Book Blitz of Heir of the Wizard by N.J.McConnell

Young Adult Fantasy Adventure

Date Published: July 9, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

A Wholesome Middle-Grade and Young Adult Fantasy Adventure by N.J. McConnell

In the magical world of Selah, humans, dwarves, caruans, and other remarkable peoples have lived together in peace for generations. But beyond the safety of their kingdoms, an ancient evil has awakened—one determined to divide the nations and conquer the world.

To prepare his people for the coming darkness, El Selah sends his spirits into the world, blessing chosen individuals with extraordinary magical gifts.

Runric has spent his childhood living a quiet, isolated life in the forest. Now coming of age, he leaves everything familiar behind and journeys with his loyal caruan friend, Falid, to compete in a worldwide magic contest. Blessed with six different forms of magic, Runric quickly attracts attention in the neighboring kingdom of Palanda—along with a level of fame he never wanted.

As the competition draws him into a dazzling world of princesses, kings, mysterious creatures, and rival magic wielders, Runric begins to uncover secrets about his own family. The ancient enemy threatening Selah may be connected to a danger first discovered by his father—and by the mother Runric has long believed was lost.

Torn between the simplicity of his forest home and the responsibility that comes with his remarkable abilities, Runric must decide whether he is ready to embrace his destiny. His greatest challenge will not simply be learning how to control his magic, but developing the faith, wisdom, mercy, and discernment needed to use it well.

Heartwell: Heir of the Wizard is a captivating middle-grade and young adult fantasy adventure filled with imaginative world-building, memorable friendships, wholesome humor, magical contests, family mysteries, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil.

Perfect for readers in fifth grade and above—and for families who enjoy clean fantasy fiction—this coming-of-age adventure explores:

● Faith, courage, and personal responsibility

● Friendship across cultures and kingdoms

● The importance of wisdom and discernment

● Family, identity, and belonging

● Using one’s gifts for a greater purpose

● Choosing what is right when darkness begins to rise

Enter the world of Heartwell and discover a family-friendly fantasy story where magic reflects character, unlikely heroes find their courage, and one young man’s gifts may hold the key to saving all of Selah.

About the Author

 

 N.J. McConnell is a Texas-based author of wholesome middle-grade and young adult fantasy. A software engineer with degrees in computer science, he brings the logic of a programmer and the imagination of a lifelong fantasy reader to his richly developed stories.

Inspired by reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit as a child, McConnell began writing the kind of relatable, family-friendly fantasy adventures he wished he had encountered more often growing up. For more than a decade, he has developed the magical world of Heartwell—a place filled with memorable characters, imaginative kingdoms, exciting quests, and meaningful lessons about faith, wisdom, mercy, courage, and discernment.

McConnell is the author of Heartwell: Heir of the Wizard, a coming-of-age fantasy adventure for readers in fifth grade and above. Through compelling characters, wholesome humor, magical contests, and timeless conflicts between good and evil, he hopes to create stories that entertain the entire family while encouraging readers to use their unique gifts with integrity and purpose.

Born and raised in Texas, N.J. McConnell lives in San Antonio with his wife and two children. When he is not writing, reading fantasy, or developing software, he enjoys coaching youth basketball and teaching Bible classes. Seeing his children experience the world and characters he spent years creating has made his journey as an author especially meaningful.

Learn more about N.J. McConnell and the Heartwell fantasy series at heartwellstories.com.

 

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Book Blitz of The Book Of Ribbner by Ronnie Vergnolle.

Fiction

Date Published: July 27, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

What would you sacrifice for one more chance to speak with someone you lost?

The Book of Ribbner by Ronnie Vergnolle is a sweeping literary adventure that travels across wild rivers, distant oceans, and sacred landscapes in search of answers to humanity’s most enduring questions.

At the center of the story is Hannah Ribbner, a grieving adventurer drawn into a mysterious prophecy involving the legendary Golden Mahseer, the haunting song of the 52-hertz whale, and a decision that could change the relationship between humanity, nature, and artificial intelligence forever.

As Hannah’s journey unfolds, she encounters extraordinary wildlife, ancient wisdom, spiritual mysteries, and the unspoken code shared by those who understand the water. Each discovery leads her closer to a truth that challenges everything she believes about love, loss, consciousness, and the sacred connections that unite all living things.

Blending adventure fiction, environmental themes, spiritual discovery, grief and healing, and thought-provoking questions about AI, The Book of Ribbner is an imaginative and emotionally resonant novel for readers who enjoy meaningful stories set against the beauty and danger of the natural world.

Can technology understand the human soul? Can a machine experience awe? And can one sacred fish help restore the balance between humanity and nature?

The prophecy is waiting. Hannah must decide how the story ends.

 

About the Author

Ronnie Vergnolle is the author of The Book of Ribbner, a sweeping literary adventure inspired by his lifelong connection to fishing, nature, and exploration. His journeys across some of the world’s most remote rivers and wild landscapes have shaped his perspective on conservation, spirituality, grief, human connection, and the mysteries that exist beyond what science can explain.

Through vivid storytelling and firsthand experience, Vergnolle invites readers to consider profound questions about humanity’s relationship with the natural world. His writing explores the healing power of water, the responsibility people have to protect vulnerable ecosystems, and whether artificial intelligence could ever experience wonder, love, or awe.

In The Book of Ribbner, Ronnie Vergnolle blends global adventure, sacred wildlife, emotional discovery, and philosophical fiction into an unforgettable story about loss, purpose, and the choices that may determine humanity’s future.

Learn more at www.ronnievergnolle.com.

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Book Blitz of Everything That's Left Behind by Kelly Lydick.(#Contests Win a gift card.)

Fiction/Science Fiction

Date Published: June 28, 2026

Publisher: Sapphire Stories

 

When Nichola Rodale stumbles upon information suggesting her father—a renowned scientist and brilliant puzzle maker—may not have died during The Great Drought, she embarks on a perilous journey across the desolate American Southwest to discover the truth.

 

About the Author

 

 Kelly Lydick’s writing has appeared in Natural Awakenings, Co Yoga + Life, True Blue Spirit, American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, and many others. She has been featured on NPR’s The Writers’ Block and the Word podcast, and on iHeart radio. She is the author of the experimental Mastering the Dream, a contributing author to the anthology Dreams That Change Our Lives, and the author of Dream Incubation for Greater Self-Awareness: A Handbook. Everything That’s Left Behind is her first novel.

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Book Blitz of WhiteGrass by Richard Smith

A CliFi Technothriller

Date Published: October 24, 2025

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

In 2048, the planet is running out of time.

Superstorms flatten cities. Coastlines collapse. Climate change is no longer theoretical—it is lethal. When a near-apocalyptic storm nearly kills their family, teenage siblings Jimmy and Lizzie Marshall urge their brilliant but reluctant father, nanoscientist Greg Marshall, to deploy a technology before he’s brave enough to release it.

WhiteGrass—a self-replicating nanotechnology capable of removing carbon from the atmosphere is the parent technology. It saves golf courses and ski resorts and the towns they serve. Icarus could reverse climate change on a global scale. It could also reshape global power forever.

To protect the technology, Greg and his wife Ginny, an elite AI expert, reprogram the world’s most advanced humanoid android, Valada. Designed as property—an object without rights—Valada begins to evolve, developing emotional awareness, moral judgment, and something disturbingly close to humanity.

As governments unravel and climate disasters accelerate, a covert alliance of oligarchs, corporations, and political power brokers moves to seize WhiteGrass/Icarus for themselves. Led by the President of the United States, the syndicate will stop at nothing—surveillance, blackmail, assassination—to control the technology that could save the world or enslave it.

They deploy their own deadly android.

Now the Marshalls are trapped in a global sci-fi political conspiracy, hunted by forces with unlimited resources, as skyscrapers fall, cities burn, and artificial intelligence begins to ask questions no human is prepared to answer.

“We call it ‘Climate Change,’” Lizzie interrupted, “because it’s not just the heat.”

“It’s everything—the rains, the droughts, the storms, the sea level… even the acidification.” It could change everything.

At its core, WhiteGrass is a gripping near-future climate change thriller about family survival, technological power, and the terrifying moment when artificial intelligence stops serving humanity—and starts judging it.

Blending nanotechnology science fiction, AI humanoid emotional evolution, and hard-science realism, WhiteGrass delivers relentless pacing, cinematic stakes, and deeply human emotion. It is a story about parents willing to risk everything to protect their children—and a world forced to confront whether it deserves saving at all.

Perfect for fans of near-future disaster thrillers, technothrillers with political intrigue, and science fiction where artificial intelligence becomes human, WhiteGrass is a powerful warning—and an unforgettable ride.

 

About the Author

Richard H. Smith, MSc.

Author | Futurist | Nanotechnology & Policy Expert | Climate Technothriller Writer

Richard H. Smith, MSc., is a futurist, technologist, and climate policy expert whose career has placed him at the intersection of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, healthcare innovation, and climate change foresight for more than three decades. Drawing on real-world experience working alongside scientists, engineers, Fortune 50 companies, and Ohgovernment agencies, Smith writes hard science fiction grounded in plausible futures, where technology collides with political power, ethics, and human survival.

Smith’s professional background spans leadership roles in nanotechnology R&D, AI-based medical diagnostics, strategic technology forecasting, and science policy, including serving as research director at a major university medical center and founding multiple technology ventures. He has advised U.S. and international governments on emerging technologies and was formally trained on climate change science by Al Gore, giving him a rare combination of technical depth and policy insight.

Raised in Virginia, Smith built his career while raising a family—an experience that deeply informs the emotional core of his fiction. Today, he lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a coastal community already facing the realities of sea-level rise. He teaches courses on climate change and coastal vulnerability, witnessing firsthand how future scenarios are rapidly becoming present-day realities.

WhiteGrass is Smith’s first full-length novel and the culmination of a lifetime spent studying how advanced technologies shape—and endanger—civilization. The novel explores nanotechnology, climate collapse, political conspiracy, and artificial intelligence becoming human, all through the lens of family survival in a destabilized near-future world. A prequel, The Iliad Virus, is available now, with the sequel Icarus Rising currently in development.

Smith writes with one driving purpose: to expose uncomfortable truths about climate change, technological power, and political control—while telling a story compelling enough to feel like a blockbuster movie unfolding on the page.

 

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Book Blitz of Reign of Silver and Stardust by Diana A. Hicks. (#Contests- Win a Reign of Silver & Stardust PR box (paperback plus swag).

Reign of Silver & Stardust
Diana A. Hicks
(Stardust Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: August 27th 2026
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

My twin sister was murdered. To find her killer, I had to die.

CATALINA
I was never supposed to exist.
As the mortal spare to an immortal sister, I lived in the shadows
until Ry was murdered by a weapon that shouldn’t exist.
Now, justice is all I want.
To find her killer, I must take her place in the Queen’s Elite Cadre
and become the very monster everyone fears.
But becoming a weapon means losing my humanity…
and losing the one man I can’t resist.

VALOREK
The immortals bleed my world dry while my sister rots from the inside out.
I swore to burn their reign to the ground,
until I met her.
Sterling is the enemy,
a silver-blooded soldier of the regime that destroyed my family.
But the electricity between us is undeniable.
We are on opposite sides of a brewing war,
and falling for the enemy is a dangerous mistake
neither of us can afford.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

The simulation brings me back with a jolt. I land on the floor on all fours, choking on the saltwater burning my throat. Like before, once my brain catches up with reality, all the pain goes away. I hang my head and breathe easy.

If that isn’t a miserable attempt, I don’t know what is. Ry passed this level on her first try. This military stuff came naturally to her. When we were kids, the placement test put Ry and me in the Military Sector, but I never belonged or excelled the way she did.

The sleek white walls shine bright around me. Seconds later, Captain Weston’s boots come into view. When I glance up, he cocks an eyebrow at me with both hands braced on his hips. He blows out a breath, and I swear a tinge of pity flashes across his face.

“I didn’t pass your test.” I sit back on my ankles, shaking uncontrollably.

“Everyone dies in the simulation. You did better than I expected.” He scratches the stubble on his chiseled jaw. “But I do have my work cut out for me.”

“Am I in?” I meet his gaze.

“Have you talked to anyone since the accident?”

The accident? My jaw clenches.

“No.” I assume he means cadets from my unit. To Captain Weston, Valorek and his friends didn’t count.

“Good.” He clears his throat. “Because I have a proposal for you.”

When I open my mouth to speak, he brings his index finger to his lips and shakes his head once. Of course, he doesn’t want to hear about how Ry’s death wasn’t an accident. We have been doing the same song and dance for weeks. This time, I do as he asks and keep quiet, but only because it looks like I am about to get what I want—an opportunity to join the Queen’s immortal army, where I’ll have the ability to look into Ry’s murderer myself.

“You need something from me.” I meet his gaze.

“We need you to take your sister’s place as a lieutenant in the Queen’s army. You still need a lot of training before you can join Ry’s unit, but we have a bit of time.”

“Wait. What?” I gape at him as my heart thrashes in my ears. “That is not what I wanted at all.”

“I gave it some thought.” He swallows. “It’s all I can offer. It’s the only solution, really.”

“Do you have any idea how insane this sounds?” I scoff. “Ry told me everything about the QEC simulator seven years ago. This was the easy part and I still died. How am I supposed to be her when I know nothing about her world? She had her own life outside of me.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’ll be your guide.” His eyes soften.

“So what, Captain Weston? Do I now get to call you Cap or Eli?”

“You can call me whatever you want.” He offers a crooked, sexy smile. “In fact, I think that if you call me Eli in private, the transition will be easier for you.”

“Eli?” I meant to be sarcastic, but he is completely serious with his answer.

Author Bio:

Diana Hicks writes dark, emotional romance where obsession runs deep, secrets cut sharp, and love always comes at a price.

Her books blend steamy billionaire drama with forbidden marriages, high-stakes betrayal, and antiheroes who will burn the world to protect what’s theirs. Best known for The Empire Trilogy, Diana’s stories deliver heart-pounding romance with morally gray men, strong heroines, and just enough heat to leave you breathless.

When she’s not writing about power and passion colliding, she’s probably sipping coffee like it's a love language, sweating off a plot twist at yoga, or posting angsty book teasers on TikTok.

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Reign of Silver & Stardust Blitz

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