Blog Tour for Hiding Cracked Glass by James J. Cudney @jamescudney4 @Shalini_G26

Another chance to feature one of my favourite authors today. Welcome James J Cudney to The Cozy Pages with his newest book Hiding Cracked Glass. This novel is a sequel to his first book Watching Glass Shatter.

Thanks very much to the wonderful (even if saucy) Shalini for organising this tour through Digital Reads.

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An ominous blackmail letter appears at an inopportune moment. The recipient’s name is accidentally blurred out upon arrival. Which member of the Glass family is the ruthless missive meant for?

In the powerful sequel to Watching Glass Shatter, Olivia is the first to read the nasty threat and assumes it’s meant for her. When the mysterious letter falls into the wrong hands and is read aloud, it throws the entire Glass family into an inescapable trajectory of self-question. Across the span of eight hours, Olivia and her sons contemplate whether to confess their hidden secrets or find a way to bury them forever. Some failed to learn an important lesson last time. Will they determine how to save themselves before it’s too late?

Each chapter’s focus alternates between the various family members and introduces several new and familiar faces with a vested interest in the outcome. As each hour ticks by, the remaining siblings and their mother gradually reveal what’s happened to them in the preceding months, and when the blackmailer makes an appearance at Olivia’s birthday party, the truth brilliantly comes to light.

Although everyone seemed to embrace the healing process at the end of Watching Glass Shatter, there were hidden cracks in the Glass family that couldn’t be mended. Their lives are about to shatter into pieces once again, but this time, the stakes are even higher. Someone wants to teach them a permanent lesson and refuses to stop until success is achieved.  

Purchase Links

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Goodreads

Giveaway

Enter for chances to win Hiding Cracked Glass and Watching Glass Shatter!

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e5ee1a9220/?

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Interview With Olivia Glass

When planning this interview with Jay there was a minor mix-up where he thought the questions were for him personally, as opposed to his character Olivia. I think it was only when he got about halfway through that he realised! His own answers are quite cute so I figured I’d include them as well. Hope they make you chuckle too.

1.   Okay, there are five of them, one of them must be your favourite son. Which one? 

(Jay) I think it changed from book to book. Originally it was Ethan because of his purity and innocence. To think of everything he went through breaks my heart. The beautiful ending for his life came way too early. In Hiding Cracked Glass, I love the maturity in Teddy, but I still adore Zach’s antics and Caleb’s down-to-earth yet reserved style to living. It’s tough… if I had to pick one out of all the brothers, knowing what’s happened in the two books and what I’d eventually consider for a future third one (possibly), I’d have to go with Zach. There’s a passion in him that shows how everyone should embrace the time they have available.

(Olivia) Have you lost your mind? Mothers can’t choose between their sons. That’s very unfair, and even if I was convinced to do so, I wouldn’t dare reveal it to the world. Perhaps privately after a few drinks on a day when I’m feeling particularly open-minded. Shame on you! Ah, the world is changing with the questions people ask these days. If I were to pretend that this was a question I would answer, I’d have to say… I love them equally. Ethan will always have a special place in my heart because he was my baby, and well… after everything that happened last year, he’s the one son I can’t ever have that connection with again, now can I? Ah, I need to find Diane… she’ll have a better answer to this question… and a way to teach you a little lesson. 

2.   What’s your favourite vacation memory from when your children were little?

(Jay) We went to a small resort in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York for many summers. Essentially, it was exactly like the one in Dirty Dancing, except I was 8 to 12 years old, so I didn’t learn to dance or fall in love… but all those scenes with the larger group, the cabins, the lake, the family games and dinners… that was my summer for 2 weeks each year. We went a few times with my grandparents and then also with my godparents (aunt, uncle, and cousins). My best friend came along once too. It was quite the scandal, since my best friend was a girl. We all slept in the same bedroom, but I remember thinking… ‘oh, what will everyone think!’ The various cabins were named after American short stories, and we always stayed in the Sleepy Hollow building. I vividly remember playing shuffleboard, swimming, betting on horseraces (films), and devouring all the amazing food. I also remember losing my baby blanket and getting very sick on the car ride home one year. But overall, it’s still one of my fondest memories.

(Olivia) My parents had very little money; vacations were never an option. Diane and I kept each other amused in any spare time, given my parents were always working. We took our first jobs right after we turned thirteen. One summer, we accompanied a family on their vacation for several weeks. Diane is a few years younger than me, but she helped cook meals and watch some of the family’s smaller children. I did all the cleaning. All the money we earned went to our parents… they had a mortgage to pay. But the family was very nice to us, and they let us go swimming one afternoon when we had a few hours to ourselves. Diane and I pretended to be wealthy friends who were off on a summer lake retreat. I think that’s when I knew I had to change my future… to marry a man who could provide for his family and to not follow in my parents’ footsteps. Lake Remembrance… in a small town in called Concepcion in South Carolina. There’s a lot about it in a book coming out next year called Weathering Old Souls.

3.   Do you think your children had a better relationship with their father than with you?

(Jay) Hmmm… I don’t have children, so I think we’ll either have to skip this question, or we’ll have to pretend Baxter, my 2-year-old shiba inu dog, is human. I think I spoil Baxter way too much, and while I was spoiled to some degree, there is a big difference in it. In a good way. My dad and I are very close, and I know I can count on him for anything.

(Olivia) Yes. Ben was an amazing father who sometimes even took on the role of mother for them too. I can’t think of a moment when the boys didn’t run to Ben first with news of something fantastic from school or a video game they just beat. My own father was very cold, distant. He worked a lot, and even when he was home, he had a saying: Children should be heard and not seen. Diane and I knew our place in the home, and it really crafted our personalities. Diane unfortunately became noticeably quiet and timid. She is too subservient at times. I suppose I went the opposite direction… seeing the way my parents behaved made me develop a stronger personality, perhaps too strong in some cases. When my father died, I remember crying because that’s what I was told to do, not because I felt the loss. We never really had a close relationship… if I went to therapy when I was younger, maybe I would’ve processed this sooner. But now… I see how it’s impacted me and I’m determined to teach my boys to be as good of fathers as Ben was.

4.   Coffee or tea?

Tea. I will have coffee on occasion, but for the most part, I prefer tea. Never in a plastic or Styrofoam cup. Always in my fine china, and always piping hot. I would’ve thought you’d offer some in this interview, but I see times have changed.

(Nina) Eh, I’ve got coffee still in the pot.

5.   What is your idea of a great evening with your grandkids?

Let’s see, I have six of them: 5 girls and 1 boy. I love my girls and being able to have a tea party with them has been special. It’s amazing to watch them interact with each other and grow up over the years. When I returned from Italy, I couldn’t believe how much they’d changed in three months. But my grandson… because he shares Ethan’s and Ben’s names, because he’s the first boy, because he’s the one we never expected. I can’t help but constantly want to cuddle him against my chest and think of all the possibilities lost and the ones yet to come. It’s rather amusing to think I had five sons, no daughters. My sons had all daughters until Caleb adopted his little boy. That’s what makes it a little more special. Baby Ethan is the reason we’ve all come back together as a family.

6.   What was your favourite subject when you were in high school? 

English. I was never very good at math and science, and I abhorred gym class and home economics. I did so much cleaning and cooking at home, then again when my parents forced me to start working at thirteen… I hated being taught how to do something by an old woman who yelled constantly, especially when I already knew how and had better ways that that silly teacher. With books and literature, I could escape to places I thought I’d never get to visit. Ben and I used to plan a trip to many of the places I read about as a child. It’s one of the things I most miss since he’s passed on. Diane has become my traveling companion these days, and we talked about starting a book club soon too.

7.   Olivia, based on your actions, some may call you an interfering mother more than an interested one. What do you say to that?

I would have to agree. I made many mistakes when I was younger. After the last year, I’ve learned so much. There is a fine line between being a concerned mother and a desperate one. Interfering because you need to have control is a bad thing. Hoping to fix a family because you love them and want the outcome that’s right for everyone together, as opposed to just yourself, is where that line becomes much clearer. Sarah and Margaret paid the price for my interference, but we’ve been able to move on and now I am better about finding the right balance in our relationships. That said, I will say… sometimes it’s a mother’s job to cross the line, especially if it means the wake-up call will prevent a disaster. I stand by my decision last summer and autumn when I shook up my sons’ lives. But I could’ve handled things with a little more delicate care in the end. Live and learn… hopefully after this latest round… that dreaded blackmail letter, it’s clear that I’ve mastered this lesson. What do you think, Miss Nina D. Silva?

(Nina) We’ll see…

Mini Review

Welcome back to the world of the Glasses. You thought you’d read about their happy-ish ever after endings when you completed Watching Glass Shatter. Not quite. Some secrets can’t ever let go of the persons involved even after parts have been revealed. If you’re looking for drama, lies, mystery, suspense and dysfunctional family dynamics that somehow actually work… this is the book for you.

Check back tomorrow for the full review.

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About the Author

Background

James is my given name, but most folks call me Jay. I live in New York City, grew up on Long Island, and graduated from Moravian College, an historic but small liberal arts school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a degree in English literature and minors in Education, Business and Spanish. After college, I accepted a technical writing position for a telecommunications company during Y2K and spent the last ~20 years building a career in technology & business operations in the retail, sports, media and entertainment industries. Throughout those years, I wrote some short stories, poems and various beginnings to the “Great American Novel,” but I was so focused on my career in technology and business that writing became a hobby. In 2016, I refocused some of my energies toward reinvigorating a second career in reading, writing and publishing.

Author

Writing has been a part of my life as much as my heart, my mind and my body. At some points, it was just a few poems or short stories; at others, it was full length novels and stories. My current focus is family drama fiction, cozy mystery novels and suspense thrillers. I think of characters and plots that I feel must be unwound. I think of situations people find themselves in and feel compelled to tell the story. It’s usually a convoluted plot with many surprise twists and turns. I feel it necessary to take that ride all over the course. My character is easily pictured in my head. I know what he is going to encounter or what she will feel. But I need to use the right words to make it clear.

Websites & Blog

Website: https://jamesjcudney.com/

Blog: https://thisismytruthnow.com

Amazon: http://bit.ly/JJCIVBooks

Next Chapter Pub: https://www.nextchapter.pub/authors/james-j-cudney

BookBub:https://www.bookbub.com/profile/james-j-cudney

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