Bernard Jan's Blog - Posts Tagged "skateboarding"

Get your copy of Okrutno ljeto

If you want to purchase my latest novel Okrutno ljeto Okrutno ljeto by Bernard Jan in Croatian, you can do that directly at my publisher's web page here. Feel free to visit my web page to read sample chapters in Croatian and in English. Thanks!
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Books by Bernard Jan on Promocave

Two of my books in Croatian are now also on Promocave.com.

For those of you who speak Croatian, you can check my novella Potraži me ispod duge (Look For Me Under the Rainbow) here:

a) About Potraži me ispod duge
b) Excerpt from Potraži me ispod duge

or my novel Okrutno ljeto (Cruel Summer) here:

a) About Okrutno ljeto
b) Excerpt from Okrutno ljeto

I also thought of you who do not speak Croatian. On this blog post you will find an excerpt and a link to read more about my novella Look For Me Under the Rainbow, while this blog post will provide you with excerpts in English from my YA adventure/mystery novel Cruel Summer.

Thanks for checking me out!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com
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Two of My Books

Two of my books in Croatian are still available for purchase and this is a tip how you can get them!

Cruel Summer (Okrutno ljeto) is my YA adventure/mystery novel with a slight dystopian touch, set in New York City in an alternate reality at the end of the last millennium.

Seventeen-year-old Michael Daniels is a young man who dreams of being a professional skateboarder. He lives with his half-sister and stepfather in a society where people will do anything for power and influence, where child prostitution is rampant, human experimentation is commonplace, and the effects of climate changes wreak havoc on the population. Michael finds out that his stepfather is performing experiments on him to promote superhuman abilities. In an uncontrolled rush of his artificially created powers and rage, Michael beats his stepfather to death and becomes a fugitive on the streets of New Manhattan. His two best friends, Alien and Victor, help him evade the authorities who are learning about Michael’s enhancements and are closing in fast. The truth could provide a justifiable reason for Michael’s assault on his stepfather, but it could also threaten the very foundation of their entire society.

You can buy this book from the website of my publisher Dvostruka duga.

Look for Me Under the Rainbow (Potraži me ispod duge) is my novella listed in a program for elementary schools as a reading of choice for seventh graders.

The murder of seal pups, with their soft pelts and innocent eyes, has come to represent the greed and inhumanity of mankind. It is a tale of the victims hunted for their fur, particularly of a harp seal pup named Danny and his family, and Helen and a small group of people gathered under the name of Rainbow Warriors dedicated to protecting them. Helen represents the future of humanity. Acting in defense of those exploited for money, she questions man’s ability to change and rediscover the human bond with nature.

You can buy the fourth edition of this book from the website of my publisher Katarina Zrinski.

By purchasing, reading and reviewing my books you support my creativity and stimulate and inspire me to push my limits and to delve into new and unexplored literary endeavors! Thank you!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cruel Summer Cover and Blurb Reveal

With the beginning of the new year comes the moment to announce my new book launch! And I start it with its cover and blurb reveal.

I originally wrote Cruel Summer in Croatian over 20 years ago. By the end of February this year, I will release it in English. Cruel Summer is a Young Adult cross-genre novel with elements of social and family issues, teen and child abuse, extreme sports, conspiracy, mystery, murder and crime investigation, teen romance, sci-fi and dystopia.

I hope I won’t be distracted this time with earthquakes and other unpredictable situations and thus forced to postpone my release date again.

Indie author Dean Cole did a fantastic job and made me fall in love with his stunning eBook and paperback cover. Working with Dean was a genuine pleasure. He is the fastest designer I worked with and he will professionally meet and fulfill your requirements before you are aware it is over. It took him only three days to deliver me such a brutally good book cover, as one of my friends commented it. Do I need to say more?

Another indie author, also from the UK, saved me by helping me with the blurb for Cruel Summer when I was stuck with it. Jonathan Hill was my savior and magician also for the blurbs for my other two books, January River and Look for Me Under the Rainbow. This time again he did an amazing job, and I can never thank him enough for his professionalism, patience and kind help.

Cruel Summer Blurb

All he wants to do is skate. But they have other plans for him.

Michael Daniels is seventeen and dreams to enter professional skateboarding contests. But beneath New Manhattan, a city under the oppressive shadow of climate change, exists another world altogether—secret laboratories which threaten society as he knows it.

Those with power will get what they want. No price is too high, even if it means making someone special or robbing them of their dignity, freedom . . . or life.

The price is too high for Michael, though. He has endured his stepfather’s abuse and mind games for almost as long as he remembers. Until one day he takes matters into his own hands, ruining the lives of those he loves most. And his skateboarding friends, Alien and Victor, are his only hope for freedom.

When there is no hope left, friendship is what remains.

Please show some love to Dean and Jonathan by following them on their Twitter and on Goodreads where you can also find their books.

And don’t forget to look for Cruel Summer when it goes online and becomes available on my Amazon profile.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cruel Summer eBook Launch Day on Amazon!

All I wanted to do is to publish this book. But I had other books plans before that one.

After many years of preparations, testing, trial and error, waiting and burning excitement, Cruel Summer launch day is here, and the eBook is available at Amazon marketplaces!

Cruel Summer is a gripping, unexpected, strong, and emotional YA cross-genre story about an abused teenage boy and a poet in New Manhattan, Michael Daniels, who only wants to skate and enter skateboarding contests, and the loyalty of friendship that stands as the shield between those with power and his freedom. Michael’s skateboarding friends, Alien and Victor, are his only hope when things go wrong and mysteries and secrets start to unfold, threatening to turn their society into an authoritarian dystopia. Because when there is no hope left, friendship is what remains.

All he wants to do is skate. By they have other plans for him.

Cruel Summer has elements of family and social issues, extreme sports, conspiracy, murder, mystery, teen romance as a subplot, and even sci-fi and dystopia as a touch of alternative history. It carries a strong message of friendship.

Although the main protagonists are three friends, skateboarders from New York City at the end of the millennium, Cruel Summer is not just a novel about extreme sports. It is a deep story of a family and sexual abuse, and the exploitation of power by those who have the means to use it over the individuals and the population in general. Having a strong human rights and environmental message, it will also appeal to those who love reading these books.

Originally published as Okrutno ljeto in Croatian in 2014, Cruel Summer is still a hot topic today.

Please click on the links below to get your copy where you can also leave your honest review. Thank you for that!

Amazon.com
Amazon Australia
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK
Goodreads
BookBub

Cruel Summer is enrolled in KDP Select, where you can read it for free. Through most of March, it will be at the discounted price of $0.99 before it goes up to its regular place. A perfect time to download your eBook!

Thank you all who helped me bring this book to life. There are too many of you to mention you here, but you have my eternal thanks in the Acknowledgements in the book.

If you are a representative of the media, please click here for the press release.

Cruel Summer and I are available for reviews, book tours, interviews.

Cover design by Dean Cole.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan
Bernard Jan
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Cruel Summer Paperback

It took a small conspiracy to publish the paperback edition of my novel Cruel Summer! Since Amazon has restricted international delivery of print books to Croatia, I couldn’t order my proof copy to approve it before publishing it. I’ve been waiting for a month for this restriction to be removed, but no one could tell me when that would happen.

Out of pure desperation, I asked my US based friend Thomas if he could help me with checking out my proof copy. He said yes; I sent him my book from Amazon; he took photos of it and emailed them to me. When I was certain that the book was ready to be released, I hit the publish button and published my paperback.

This is a story on how the story of an abused teenage skateboarder, Michael Daniels, came to life on March 8, 2021 on Amazon. Its paperback price is $17.99 and you can order it here.

Michael Daniels is seventeen and dreams to enter professional skateboarding contests. But beneath New Manhattan, a city under the oppressive shadow of climate change, exists another world altogether—secret laboratories which threaten society as he knows it.

Those with power will get what they want. No price is too high, even if it means making someone special or robbing them of their dignity, freedom . . . or life.

The price is too high for Michael, though. He has endured his stepfather’s abuse and mind games for almost as long as he remembers. Until one day he takes matters into his own hands, ruining the lives of those he loves most. And his skateboarding friends, Alien and Victor, are his only hope for freedom.

I hope this blurb is catchy enough for you to get your copy or buy it as a gift for someone else.

The book cover is beautifully designed by Dean Cole and I guarantee you, you will love it. Dean’s design is mind-blowing. He perfectly portrayed the spirit and the theme of the novel. I don't doubt that holding this book in your hands will give you a special reading experience.

Please don’t forget to leave an honest review on the platforms below and recommend it by word of mouth.

Amazon.com
paperback and eBook
Amazon Australia
eBook
Amazon Canada
paperback and eBook
Amazon UK
paperback and eBook
Goodreads
paperback and eBook

If you are a representative of the media, please click here for the press release.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan
Bernard Jan
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Cruel Summer in TCK Publishing Contest

I have submitted my YA cross-genre novel, Cruel Summer, to TCK Publishing Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 contest.

TCK Publishing Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 is a contest for best books in 16 categories. To get to my YA and Middle Grade book category, use the arrows on the left and right side of the voting form to navigate between categories. Once you are on the page 12/16, scroll down to Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan and click on the book title to cast your vote.

Please share the link below with others too, so they can also show their love and support to Cruel Summer.

Vote here
for Cruel Summer in TCK Publishing Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 (page 12/16 YA and Middle Grade).

Thank you!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan
Bernard Jan
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From Skateboarding to Dystopia for Only $0.99!

“Mother, I know you can’t hear me, but I must talk to you.

“I need to talk to someone. Anyone. About things I would never say if you were alive. About things I didn’t want you to know because they would hurt you. This way I will say them, and you won’t hear them. This way it will be much easier for me to pour my heart out to you . . .”

My cross-genre YA novel Cruel Summer is for the first time in a Kindle discount promo week!

Sunday, May 9, 2021, 8:00 AM PDT through Sunday, May 16, 2021, 12:00 AM PDT

This gripping, unexpected, strong, and emotional story about an abused teenage boy who only wants to skate and the loyalty of friendship that stands as the shield between those who have other plans for him and his freedom will be only $0.99 for a whole week on Amazon or free with Kindle Unlimited.

Do you like books that cross genres and mix them in a surprising read you cannot put down? Cruel Summer has all that and more for you: family and social issues, extreme sports, conspiracy, murder, mystery, teen romance as a subplot, and sci-fi and dystopia as a touch of alternative history with a powerful message of friendship.

Sounds impossible? But it’s not!

“Crossing genres is always difficult, and thankfully, this one works well. It offers many angles for every type of reader. Even for those who aren’t fans of dystopia / sci-fi or who’ve never been on a skateboard in their lives . . . you’ll be pulled in for all the other reasons.”
—James J. Cudney, author of Watching Glass Shatter, Hiding Cracked Glass, Father Figure, Braxton Campus Mysteries series and Weathering Old Souls

Don’t wait any longer!

Please spread the word and download your eBook at a 67% discounted price. Thank you!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cover design by Dean Cole.

Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan
Bernard Jan
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Cruel Summer: Silver Dagger Book Tour & Giveaway May through June 2021

I am thrilled and grateful to Maia for accepting my YA cross-genre novel Cruel Summer for the Silver Dagger book tour and giveaway! Cruel Summer starts the tour today, on May 28, and will tour until June 28 on 40 stops.

Please check and follow all the stops on the tour and share them with your friends and followers. Let's have some fun time together. Thanks, and let the tour begins!

Click here to continue reading,

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Bernard Jan
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Cruel Summer Discount!

Three days after the Cruel Summer Book Tour & Giveaway has ended, there is a new opportunity for everyone who didn’t get my book. Cruel Summer, a gripping story of an abused teenage skateboarder who only wants to follow his dreams in dystopian New York City, is available at a 67% discounted price for an entire week!

Thursday, July 1, 2021, 8:00 AM PDT through Thursday, July 8, 2021, 12:00 AM PDT

First read an excerpt:

His father was defeated; he was on his knees facing death. Yet, there was a brief flash of triumph in his eyes Michael glimpsed before running from the mess he made without touching anything.
How is that possible? Was he not afraid of him? Wasn’t he afraid of what Michael had done? Isn’t he afraid of what Michael might do?!
Either way, Michael isn’t thinking if going home until Hank thinks about everything. And when he gets home, things will be different. Everything will be different. Hank will no longer have a monopoly on him. Hank will no longer blackmail him or tell him what to do and what not to do. HE WILL NEVER TOUCH HIM AGAIN!

Then download your Cruel Summer eBook here. If you prefer a paperback, you can get it here.

“Bernard Jan’s Cruel Summer is an emotionally gripping story, full of love, friendship, loyalty, family drama, and skateboarding. Bernard did a wonderful job of creating a beautifully written and compelling story that is very descriptive so that the reader feels immersed in the story.”
—Rolanda Lyles for Readers’ Favorite

Don’t forget to check out and read my other books: January River, Look for Me Under the Rainbow and A World Without Color.

Happy reading and thank you!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

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Cover design by Dean Cole.

Cruel Summer by Bernard Jan
Bernard Jan
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