We have much pleasure in announcing The Mandrake Hotel & Resort Virtual Book Tour, beginning Monday July 15th and continuing through to midnight Wednesday July 31st, 2013. This ingenious humor novel has garnered some wonderful reviews:

“Combining absurd, farcical and surreal humour with some more serious and thoughtful musings the book is a firework of clever lines and quirky episodes.

The Mandrake Hotel has a room for everyone, whatever your desires, hobbies and preferences are. It is a madhouse and a world of liberty: Whether you want a room made of sand, one with specific collectibles or a floor full of nudists – the hotel has got it.” Diebus

As well as attending all tour stops, Jarod will be doing a one-hour Tweetup with us, where he will share some of his writing secrets and publishing tips on Twitter. Jarod will also be awarding 80 copies of his book to 80 randomly drawn commenters on the blog tour, plus another 15 on the Facebook event page (where we will be setting some challenges and games) and 5 for the best publishing/writing questions asked during his Twitter Chat at 1pm EST on 20th July. To increase your chances of winning, stop by each of the scheduled stops (including the Facebook event page and Tweetup) and leave a comment. Please see below for full tour itinerary.

We set up event pages on Facebook & Goodreads so you can be sure to keep up to date with all the fun events. You may even catch Jarod chatting with his fans. Check out Jarod Kintz’s official tour page for his full schedule and the entry form for the giveaway.

About the Book

Title: The Mandrake Hotel and Resort (to violence if necessary)

Author: Jarod Kintz

Genre: Humor

Excerpt: The Mandrake Excerpt

Bookseller: Amazon Kindle Edition

Right versus wrong, good versus evil, and peanut butter versus jelly—these are just a few of the many eternal struggles this book tackles.

But don’t worry, based on the NFL’s recent concussion scares, all this book’s characters were made to wear helmets before these hard-hitting issues were tackled.

Some central questions will be answered, like:

Who is Dark Jar Tin Zoo, and why is he trying to take over the world?

Will Jackson Jackson Jackson be able to thwart Dark’s diabolical plans? And why does he have a last name for a first and a middle name?

Is Abby Norma Sykes simply too sexy to be featured in such a dramatic thriller such as this book clearly is?

Finally, is it improper to refer to a dwarf as a midget? And what is the shortest height you can be without technically being a dwarf? Is it really as tall as 4’11”? Does that make a person who’s 4’10” the World’s Tallest Dwarf?

This book doesn’t actually discuss such serious social issues as I alluded to in the last paragraph, but it should. I’ll speak to the author immediately, and maybe he’ll address them in the sequel.

“Combining absurd, farcical and surreal humour with some more serious and thoughtful musings the book is a firework of clever lines and quirky episodes.

The Mandrake Hotel has a room for everyone, whatever your desires, hobbies and preferences are. It is a madhouse and a world of liberty: Whether you want a room made of sand, one with specific collectibles or a floor full of nudists – the hotel has got it.

I wondered for a long time if the hotel was written as a fantasy world for lazy and hedonistic people (as one reviewer suggested) or as a wider symbol for the world as it is; a statement not unlike the questions of all questions in Douglas Adams book. The world population is exploding, so are we sitting on a powder keg that will go off once the resources run out? Can humanity survive? Are we sane in doing what we are doing?

A lot of ideas are covered in this book at a fast pace, highlighting absurdities and having a good laugh at them.

The author draws you into the book with his wit and once I had handed over total logic to the valet and stopped trying to make sense of every line that was thrown at me – at times very fast paced and confusing – I eased in to the rhythm of the story. It reminds me of the great Eugene Ionesco and Haruki Murakami, without wanting to imply that the style is close to either of them.

‘Resort to violence’ refers to the plot as it thickens. Our hero of many names and his date Abby decide to fight Dark, the villain from the 13th floor and here a more structured narrative continues.

The book is hugely entertaining, clever and will probably divide the audience into those who appreciate it and those who may not ‘get it’. Luckily I was part of the latter group.” Diebus

Mandrake Hotel & Resort Tour Dates

Monday 15^th July – Kinx’ Book Nook (review and guest post)

Tuesday 16^th July  – Rhoda Baxter (interview)

Wednesday 17^th July  – Amy Metz from A Blue Million Books (interview)

Thursday 18^th July – Michael Brookes (guest post)

Friday 19^th July – Virtual Writers, Inc. (interview)

Saturday 20^th July – Tammy’s Tea Time (review and guest post) and Twitter Chat with Jarod at 1pm EST

Sunday 21^st July  –  Maryann Miller (review)

Tuesday 23^rd July – Jarod Kintz (special post on dealing with rejection)

Wednesday 24^th July – Maryann Miller (guest post)

Thursday 25^th July – Robin Kalinich (interview and review)

Friday 26 July – Christoph Fischer (interview and review)

Saturday 27^th July –  Jack Durish (review)

Wednesday 31^st July – Jessica Bell from The Alliterative Allomorph (guest post)

The Mandrake Hotel Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Born in Salt Lake City on March 5th, 1982, Jarod grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and graduated with an English degree from the University of Florida. He has written many ‘books’ but likes to use the term loosely; describing them as mostly just compilations of his random thoughts and one-liners. (Editor’s Note: Don’t believe a word of it, he’s brilliant!) A master of modesty, he probably won’t mention that (among his many writing achievements) he once sold a line of pithy t-shirts to Urban Outfitters. With characteristic humility, Jarod says, “But my story is just beginning. I plan on failing my way to success. I have been rejected by literary agents, publishers, MFA programs, and all sorts of women. But still I keep writing. Share yourself with the world. If there is one thing I like to impress upon people, it’s that you can do it, even if you can’t. Just keep can’ting until eventually you can. And you can quote me on that.”

For more info and a great selection of his funny quotes, visit Jarod’s website or follow him on Facebook, Goodreads & Twitter.