The Complete Check Your Luck Agency by K.S. Augustin Giveaway, Excerpt & Interview

The Complete Check Your Luck Agency

by K.S. Augustin

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BLURB:

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

After the tragic death of her parents, and with nothing left tying her to the United Kingdom, Ursula Formosa returns to her homeland and a job with the eccentrically-named Singapore firm, “The Check Your Luck Agency”.

What begins as an attempt to stave off boredom turns into a new way of life as the scales drop from Ursula’s eyes and she tentatively enters a realm that contains vengeful ghosts, toyol, demons, pontianak and curses, not to mention old-fashioned fraud and larceny. As she befriends bomohs, mediums and a young woman already centuries old, Ursula’s ideas of friendship expand into a fresh view of the world that surrounds her.

But she isn’t going to be left to ease into things. A criminal mastermind, who is also a powerful sorcerer, is gathering mythical creatures to help him possess every living soul in Singapore, and he isn’t about to let the members of The Check Your Luck Agency stand in his way!

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 Excerpt 

The visit of Deepak’s parents had been four months ago. Deepak hadn’t been sacked. His parents had not returned. True to Asian tradition, Fiona didn’t take the time to have a conference with the staff for suggestions on what to do about the parental problem. As head of the agency, she firmly believed that it was her decision, and hers alone, what happened to the youngest member of our small team. In other words, she ran the company like her personal fiefdom and I could either get used to it or get out. I got used to it.

If it hadn’t been for Deepak himself, I wouldn’t have known anything about how the situation got resolved. He had been chewed out by Fiona of course the moment he showed his youthful brown face in the office the following morning. Eavesdropping on this conversation was less amusing and more painful than the one from the day before. I heard Fiona’s low growling tones and Deepak’s higher pleading voice. Then there was silence and Deepak walked out of the office with a relieved smile on his face.

It took me another month before he finally disclosed what had happened.

“I got a pay rise,” he told me, a white grin flashing on his face. “Now I earn more than my two older sisters.”

“That’s great,” I said. “But what about your parents? Aren’t they keen on you getting a different job?”

“No,” he said with a wave. “They appreciate the fact that I’m out-earning Lakshmi and Shilpa. They’re telling people I go outstation a lot and that I’m training to be a marine engineer. Actually, that was Fiona’s idea.”

And Deepak’s parents agreed to it? Judging by how they had parted, I thought they would have preferred to see my boss burn at the stake rather than take a single word of advice from her. “And what does a marine engineer do?” I asked.

Deepak laughed. “That’s the beauty of it. Nobody knows!”

And the conflict, in very Asian style, was solved.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

KS "Kaz" Augustin loves writing human stories, whether set on Earth or out among the stars. Malaysian-born, she has travelled a goodly portion of the world and lived to tell the tale! Her urban fantasy release, The Complete Check Your Luck Agency, consists of five books, exploring the myths and legends of the melting-pot that is south-east Asia. Come for the food, stay for the monsters! (Ghosts included at no extra charge.)

As if all that's not enough, she's also Chief Editor of the free online quarterly magazine, Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly. http://www.scifiromancequarterly.org/

Kaz's website is at http://www.KSAugustin.com and a list of her books can also be found at http://www.SandalPressOnline.com She occasionally tweets as @SandalPress

The Complete Check Your Luck Agency is available from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJZQ106

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJZQ106

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/complete-check-your-luck-agency/id836499220?mt=11&uo=4

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-complete-check-your-luck-agency-ks-augustin/1118612994?ean=9780987317483

OmniLit: https://www.omnilit.com/product-thecompletecheckyourluckagency-1325285-234.html

Tomely: http://sandalpress.tomely.com/the-complete-check-your-luck-agency

Interview:

Where are you from?

I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and am of Portuguese Eurasian descent. We can trace our origins back to the final capture of the thriving port city of Malacca by Portuguese General Afonso d'Albuquerque and his fleet in  August 1511, although I prefer to date it as 1511 plus nine months!

Tell us your latest news?

Well, firstly I'm here to talk about a recent release, THE COMPLETE CHECK YOUR LUCK AGENCY, which involves a young woman returning to her homeland and discovering a wealth of local beliefs. Although she is reluctant to acknowledge the presence of ghosts, djinn, Asian vampires, and demons, Ursula finds herself befriending and working together with people who have the strangest abilities, all to stop a powerful sorcerer from taking over an entire country.

I'd describe the book as an epic urban fantasy with lots of food! LOL

When and why did you begin writing?

Oh, that's a difficult one. I've always written; that's been the one fixed point in my life. I began with a diary, then moved to writing my own stories in school, became editor of my high school's newspaper, moved into technical writing after Uni, rediscovered fiction writing. It's just what I do.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When a story I wrote at the end of primary school made it into the school annual! That gave me such a buzz.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Do you mean fiction or non-fiction? :) For the non-fiction, it was definitely identifying a business niche that I could exploit. For fiction, it was my soul. Because of studies, work and Life, I had buried that earlier part of me that used to love writing my own stories. When I met the man who is now my husband, that desire surfaced again. Without my husband's support and insight, I doubt I would have turned to fiction writing as an occupation.

What would you like my readers to know?

My book is set in south-east Asia, and I've tried to stay as authentic to the local settings and characters as I could, while still trying to make everything accessible. If your readers would like to experience an exotic slice of life, I hope they find some enjoyment in THE COMPLETE CHECK YOUR LUCK AGENCY.

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: 

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