early copy of my book and offered this comment:
“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Xhosa (my favourite!) is an unusual character, but she is fierce, powerful, intelligent and follows her instincts. A must-read if you like adventure, survival and strong female characters.”
Book information:
Title and author: Survival of the Fittest by Jacqui Murray
Series: Book 1 in the Crossroads trilogy, part of the Man vs. Nature saga
Genre: Prehistoric fiction
Cover by: Damonza
Available at: Kindle US Kindle UK Kindle CA Kindle AU
Jacqui’s Social Media contacts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/worddreams
LI: http://linkedin.com/in/jacquimurray
Blog: https://worddreams.wordpress.com
Resume: https://jacquimurray.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquimurraywriter/
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, an Amazon Vine Voice, and a columnist for NEA Today and TeachHUB. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Quest for Home, Summer 2019. You can find her tech ed books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning
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I really enjoy your blog and have listed it on my blog as one that I follow. You’ll be glad to know that I now have finished 3 books that you can view on my book store page. If you get a chance could you please go and take a peek. Getting started is really difficult and could use your input. Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
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You have a nice blog. It’s clean and well-organized. And good luck with your book sales.
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I’ve been meaning to stop by for a while now to tell you how much I enjoyed “Survival of the Fittest.” It’s an impressive combination of research and imagination. Sharp prose too!
Hope all is well with you. Your productivity never ceases to amaze me!
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It is so good to her from you, Carrie. Efriends are so different from physical world friends. It’s not as easy to call or message, make sure all is well. I hope your writing continues to be wonderful.
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I’m still typing away. 😊
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Jacqui, I’m impressed with the fun and sobering ways you have imagined the People to be in that time period. I understand that you have tried to base as much of your story of on information that is known as well as it might be known.
I am adding the review here that I posted on Amazon. I would hope that readers check out the book there and give it a try.
“I like this view of how the different species of man might have behaved and interacted. The style and material reminds me of Jean Auel of “Clan of the Cave Bear” fame. The writing tugs me right into the lives of the characters.
The introduction to the novel presents the background of the time and primitive people such that I can jump into the story without having to figure out the lingo as I read. The common questions with answers section also explains areas that otherwise seem mysterious without a little explanation. The well-told personal interactions are unique to our current ways. We should be as carefully observant of others and thoughtful in our own daily routines as was required and necessary to survive eras ago. The idea and necessity of intense social and community interaction is not that far distant in our own past, though.
Just scan the sample chapters and see for yourself how the stimulating story events will keep you reading until ‘hand of Sun’s travel’ occurs many times.”
Keep writing–and you have such a variety of topics! How do you do it?
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Thank you so much, Cindy. What a lovely review. You have made my month! Let me know if you have a book coming up. I love hosting!
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What a great premise, Jacqui; one leader, five tribes in search of a new home. So many possibilities for tension. Bravo, Jacqui, and all the luck with this new release.
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Thanks, Victoria. Xhosa is a powerful female leader.
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congratulations Jacqui on your new book and for doing such a great job at marketing. well done on so many levels. and wonderful to get such a great first review.
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Thanks so much, Libby. I’m excited about that first great review–and now I have 4! Woot!
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fabulous, Jacqui. congrats.
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Congrats on the new book!
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Thank you so much!
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Congratulations. It’s good when things work out.
Thank you for stopping by Comedy Plus.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. ♥
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Thanks for visiting me, too, Sandee. A good daily dose of comedy would be nice.
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I stumbled upon and commented on two of these posts yesterday! Congrats, Jacqui!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I might have posted once too often about my blog hop. I’m sad it’s almost over.
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Congrats on your release and our tour. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
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Thanks, Anna. Much appreciated.
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Congratulations and awesome cover!
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Thanks, Diane! It has been an adventure!
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Pingback: Survival of the Fittest – Blog Hop #newbookrelease #bookblast #prehistoricfiction – The Dragonspire
This is your best book cover yet. I bet the words inside are just as stunning!
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Thanks, Heather. I think I agree. They seem to capture her feral beauty, her energy, and her hope–I love it.
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Congrats and best of luck with the new book, Jacqui. Love and best wishes 😘🔺
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Thanks, Aquileana. I love this era in history. It’s a bit like ancient Greece without the gods.
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Wow, you are one incredibly busy lady! I love that you have a schedule of blog visits all set up ready, very organised. I’m not sure whether it would be of interest, but I’m always happy to help promote your book if ever you’d like to share something like a Q&A or just an overview of it on my blog. A huge congratulations with everything you’re achieving with this, I think it’s incredible.
Caz xx
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I would love that, Caz. I have several chronic illnesses so I could do a Q&A about those–RA and migraines (I saw your post about cannabis and migraines). Do you want to send me a couple of questions (I’m at askatechteacher at gmail dot com)? Or ???
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Great stuff. I’ll drop you an email with a few questions soon, it’ll be a pleasure to feature you on InvisiblyMe 🙂
xx
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sounds like a wonderful
expression of hope,
especially for her
and her people 🙂
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Yes, she didn’t let anything get in her way. A true warrior.
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What a brilliant way to launch! What a great initial review (C’mon–anything with the word brilliant scores high points.) And, piquing my interest…if a species/culture is pre-lingual, how would they even have names? How would such a being name itself, let alone others?
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They’re name are sounds they make, to represent each other. In translating the story to a modern language (English), I put the names in English. Like Pyotr in Russian is Peter in English. Does that make sense?
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It makes sense–but I’m drawn to the concepts of self-consciousness in a pre-linguistic society. So much of who we are is based on a mental framework defined by words. I guess I’ll have to read it to see how you solved the problems. On Amazon now?
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Yes, it is on Amazon. I did a lot of research on the evolution of the brain so that I wouldn’t have my people doing calculus when they couldn’t even do arithmetic. Turns out, based on the Acheulian technology, they were pretty smart.
Here’s the link:
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Got it! I can hardly wait.
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Best of luck with your book!
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Thank you so much–so far so good!
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This is a really interesting way to launch a book. And an interesting premise as I mentioned on Jina’s site.
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I don’t know any other way to market my books. I’ve tried a lot of different methods but this seems to be the most effective. Cross my fingers it works again!
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A great blog tour! Congratulations!
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Thanks so much–and many thanks to all of my efriends!
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Jacqui,
Best of luck to ya, my friend!
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Thanks, Cath–so far so good!
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Dear Jacqui,
I just scheduled your Blog Hop for Survival of the Fittest r on my blog for March 11 at 8:55 a.m. and I’m afraid that my WordPress site has suddenly gone crazy… I’ve sent a message to the WordPress Happiness Engineers and hope to get this resolved ASAP. Wanted you to be aware of this just in case… Please check the post on Monday morning and If things are messed up, I hope we can simply redo it for another day. I’m beside myself…
Thanks,
Bette
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Don’t stress, Bette. I have no doubt it will work out fine. If it ends up another day, that’s no problem. I’ll check in tomorrow and recheck until it shows up. I’ll have time in between to read your book!
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Awesome new book and tour schedule! 🙂 Happy Touring with “Survival of the Fittest,” Jacqui.
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Thanks so much, Bette. I just bought your “Amazing Mathilda”. I teach K-8 and am always looking for great resources for youngers. This really sounds like it will be. I can’t wait to read it!
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Congrats on your new book, Jacqui. Have a wonderful launch. So lovely to hear you will doing a blog hop to share your book around. Some of the blogs I follow and I look forward to following along 🙂
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It’s pretty fun to see my book cover all over the place. Without it, I’d have a launch day with, well, nothing. I love all of this excitement.
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This looks amazing!
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Thanks to so many wonderful efriends! I’d be staring at an empty screen without them!
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We do what we can haha
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I’m a Librarian and will make sure we have this book on our shelf. I was wondering do you think this book would be a novel teens would like?
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Yes! There’s nothing X or R-rated and it covers the topic of how did we get here? with strong female characters who don’t give up.
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Congrats on your new release! Here’s hoping you have a fabulous launch 🙂
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Thanks, Anne. I’m excited I have it also available in print. To my surprise, my millennial daughter selected that option. Who knew she wouldn’t want digital?
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Hi, Jacqui! You’ve written a book with a female Homo erectus as the main character ~ How cool is that! I’m still making the rounds from IWSG Day, but I’ve bookmarked your blog hop to make some visits this weekend. Your book sounds awesome!
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Thank you so much, Louise. IWSG Day is busy–I never get it done in 24 hours! Look forward to chatting!
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Wowza. I think you’ve outdone yourself. So much work you’ve put in, Jacqui. I’m excited to be a part of your launch.
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I’m very excited to have you, Kate. Next time, I’m going to figure out how to have cookies and coffee, too!
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To better celebrate with you I will do my best to participate! Sincerest congratulations to you, Jacqui. Following you through this project has been a delight.
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Thank you so much, Roo. I have one more almost-done book and then I’ll be slowing down. It’s definitely been a marathon!
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Indeed, Jacqui. I can barely keep up with you. Thank goodness for technology, a? Well done, my sister.
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Wishing you all the best on tour, Jacqui! And I just discovered one of your older books, To Hunt a Sub. Oh, my! On my TBR!
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Ah, To Hunt a Sub–one of my two thrillers. I’m working on a third in that series about weaponized space–satellites et al. Pretty interesting to research!
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I bet. I’ve always enjoyed fiction and movies, TV, built around subs. Your book caught my attention right away.
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Congrats! And good luck with the launch and sales!
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This is about all I know of marketing ebooks. After this, I have no idea.
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No way this is going to be a blog hop flop! Look at all this support lined up! Well done!
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But that has such a nice sound to it, doesn’t it–blog hop flop. Sigh.
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It sure does. Too bad you can’t pull a BHF off. 😉
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Jacqui, I’m really looking forward to this event, and to my part on March 19. See you around the blog-o-sphere – it’s going to be a fun ride.
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Thanks, Shari. I’ve cleared the decks for this.
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Oh my goodness, Jacqui. Look at that schedule! You are a book-launch wizard, and you’re going to busy! Have fun. 🙂
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I have a lot more virtual friends than physical ones! I am blessed.
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Me too. Funny how that happens.
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Best wishes for a smashing launch, Jacqui!
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I like the sound of that, Ankur!
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YAY!!!
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*pant pant–I made it! You’re next, Andrew.
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Scary … 😉
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Congratulations Jacqui! Wishing you great success.
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Thanks so much, Balroop. I hope everyone loves my strong feral female as much as I do.
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Hi Jacqui! Wishing you all the best for your new book!! 😀
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Thanks so much, Sarah. It’s a fun day.
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What a wonderful line-up of blog hops! Wishing you every success with your launch, Jacqui. 🙂
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I owe a lot of people a lot. I love this blogging community!
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You’ve hit the ground running. Great start, looking forward to following this journey, too.
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It always feels that way–that the blog hop is a perfect kickstart to my book launch. I am so thankful for friends.
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Wow, Jacqui! That’s what I call a blog tour. I wish you success with the tour and sales. I’ve got my copy already. 🙂
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Yay! I hope you like it. Lots of learning goes on in it!
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I’m sure I will. Can’t wait to get started. 🙂
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Congratulations Jacqui! How exciting! Blessings✨
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Thank you, Ann. From you, that means a lot.
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You’re most welcome Jacqui! May God bless you with a successful launch❤️✨
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Wow! You’re going to be busy. Congratulations, Jacqui!
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I’m ready, though. I’ve set most of the days aside and am at a sticky spot in my editing so am thrilled to have something else to do.
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how can I assist with launching this book. I’ve started a new website and want to have guest authors
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Whatever way works best for you. As an Indie author, I depend on word of mouth.
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i’m new at this but will try my best—-glad you liked my post.
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Exactly the right approach. I checked your last post–good discussion on moral compass.
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Yeah! A fantastic first review, Jacqui! 😀 Congratulations! Ps. Hope the computer is holding up!
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I am so thankful Ronel came through with this. If not for the help of my friends…
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