Guest Post and Giveaway: A Brief and Frank Discussion About “A Solitary Man” by Aisling Mancy

A very special thank you to Lisa and all the folks at The Novel Approach Reviews for hosting the book tour kickoff for A Solitary Man! It’s great to be here!

Shira Anthony and I have more than a passing affinity for aiding abused youth. In fact, we’re rabid about it. When we set out to write A Solitary Man, we wanted to write a story to raise awareness about two very important issues: youth placed in solitary confinement and commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Both have devastating effects on our youth of today and leave everlasting invisible scars.

It’s important to note that Shira and I come at these issues from two very different perspectives. She is a public service attorney who faces these horrid issues in the normal course of her work day. I advocate for children who have survived these circumstances. In spite of our diametric approaches, we agree that both solitary confinement and CSEC must cease to exist.

In A Solitary Man, Chance is a district attorney determined to get drugs off the streets of his city. His soul has been ravaged by his experiences during youth, not the least of which were losing his mother to drug addiction, placement in foster care, and subsequent solitary confinement. Shira will talk more about solitary confinement and its effects during this book tour and I encourage you to read her post.

Also in A Solitary Man, Xavier is an ex-FBI agent having worked directly for CARD for a number of years and closed his mind to the heinous crimes he’s witnessed in order to do his job and save sexually trafficked youth. His soul is ravaged by the loss of two boys on a recent mission yet he remains determined to break up a child sex trafficking cartel.

When the two men come together to protect a witness-in-common, they battle personal demons as well as the demons they face in real life in order to accomplish their incredibly tough jobs.

We’d like to believe that commercial sexual exploitation of children is somewhere way down the list of crimes in the United States. Sadly, it isn’t. The US ranks #3 in the world for sexually exploiting children—ahead of most third world countries. Los Angeles is the primary portal in North America for child sex trafficking, and approximately 49-60% of these youth are boys. Statistics show that boys are sexually abused on par with or more often than girls. If we, as advocates, are lucky enough to be able to rescue youth from abusive environments, sadly, there are no resources for boys. Hence, it is incredibly important that we come together and get involved to help these youth.

How can you help? It’s easy. Become a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA will train you and show you what to do. Find your local CASA office and give them a call. If you don’t see a CASA office listed in your state, become a volunteer Guardian ad Litem. Look for the GAL Program in your state. Youth of today need you.

It goes without saying that A Solitary Man isn’t for the faint of heart. We’ve written about tough issues, and we want to educate and raise awareness. That said, the dry humor, wild rollercoaster ride of a thriller, and passion are sure to keep you entertained!

Thank you for joining us in the celebration of Chance, Xav, and A Solitary Man! Go buy the book and read it!

Authors Shira Anthony and Aisling Mancy have teamed up to write a red-hot action-packed thriller!

A Solitary Man from Dreamspinner Press November 6th!

Preorder now from Dreamspinner Press, ARe. Coming soon to Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Add A Solitary Man to Your Goodreads & Booklikes Shelves

Like A Solitary Man on Facebook

Blurb: Sparks fly when Chance meets tall, sexy Xav at a Wilmington bar and they have the hottest one-nighter of their lives. But Chance doesn’t do repeats, Xav seems detached, and they go their separate ways without a word. Two months later, when closeted Assistant District Attorney C. Evan “Chance” Fairchild meets Dare’s Landing’s newest deputy sheriff, Xavier “Xav” Constantine, Evan isn’t only wary. He’s irritated as hell.

Xavier is a former FBI agent turned deputy sheriff who is hot on the trail of a South American child prostitution ring. Evan is fighting to put an end to rampant cocaine trafficking and chafing under the thumb of an election-hungry boss. When someone tries to kill the thirteen-year-old witness who holds the key to both their investigations, they’re forced to work together as they put their lives on the line to protect him. As Chance and Xav collide in heat of a sweltering North Carolina summer, dodging bullets and chasing bad guys isn’t the only action going on.

About the Authors:

Shira Anthony loves a great happily-ever-after and never writes a story without one. She’s happy to write what her muse tells her, whether it’s fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, or contemporary romance. She particularly loves writing series, because she thinks of her characters as old friends and she wants to visit them even after their stories are told. Shira writes about the things she knows and loves, whether it’s music and musicians, the ocean, or the places she’s lived or traveled to. She spent her middle school years living in France, and tries to visit as often as she can.

In real life, Shira sang professionally for 14 years, and she currently works as a public sector attorney advocating for children. She’s happy to have made writing her second full-time job, even if it means she rarely has time to watch TV or go to the movies. Shira and her husband spend as many weekends as they can aboard their 36′ catamaran sailboat, “Lands Zen,” at the Carolina Coast. Not only has sailing inspired her to write about pirates and mermen, her sailboat is her favorite place to write. And although the only mermen she’s found to date are in her own imagination, she keeps a sharp lookout for them when she’s on the water.

Find Shira on blog, Twitter @WriterShira, Facebook, and Goodreads and Subscribe to Shira’s monthly newsletter for updates, free fiction, and subscriber-only contests!

Aisling Mancy is an author who lives, most of the time, on the West Coast of the United States. Aisling writes adult fantasy, science fiction, adult LGBTQ romance, and fiction for gay young adults as C. Kennedy.

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Aisling doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Aisling contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Aisling can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much-maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

Find Aisling on blog, Twitter @AislingMancy, Facebook, Goodreads, Booklikes, and Aisling does respond to emails because, after all, it is all about you, the reader.

THE GIVEAWAY

Thanks so much for joining Shira Anthony and Aisling Mancy on the blog tour for their upcoming novel A Solitary Man. To enter for the chance to win an e-book from both Shira’s and Aisling’s backlists (**excl. A Solitary Man**) OR a tote bag which includes a little swag and signed paperback books from both authors, click on the Rafflecopter widget and follow the entry instructions.

Good luck!