Ripe For Reader: Author SPOTlight - "DEBRA ANASTASIA" & her "POUGHKEEPSIE Enhanced Edition"

Welcome to the Poughkeepsie Enhanced Collector’s Edition App Tour!

Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia has been a cult hit bestseller since 2011. A homeless guy counting the smiles of a kind train commuter spiraled into a novel that was nominated by the Rockstars of Romance as one of the most romantic stories ever and won 2nd place! It was a story that deserved getting a jumbo-sized enhancement. Extra scenes out the ying yang was, of course, a huge part of the fun. Getting to spend some of those previously undiscovered first moments with Blake and Livia or the moment he proposed was worth exploring. In Debra’s wildest dreams she imagined Poughkeepsie with its own soundtrack, anchored by her favorite musicians. When blockbuster talent Ron Pope signed on with fourteen songs and then Rustic Overtones agreed as well, she knew things were going to get crazy cool.

After almost two full years of development, the Enhanced Poughkeepsie is ready. Debra lost count of the hours spent, as did the developer poured into this. It was beast, and more amazing than she could have ever imagined. This app became the most exceptional reading experience Debra could devise for her readers.

Check out what’s in store for you:

Trailer Link

Immerse yourself in the world of Debra Anastasia’s Poughkeepsie. Experience this bestselling novel for the first time…again as you break all the rules about books with OmnificPublishing and Debra Anastasia. In this enhanced version of the novel, you’ll enjoy insights from the author, music by Ron Pope and other artists to set the mood, and images and video that bring the scenes to life as you read. You’ll delve deeper into the world of Poughkeepsie through nearly 50,000 words of added scenes (more love, more drama, more romance!) and informative insights into how this marvelous story and its characters came to be.

Self-contained in this app (no wifi needed after downloading):
•complete novel Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
•author/director’s pop-up commentary
•music by Ron Pope, Rustic Overtones, Monoxide G, Violet Winter, Bo Heart, and Jeff Epstein and the City Line Singers
•more than 100 images to enhance the story
•videos of your favorite characters in action
•special animation
•sound effects
•interviews with the characters, author, and more
•interactive games
•trailers for the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series
•how-to knitting instructions
•how-to instructions for making a paper rose
•recipe for the dinner Livia makes for Blake

This app will be available for all kinds of devices!

It is available now as Enhanced Poughkeepsie for iPad

Website for Droid, iPhones, and Computers is coming soon!

Visit

for more information.

The website app (which is the same content as the iPad app) will be available this week.

Being with a small publishing company, I found that the title “Indie Author” fits with what I do. I have to say that I love the idea that this industry is being infiltrated by creative female minds that are driven by a dream. Whether it be self published girls, small boutique publishing, or even traditionally published authors that are coming to this new world that's being created to present their own books, it’s exciting.

When I was at Book Bash in Orlando last year, I looked around the room and was happy to see so many other women taking a chance with writing. And of course, getting to meet the exceptional readers that are willing to step outside the norm and read unique stories was a blast.The bloggers --they're basically like the Internet’s bookstore, showing readers the covers of novels that you would never run into in a brick and mortar place. Bloggers tell us what’s worth the read. I feel like readers and writers in this Indie author community are open-minded and exceptionally ready to embrace different stories.

Indie is a really interesting word to me. It reminds me of rock concert and things that you have to seek out to find. It fits for Indie authors as well. You sort of have to find out that this exists, that there's a way to get a hold of books that aren't necessarily going to be in your traditional bookstore. It's like finding an organic farm stand where you getting the most amazing fruits and vegetables but you have to know which driveway to drive up.

When Omnific Publishing told me they were interested in making an the Poughkeepsie Enhanced Collector’s Edition app, I thought was amazingly brave of them to give it a whirl. There's no template for this sort of thing. I think you have to be out of the box thinker to take a story and stuff itfull with all the different, new types of media. The apputilizes everything that your electronic has to offer you. So I feel like this Enhanced Edition truly is yet another branch of the Indie industry. Authors can take books and get to form partnerships with musicians and artists and artisans to create an experience that is totally unique.

Debra Anastasia is busy, just like every other mom. There's dinner, the dogs, the two kids, the two kids, and her ongoing battle with...ahem... digestive issues, which combined with her adolescent boy sense of humor makes for colorful and sometimes cringe-worthy social media updates. Her first love and crowning achievement is her thriving career as the weirdest mom on the block.

Her writing started a decent handful of years ago when--along with the animals and humans in her house--the voices of characters started whispering stories in Debra's ear. Insomnia was the gateway to plots that wouldn't give up, wouldn't let go. Now they stalk her everywhere. Halfway through making lunches, a twist takes hold and--fingers full of peanut butter--she finds somewhere, anywhere to write it down.

She's eternally grateful to Omnific Publishing, which has now published four of her books: two in the Seraphim Series and two in the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood Series, as well as her novella, Late Night with Andres. That one is special because 100% of the proceeds go to breast cancer research. (So go get it right now, please!) She also very much appreciates her open-minded readers, who embrace everything she has to offer, with a focus on anti-heroes and bathroom humor. Debra lives in Maryland with her family. You can find her at DebraAnastasia.com and on Twitter @Debra_Anastasia. But be prepared.

POUGHKEEPSIE
(The Poughkeepsie Brotherhood #1)
by Debra Anastasia
November 2011, Omnific Publishing

♦️Ripe For Reader REVIEW Here♦️

SYNOPSIS

He counts her smiles every day and night at the train station. And morning and evening, the beautiful commuter acknowledges him—just like she does everyone else on the platform. But Blake Hartt is not like the others . . . he’s homeless. Memories of a broken childhood have robbed him of peace and twisted delusions into his soul. He stays secluded from the sun, sure the world would run from him in the harsh light of day.

Each day, Livia McHugh smiles politely and acknowledges her fellow commuters as she waits for the train to the city. She dismisses this kindness as nothing special, just like her. She’s the same as a million other girls—certainly no one to be cherished. But special or not, she smiles every day, never imagining that someone would rely on the simple gesture as if it were air to breathe. When the moment comes that Livia must do more than smile, without hesitation she steps into the fray to defend the homeless man. And she's surprised to discover an inexplicable connection with her new friend. After danger subsides, their smiles become conversation. Their words usher in a friendship, which awakens something in each of them. But it’s not long before their bond must prove its strength.
Entanglements from the past challenge both their love and their lives.

Blake’s heart beats for Livia’s, even if her hands have to keep its rhythm. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails. Love never fails, right?

In an interwoven tale of unlikely loves and relationships forged by fire, Debra Anastasia takes readers into the darkest corners of human existence, only to show them the radiant power of pure adoration and true sacrifice. Complicated families and confused souls find their way to light in this novel, which manages to be racy, profane, funny, and reverent all at once.

RETURN TO POUGHKEEPSIE

(The Poughkeepsie Brotherhood #2)

by Debra Anastasia

December 2013, Omnific Publishing

♦️Ripe For Reader REVIEW Here♦️

SYNOPSIS

Beckett Taylor is a murderer. His calling, his craft are destruction and intimidation—whether he wants it that way now or not. He left Poughkeepsie to keep his brothers safe, to keep Eve safe. Set up with happy lives to live, they’re better off without him, right?

But all his willpower crumbles when he hears his brother Blake’s frantic voice on the phone. An unknown enemy has moved in on his old territory, and Livia’s been taken. In an instant, Beckett knows it will take an attack only he and Eve can execute to bring her back. All his self-imposed embargoes are torn to shreds, perhaps along with the new man he’s struggled to become.

“Brother, call Eve. I’ll be there soon.”

In this emotional and action-packed sequel to Poughkeepsie, Debra Anastasia conjures a tale of love at its most raw and ragged. With Beckett and Eve, how could we expect anything less? But even when it’s messy, not magical, true love perseveres. Real love finds a way—for better or for worse until death does part.