12/16/11
KAREN WOJCIK BERNER
Karen Wojcik Berner lives a provincial life tucked away with her family in the Chicago suburbs. If it was good enough for Jane Austen, right? However, dear Miss Austen had the good fortune of being born amid the glorious English countryside, something Karen unabashedly covets, so much so that she majored in English and communications at Dominican University. Like the magnificent Miss Austen, Karen could not help but write about the Society that surrounds her.
A booklover since she could hold one in her chubby little toddler hands, Karen wanted to announce to the world just how much she loves the written word. She considered getting a bibliophile tattoo but instead decided to write about the lives of the members of a suburban Classics Book Club. The series is called, of course, The Bibliophiles.") When she isn't reading, writing, or spending her time wishing she was Jane Austen, Karen spends her time can be found sipping tea or wine, whichever is more appropriate that day, and watching Tim Burton movies or "Chopped," her favorite foodie TV show.
Synopsis (from WOW tours): Annie Jacobs has dreamed of the day she would become a mother since the first time she held her Baby Tenderlove doll. Unfortunately, biology has not cooperated with her plan, and she finds herself dealing with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility instead of picking out baby names.
Across town, stay-at-home mom Sarah Anderson is just trying to make it through the grocery store without her toddler hurling a box of rice at a fellow shopper. She is exhausted from managing the house, a first grader and a toddler, all without any help from her work-obsessed, absentee husband.
A Whisper to a Scream is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.
Across town, stay-at-home mom Sarah Anderson is just trying to make it through the grocery store without her toddler hurling a box of rice at a fellow shopper. She is exhausted from managing the house, a first grader and a toddler, all without any help from her work-obsessed, absentee husband.
A Whisper to a Scream is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.
12/13/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she actually had met her future husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only recently emerged, but now her laptop is a constant companion.
Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her beautiful two daughters as well as her two dogs. She works at private school in town, but also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hollie Anderson is in her mid-twenties and living with her father, Murray, on a farm just outside Launceston in Tasmania. Her mother died at childbirth and Murray raised his daughter on his own. According to his own wordshe’s done a bloody good job with it, too. Hollie has got the looks, she likes her job at a local newspaper and loves the company of her friends, who go way back to school days. Two of those are Alex and Davo … she should be happy, right?
But lately Hollie’s dreams are literally keeping her from more than just having a decent sleep.
She enjoys life and her best friend Alex is a big part of it. They are a close team and usually hang out together most weekends. During one of their nights out, Hollie meets Jeremy who has just moved into town. Jeremy seems to have everything a woman would like in a man, the looks, the money, the good job – and he knows it, too. Their relationship blossoms over the summer, but Jeremy knows that Hollie won’t fully commit to their new relationship until she makes sense of her dreams and what they stand for. So with the help from Alex and Davo, Jeremy organises a surprise birthday present which takes Hollie to Dublin … but what she discovers is so much more.
Sam Shaughnessy lives in Dublin, Ireland husband Padraic. Like Hollie, she works in advertising, though she is the Head of Advertising. She seems to have it all – a successful career, gorgeous looking husband, good looks and money. But her life appears to crumble from underneath her and it’s when she meets Hollie and Davo that life all of a sudden takes a different turn. Sam as well will find more than she initially had looked for.
12/09/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born in Milwaukee and spent my early years in a great working class neighborhood, much like the one whereWhistling in the Dark and Good Graces are set.
I attended Marquette University for one year, fell in love, and followed my boyfriend to New York City. I lasted about six months. I was so intimidated, I spent most of my time running from my apartment to the grocery store and back to my apartment, which was located above a 24 Hour Soul Record Store. Hence, I have the dubious ability to recite every lyric to every James Brown tune ever recorded.
After returning to Milwaukee, I enrolled in the University of Wisconsin where I majored in Radio and Television. I fell into a job as a morning drive DJ on one of the country's first alternative radio stations—WZMF. I got to interview lots of very cool rock n' rollers like Frank Zappa, Hendrix and John Lennon.
In 1976, I moved to Los Angeles, where I began a ten year career working for Licorice Pizza record chain where I produced, wrote and voiced thousands of commercials as Lesley from Licorice Pizza. When I set out to expand my career, I ended up doing on-camera commercials, a couple of Movies-Of-The-Week, and a Laverne and Shirley.
I met my husband, Peter aka Sushi Man, in Malibu, which is pretty funny considering he was from Milwaukee as well. While we both loved living in California, after the birth of our kids, Casey and Riley, we felt this overwhelming need to return to the roost, so we moved back home in 1990.
Well, that's about it. Oh, wait. The writing. I adore it. I crave it. But it wasn't until Casey went off to college, and teenage Riley made it clear that any form of communication between us was to be restricted to—"With or without pepperoni"—that I found the opportunity to sit down and let 'er rip. I hope you love reading Whistling in the Dark, Land of a Hundred Wonders, Tomorrow River and Good Graces as much as I loved writing them.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lesley Kagen returns with the sequel to her national bestselling debut, Whistling in the Dark.
Whistling in the Dark captivated readers with the story of ten-year-old Sally O'Malley and her sister, Troo, during Milwaukee's summer of 1959. The novel became a New York Times bestseller and was named a Midwest Honor Award winner.
In Good Graces, it's one year later, and a heat wave has everyone in the close-knit Milwaukee neighborhood on edge. None more so than Sally O'Malley, who remains deeply traumatized by the sudden death of her daddy and her near escape from a murderer and molester the previous summer. Although outwardly she and her sister, Troo, are more secure, Sally's confidence in her own judgment and much of her faith have been whittled away. When a series of disquieting events unfold in the neighborhood-a string of home burglaries, the escape from reform school of a nemesis, and the mysterious disappearance of an orphan, crimes that may involve the increasingly rebellious Troo-Sally is called upon to rise above her inner demons. She made a deathbed promise to her daddy to keep Troo safe, a promise she can't break, even if her life depends on it. But when events reach a crisis point, will Sally have the courage and discernment to make the right choices? Or will her false assumptions lead her and those she loves into danger once again?
Lesley Kagen's gift for imbuing her child narrators with compelling authenticity shines as never before in Good Graces, a novel told with sensitivity, wit, and warmth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catherine is one part hot blooded Latin and one part wild eyed Celt. She’s the oldest of seven children raised in a large Irish/Italian family – Catholic, of course. But family and friends think of her as the gypsy. She’s spent her life studying, living, and working all over the place. Cat is forever destined to wander incessantly as a person currently without country(CWC), or with no fixed address(NFA). Blessing or curse? Grandma V had her pegged long before she ever left Clevleand, Ohio when she gave her red-headed Italian granddaughter this advice , “All you need is a place to hang your hat.”
As she was traveling the world, Cat managed to acquire a husband. A rather beige husband. Not a good match considering the fact that Cat sells color for a living. What does that mean? When you go to a home improvement store and to choose a paint color, those little color chips are made by Cat’s company. They produce color chips for the automotive industry, cosmetic industry and of course your local Home Depot. While in Paris on business, Cat decided that life was too short to be beige. Her memoir is a record of her escape from the beige tinge of her marriage to the wild colors of singlehood.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis:
After years of living a beige existence, Cat Larose, international color marketing expert, finally added a little color to her own life. All it took was a Paris sunset and a little red suitcase.
Everyone wanted Cat's life. She had a handsome husband, a stylish home and a fascinating career as an international color marketing consultant. Work took Cat to some of the world's most beautiful cities but something was missing: ironically, it was color. One day she found herself in Paris watching a sunset and, in a moment of clarity, she caught a glimpse of her sepia-toned future.
When Cat got home, she did what she'd longed to do for years. She decided to paint her bedroom a magnificent Bordeaux red and put an end to her beige existence and her marriage. That was the beginning of a new life.
Any Color but Beige is a bright, funny, genuine account of one woman's search for love in the deep end of the dating pool. None of the self-help books prepared Cat for the often funny, occasionally puzzling, sometimes sad but always colorful dating adventures with an international cast of frogs, princes and players. Cat makes the classic female mistake of thinking that love is a life preserver. Until one day she learns to swim
When Cat got home, she did what she'd longed to do for years. She decided to paint her bedroom a magnificent Bordeaux red and put an end to her beige existence and her marriage. That was the beginning of a new life.
Any Color but Beige is a bright, funny, genuine account of one woman's search for love in the deep end of the dating pool. None of the self-help books prepared Cat for the often funny, occasionally puzzling, sometimes sad but always colorful dating adventures with an international cast of frogs, princes and players. Cat makes the classic female mistake of thinking that love is a life preserver. Until one day she learns to swim
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Mark Smythe resides in a small, rural town located in the
beautiful Southern geography of Western New York State. It is a lovely and
quaint agricultural community, just South of Buffalo, New York.
He, his wife Sandra and their
two children, Cassandra and Alexander, live on a picturesque,
turn-of-the-century farm complete with a charming old white farmhouse, quaint
red barns and wooden pasture fences.
Mark is an Interior Structural
Fire Fighter with a local Volunteer Fire Department, and is also a member of the
Emergency & Rescue Squad.
The concept for this particular book began years ago, as an
original bedtime story that he made up for his own children, which they always
asked for and seemed to like, especially on those cold and snowy winter nights,
so reminiscent of the Northeast.
Synopsis (from the author):
The
snow's piled up high and school's cancelled, so let's play outside and, of
course, build a snowman! Now, what if you were left out in the cold snow all by
yourself, like that poor snowman? Would you be mad? Of course you
would!
Well,
this snowman is out for revenge, especially after he sees those kids in the nice
warm house, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate! So, let's see what
happens in this delightful story, nicely flowing with rhymed verse, very
beautifully illustrated and quite humorous indeed.
So
lovable, it's sure to be an instant favorite and a timeless classic with "kids"
of all ages
11/22/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TYLER MCMAHON is the author of the debut novel How the Mistakes Were Made. He received his MFA in fiction from Boise State University. His stories have appeared inThreepenny Review, Sycamore Review, and Surfer’s Journal, among others, and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is a professor of fiction at Hawaii Pacific University.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Laura Loss came of age in the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s. The jailbait bass player in her brother Anthony’s band, she grew up traveling the country, playing her heart out in a tight network of show venues to crowds soaked in blood and sweat. The band became notorious, the stars of a shadow music industry. But when Laura was 18, it all fell apart. Anthony’s own fans destroyed him, something which Laura never forgot.
Ten years later, Laura finds her true fame with the formation of The Mistakes, a gifted rock band that bursts out of ‘90s Seattle to god-like celebrity. When she discovered Nathan and Sean, the two flannel-clad misfits who, along with her, composed the band, she instantly understood that Sean’s synesthesia—a blending of the senses that allows him to “see” the music— infused his playing with an edge that would take them to the top. And it did. But it, along with his love for Laura, would also be their downfall.
At the moment of their greatest fame, the volatile bonds between the three explode in a mushroom cloud of betrayal, deceit, and untimely endings. The world blames Laura for destroying its rock heroes. Hated by the fans she’s spent her life serving, she finally tells her side of the story, the “true” story, of the rise and fall of The Mistakes.
11/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Manemann grew up in the rural community of Clinton, Iowa where she still resides with her husband and their two children. An active participant at her church Amy enjoys spending time with her children, writing and getting engrossed in a good book. Deadly Reunion is the first of four books in her Deadly Series featuring Investigative Reporter Taci Andrew
ABOUT THE BOOK
Smart mouthed Taci Andrews is an investigative reporter for the Riverdale Times with a lot on her plate. Between receiving a dreaded invitation to her fifteen year high school reunion, her best friend's divorce drama and her own solitary dating status her fun meter is pretty much pegged.
When Taci’s partner goes missing while covering a missing child feature she is suddenly thrown into the story of her career, which oddly enough delves into a past she would rather forget. She soon finds herself squaring off against a malicious class Barbie Doll, the High School Quarterback and a steamy Fireman from her past whose deep blue eyes are still enough to curl her toes.
Concerned about the disappearance of his friend's daughter, Firefighter Tony Parsons returns to his hometown of Riverdale to see what is being done with the case. Having a few connections with the police force he decides to pull in a few favors, running into former classmate Taci Andrews in the process. His last memory of Taci was back in high school when she'd given him a black eye for feeling up her shirt. He had to admit the grown up version of Taci was even better than the adolescent version and when he learns she's covering the story for the Times he decides to tag along.
Despite babysitting three hyped up children, having a disastrous date night, receiving an ominous warning and nearly getting blown up, the sparks that quickly ignite between Tony and Taci are hard to ignore, despite their best efforts. As they delve deeper to uncover the deadly truths surrounding the sleepy town of Riverdale, the old feud that rested between them for ages begins to give way to an unexpected passion.
But new feelings for one another or not they both have a job to do and a missing child to find. Can they put their feelings aside to solve the case or will they be next on the missing person’s list?
11/04/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Kurt Kamm has lived
in Malibu CA for several years with his wife. He was previously a financial
executive and semi-professional bicycle racer. He is a graduate of Brown
University and Columbia Law School.
He has used his
experience in several devastating local wildfires and access to CalFire and Los
Angeles County Fire Department to write mystery novels about the lives of
firefighters and paramedics. His first novel was One Foot in the Black-A
Wildland Firefighter's Story, published in 2008. His second novel,
Red Flag Warning - A Serial Arson Mystery, was published in
May 2010. Red Flag Warning won three first place awards in mystery
fiction.
Kurt has just
completed his third novel, Code Blood, which features a
rookie paramedic who is drawn into the underworld of Los Angeles after he loses
his first accident victim.
He maintains an
author/first responder website and blog at http://www.kurtkamm.com
ABOUT THE
BOOK
Winner of a 2011 Public Safety Writer’s
Association Award
In his chilling and
suspenseful third novel, Code Blood, Kurt Kamm takes the reader into
the connected lives of a fire paramedic, a Chinese research student with the
rarest blood in the world, and the blood-obsessed killer who stalks her.
Colt Lewis, a young
Los Angeles County fire paramedic responds to a fatal accident. The victim dies
in his arms. Her foot has been severed but is nowhere to be found. Who is the
woman, and what happened to her foot?
During a weeklong
search, Colt risks his career to find the victim’s identity and her missing
foot. His search leads him to a dark and disturbing side of Los Angeles…an
underworld of body part dealers and underground Goth clubs. He uncovers a
tangled maze of drugs, needles, and rituals which can only lead to death—but
whose death?
Emergency medicine,
the science of stem cell research, and the unsettling world of blood fetishism
and body parts makes for an edgy L.A. Noir thriller you won’t want to put down
until the last page!
11/03/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Dean Mayes has been writing, blogging and dreaming for most of his adult life, in between practicing as an Pediatric ICU Nurse and raising his two children, Xavier & Lucy (who was born during the writing of his debut novel The Hambledown Dream). Dean lives in Adelaide, Australia with his partner Emily, his children ...and his cross-breed cattle dog Simon.The Hambledown Dream, a lyrical and moving paranormal romance, is his first novel. Dean is currently working on his second novel, tentatively titled "Gifts Of The Peramangk".
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
Australian Denny
Banister had it all; a successful career, a passion for the guitar, and Sonya -
the love of his life. Tragically, Denny is struck down with inoperable
cancer.
Andy DeVries has
almost nothing; alienated from his family, moving through a dangerous Chicago
underworld dealing in drugs, battling addiction; all while keeping a wavering
hold on the only thing that matters to him: a place at a prestigious
conservatory for classical guitar in Chicago.
As Andy recovers
from a near fatal overdose, he is plagued by dreams - memories of a love he has
never felt, and a life he's never lived. Driven by the need for redemption and
by the love for a woman he's never met, he begins a quest to find her, knowing
her only by the memories of a stranger and the dreams of a place called
Hambledown...
11/01/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Growing up in the
small town of Millbrook, New York, Barbara, a day-dreamy, head-in-the-clouds,
middle child, never imagined being anything other than a writer. What she didn’t
anticipate, was the twisted, turning, roundabout road it would take for her to
get there.
Not so fast forward
from childhood dream…high school graduation, marriage, new baby…more new
babies…moving, moving…moving again All the while pouring out stories onto yellow
tablets at the kitchen table every afternoon when for a couple of hours all was
quiet. The Secret of Lies, Barbara’s debut novel, was a twenty year obsession
from pen to printed volume—a number she finds hard to believe herself and which
has at times caused her to question perseverance vs. sanity.
And yet, had she not
been so determined to hold to this quest to bring life to her stories and
characters within the pages, she can’t possibly imagine what she otherwise might
have been doing.
While Barbara
considers her four amazing children to be her proudest achievement, recent
literary awards for the both the paperback and eBook editions of Secret of Lies
have inspired some decidedly thrilling—jump up and down—cork-popping moments.
ABOUT THE
BOOK
Propelled by an
insurmountable sense of desperation, Stevie Burke is recklessly abandoning home,
husband, and outwardly contented life under cover of night; at last resigned to
defeat in her long battle against the tortured memories of her past.
Days later, lost and
floundering in a dreary motel room without plan or destination, it is a long ago
song playing on the radio that gently tugs Stevie back through the dust of
remembrance. 1957 – The last summer spent at the ancient house overlooking the
North Atlantic. A season which had unfolded with abundant
promise, but then
spiraled horribly out of control – torn apart by a shattering tragedy that
remains splintered in fragments upon her soul. And it is only now, when Stevie
at last lifts her eyes to stare deep into the heart of her long sequestered
memories, that the long held secrets of past and future are at last
unveiled...
It began in much the
way of all the perfect golden summers at her aunt and uncle’s beach house.
Stevie is in love with Jake, an intriguing deaf boy; so thoroughly absorbed in
her new romance that she easily ignores the evidences of breakdown in her aunt
and uncle’s once blissful marriage and the hairline indicators of her sister
Eleanor’s role in their faltered relationship. Not until Stevie and Jake slip
away from the farewell bonfire on the beach, anxious for a private moment on
this last night together, will she finally be forced to confront the ugly truth
of those things unfolding around her. The resulting tragedy shattering her
family and leaving her emotionally paralyzed.
Although desperate to
leave behind the gnawing emptiness and press of memories suffocating her life,
Stevie remains helplessly bound to the family farm. She eventually lands a job
as an advice columnist for the local newspaper, and only then does her life
finally make a turn toward steady ground, her new position as advisor to the
troubled allowing her to address her own deepest feelings of love and
loss.
Even then, Stevie is
infuriated when her mother hires a farm hand, Ash Waterman, irrationally
rejecting his overtures of friendship – drawn to him as passionately as she
feels determined to push him away.
Her silent battle is
continuous; an insurmountable sense of guilt holding her to the firm conviction
that she is responsible for her family’s suffering. Despite Ash’s patient love
and support she is unable to smooth the painful cracks etched deep into
her memories, continuing to sacrifice her future in order to shelter the sins of
the past. And it is only as Stevie feels her life spiraling out of control, that
she at last comes to understand the true secret of the lies she has so
diligently guarded.
10/29/11
Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling Amazon Kindle author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES. He is also the author of the bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described his novels as "...gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called THE INNOCENT, "Sensational...Masterful...Brilliant!" In March, April and May of 2011, he sold more than 100,000 Kindle E-Books editions of his novels, and is rapidly closing in on the 200K mark all totaled. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he divides his time between New York and Florence, Italy
Synopsis (borrowed from Amazon):
“Life sucks. Then you die. Or, if you’re Dick Moonlight, first you die and then you live.”
Dick Moonlight is dead.Really dead this time, now that three President Obama-masked thugs dressed all in black and communicating only with hand-held voice synthesizers pressed up against their voice boxes have beat the life right out of him inside a dark, downtown Albany alley. What are the thugs after? A box. Size, weight, description unknown. They also want him to stay away from his newest and only client: a handicapped nuclear engineer of dubious Russian heritage by the same of Peter Czech.But then, now that they’ve killed him, Moonlight’s problems seem to be over. In fact, as he undergoes an out of body experience, his soul floating above his train-wreck of a corpse inside the Albany Medical Center I.C.U., he feels pretty damned good. Great in fact. To make death all the more sweeter, his one true love, Lola, is standing by his bedside. With her long dark hair draping her chiseled face and big round Jackie O sunglasses hiding tear-filled eyes, she appears every bit the grieving sig other. Nothing could make the dead-and-gone Moonlight prouder.
But then something happens. Something bad. A man enters into the I.C.U. Some young guy. He takes hold of Lola’s hand, and pulls her into him. Together, the two share a loving embrace over Moonlight’s dead body. Now, what seemed like a peaceful death is anything but. Moonlight wants back inside his body so he can face-off Some Young Guy and find out if his true love has in fact been cheating on him. At the same time, he wants to find out the true identity of those thugs who killed him so he can exact his revenge. No doubt about it, Moonlight needs to live if he’s going to uncover some pretty painful answers and take care of business.
Like a little kid dropping down a playground slide, Moonlight slides right back inside his bruised and broken body. Opening his eyes the white light blinds him. He feels the pain of his wounds and the pain of his breaking heart.
Life sucks, then you die.
But Moonlight rises
10/27/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.J. Rose, is the international bestselling author of 11 novels;Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music, Lying in Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix,The Reincarnationist, The Memoristand The Hypnotist.
Rose is also the co-author with Angela Adair Hoy of How to Publish and Promote Online, and with Doug Clegg of Buzz Your Book.
She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She runs two popular blogs; Buzz, Balls & Hype and Backstory.
Getting published has been an adventure for Rose who self-published Lip Service late in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down. Editors had loved it, but didn't know how to position it or market it since it didn't fit into any one genre.
Frustrated, but curious and convinced that there was a readership for her work, she set up a web site where readers could download her book for $9.95 and began to seriously market the novel on the Internet.After selling over 2500 copies (in both electronic and trade paper format) Lip Service became the first e-book and the first self-published novel chosen by the LiteraryGuild/Doubleday Book Club as well as being the first e-book to go on to be published by a mainstream New York publishing house.
Rose has been profiled in Time magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Business 2.0, Working Woman, Newsweek and New York Magazine.Rose has appeared on The Today Show, Fox News, The Jim Lehrer NewsHour, and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USAToday, Stern, L'Official, Poets and Writers andPublishers Weekly.
Rose graduated from Syracuse University and spent the '80s in advertising. She was the Creative Director of Rosenfeld Sirowitz and Lawson and she has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.She lives in Connecticut with Doug Scofield, a composer, and their very spoiled dog, Winka.
ABOUT THE BOOK
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR M.J. ROSE
GETS JACK REACHER, COTTON MALONE, JOHN RAIN
ON THE SEX THERAPIST’S COUCH
How do you get a stoic drifter, a former covert agent and an international assassin to see a sex therapist? That was the challenge faced by international bestselling author M.J. Rose when she proposed setting up appointments for Jack Reacher, Cotton Malone and John Rain with Dr. Morgan Snow of the Butterfield Institute in her new e-book IN SESSION (October 17, 2011, Kindle e-book, $1.99).The protagonists’ of New York Times bestselling authors – Lee Child, Steve Berry and Barry Eisler – swore that their men of mystery would never agree to therapy – unless Rose found a way to get them there. By slipping Dr. Snow out of her office, Rose delivered some of America’s favorite male characters to a place they’ve never been before – in therapy.
IN SESSION contains three racy and revealing short stories by M.J. Rose:
· KNOWING YOU’RE ALIVE with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher results in revelations for the injured Dr. Snow and her unexpected savior/patient. What secrets from the past are contained in an unexpected gift?
· EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES with Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone features a woman who seeks help for her lover, and sends Dr. Snow overseas on a most unusual house call. Can a rare book in a plain brown wrapper be the medicine her patient needs?
· DECISIONS, DECISIONS with Barry Eisler’s John Rain forces Dr. Snow out of her own comfort zone, and into the world of a former patient’s worst nightmare. Does protecting what she loves most require a dance with darkness?
The audio version, narrated by award winners Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross will feature Dick Hill, Scott Brick and Barry Eisler reprising their roles Reacher, Malone and Rain.
In honor of these amazingly generous authors who shared their heroes with me a share of the e-book proceeds and all the audio proceeds of In Session will be donated to David Baldacci's Wish You Well Foundation, supporting family literacy. (wishyouwellfoundation.org/)
10/24/11
KIM KIRCHER
Ski patroller, author, traveller, Kim Kircher is still learning how to get through life in small increments. Sometimes just fifteen minutes at a time. She has logged over six hundred hours of explosives control, earning not only her avalanche blaster’s card, but also a heli-blaster endorsement, allowing her to fly over the slopes in a helicopter and drop bombs from the open cockpit, while uttering the fabulously thrilling words “bombs away” into the mic. An EMT, she has received both a National Ski Patrol Purple Merit Star for saving a life as well as a Green Merit Star for saving a life in arduous conditions. Before working in the ski industry, she received her BA and teaching certificate from the University of Washington, and taught high school English for five years. She is a current member of the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association and the North American Ski Journalists Association. Kim also writes about her job at Crystal Mountain Ski Area at www.blogcrystal.com. Kim starred in a reality show about ski patrollers on the cable channel TRU-TV. Her husband’s family owns and operates ten ski areas in the United States and Canada, including Crystal Mountain, where she has worked for twenty-two years.
10/20/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheila Deeth grew up in the UK and has a Bachelors and Masters in mathematics from Cambridge University, England. Now living in the States with her husband and sons, she enjoys reading, writing, drawing, telling stories, running a local writers' group, and meeting her neighbors’ dogs on the green. Sheila describes herself as a Mongrel Christian Mathematician. Her short stories, book reviews and articles can be found in VoiceCatcher 4, Murder on the Wind, Poetic Monthly, Nights and Weekends, the Shine Journal and Joyful Online. Besides her Gypsy Shadow ebooks, Sheila has several self-published works available from Amazon and Lulu, and a full-length novel under contract to come out next year.
ABOUT THE BOOK
10/14/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis, Irene Woodbury’s first novel, was inspired by her love of travel writing. Between 2000 and 2006, her stories appeared in many newspapers, including the Washington Post, London Daily Telegraph, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Toronto Star, and Nevada and The Affluent Traveler magazines.
One of the author’s favorite destinations was Las Vegas; she always believed Sin City would be the perfect setting for a novel. In 2006, she came up with the idea for Slot, and, four-and-a-half years, and many visits later, it was finished.
Irene is convinced her book wouldn’t work nearly as well in any other city. “Las Vegas has a frenetic energy to it,” she says, “and there’s plenty of chaos and confusion to go around. Is there a better place for a midlife crisis? I don’t think so.”
The author has lived in two of the locations featured in her novel: Los Angeles, where she worked at the Los Angeles Times, IBM, and Time Magazine, and Houston, where she graduated from the University of Houston in 1993. She also got married in Houston. (Yes, like Wendy, her lead character, but Irene insists the similarities end there!) Her husband, Richard, a retired Time Magazine correspondent, edited her novel.
Since 1994, the couple have called Denver home. As for midlife crises -- his, hers, yours, mine -- Irene believes it’s a time for asking questions. “Where am I? Where have I been? Where am I going? That’s it in a nutshell,” she says. “Writing this novel has been my midlife crisis. And it’s not over yet!”
ABOUT THE BOOK
This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.
The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.
She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters. Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot. Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss. Paige and Serena are two twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with. Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.
And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston.
Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s! Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover
10/04/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Diana Palmer is
renowned as one of North America’s top ten romance writers. When she published
her first novel in 1979, fans immediately fell in love with her sensual,
charming romances. She has devoted herself
to a life filled with romance and penning the page-turners her readers find so
hard to put down ever since. A die-hard romantic who married her husband
five days after they met, Diana says that she wrote her first book at age
thirteen—and has been hooked ever since. Palmer currently lives in northeast
Georgia with her husband.
SYNOPSIS:
Merciless tells the
captivating story of a young woman trying to convince a man to let down his
defenses while he’s set on guarding his heart.
Not only is FBI agent Jon
Blackhawk tall, dark, and handsome, but he is eligible – and that’s all that
matters to the women of Jacobsville. But if it were up to him, he would never
settle down. Luckily, Jon has the best gatekeeper: his assistant, Joceline
Perry. Without her help, he’d be at the mercy of husband hunters. The more he
comes to rely on her, the more he notices how invaluable she really is.
10/01/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Laurel Dewey’s
writing career has been anything but predictable. Born and raised in Los
Angeles, California, Dewey began her career working in public relations for such
celebrities as Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. Her writing talents quickly
took her into other entertainment avenues. Dewey was an assistant editor at BOP
Magazine, helping launch the blockbuster career of teen pop groups like The New
Kids on The Block. During this time, she wrote a string of successful mystery
radio plays for Los Angeles radio networks. The plays won Dewey consistent
awards and caused one reviewer to write, “Dewey’s flair for creating memorable
characters and great stories is a welcome change these days.”
Not
satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In
the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A
collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and
producing radio ads and promos.
In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural
Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a
freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and editor of
children’s books. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine
were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative
health.During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on over 300 national
radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States
and Canada.
But now the pages have turned again...literally. In 2007,
Dewey released her first fiction novel, Protector, a gritty, paranormal crime
thriller that follows the rocky life of Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In
preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research,
interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on "ride-a-longs" with
street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is
powerful, compelling and utterly original.
The sequel to Protector,
Redemption, was released in June of 2009. She is currently writing the third
book in the Jane Perry series, titled Revelations, due to be released July,
2010. She lives with her husband in rural Colorado.
PROMISSORY PAYBACK by Laurel DeweyPublished by The
Story Plant
ISBN-10:
1611880076
ISBN-13:
978-1611880076
Pages:
80
At
the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double novelette,
Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at no cost to
me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis
(from publisher): In PROMISSORY PAYBACK Jane is called in to
investigate the gruesome murder of a woman who profited greatly from the
misfortunes of others. The case leaves Jane with little question about
motive...and
with
a seemingly endless number of suspects.
My
Thoughts and Opinion: This was my first introduction to both this
author, Laurel Dewey and the character, Detective Jane Perry. Although it was
only 80 pages, I instantly knew that I had been missing out on a very talented
author. Within 80 pages she made the characters come to life and "transported"
the reader into the plot. The writing style was fluid and very descriptive,
which made it quite easy to create my own vivid visualizations as if I was
watching a movie. The novelette was a stand alone read but gave hints of giving
the reader to want more and to know more about this tough, street smart, but
sensitive detective.
UNREVEALED by Laurel Dewey
Published by The Story Plant
ISBN-13: 9781611880236ISBN: 1611880238
Pages: 94
At the request of The Story Plant, a PDF EBook Edition of a double
novelette, Promissory Payback and Unrevealed were provided, at
no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from publisher): In UNREVEALED, Dewey gives us
four indelible portraits of Jane Perry:
ANONYMOUS: One of Jane's first AA
meetings leads her to an encounter with a woman in need of her detection
skills...and a secret she never expected to uncover.
YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK
BY ITS COVER: Forced by her boss to speak at a high school career day, Jane
meets a troubled boy and finds that his story is only the beginning of a much
more revealing tale.
YOU'RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS: An early-morning
homicide call introduces Jane to a mystery as layered as it is unsuspected.
THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM: Jane finds herself sharing a 2:00 am
conversation at a downtown bar with an old acquaintance. Will the bloody night
that proceeded this moment complicate Jane's intentions?
My Thoughts and Opinion: As I
stated in my previous review, I had just found a new author and had much
catching up to do. I enjoyed her writing style and most definitely her main
character, Detective Jane Perry. Ms Dewey piqued my curiosity as to the so
called "birth" of this new character that I wanted to read more about. However,
on to the second novelette. Four (4) stories within a book of 94 pages? How in
depth could it be? Could four (4) good suspenseful stories be
told in 94 pages? To my utter amazement the answer was yes. The author wrote 4
descriptive concise short stories in 94 pages, that were so detailed, that I
was engrossed to the point that I wasn't aware of what was going on around me.
The characters, once again, came to life and the writing was so detailed that I
was able to create vivid images in my mind. My thoughts, I need to purchase the
first book starring Detective Jane Perry. My opinion, if you enjoy reading from
the genre of suspense, this is an author you need to read.
And
this is my opinion and my opinion only, as for marketing, this would be a
perfect solution for those times when a reader is in one of those "dreaded
reader's slumps". It is a quick, yet detailed, descriptive, gripping story line
whereas you know you aren't going to have to invest a lot of time into a book,
which sometimes, I know with me, is one of the reasons, it is hard for me to
start getting back into the groove of reading. Or it would also be a perfect
gift for those times when you need to purchase a "little something" such as a
hostess gift, get well visit, teacher's gift, Secret Santa (it's right around
the corner), etc.
09/29/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Rebecca received her B.A. in English
literature from the University of Maryland at College Park and speaks to
writers’ groups on the subjects of creative writing and publishing. Her
manuscript for THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD was a semifinalist in the
2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition.
A New Yorker by birth, Rebecca grew
up in the close suburbs of Washington, D.C. in an academic family. A year spent
in Germany at age eight would later provide the basis for the protagonist's
background in THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD. Rebecca first learned
about the Waldorf School movement at age 14 and quickly developed a fascination
with its culture and philosophies. After studying elementary education for
several years, she graduated with a degree in English, awarded with honors.
Rebecca lives and works near
Washington, D.C. with her husband and their four young children.
ABOUT THE
BOOK
Semifinalist in the
2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel
Competition
THE KINGDOM
OF CHILDHOOD
By Rebecca Coleman
An utterly
absorbing look at the breakdown of a woman and a family, THE KINGDOM OF
CHILDHOOD (MIRA Books, October 2011, $15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.) is the
beautifully written novel by Rebecca Coleman that explores a relationship
between a teenager and a teacher as it veers from platonic to unsettlingly
forbidden territory.
THE KINGDOM OF
CHILDHOOD is the
story of a boy and a woman: sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and
struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother’s extramarital affair, and
Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her
eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school
and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then
corrupts, each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved
as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is, for
Judy, only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets. As the walls close
in, Zach finds himself needing to disentangle himself from premature adulthood.
But the lines between adult and child have blurred, and life and sanity are
unraveling faster and further than anyone could ever have
imagined.
Rebecca’s exploration of the
controversial Waldorf School movement will make THE KINGDOM OF
CHILDHOOD a much-discussed and debated novel.
09/28/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Kelly Moss is a
writer, entrepreneur, and most importantly wife and mother of three kids now 21,
20, and 18. The Santa Club book came to be after her first son asked the
question, Is Santa Real. By way of her loving mother-in-law, Bertie, Kelly was
given the story that you now see as The Santa Club Book. Through this book,
Kelly desires to give other parents the solution to the old age problem of a
child asking, Is Santa Real. When not writing Kelly is CEO of JoeBro Records
and a national speaker on the “Gift of Giving”, “How to be a stage parent your
child can be proud of”, and “How to find an agent without getting taken.” In
1996 she started the Connecticut Chasers, which won the Best New Program for the
Connecticut Down Syndrome Congress. She has two sons who are professional actors
living and working in Los Angeles, and an adoptive daughter from Kazakhstan.
She splits her time between Henderson, Nevada and Los Angeles, California.
ABOUT THE
BOOK
From the author:
A delightful book with
captivating illustrations, The Santa Club transitions your child from
receiving gifts to experiencing the joy of giving. With sensitivity, faith, and
love, The Santa Club tackles the serious question, “Is Santa Claus
Real?” To be read with your child, this wonderful book not only answers that
sometimes “dreaded” question but it also addresses the questions of why Santa
comes at Christmas and who was the first Santa. The Santa Club is a
wonderful parenting resource and a stunning children’s book, and is sure to
become an annual family favorite.
09/27/11
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Laura Caldwell is a former civil trial attorney, now
Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law,
Director of Life After Innocence, published author of several novels and 1
nonfiction book.
Before beginning her writing
career, Laura was a partner in a Chicago law firm, specializing in medical
malpractice defense and entertainment law. In 2001 she joined Loyola University
Chicago School of Law and has taught Advanced Litigation Writing and
International Criminal Law among others.
Laura’s began her writing
career in women’s fiction and soon turned to mystery/thriller. Her first book,
Burning the Map was voted as one of the best books the year by Barnes and
Noble.com. Booklist declared “Caldwell is one of the most talented and
inventive…writers around,” after the release of The Year of Living Famously and
The Night I got Lucky. The release of her trilogy in 2009 received critical
acclaim and nominations for prestigious industry awards.
While researching her sixth
novel, The Rome Affair, Caldwell was led to the criminal case of Jovan Mosley, a
young man charged with murder, sitting in a Cook County holding cell for nearly
six years with no trial date. After hearing about his case, Caldwell joined a
renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his
innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man
Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon &
Schuster).
She is published in over 22
countries and translated into more than 13 languages. Laura is also a freelance
magazine writer and has been publi shed in Chicago Magazine, Woman's Own, The
Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman's Weekly, Shore Magazine and
others.
Inspired by Mosley’s case and
his challenges of rejoining society, Caldwell founded Loyola’s Life After
Innocence that assists wrongfully convicted individuals or other innocent
persons affected by the criminal justice system in order to help them re-enter
society and reclaim their lives.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
Forbidden relationships are
the most tempting. And the most dangerous.
It was a crime of passion-or so the police say.
Valerie Solara has been charged with poisoning her best friend. The prosecution
claims she's always been secretly attracted to Amanda's husband...and with
Amanda gone, she planned to make her move.
Attorney Izzy McNeil left the
legal world a year ago, but a friend's request pulls her into the murder trial.
Izzy knows how passion can turn your life upside down. She thought she had it
once with her ex-fiance, Sam. Now she wonders if that's all she has in common
with her criminally gorgeous younger boyfriend, Theo.
It's Izzy's job to
present the facts that will exonerate her client-whether or not she's innocent.
But when she suspects Valerie is hiding something, she begins investigating-and
uncovers a web of secret passions and dark motives, where seemingly innocent
relationships can prove poisonous...
09/26/11
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
It was a chilly day in Maine when Amy received the call from her sister, Joanne, “Wanna write a book together?” Amy said yes and the journey began.
Amy is the older sister who loves her 2 sons and nephew, dogs, volunteering at the Bangor Humane Society, running, hiking, snowshoeing, surfing the web, her brown poodle Teddy, Lola, writing, reading, cycling, going to bed early, spending time with her friends and family, being outdoors when it’s nice outside and indoors when it’s not, and editing Joanne’s writing. She is a pescatarian and a lawyer in Maine.
Joanne is the younger sister who loves her 3 nephews, her grey poodle Frisco, writing, hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, cooking, traveling, Florence, Italy, anything to do with the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo, spending time with her friends and family, and being edited by Amy. She a vegetarian and a lawyer in Florida.
Two sisters, both attorneys; as sisters, Amy and Joanne have learned to play to each others strengths—an important lesson for any co-authors.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis:
Available as e-book for Kindle and Nook and in print.
No one is perfect, not even Archer—but she would like to be. As an attorney with a possible judicial seat Archer struggles to maintain balance between her professional responsibilities and her responsibilities as mother to her adopted special needs child.
Rory has Asperger’s Syndrome; he is sensitive, difficult, and stubborn. When Rory decides to go searching for his birth parents Archer has no choice but to join him. What follows is a wild journey of self discovery for both of them!
Wicked Good is full of rich characters with whom you will cry, hope, laugh, and cheer.
09/23/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neil Hanson lives and works in Colorado. Peace at the Edge of Uncertainty is his first book. He blogs actively and writes articles for periodicals. He is an avid outdoorsman, passionate about hunting and fishing. He spends a great deal of time bicycling the roads and trails of Colorado, and backcountry skiing in winter. His passion for gardening spills over into a joint venture with his oldest son, where they operate a landscaping and construction company in Colorado.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this story told in the first-person form of a letter from a middle-aged man to his deceased father, Hanson invites us to journey with him through the final days of the father’s life, finding a magical transition waiting at the end of that journey. The story weaves end-of-life reality and spiritual questioning into a sensitive and revealing tapestry of Truth and Wisdom. The tapestry is colored with true stories of mystical experiences that inform the spiritual path of the son.
Most of us will face difficult and painful end-of-life decisions with the most important people in our lives. The threads of this aspect of the story are sensitive, and Hanson reveals the struggles and destinations of the son as he wrestles deeply with the journey that he must walk in making these decisions for his dying father.
09/21/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kathleen Kent lives in Dallas with her husband and son. The Heretic's Daughter is her first novel.Most of the books that have influenced and touched me the most are historical fiction. When I was a child I read a lot of Dickens, Poe and H.H. Monroe. Some of my favorites from the past are The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser, Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve, and The Source by James Mitchener. I also read everything by Annie Dillard, Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. Currently I'm re-reading a book called The Long Home by William Gay who is, to me, one of the best writers in American fiction today.
SYNOPSIS OF( from the publisher):
In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin's household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and his mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of the role he played in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood. At once a love story and a tale of courage, The Traitor's Wife confirms Kathleen Kent's ability to craft powerful stories from the dramatic background of America's earliest days.
09/20/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Her grandfather entertained his family with stories and dancing, her father quoted Shakespeare and her mother was known as “Mary the Poet” so naturally Kathryn would become a writer…eventually!
magazines. She recently won Word Hustler’s Page-to-Screen Contest (2011) and currently serves as Prose Poetry Judge for the National League of American Pen Women Soul-Making Contest. A collection of her work will soon be released under the title A World of Love and Envy (short fiction, flash-fiction, and poetry).
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
When trucker Joe-Mack picks up a runaway in Vegas and drops him in Hollywood, he leaves him with a phone number—just in case. When the call comes, Joe becomes embroiled in Freddie’s life and the search for Starlet, the homeless girl who desires stardom. The three share a common search for love and for a place to belong.
With vivid imagery Handley tells a tale of dreams lost and found, of broken hearts and edgy situations. This is a story of life on the street. Handley’s characters meet life head on, taking risks and maintaining thin threads of dignity amidst troubling situations with surprising twists along the way.
Available as eBook for Kindle or soft cover.
09/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have always been a communicator- worse still, a communicator (or ‘chatterbox’ as my mother called me) with a vivid imagination. It started from a very early age, when as a toddler I would chat to complete strangers, much to the amusement of my mother, and regale them with stories or ask them if they knew how to make scotch eggs. Language 2000 Ltd, and taught languages to individuals and companies and translated documents. Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines As I became older I had further complications with my back. A spinal fusion has cracked at the upper end and was causing much pain. I gave up teaching along with the language company to try something new - I became a fitness instructor. I trained and worked for several people in France and the UK. I even appeared in a fitness magazine What brought about the desire to write a novel? There were several reasons. Being someone who loves to talk, my head was always filled with noise. For the last two or three years, since I stopped working, I find myself awake at night ‘talking’ to myself. My brain will make up stories to while away the hours. It was a natural progression to write down these thoughts and stories. Last year was a significant one for me. My husband had retired; my son had turned twenty-one and had just flown the nest. I was facing fifty in July. Many of my friends were turning fifty that year too and they all seemed to be doing something radical. They were either having cosmetic surgery, taking up hobbies, moving abroad or even splitting up from long term relationships and going off on adventures. They all had one thing in common – they were embracing their fifties. Up until then I hadn’t given it too much thought and was only really focused on actually going away for my birthday for the first time which was quite exciting. Looking at a friend’s wall on Facebook and at the photographs of her celebrating her birthday and reading about her plans I thought I ought to treat my fifties as an opportunity. Here I was, child-free at last, with the chance to enjoy life with my husband. I had already been extremely fortunate in life and had the opportunity to travel, to learn to fly a helicopter and to dive. The year before I had taken up art and drawn a series of pictures. I felt though I needed to do something more. I drew up a ‘bucket list’ of things to do. One of my first goals was to write an article or short story and get it published or win a prize. I set about rewriting some of the stories that had popped into my head. Late in June 2010 I was visiting my usual haunt in town - a rather nice ‘boutique’. As always I was talking to the assistants and women there. I was regaling them with a story about my son and as usual they were laughing about it. One of them told me I was very entertaining and I really should write down some of the stories I had told them during my visits. As it happened I had by then written one or two. They seemed to flow quite well together and I suddenly decided that I might be able to write more than just a story. Initially, I wanted to write my novel in the form of a diary of a woman aged 50 but this format has been chosen a lot over the years. In this day and age my character should be more ‘with it’. Most of my friends are on Facebook. They have iPads and iPhones My character would be more than able to use a computer. I decided to put it in a blog-like form. That way the reader wouldn’t have to complete a chapter if they were time-short as each entry stands alone. Knowing nothing about blogging I had to research and set up a blog to see if the format would be viable to a fifty year old. Last July I created a blog, called it I wiped the July entries from my blog and began the book. I did however restart the blog as a humorous take on facing 50 recording amusing events from my own daily life to see if the formula would work. It did. Within three months I had a few hundred followers and now I have thousands of hits a month and have guest blogged on several blogs. Amanda is the main character and the novel is written through her eyes. She is not however the main character. She is a conduit or a mirror for the reader. The reader should be able to see something of themselves in her and as the novel progresses also reach the same understanding as Amanda; that life is for living and enjoying. Her background is deliberately vague so that the reader can associate with her better. It is more important that they recognise her anxieties and concerns and indeed have experienced those things themselves. The strongest and most amusing character is the mother, who remains nameless throughout the novel. As Amanda grows to appreciate her mother the more astute reader will notice that her tone has changed. Instead of calling her ‘my mother’ she starts referring to her as ‘Mum’. Each character is equally important as they represent the various stages of ageing and problems associated with each age. Amanda has all of those difficulties associated with a woman reaching middle age; her husband wrestles with retirement and anxieties over their financial future as no more income is headed their way. Her son is struggling because he is trapped at home and cannot yet find the independence he desperately needs. Her mother is grabbing at every opportunity in her twilight years yet yearns to have her daughter as a friend. The novel is more than one woman’s story. It is about the complexity of relationships and the need to nurture them. It is about friendship and how important that is to individuals. It is about embracing life and seizing the day. Mostly it is about enjoying life. You can’t succeed at everything but you can laugh at it and if you have a positive attitude you will have a positive life. I couldn’t turn back the clock and relive my life. I had to face up to being older and not as fit as I was, or as wrinkle free as I had been, but I could stay cheerful and youthful on the inside. I wanted to share that message with others and help them laugh at what life offers sometimes. My mother’s mantra, even in the face of adversity is, ‘Well, you have to laugh at it, don’t you?’ I hope that my novel allows people to have a giggle for a while. I hope it lifts their spirits and I hope it enhances their laughter lines! is not the first book I have written. In fact I wrote a series of books for children that tell an amusing story about an animal and also teach them French. They were en route to being published when my friend and illustrator for the books unexpectedly died at the age of fifty. I didn’t continue with them after that. Zest as a ‘Before’ and ‘After’ story. ‘Facing 50 with Humour’ and wrote a series of entries as if I were Amanda Wilson. They formed the original first chapter. Having no followers at that point I asked the ladies in the boutique along with some of my Facebook friends to read the entries and tell me what they thought. The result was extremely encouraging. They urged me to continue and write the entire book. They loved every entry and claimed it was like ‘Grumpy Old Women’ only funnier You can find Carol at: Facing 50 With Humour and her website.
Born in Germany into a military family I spent my early childhood in Germany. I seemed to have an ability not only to talk a lot but in other languages too. Apparently, I would even talk in my sleep and often would dream in foreign languages - although as I gravely explained to my mother when I was about three - I had dreamt in German but not understood it!
I developed a love of reading early in life too thanks largely to my mother. I was brought up to read regularly. I had ample opportunity to read to my heart’s desire after a lengthy spell in hospital when I was 17 years old due to major spinal surgery which left me in hospital for weeks and bed-ridden for months. Here, I also started my writing career, as the only way I could stay in touch with friends, was to write long letters telling them about my stay in hospital and the characters in my ward. I was to spend a further year undergoing surgery and being housebound during my university years.
As I grew up, it was soon obvious to my parents that I would become either an actress or a teacher as I had a propensity (?) for language, and deciding I would get more lines and a better chance for a leading role, I chose the latter.
I studied English and French at the University of Keele and graduated in 1984. I then promptly headed to Morocco (Casablanca) where I taught English in English and American institutes and French to companies.
Two years later I returned to the UK where I took up a position at a private school in Staffordshire as a teacher of English to pupils aged 11-18.
After meeting and marrying my husband and giving birth to my son I set up my own language company,
Teaching allowed me to make full use of my linguistic and acting skills and afforded me the opportunity to communicate on many levels. To help people learn successfully and be a good teacher you need to be able to make the subject come to life. I have been known to teacher German to a group of accountants using puppets as a puppet show.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (from the author):
Whatever happened to her husband, Phil, the sparkling, fun-loving man who danced the conga, at 3am, with a pineapple on his head? Newly retired, and constantly under her feet, he now makes Victor Meldrew look like Coco the Clown. Nothing amuses him or interests him. His joie de vivre has evaporated as quickly as their life savings. Phil spends his days sitting fixated in front of the computer screen trying to manage their share portfolio uninterested in life and uninterested in her.
He only emerges to mope about the house or squabble with their son who admittedly, is making life very difficult since he boomeranged back to the nest unexpectedly. Tom appears to have his own agenda at the moment and no one can get through to him. It will require more than the average maternal skills to prevent war from breaking out between him and Phil. Although, if he pulls any more of his stunts, Mandy might just be the one to launch the first blow.
With nothing but gloomy prospects on the economic horizon it seems probable that at least one of them will have to seek employment. In the meantime, strict austerity measures will have to be enforced in the house, which can mean only one thing. Not only will Mandy have to hide her bottles of wine in the bottom of her wardrobe, but she will have to give up sneaking home new clothes. There are seriously no pleasures left.
Surely, fifty is supposed to be the new forty. In Mandy’s eyes she should be fab, not drab, at fifty and certainly not stuck in the dreariest village in England waiting for the excitement of the Annual Open Gardens Event. Even her effervescent mother, now in her twilight years, is enjoying life to the full. Her exuberant behaviour and increasingly wild adventures are the stuff of television comedy. Mandy can only admire and envy her. However, she begins to have serious reservations about the latest love interest in her mother’s life; Grego. After all, what sort of man cries at an opera and encourages your aged mother to buy a sports car?
Feeling unwanted by all around her, she reconnects with her first true love, Todd Bradshaw, now residing in Australia. Todd’s charm and zest for life is a welcome contrast to Phil. His life is chocablock full of adventure and a far cry from her existence. It’s not long before they are reliving old times and engaging in regular games of ‘Lust Scrabble’. Reminded of who she used to be, Mandy rediscovers her youthful side. Before long she is faced with a difficult decision. Should she meet the beguiling Todd who is coming over to the UK? He certainly wants to be more than internet friends. Could this be the opportunity that she passed up many years before?
However, determined to not give up on her family just yet, she endeavours to drag the reluctant Phil into a happier, more fruitful retirement, with comic results. Her plans to introduce him to new interests and hobbies go completely awry. Fortunately, the hilarious results are highly appreciated by a growing group of followers, who interact with her on her blog.
After endless battles and much heartache her relationship with Tom is finally given the opening it needs after he is jilted by his girlfriend. Mandy, reminded of how she felt when Todd and she split up, sets about mending her son’s broken heart by sending him on holiday for his 21
Meanwhile, her mother seems to be embracing life with the gusto of a pit bull terrier chasing after a postman. She has been hosting wild ‘Twister’ parties, and performing Tina Turner’s hits at the local
Karaoke evening. Her relationship with Grego is also heating up. Not only does he return to the UK with her mother but has asked her a vital question. If only Mandy knew what the question was and hadn’t dropped the phone into her lumpy gravy at that particular point. Her mother is suddenly out of contact and Mandy is left suspecting she is to be getting a toy stepfather.
Mandy gradually learns that the formula to staying youthful is to appreciate and laugh at life. She only has to take a look at the aged neighbours to recognise that life is to be fully enjoyed. They have bought themselves a ‘peaPad’ and a new motorbike. Others, equally aged villagers, have surprising amounts of fun at art classes, quiz nights and gardening events all with fun results. She must now decide the direction her life should take, and with whom she should make the journey. Or, is it too late and that particular decision has just been made for her?
09/15/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeffrey Stephens was born in New York City and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science at the age of 16; he completed a B.A. in Creative Writing from Pennsylvania State University at 19. Jeffrey began his first novel in 1970, which would not be completed for several years as he entered the Fordham University School of Law. His private legal practice has included extensive civil and criminal courtroom experience, and he has represented a wide range of celebrity clients. Continuing to practice law while completing several novels, he only recently decided to pursue his career as a novelist in earnest, with the encouragement of his wife, Nancy.
Nancy and Jeffrey live in Greenwich, Connecticut, where they raised two sons, Graham and Trevor. All avid skiers, golfers and tennis players, they have traveled extensively as a family throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, including a fateful trip years ago to Portofino, Italy, the setting for the climax of TARGETS OF DECEPTION.
Nancy and Jeffrey live in Greenwich, Connecticut, where they raised two sons, Graham and Trevor. All avid skiers, golfers and tennis players, they have traveled extensively as a family throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, including a fateful trip years ago to Portofino, Italy, the setting for the climax of TARGETS OF DECEPTION.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Jordan Sandor is the CIA’s most effective agent—as well as its most dangerous—and he is on the move again. A former Iranian assassin has fled to Washington, seeking safe haven in exchange for information about a cabal of international terrorists working out of North Korea. It is clear their intentions are cataclysmic, but their target is unknown, and Sandor is assigned to lead a team into Kim Jong-Il’s fortress nation to uncover the details of this lethal scheme, then somehow get himself and his men out alive. Yet even as Sandor works to prevent this impending attack, two seemingly unrelated acts of mass murder are visited upon the sleepy, sensuous islands of the French West Indies. Now, as Sandor makes his dramatic escape from North Korea, carrying with him his dead and his nightmares, it is up to him to piece together everything he has discovered, knowing that the Caribbean strikes were only the beginning and that his mission has just started—the worst is yet to come, and it is racing towards the shore of the USA
09/12/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mari says that journaling has become her “tool for life”. She keeps a journal in her office for assistance in business, one in the family area for use with introspection, and one by the bed for dream work.
After twenty years as a business consultant Mari McCarthy switched gears. The catalyst was a health issue for which the remedy became her new life path. Mari now assists others with personal development and health issues through therapeutic journaling.
Synopsis (borrowed from Amazon):
A fun, how-to manual on getting started in the practice of Journaling for self-growth. This e-book examines the basic process of journaling and then provides a few prompts, or variations on the basics, that can spark your imagination and enrich the potential of your journal writing. The goal of this guide is to give a clear picture of how to use journaling for self-discovery and self-growth. Includes color illustrations.
09/07/11
Cheryl Crane is the daughter of Hollywood legend Lana Turner and actor-restaurateur Josef Stephen Crane. Today, Cheryl works in real estate in Palm Springs, California. Her autobiography, Detour: A Hollywood Story, was a New York Times bestseller. In 2008 she published the ultimate illustrated biography of her mother, Lana: The Memories, the Myths, the Movies. She’s currently working on the next Nikki Harper mystery.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the first of a wildly entertaining mystery series set amid the bright lights, big egos, and Botoxed brows of Hollywood, Cheryl Crane—daughter of legendary movie star Lana Turner—introduces a smart, hilarious, and utterly loveable heroine in realtor-turned-amateur sleuth, Nikki Harper. For Nikki Harper, realtor to the stars and daughter of 1950s screen goddess Victoria Bordeaux, Hollywood is home. A completely dysfunctional home populated by a cast of crazies, true, but home nonetheless. While Nikki’s no stranger to scandal, she’s shocked to receive a hysterical phone call from her business partner, Jessica Martin, saying that TV has-been Rex March has been found dead in Jessica’s bed. More shocking than Rex’s death is the fact that, as far as anyone knew, Rex was already dead. Six months ago, the star of the seventies sitcom Shipwrecked Vacation was supposedly killed when his plane crashed in the Mojave Desert. Nikki and Jessica recently sold his mansion on behalf of his widow, Edith. It’s obvious to Nikki that Jessica is being framed, but by whom? And why? And how on earth can Rex be dead a second time? In search of answers, Nikki turns to the one person she can always count on. From her pink boudoir in her Beverly Hills mansion, the ever-glamorous Victoria suggests Nikki focus her sleuthing on Rex’s not-so-grieving widow. And there’s a veritable casting couch full of other candidates, including Edith’s boy-toy lover, Rex’s scheming lawyer (like there’s any other kind), and the diner waitress with whom Rex was having one of his numerous affairs. But with the killer readying for a repeat performance, Nikki will have to act fast—before her own screen fades to black…
09/01/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joseph Hayes is a native of Chicago. He grew up in a family of eight children in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side, where the Irish-Catholic heritage and influence was strong and visible. Joe attended St. Barnabas Elementary School, Brother Rice High School and De Paul University before leaving Chicago to attend law school in California, at UC Berkeley. Since graduating from Berkeley, he has practiced law in Chicago, San Diego and Houston. Joe currently serves as chief ethics officer and assistant general counsel for a large, publicly held company based in Houston, Texas, and is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts in his field. In his professional capacity, he has written extensively about legal and ethical issues and frequently speaks about such issues be! fore employee and industry groups. When No One is Watching is his first work of fiction. His second novel, a legal thriller entitled Consequential Damages, is expected to be published soon.
Joe currently resides in The Woodlands, Texas, with his wife, Susan, and their three children, Amy, Sean and Erin
ABOUT THE BOOK
On the eve of announcing his run for Congress, rising political star Blair Van Howe causes a deadly car wreck. Passed out drunk in the passenger seat is his alcoholic best friend, Danny Moran. Panicked at the thought of seeing his promising future explode into scandal, Blair moves his comatose friend into the driver’s seat, dials 911, and flees the scene.
When the police arrive and Danny comes to, it appears to him and everyone else that he was the cause of the fatal wreck, and he is left to face life-altering consequences: criminal prosecution, financial ruin, public disgrace and overpowering guilt. As Danny struggles to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, Blair embarks on a meteoric rise to political stardom. But when a dogged detective digs deeper into the case, the political superstar must ask himself just how far he is willing to go to protect his dark secret.
Longtime lawyer and chief ethics officer Joseph Hayes spins a tale involving ambition, corruption and scandal within Chicago political circles. Within the framework of this page-turning thriller is a compelling contemporary morality play dealing with ethics, personal responsibility and making a difference. It explores the rationalizations our political leaders often make -- justifying their self-serving personal agendas in the name of promoting the “greater good.” It examines the notion that character and integrity are defined by how we behave when no one is watching and the far-reaching consequences of the decisions we make when facing ethical dilemmas. It explores the impact of guilt on the human mind and heart and searches for inspiration and heroism in unexpected places.
When No One is Watching also explores the volatile and tragic world of alcoholism through the story of Danny Moran, who despite losing nearly everything due to his drinking, somehow manages to hold onto his moral compass and his sense of hope. Danny’s character was inspired by Hayes’s own father, an alcoholic who found lasting sobriety through AA and devoted his life to helping others do the same.
Longtime lawyer and chief ethics officer Joseph Hayes spins a tale involving ambition, corruption and scandal within Chicago political circles. Within the framework of this page-turning thriller is a compelling contemporary morality play dealing with ethics, personal responsibility and making a difference. It explores the rationalizations our political leaders often make -- justifying their self-serving personal agendas in the name of promoting the “greater good.” It examines the notion that character and integrity are defined by how we behave when no one is watching and the far-reaching consequences of the decisions we make when facing ethical dilemmas. It explores the impact of guilt on the human mind and heart and searches for inspiration and heroism in unexpected places.
When No One is Watching also explores the volatile and tragic world of alcoholism through the story of Danny Moran, who despite losing nearly everything due to his drinking, somehow manages to hold onto his moral compass and his sense of hope. Danny’s character was inspired by Hayes’s own father, an alcoholic who found lasting sobriety through AA and devoted his life to helping others do the same.
ABOUT THE AUTHORKari Lee Townsend lives in upstate New York with her very understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter who keep her grounded and make everything she does worthwhile, not to mention provide her with loads of material for her books She spends her days and nights trying to figure out who dunnit. Funny how no one at home will confess any more than the characters in her books. You can find out more about Kari and all her books at her website at www.karileetownsend.com as well as her group mystery blog Mysteries and Martinis www.myteriesandmartinisblogspot.com or connect with her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/karileetownsend and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/karileetownsendAUTHOR
ABOUT THE BOOK
TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES: A Fortune Teller Mystery
First in a new series by Kari Lee Townsend
In the fortune telling business there are a lot of pretenders, but Sunshine Meadows is the real deal—and her predictions can be lethally accurate…
Leaving behind the Big Apple for the quaint town of Divinity, New York, Sunny is determined to make it on her own as a psychic. With an ancient Victorian house as her place of business, Sunny uses various tools to interpret her visions and aid the town’s residents. But when she uses tea leaves to give a reading for a frazzled librarian, what she finds at the bottom of the cup is anything but helpful. Sunny informs the police of her deadly vision, but her warning comes too late. And with hard-nosed, ruggedly handsome Detective Mitch Stone denying her abilities and naming her as prime suspect, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the situation is dire. Now Sunny will have to use her visions to clear her name, before the killer can put an end to the psychic’s future…
In the fortune telling business there are a lot of pretenders, but Sunshine Meadows is the real deal—and her predictions can be lethally accurate…
Leaving behind the Big Apple for the quaint town of Divinity, New York, Sunny is determined to make it on her own as a psychic. With an ancient Victorian house as her place of business, Sunny uses various tools to interpret her visions and aid the town’s residents. But when she uses tea leaves to give a reading for a frazzled librarian, what she finds at the bottom of the cup is anything but helpful. Sunny informs the police of her deadly vision, but her warning comes too late. And with hard-nosed, ruggedly handsome Detective Mitch Stone denying her abilities and naming her as prime suspect, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the situation is dire. Now Sunny will have to use her visions to clear her name, before the killer can put an end to the psychic’s future…
08/27/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In addition to writing, Layton attended law school in New Orleans and was a practicing attorney for the better part of a decade (even though he still resents having cut his hair for that first interview). He has also been an intern for the United Nations, an ESL teacher in Central America, a bartender in London, a seller of cheap knives on the streets of Brixton, a door to door phone book deliverer, and the list goes downhill from there.
He has traveled to more than fifty countries, lived in a number of them, and has a burning desire to see every country, city, beach, moor, castle, cemetery, twisted street and far flung dot on the map. Religion and cults, as well as all things spiritual and supernatural, have also been a lifelong interest. Combine the travel and the religion with fifteen years of Japanese Jujitsu training, and the Dominic Grey series was born.
He has traveled to more than fifty countries, lived in a number of them, and has a burning desire to see every country, city, beach, moor, castle, cemetery, twisted street and far flung dot on the map. Religion and cults, as well as all things spiritual and supernatural, have also been a lifelong interest. Combine the travel and the religion with fifteen years of Japanese Jujitsu training, and the Dominic Grey series was born.
Layton lives with his wife and son in Miami.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (from the author):
The Egyptian: A Suspense/Thriller
At a mausoleum in Cairo’s most notorious cemetery, a mercenary receives a package containing a silver test tube suspended in hydraulic stasis.
An investigative reporter tracking rogue biomedical companies is terrified by the appearance of a mummified man outside her Manhattan apartment.
A Bulgarian scientist who dabbles in the occult makes a startling discovery in his underground laboratory.
These seemingly separate events collide when Dominic Grey and Viktor Radek, private investigators of cults, are hired by the CEO of an Egyptian biomedical firm to locate stolen research integral to the company’s new life extension product. However, after witnessing the slaughter of a team of scientists by the remnants of a dangerous cult thought long abandoned, Grey and Viktor turn from pursuers to pursued.
From the gleaming corridors of visionary laboratories to the cobblestone alleys of Eastern Europe to a lost oasis in the Sahara, Grey and Viktor must sift through science and myth to uncover the truth behind the Egyptian and his sinister biotech – before that truth kills them.
Layton is also the Kindle bestselling author of the suspense novel The Summoner (first in the Dominic Grey series of stand-alone novels), as well as the mystery novella Hemingway’s Ghost. Visit him at http://www.laytongreen.com/.
Layton is also the Kindle bestselling author of the suspense novel The Summoner (first in the Dominic Grey series of stand-alone novels), as well as the mystery novella Hemingway’s Ghost. Visit him at http://www.laytongreen.com/.
08/23/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Becker had endured her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates, many of which inspired Click: An Online Love Story. She is now happily married to a wonderful man she met online and lives in Manhattan Beach with him and their two daughters. So, if it happened for her, there’s hope for you!
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, dating, with a prospect or even a house full of cats, Renee Greene reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-retentive Mark, the overly-judgmental Gretchen and the sexed-up Shelly) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical B celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man.
08/18/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Staci Greason is a recovered soap opera star turned personal assistant, ghost writer, novelist and feral cat wrangler. She is also the author of the popular blog Anxiety: a Love Story (staciagreason.blogspot.com).
The Last Great American Housewife isn’t the first book she’s written, but it is the first one published under the name her parents gave her. Which has made them proud.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Kate Miller may be THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE left in Van Nuys. But as she sails toward forty on the wave of a pretty good (albeit somewhat boring) life with a husband and two kids, the death of her dysfunctional mother sends Kate out on the ledge...and straight up a tree. Surveying her life from atop an endangered Ponderosa Pine near The Fashion Square Plaza Mall, Kate learns more than how to fight for a cause. She learns how one frightened woman can actually discover her true self, one branch at a time. And right down the street from her own backyard08/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Gerard de Marigny was the lead guitarist for the rock band AMERICADE that sold many thousands of records all over the world. His band won the "Best New Video" award on MTV in1983, but a life-threatening illness (cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and an epiphany of faith inspired him to focus on his lifelong ambition ... to bring to life righteous characters that would inspire others ... ultimately, to write novels.
In 2007, Gerard was awarded the prestigious Fischer Family Scholarship for the Arts from Penn State University, for a 5,000-word autobiographical work he was commissioned to write.
In January 2011, he completed his debut novel, THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM, a political thriller which is book one of his WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM series. The sequel, SIGNS OF WAR is due to be released in September 2011.
Gerard de Marigny currently resides in the beautiful foothills surrounding Las Vegas, NV with his wife Lisa and their four sons. When he's not writing his novels, you'll find him bending an arm at a local pub with friends
ABOUT THE BOOK
Cris De Niro worked his way up to the top of the hedge fund world. Yet, all of his money couldn't protect him from losing his wife on 9/11.
10 years passed since the tragedy. Turning to his faith to overcome his anguish, De Niro now lives for a higher purpose. From a biblical passage, he reads about the "Watchman of Ephraim," a defender who kept watch over the land. De Niro decides to acquire a lackluster counter-terrorism agency in order to transform it into a modern-day version of The Watchman for the United States but there's not a moment to lose.
Aref Sami Zamani is planning a terrorist attack on American soil - codenamed "Antioch," a plot to detonate a "suitcase" nuclear bomb over the city of Las Vegas. The Watchman uncovers a connection between Zamani and a Mexican drug cartel but their agent goes missing before they can learn more. That's because Zamani has a spy working for The Watchman. Strange events start to unfold near the Nogales border crossing. References are discovered to something the Mexicans are calling "Noche Del Espantada" ...Fright Night," but can it mean something else?
September 11, 2011 and the sun hasn't risen yet in Las Vegas or Nogales. Antioch is in motion! At the border, Noche Del Espantada has begun and there are intruders at De Niro's ranch. De Niro has to protect his sons and someone new in his life, Dr. Moriah Stevens. She too, lost her spouse on 9/11. Moriah finds herself in love with De Niro but his devotion to his wife is proving too powerful for him, even after 10 years.
It's the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil and unless De Niro and his new team are successful, the day will be known as "The 2nd 9/11."
Aref Sami Zamani is planning a terrorist attack on American soil - codenamed "Antioch," a plot to detonate a "suitcase" nuclear bomb over the city of Las Vegas. The Watchman uncovers a connection between Zamani and a Mexican drug cartel but their agent goes missing before they can learn more. That's because Zamani has a spy working for The Watchman. Strange events start to unfold near the Nogales border crossing. References are discovered to something the Mexicans are calling "Noche Del Espantada" ...Fright Night," but can it mean something else?
September 11, 2011 and the sun hasn't risen yet in Las Vegas or Nogales. Antioch is in motion! At the border, Noche Del Espantada has begun and there are intruders at De Niro's ranch. De Niro has to protect his sons and someone new in his life, Dr. Moriah Stevens. She too, lost her spouse on 9/11. Moriah finds herself in love with De Niro but his devotion to his wife is proving too powerful for him, even after 10 years.
It's the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil and unless De Niro and his new team are successful, the day will be known as "The 2nd 9/11."
08/12/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 1970, when she was thirteen years old, Lynda’s life came to a disastrous halt when her mother and two younger sisters were killed in an Air Canada plane crash.
As a young teen, Lynda made a conscious decision to become happy and to lead a fulfilled life. Lynda chose to live. She was committed to learning, growing and making a difference. Determined to find meaning and purpose in her life, she managed to muster up the courage and strength to dream big, to be idealistic, to strive for more, and to live a meaningful life where she could make a difference in the lives of others.
Lynda Fishman is a trained clinical social worker who has spent over twenty years as a camp director. In the early 90s, Lynda was one of the first camp directors in the Toronto area to incorporate children with special needs into mainstream camp life. Lynda has devoted a lifetime to organized camping and is passionate about the positive role of camping in a person’s life. She is the owner and director of Adventure Valley Day Camp.
Lynda is a motivational and inspirational speaker and facilitator. She has published articles and training manuals on leadership, teamwork, bullying, trust, childhood health and wellness, communication and customer service.
Lynda’s husband, Barry Fishman, has his own amazing story to share, having been orphaned at age 17 and left alone to care for his brother with special needs. Lynda and Barry met as teenagers and have been together since then. They have three grown children, and the whole family is heavily involved in supporting children dealing with tragedy, cancer or other life-threatening diseases, fund-raising and charity events.
Barry has spent his entire career working in the health care and pharmaceutical industry. He is President and CEO of the Canadian operations for the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical company, Teva Pharmaceuticals. Barry serves on the Board of Directors of the Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Lynda is a woman of action. She has incredible enthusiasm for life. She is persistent, focused and faithful to her dreams and goals. She is willing to work for everything with patience, optimism and determination. She finds ways to be grateful and positive. Lynda goes out there and does what she has to do with a CAN DO attitude of gratitude, positivity, compassion, and honesty.
Lynda Fishman is a trained clinical social worker who has spent over twenty years as a camp director. In the early 90s, Lynda was one of the first camp directors in the Toronto area to incorporate children with special needs into mainstream camp life. Lynda has devoted a lifetime to organized camping and is passionate about the positive role of camping in a person’s life. She is the owner and director of Adventure Valley Day Camp.
Lynda is a motivational and inspirational speaker and facilitator. She has published articles and training manuals on leadership, teamwork, bullying, trust, childhood health and wellness, communication and customer service.
Lynda’s husband, Barry Fishman, has his own amazing story to share, having been orphaned at age 17 and left alone to care for his brother with special needs. Lynda and Barry met as teenagers and have been together since then. They have three grown children, and the whole family is heavily involved in supporting children dealing with tragedy, cancer or other life-threatening diseases, fund-raising and charity events.
Barry has spent his entire career working in the health care and pharmaceutical industry. He is President and CEO of the Canadian operations for the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical company, Teva Pharmaceuticals. Barry serves on the Board of Directors of the Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Lynda is a woman of action. She has incredible enthusiasm for life. She is persistent, focused and faithful to her dreams and goals. She is willing to work for everything with patience, optimism and determination. She finds ways to be grateful and positive. Lynda goes out there and does what she has to do with a CAN DO attitude of gratitude, positivity, compassion, and honesty.
ABOUT THE BOOK
At thirteen years old, Lynda's life comes to a disastrous halt when her mother and two younger sisters are killed in a plane crash. Her father, overcome by despair, simply continues to exist, in a state devoid of hope. After burying a wife and two young children at the age of 44, the overwhelming responsibility of raising a daughter alone completely immobilizes him.
Teetering on that tender brink between childhood and adolescence, Lynda faces the responsibility of a father in a complete state of shock, a house to take care of and hundreds of decisions about how to proceed with their shattered lives.
In Repairing Rainbows she candidly describes the agonizing memories, deafening silence and endless hardships that are the fallout of incredible loss. As we follow her through marriage, motherhood and her own spiritual journey, Lynda reveals her complex feelings of hope, anger, pity and determination. Most importantly, she learns the crucial difference between "truly living" and the existence that is so often mistaken for being alive.
A true story, written by a woman whose normal and abundant life hides a terrible past, Repairing Rainbows is loaded with important lessons to help others overcome struggles and obstacles, and fulfill their lives. It is a powerful, captivating, riveting and easy-to-read story that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of its readers
In Repairing Rainbows she candidly describes the agonizing memories, deafening silence and endless hardships that are the fallout of incredible loss. As we follow her through marriage, motherhood and her own spiritual journey, Lynda reveals her complex feelings of hope, anger, pity and determination. Most importantly, she learns the crucial difference between "truly living" and the existence that is so often mistaken for being alive.
A true story, written by a woman whose normal and abundant life hides a terrible past, Repairing Rainbows is loaded with important lessons to help others overcome struggles and obstacles, and fulfill their lives. It is a powerful, captivating, riveting and easy-to-read story that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of its readers
08/10/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’ve been writing since I could pick up a pencil….
Wait, no…that’s what every other writer says! I started writing just before my eighth birthday, and it wasn’t on my own volition. I was sailing with my family in a 42-foot sailboat across the Pacific, and since there were no local schools (except those pertaining to fish) nearby, my mother homeschooled me. She was a strict taskmaster! A veritable slave driver! She demanded a new story every day.
So I’d sit in the boat’s galley and write. And stare out the porthole, and write some more. And doodle, and write some more. By the time we arrived in Hawaii the following year, I had a portfolio of stories, and I was hooked. Since then I haven’t stopped. (Well, much. I did take breaks now and then, for things like college, young kids, and a master’s degree.)
I love to read just as much as I love to write, and actually the reading bug hit me at about the same time my mom was cracking the whip over my head and commanding me to write. What else to occupy your time with when there are no other kids to play with and nothing to do but stare at the endless sea? Some of my most recent favorites: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, River God by Wilbur Smith, and anything by Laura Kinsale and Loretta Chase.
So I’d sit in the boat’s galley and write. And stare out the porthole, and write some more. And doodle, and write some more. By the time we arrived in Hawaii the following year, I had a portfolio of stories, and I was hooked. Since then I haven’t stopped. (Well, much. I did take breaks now and then, for things like college, young kids, and a master’s degree.)
I love to read just as much as I love to write, and actually the reading bug hit me at about the same time my mom was cracking the whip over my head and commanding me to write. What else to occupy your time with when there are no other kids to play with and nothing to do but stare at the endless sea? Some of my most recent favorites: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, River God by Wilbur Smith, and anything by Laura Kinsale and Loretta Chase.
ABOUT THE BOOK
TWICE TEMPTED
Serena Donovan left London six years ago, her heart broken and her reputation ruined by devilishly handsome Jonathan Dane. Now, with her family's future in peril, she reluctantly agrees to return to England and assume her late twin's identity. The price? Marry a man she doesn't love and spend the rest of her days living a lie.
Jonathan Dane, Earl of Stratford, has become an incorrigible rake, drinking, gambling-and trying to forget Serena Donovan. Yet the moment he's introduced to the prim and proper "Meg", he recognizes the sensual young woman who captured his heart. Haunted by his past mistakes, he refuses to lose Serena again. But convincing her to trust him is no easy task. Claiming his lost love means exposing the truth and destroying the life Serena has sacrificed everything to rebuild. With the future of all the Donovans at stake, and their undying passion capable of triggering yet another scandal, how much will Jonathan and Serena risk for a chance at true love?
Jonathan Dane, Earl of Stratford, has become an incorrigible rake, drinking, gambling-and trying to forget Serena Donovan. Yet the moment he's introduced to the prim and proper "Meg", he recognizes the sensual young woman who captured his heart. Haunted by his past mistakes, he refuses to lose Serena again. But convincing her to trust him is no easy task. Claiming his lost love means exposing the truth and destroying the life Serena has sacrificed everything to rebuild. With the future of all the Donovans at stake, and their undying passion capable of triggering yet another scandal, how much will Jonathan and Serena risk for a chance at true love?
08/06/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Dolley is an author, a pioneer computer game designer and a teenage freedom fighter. That was in 1974 when Chris was tasked with publicising Plymouth Rag Week. Some people might have arranged an interview with the local newspaper. Chris created the Free Cornish Army, invaded the country next door, and persuaded the UK media that Cornwall had risen up and declared independence. As he told journalists at the
time, ‘It was only a small country, and I did give it back.’
In 1981, he created Randomberry Games and wrote Necromancer, one of the first 3D first person perspective D&D computer games.
Now he lives in rural France with his wife and a frightening number of animals. They grow their own food and solve their own crimes. The latter out of necessity when Chris’s identity was stolen along with their life savings. Abandoned by the police forces of four countries who all insisted the crime originated in someone else's jurisdiction, he had to solve the crime himself. Which he did, and got a book out of it – the International bestseller, French Fried.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
An Unsafe Pair of Hands is a quirky murder mystery set in rural England charting the descent and rise of a detective on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Peter Shand is the 'safe pair of hands' – a high-flying police administrator seconded to a quiet rural CID team to gain the operational experience he needs for promotion. On his second day he’s thrust into a high-profile murder case. A woman’s body is discovered in an old stone circle – with another woman buried alive beneath her.
The pressure on Shand is enormous. The case is baffling. There appears to be no link between the two crimes. The media is clamouring for answers. And Shand’s convinced his wife is having an affair with someone called Gabriel.
Which just happens to be the name of the two chief suspects. Both are womanisers, and both mention a mystery woman – who sounds suspiciously like Shand’s wife – as their alibi. The pressure builds. Shand can’t sleep, a local journalist is out to discredit him, his wife is about to be dragged into the case and then, goaded at a press conference about lack of progress, he invents a lead. And keeps on lying – to the press, his boss, his team – telling himself that he'll solve the case before anyone finds out.
And then another murder occurs. And had there been a third?
Shand begins to doubt his ability. He's desperate, increasingly unpredictable, pursued by an amorous psychic, and somehow gaining a reputation for arresting livestock.
Which will break first? The case, or Shand?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary R. Ryman is the second of three generations of firefighters. He has a bachelor’s degree in Fire Science from the University of Maryland and has been employed as a fire protection engineer for over twenty-five years. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in American History. Ryman is married with two children. His oldest son makes up the third generation of firefighters in his family, which makes him feel both old and young at the same time.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Having served over thirty years in fire departments across three states, Gary R. Ryman brings a unique perspective to the firefighting experience. The son and father of firefighters, Ryman ignites the fire, smoke, blood and fear spanning three generations of the "family business." He recounts his early days in upstate New York learning from his father, the department fire chief. He describes the blazes he battled with a career and volunteer crew in the crowded suburbs of Washington, D.C. He examines the mentoring relationship established with his son as they respond to the calls of a volunteer department in rural Pennsylvania. Overall, Ryman shares both the personal and professional turning points that define a firefighting career.
08/02/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"Melissa Foster is a wonderful connector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocate for women. She is the real deal"--Author Jennie Shortridge
Melissa Foster is the author of two novels, Megan’s Way and Chasing Amanda. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, and is currently collaborating with Director Wendy Crouse, Dream Real Pictures, in the film production of Megan’s Way. Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written a column featured in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa is currently working on her next novel, and lives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Living in a rural Maryland community, Molly Tanner and her husband are enjoying their newly empty nest. But when a seven-year-old girl disappears from a local park it brings back memories of what brought the Tanners to Maryland a decade ago. Molly unknowingly witnessed another young girl’s abduction in Philadelphia and was almost destroyed by the guilt after the girl was killed. Unwilling to ignore the visions she sometimes has any longer, Molly sets out to find the young girl, jeopardizing the marriage she’d fought so hard to hold together. While unearthing clues and struggling to decipher her visions, Molly discovers another side of Boyds, where the residents--and the land itself--hold potentially lethal secrets.
08/01/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When I was little, there was only one thing I wanted to be: a superhero. But there came a day when my dreams were broken, and that was the day I realized that being a klutz was not, in fact, a super power, and my super weakness for anything bright and shiny meant a magpie with self-control could easily defeat me in a battle of wills. I turned to writing as a way to sharpen my mental super-hero skills. I don’t get to orbit the earth in a space station (and thank God, because I get sick on merry go round), but I do get to say things like: “Stand aside! This is a job for Writing Girl!!”
ABOUT THE BOOK
It’s not that Binda Morningstar’s an idiot—the girl’s got more degrees than a thermometer—but there’s something about a crisis that makes her lose her mind…and accidently injure anyone within a ten foot radius. But if she’s going to rescue her boss from a cursed jewel, she’s going to have to keep it together. Unfortunately for her, the cop on the case, Corin Hawthorne, has her losing her mind and her heart…and if he gets anymore drool worthy, she’s going to lose her inhibitions, too. To save her boss and win her man, she’s got to outrun a mobster, outwit the YIFFS at a sex fetish convention, and outthink an ex-wife—and she’s got to do it all without breaking an arm or inadvertently hitting anyone with pepper spray…it’s all got Binda hoping that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
07/29/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Genova holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. The author of the New York Times bestselling novel STILL ALICE, she lives with her family in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):
Sarah Nickerson, like any other working mom, is busy trying to have it all. One morning while racing to work and distracted by her cell phone, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In that blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her over-scheduled life come to a screeching halt. After a brain injury steals her awareness of everything on her left side, Sarah must retrain her mind to perceive the world as a whole. In so doing, she also learns how to pay attention to the people and parts of her life that matter most.
In this powerful and poignant New York Times bestseller, Lisa Genova explores what can happen when we are forced to change our perception of everything around us. Left Neglected is an unforgettable story about finding abundance in the most difficult of circumstances, learning to pay attention to the details, and nourishing what truly matters.
07/27/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Each morning shortly after the sun rises over Spokane, Washington, New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller pulls on her cowboy boots and heads for the stables for a few quiet moments with her horses before she settles in to write her pages for the day.
As the daughter of a town marshal, Linda has come home to the western lifestyle that gave birth to one of today’s most successful authors. With more than 80 novels to her credit, the self-confessed barn goddess left Washington years ago and pursued her wanderlust, living in Arizona and London and traveling the world. But now the “First Lady of the West” is glad to be back home, writing contemporary and historical novels that have earned her awards and placements on all the national bestsellers lists.
Linda traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she sold Fletcher’s Woman in 1983 to Pocket Books. Since then, Linda has successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, and concentrating on novels with a Western flavor. For her devotion to her craft, the Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Linda has come a long way since leaving Washington to experience the world. "But growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well," she allows. "And I'm happy to be back home."
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Creed cowboys are back for the final installment of “First Lady of the West” Linda Lael Miller’s exciting, authentic Western series—the Creed family trilogy. Following the #1 New York Times best-sellers A CREED IN STONE CREEK (March 2011) and CREED’S HONOR (June 2011), THE CREED LEGACY (HQN Books; July 2011; $7.99) ends the beloved three-part series with the story of rough-and-tumble rodeo star Brody Creed, the estranged twin brother of Conner Creed from CREED’S HONOR. Brody likes life on the move. Until a chance encounter with his long-estranged twin brother brings him back home to Lonesome Bend for the first time in years.
Suddenly Brody is in Creed territory—at thirty-three, he’s a restless bad boy in a family with deep ties to the land and each other. And Brody has a secret past that haunts him as he tries to make plans for his future. Soon he meets Carolyn Simmons who is looking for Mr. Right as her biological clock ticks. Will she fall for the gorgeous new cowboy in town—the opposite of everything she wants?
07/25/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With a Ph.D. in British Literature, Tracy Seeley teaches literature and creative nonfiction at the University of San Francisco. She can claim 26 addresses as her own including towns all across the midwest, Dallas, Austin, New Haven, Los Angeles, Caracas, Budapest, and Barcelona. When not tracking down Kansas addresses that no longer exist, Tracy Seeley lives in Oakland with her filmmaker husband, Frederick Marx. In an attempt to put down roots she has started a vegetable garden and is considering buying chickens.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sure, there’s no place like home—but what if you can’t really pinpoint where home is? By the time she was nine, Tracy Seeley had lived in seven towns and thirteen different houses. Her father’s dreams of movie stardom, stoked by a series of affairs, kept the family on edge, and on the move, until he up and left. Thirty years later, settled in what seems like a charmed life in San Francisco, a diagnosis of cancer and the betrayal of a lover shake Seeley to her roots—roots she is suddenly determined to search out. My Ruby Slippers tells the story of that search, the tale of a woman with an impassioned if vague sense of mission: to find the meaning of home
07/21/11
07/19/11
07/18/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
07/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A demon . . .
07/14/11
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07/13/11
07/12/11
07/09/11
07/08/11
07/07/11
An assassin who betrays his master
07/06/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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07/01/11
06/30/11
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06/25/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
06/24/11
06/22/11
06/20/11
ABOUT MARY TABOR
Author photo © Kevin Allen. Kevin Allen Photography
ABOUT THE BOOK
06/18/11
06/16/11
06/14/11
BEG FOR MERCY
06/12/11
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06/10/11
06/08/11
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06/06/11
06/02/11
06/01/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
05/26/11
ABOUT THE BOOK
05/25/11
ABOUT MEG MITCHELL MOORE
ABOUT THE BOOK
05/24/11
ABOUT DR. LAINA TURNER-MOLASKI
BIO 2010
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05/18/11
Graham Parke
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
05/17/11
ABOUT SPENCER SEIDEL
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
7 Reasons To Self Publish
ABOUT THE BOOK
05/11/11
ABOUT MARGARET MALLORY
05/10/11
ABOUT JAMES LEPORE
ABOUT SONS AND PRINCES
04/20/11
04/19/11
ABOUT MNGMEI YIP
04/14/11
ABOUT OLIVIA deBELLE BYRD
ABOUT THE BOOK
04/12/11
MICHAEL BARON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(and why no picture)
04/09/11
ABOUT LARISSA IONE
04/07/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
04/06/11
03/30/11
ABOUT LAYTON GREEN
03/17/11
07/21/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Edwards is from the small town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and has a PhD from Trinity College Dublin from the Centre for Gender & Women's Studies. She has wide-ranging writing experience and currently works as a Research Associate. The Trouble with Being a Horse is Emily's first work of fiction, and is published by Single Stride Publishing. She has been an avid equestrienne for over twenty years, participating in Pony Club and the Trinity College Dublin Equestrian Team.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From the author:
The Trouble with Being a Horse is a middle-grade fiction novel about a girl who turns into a horse. Olivia is outraged when her parents forbid her to ride and she wishes she could run away and be with horses forever. But after falling off her favorite horse, Olivia is shocked to find out she has mysteriously changed into a horse!
As a girl in a horse's body, Olivia must put her knowledge of horses to the test as she navigates this new and bizarre world. Struggling to communicate with both humans and horses, Olivia does her best to fit in. But when she can't resist showing off how much she knows, her secret is in danger of being found out!
07/19/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texan born, C.D. Shelton grew up in Los Angeles California. He served two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
He holds two Masters, one in Administration and the other in Biology.
He taught at Hollywood High School and was assistant Vice-Principal during his first ten years as an Educator.
He has taught Biology for the Los Angeles Community College District for over four decades. As a Biology Professor, he wrote and developed the Biology Curriculum for the Los Angeles Community Colleges for all the pre-med majors and non majors. He co-authored two laboratory manuals for the life science department on Physiology and for Anatomy.
C.D. Shelton’s interest have included aviation, tennis and golf to name just a few. He has a private pilots license, he was a certified tennis instructor for eight years. He is a father of three, grandfather of four, he lives in Orange County California with his wife and niece. He is currently writing his tenth novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from Amazon):
A Kid's Guide to being a Winner is an easy-to-read book for kids who are in need of that little "Extra" spark of understanding. A Kid's Guide to being a Winner is a book for young people on the Values of being responsible, being thoughtful, being respectful, having a positive mental attitude and having gratitude. A Kid's guide to being a Winner is about timeless and fundamental principles, which are essential to SUCCESS. A Kid's Guide to being a Winner includes steps that are simple, yet the results are POWERFUL.
07/18/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. Grace lives near London and is addicted to cats, acting as housekeeping staff to five mischievous moggies. Grace believes intelligent people need romantic fiction in their lives as an antidote to the modern world and as an avid reader of historicals she turned to writing as a release from the emotionally draining side of veterinary work. Her debut novel ‘A Dead Man’s Debt’ is a story of blackmail, duty and unexpected love.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (from the author):
Celeste Armitage has a plan…and that plan doesn’t include marriage. After deliberately humiliating a suitor, Celeste’s despairing parents exile her to thecountry. But once there she discovers a sketch book of daring nude studies and is shaken to find the artist is her hostess’s eldest son, Lord Ranulf Charing. This darkly cynical lord is exactly the sort of dissipated rogue she despises most…if only her blood didn’t heat at the thought of him…
Nothing is as it seems. Lord Ranulf’s life is a façade. Only he can save the Charing’s from disgrace as a blackmailer seeks to ruin his late brother’s reputation. But just asRanulf dares to open his heart to Celeste, the fury of his nemesis is unleashed… facing him with the stark choice between true love and family duty. However when Celeste guesses the truth behind his rejection, Ranulf underestimates her resolve to clear his name and in so doing places the woman he loves in mortal danger….
07/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
It’s A.J.’s world. A strange place where patterns jump out and catch the eye, very little is missed, and most of it can be recalled with a deep breath, it’s different from the world the rest of us inhabit. But the rest of us can see it – when we read. In this world, the smell of Florida takes three weeks to fully leave the senses and the air in Dallas is so thick that the planes “sink” to the runways rather than actually landing.
For A.J., texture reigns supreme. Whether it’s air or blood or virus, it can be felt and smelled. School is a privilege and two science degrees (a BA and MS) are mere pats on the back compared to the prize of knowledge. Teaching is something done for fun (and the illusion of a regular paycheck) and is rewarding at all levels, grade school through college. No stranger to awards and national recognition for outstanding work as a teacher, trainer and curriculum writer, like most true teachers, the real joy for A.J. is in the “oh!” - the moment when the student sees the connection and it all makes sense.
A.J. has lived in Florida and Los Angeles among a handful of other places. Recent whims have brought the dark writer to Tennessee, where home is a deceptively normal looking neighborhood just outside Nashville.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A demon . . .
Every soul he claims is another chance to advance. Until he can walk among us, look like us, make us believe in him. The only thing holding him back is . . .
An angel. . .
The rules of the realm bind him from fighting on the demon’s terms. But this is his chance to steal something away from the demon, to steal the thing the demon wants most . . .
A woman who must choose . . .
A woman who has been chosen. Katharine is suddenly a pawn in a game where the rules and the stakes are beyond her comprehension. She must take a side even though she can’t tell angel from demon. And in the end, they will all be judged.
God’s Eye07/14/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vicky Dreiling is a confirmed historical romance junkie and Anglophile. Frequent business trips to the UK allowed her to indulge her passion for all things Regency England. Bath, Stonehenge, and Spencer House are among her favorite places. She is, however, truly sorry for accidentally setting off a security alarm in Windsor Castle. That unfortunate incident led her British colleagues to nickname her “Trouble.”
When she’s not writing, Vicky enjoys reading, films, concerts, and most of all, long lunches with friends. She holds degrees in English literature and marketing. A native Texan, she shares her home with her daughter and a spoiled mini-lop rabbit that lives in a slightly gnawed cardboard cottage.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Miss Julianne Gatewick is in a pickle. It started when her brother's best friend-for whom she's long nursed a secret tendre-agreed to act as her guardian for the Season, only to seduce her with a risqué waltz. But when the music stopped and the expectant ton waited for Marc Darcett, Earl of Hawkfield, to claim her as his own, he made his disinterest clear. Rather than succumb to humiliation, Julianne does what any self-respecting, recently discarded young miss with a wicked sense of humor would do. She secretly pens a lady's guide to enticing unrepentant rakes . . . and it becomes the hottest scandal sheet in London.
Every honorable rake knows that friends' sisters are forbidden. But suddenly Julienne has a spark of mischief in her eyes that Hawk can't resist. Try as he might to push her away, he spends his days listening for her laughter and his nights dreaming of kissing her senseless. He's always avoided innocents and their marriage-minded mothers, but has the man least likely to wed finally met his match?
07/13/11
ABOUT WILLIAM BROWN
Bill Brown is the author of The Undertaker, his sixth suspense novel, has already received three 5-Star ratings from major review sites. It is available on Kindle, Sony, Nook, and IBook. His earlier books include Thursday at Noon, published in hardback by St. Martins, with paper and foreign editions and numerous favorable reviews in The New Yorker and other publications. Beaufort Books published his first novel, The Allah Conspiracy. His newest novel, A Whisper of War, is with his agent making the rounds of publishers; and he is currently writing two more suspense novels. In addition, he has written four screenplays that have won or placed in many national contests. One of his screenplays was optioned for film.
He lives in Columbus, Ohio. As the Vice President of the real estate subsidiary of a Fortune 500 corporation, he traveled widely in the US and abroad. A native of Chicago, he earned a BA in History and Russian Area Studies and a graduate degree from the University of Illinois. He has been active in politics and numerous civic organizations over the years, and served as a company commander in the US Army. When he is not writing, he focuses his time on landscape oil painting and golf. He has traveled widely in Russia, Germany, the Caribbean, England, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Austria, Egypt, and Israel.
You can visit William Brown at his website.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from Amazon):
Pete Talbott is a California native and harried Boston computer wonk still grieving over the death of his wife Terri, when he found himself at the wrong end of Gino Parini's .45 reading his own obituary torn from that morning's newspaper. Talbott figured it was all a big mistake until Parini showed him his wife's obituary too, and this was a mystery Talbott couldn't leave alone. From a funeral home in Indiana, to car chases on the Dan Ryan, a bloody Back Bay townhouse, snipers in New York City's Washington Square, sleazy lawyers, corrupt County sheriffs, mafia hit men, the FBI, an army of Chicago cops, and that unforgettable scene in the upper berth of an Amtrak Train, "The Undertaker" is a thrill ride with a touch of humor and romance. Someone with a penchant for sharp scalpels and embalming tables is planting bodies under other people's names; and if Talbott doesn't stop them, he and his quirky new girlfriend, Sandy Kasmarek, will be next on the Undertaker's list.
07/12/11
Christy Dorrity loves to read about cooking and cook about reading. She was taught early to have a discriminating taste for both books and food. Christy grew up on a trout ranch in Star Valley, Wyoming. She taught elementary school and lives in Utah with her husband and their five children. When Christy's not reading or writing, she's probably trying out a new recipe in the kitchen. You can find her online at http://www.christydorrity.com/.
COMPILED by CHRISTY DORRITTY
You’ll love The Book Blogger’s Cookbook because…
The Book Blogger’s Cookbook has 25 different book reviewers from every corner of the blogosphere. It bridges the gap between author and reader—putting you in touch with book reviewers who can separate the 5 star books from the mediocre.
The Book Blogger’s Cookbook showcases great reads and provides an interactive experience with links to author and book reviewer websites. The cookbook is created for those who like to experience what they read long after they’ve closed the book.
The Book Blogger’s Cookbook tells why each recipe complements its companion book. Recipes and books combine to make the reading experience satisfying and entertaining.
07/09/11
ERIK HANBERG
Guest Post: Real Life Hacking
My novel, The Saints Go Dying, features a computer-hacking detective on the trail of serial killer. No one on the force knows he’s a hacker, though, so he has to stay one step ahead of them.
Hacking is routinely sensationalized in books and movies. It’s as if hackers type in a few special keystrokes no one else knows about and suddenly, bam! They are into the Department of Defense mainframe.
The truth is, hacking is actually quite slow and hard, especially when you’re talking anything worth hacking into.
The easiest way to hack something is to figure out someone’s username and password. Too many people choose unsafe passwords and too often they can be hacked just by trying some common passwords or words from the dictionary.
Besides that option, hacking is often a slow process. Hackers can set ‘snares’ online and wait for prey to be caught by them. They can seek clues in the real world—like passwords written on Post-It notes and put on the edge of the monitor. They can even go to online forums and ask their friends for help—after all, why reinvent the wheel if someone else has already hacked into a server first?
All of those options can be effective, but they give you a sense of what hacking might be like. In The Saints Go Dying I try to give realistic and yet also interesting ways for the detective to hack into something.
This is probably a good time to mention that I am not a hacker. Nor do I think it’s something worth celebrating. But it is interesting and I've enjoyed learning more about it via my novels.
I hope you will check out the ebook of The Saints Go Dying! And watch for The Marinara Murders, the sequel, which is due out in November.
Erik Hanberg lives in Tacoma Washington with his wife Mary. He blogs regularly at erikhanberg.com.
07/08/11
FINDING LOST CHILDREN AND HER LOST SOUL
When Mariah Adele Carpenter attempted to end her own life with a handful of pills, she thought she had left the cares of the world behind. Somehow, her act of self-destruction became one of redemption when a mysterious figure healed her – and set her on a journey that would test her faith, her perceptions and ultimately her sanity in Paula Bradley’s heart-pounding debut novel CHOSEN (Fiction Studio, 2011).
Mariah soon realizes that the deathbed visitation by an otherworldly figure has magnified the nascent extrasensory gifts she’s had since childhood. Desperate to understand what has happened, she reaches out to non-denominational minister Michael Jenkins. The gentle Englishman becomes her spiritual guide and bedrock support when she is drawn against her will into the minds of abducted children.
Her role in the rescue of these innocents draws the attention of FBI Special Agent Frannie Manzetti, who sees Mariah as a path to promotion and heightened status within the department. But can Manzetti keep her prize to herself once the women become friends? And can the agent protect her charge once the media gets hold of a stolen tape showing her psychic ability?
When her fourth Finding hits the airwaves, all hell breaks lose. Blessed and reviled in equal measure, she finds herself on trial for murder while another government agency develops its own covert agenda to control her and her abilities.
As her outer turmoil intensifies, Mariah is plagued by a series of terrifying nightmares, culminating in the discovery of an ingenious serial killer who somehow prevents her from finding out his identity and location. His elusive nature tortures her, driving her to frightening excesses as she becomes obsessed with finding him before he kills again.
Paula Bradley has created a heroine who is remarkably complex and achingly human in a thriller that bristles with the tension of implicit danger and the draw of the unexplained. It will keep readers turning pages and challenging their own long-held beliefs on the nature of faith and the value of discovery.
07/07/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Richer has been writing professionally for over a decade, notably for publications such as Askmen.com. He is a devout fan of researching little-known historical events which can take stories in truly remarkable directions. He splits his time between Montreal and South Florida.
ABOUT THE BOOK
An assassin who betrays his master
A con man running for his life
The most fascinating family in American history...
Government hitman Donovan Flood is set to retire from this life after a last assignment. What he doesn't know is that he may be involved in tying up loose ends following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Forming an unlikely partnership with the slick Mike Beecher, they need to unravel the mystery of who wants them dead. And why. They must race against the clock to uncover the mysterious secret lurking behind the
Kennedy family. Their quest leads them to Jimmy Hoffa and Vegas mobsters, to powerful politicians and KGB agents. More troubling than anything else is what might be buried in the jungles of Bolivia...
07/06/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Murphy was born in Killarney, Ireland, and grew up in Dublin. Raised on cherished songs and stories, he was drawn to music and poetry at an early age. As a younger man, Murphy took to the roads of Ireland and later, the streets and cities of Europe, playing music for pennies and centimes with the occasional stop in the bars and cafes along the way. But, like so many before him, he was drawn ever westward.
After moving to Canada where the winters discouraged such Bohemianism, he settled down with his Portuguese wife, and loving life partner, and raised two boys. When his sons reached college age, Murphy gave up trying to be ‘normal’ and finally sat down to write Lagan Love, a story he had been lugging around inside of himself for decades.
While not nostalgic, he is a great believer in the value of the past and all that was learned along the way. Accepting progress, and all it demands, Murphy also believes that we should not be so quick to abandon the centuries of human experience that history holds. Lagan Love cautions on this and urges reflection – things Murphy holds dear.
Lagan Love is a sensuous story of Love, Lust and Loss that brings into question the cost we pay for our dreams.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the 1980s, Ireland was on the brink – the Celtic Tiger was yet to arise and change the face, and faces, of Dublin with prosperity and foreigners. Volatile anger, shimmering myths and lachrymose poetry still ruled the night as rough-hewn workers and lost university students hefted pints at Grogan’s pub.
Stepping into the swirling blend of the old and the new is Janice, a young painter from Toronto, who has crossed the ocean to seek passion in her life and her art. Her affair with Aidan, Ireland’s rising poet, leads her through the veil of the Celtic Twilight to a place of reward and danger in Peter Murphy’s stunning debut novel LAGAN LOVE (The Fiction Studio, June 7, 2011).
Drawing on Ireland’s rich history and mellifluous ability to speak legend into art through such Irish geniuses as William Butler Yeats and James Joyce, Murphy weaves a tale that draws on Celtic lore as much as the hard facts of economic recovery. Into the lives of Janice and Aidan and their more practical friends walks the mysterious Gwen, who may be far more than the beautiful seductress she seems on the surface.
Trailing Gwen like cigarette smoke in a tavern is the myth of the leanan sídhe, or lenanshee, a fairy spirit who inspires lovers to ever-greater creative heights – at a price. Can the levelheaded Sinead, who has dedicated herself to seizing new career opportunities, or the kind and romantic Ronan, keep their friends from being swept away by the Ireland that dwells just beneath the surface?
Evoking the days when the love for Ireland was hidden in the lyrics about a beautiful woman in the classic 15th-century song, My Lagan Love, Murphy’s freshman novel reveals the complex layers of his homeland – as bracing as a pint on a chilly Dublin evening.
07/01/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"Melissa Foster is a wonderful connector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocate for women. She is the real deal"--Author Jennie Shortridge
Melissa Foster is the author of two novels, Megan’s Way and Chasing Amanda. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, and is currently collaborating with Director Wendy Crouse, Dream Real Pictures, in the film production of Megan’s Way. Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written a column featured in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa is currently working on her next novel, and lives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.
Megan's Way has won the 2011 Beach Book Festival in the Spiritual category! Casting is currently taking place in Texas for the film production, which we expect to begin filming this summer. Stay tuned for details!
Megan's Way have both been nominated for Dan Poynter's Global eBook Awards
You can visit Melissa at her website, follow her on Facebook, twitter, FB Fanpage. Chat with her on The Women's Nest.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Megan Taylor, a single mother and artist living on Cape Cod, receives the shocking news that her cancer has returned, she's faced with the most difficult decision she's ever had to make. Megan’s illness reawakens the torment of her best friend, Holly Townsend, whose long-held secrets and years of betrayal come back to haunt her. How does one choose between a daughter and a life-long best friend? Can the secret she has been keeping be revealed after years of lying without destroying everyone in its wake?
But Megan isn’t the only one struggling. Fourteen-year-old Olivia's world is falling apart right before her eyes, and there's nothing she can do about it. She finds herself acting in ways she cannot even begin to understand. When her internal struggles turn to dangerous behavior, even the paranormal connection she shares with her mother might not be enough to save her - her life will hang in the balance. Megan’s Way is a journey of self discovery and heartfelt emotions, exploring the depth of the mother-daughter bond, and the intricacies of friendship.
06/30/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The daughter of a college professor and an artist, Cathy Holton grew up in college towns in the American South and Midwest. She studied Creative Writing at Michigan State University. She has worked as a dude ranch hand, a university seminar coordinator, a paralegal, and an assistant in a fire investigation firm. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband, three highly-intelligent children, and a rescue dog named Yoshi. She is the author of Summer in the South, Beach Trip, Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes, and Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes, all published through Random House/Ballantine.
Visit her online at www.cathyholton.com; follow her @cathyholton on Twitter and on Facebook.
Visit the Summer in the South Facebook Fan Page for news and special offers.
ABOUT THE BOOK
For Chicago writer Ava Dabrowski, fleeing her own troubled past, the chance to spend the summer writing a novel in quiet Woodburn, Tennessee seems a welcome reprieve. A guest of Will Fraser and his great-aunts, Fanny and Josephine Woodburn, members of an aristocratic, old-moneyed family, Ava soon finds herself surrounded by an eccentric castof characters.
But the Woodburns are not who they seem to be. Gradually hearing rumors about the mysterious death of great-aunt Fanny’s first husband, Ava stumbles upon a decades-old family secret. With the help of Jake Woodburn, Will’s estranged cousin, Ava gradually puts aside her planned novel and begins instead to write the tragic history of the Woodburns, a family with more skeletons (and ghosts) in their closets than anyone can possibly imagine.
As she writes the history of the Woodburns, Ava begins to put together the pieces of her own past, learning that a good story is always more dazzling, and ultimately less painful, than the truth.
06/25/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
McCarty Griffin lives in the Pacific Northwest, at the foot of the Cascades, with her husband, two children and several nonhuman family members. She is a transplanted hillbilly, born in Texas, but raised in the hollows and hills of West Virginia, where most of her works are set. She does not limit her creative efforts to any particular genre, although she does have a special love for horror, which she traces back to a childhood of Saturday nights eating Chef Boyardee pizza and watching Chiller Theatre with her mother. Before beginning her second life with her current husband, and settling in to raise her daughter and son, she served in the United States Army, went home to earn her undergraduate and law degrees, and then practiced criminal defense law for more than ten years. After half a lifetime spent doing everything but what she truly wanted to do, she finally just sat down and started writing, and she hasn’t stopped since.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Pammy has had enough of Bobby, her abusive drunk of a husband. One lovely spring day, she decides to kill him, despite the fact that they will soon be divorced and he will, at least in the eyes of the law, be out of her life for good. Indulging in homicidal daydreams for years has led her to devise her own perfect and completely bizarre plan.
06/24/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine owned a small public relations firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Her articles and press releases have appeared regionally in media outlets. Her short story, Night Hour, appeared in Working Mother magazine.
She closed the firm fifteen years ago after she traveled to the Philippines and adopted a sibling group of four children. Christine has been writing novels fulltime since 2004.
Treasure Me is the first book of the Liberty, Ohio series, available at Amazon:
ABOUT THE BOOK
Treasure Me is a blend of comedy, romance and mystery. Petty thief Birdie Kaminsky arrives in Liberty, Ohio to steal a treasure hidden since the Civil War. She’s in possession of a charming clue passed down in her family for generations: Liberty safeguards the cherished heart.
The beautiful thief wants to go straight. She secretly admires the clue’s author, freedwoman Justice Postell, who rose above the horrors of slavery to build a new life in Ohio. As Birdie searches for the treasure, she begins to believe a questionable part of the story: a tale of love between Justice and Lucas Postell, the French plantation owner who was Birdie’s ancestor.
If the stories are true, Justice bore a child with Lucas. Some of those black relatives might still live in town. Birdie can’t help but wonder if she’s found one—Liberty’s feisty matriarch, Theodora Hendricks, who packs a pistol and heartwarming stories about Justice. Birdie doesn’t know that an investigative reporter who has arrived in town will trip her up—as will her conscience when she begins to wonder if it’s possible to start a new life with stolen riches. Yet with each new clue she unearths, she discovers a family history more precious than gems, a tradition of love richer than she imagined.
06/22/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette and Samhain. She is currently with Berkley/Jove.
Lori believes it’s important to give back to the community as much as possible, and for that reason she ran special contests in conjunction with a publisher, facilitating many first sales for new authors. She routinely organizes events among authors and readers to gather donations for various organizations.
Along with her good friend, Dianne Castell, Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home.
In 2007, Lori put together The Write Ingredients a cookbook of recipes donated by popular authors. Proceeds from the cookbook go toward Lori’s ongoing “Troop project” of collecting and mailing fun, and sometimes necessary, items to our troops.
In 2008, Lori coordinated with other authors of her choosing, and through Berkley, arranged for the publication of The Power of Love, a special romance anthology of novellas about empowering women. All author and agent proceeds from the anthology go to the Hamilton Co YWCA Battered women’s shelter.
In 2009, Tails of Love, another romance anthology with Lori and other contributing authors, was published through Berkley with all agent and author proceeds to benefit The Animal Adoption Foundation.
In 2010, The Gift of Love romance anthology, with Lori and other contributing authors, was published with proceeds to benefit The Conductive Learning Center, a school for children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
In 2011, The Promise of Love, a romance anthology with Lori and other contributing authors, will be published with proceeds to benefit the One Way Farm, a home for abused and abandoned children.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Caught in the crossfire of vengeance and desire...
Undercover mercenary Trace Rivers loves the adrenaline rush of a well-planned mission. First he'll earn the trust of corrupt businessman Murray Coburn, then gather the proof he needs to shut down the man's dirty smuggling operation. It's a perfect scheme—until Coburn's long-lost daughter saunters in with her own deadly plan for revenge.
With a smile like an angel and fire in her eyes, Priscilla Patterson isn't who she seems to be. But neither is the gorgeous bodyguard who ignites all her senses. Joining forces to plot Coburn's downfall, Priss and Trace must fight the undeniable heat between them. For one wrong move, one lingering embrace will expose them to the wrath of a merciless opponent.
06/20/11
ABOUT MARY TABOR
Author photo © Kevin Allen. Kevin Allen Photography
Mary L. Tabor—author, mother, grandmother—graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland with a BA in English (’66), from Oberlin College with an MAT in English and Education (’67), from Ohio State University with an MFA in Creative Writing (’99). She went back to college for that last degree the year she turned 50 after a 16-year career in corporate America, a senior executive, director of public affairs writing for the oil industry’s trade association, landing her in both Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who of American Women. Mary published her first book of fiction The Woman Who Never Cooked at age 60.
Mary adores her children: a daughter-philosopher Sarah Hammerschlag, who is a professor at Williams College, and is married to the philosopher (yes, the two philosophers married each other) Ryan Coyne, who is a professor at the University of Chicago; her son-wine importer Ben Hammerschlag, who has appeared in Food and Wine’s Best Under Forty among other worldwide recognitions for his work; her stepson-military attaché Chris Persinger, who is currently on assignment in Iraq, and his wife Jess, who has the honorable-and-today-rare title of Stay-at-Home-Mom. Mary has three grandchildren: Jericho Persinger and Madisson Lorimar, the precious progeny of Chris and Jess, and Lila Anastasia Coyne who arrived in the love of Sarah Hammerschlag and Ryan Coyne on April 28, 2009.
She couldn’t have taken the risks she took without the love of these incredible people in her life.
The love of her life will always be Del Persinger: The complex story of their marriage and separation is the stuff of her memoir: (Re)Making Love: a sex after sixty story. The memoir, a story of the good, the bad and the foolish after Del said, oh, so Greta Garbo, “I need to live alone” pulls no punches. Mary tells the story of her four-year separation from Del, her Internet dating, the sex, the falling in and out of “love,” and the redemption of her marriage against all odds. She rediscovered life, sex and love after sixty. Join her on the journey that unfolds in this story she wrote “live” as a blog while she lived it and ultimately discovered the meaning of commitment—with all its difficulties and joys.
Mary and her husband live downtown in the bustling Penn Quarter of Washington, DC where they recently renovated two adjoining condos.
You can visit Mary at the following sites:
ABOUT THE BOOK
(Re)Making Love: a sex after sixty story is one of those stories you just couldn’t make up. This memoir, the second book by Mary L. Tabor, transports the reader in a most unusual way through a remarkable journey of redemption after a 21-‐year marriage crashes and burns when her husband “D.” announces, so Greta Garbo, “I need to live alone.” She craters, then embarks on a relentless dash through the hazards of Internet dating, the loving, the illusions, and through it all a hard look at herself—her foibles, whimsy, desolations, indomitable hope when all was hopeless, and ultimate self-‐discovery. The origin of the writing as a live blog is apparent in a book that is, as Marly Swick has said, “uniquely beautiful and moving in both its form and its content.” This deeply personal memoir is shared wholeheartedly with brutal honesty and incredible intimacy.
A series of men appear—all identified as a lower-‐case first initial—while the upper-‐case D. weaves out and in, as both he and Mary maneuver through the separation. Along the way are the Internet dates, emails, T.S. Eliot and Nietzsche, romantic comedies and the Grimm Brothers, photographs, recipes, dreams, Obamas, and yes, even the kitchen sink. Her journey moves from her home in Washington, DC to Missouri to Australia and eventually to Paris, a visit that offers a stunning surprise that changes her life. As Randall Brown says, “In this extraordinary memoir’s jigsaw pieces, Mary has found a way to translate the desire to be found into her own modern fairy tale.”
This is a story for everyone, with laugh-‐out-‐loud humor, pain, despair, desire and understanding told in free flowing beautiful prose. To read her book is to feel as if one has, as described in a Flash Fiction review: “sat with Mary in the ‘chef’s kitchen’ she so often references, strolled the streets of Paris along side her, cried with her over the inability to cram a lifetime of memories into a storage-‐lacking flat, or pondered right along with her about unfulfilled desire. Her honesty is refreshing, witty and full of intimate wisdom. There are lessons for all of us.”
The universal appeal of this raw, unfiltered, wise book is best expressed by publisher Kelly Abbott: “As the title of her book would suggest, she’s older than we are, but challenges us in her youthful understanding of the world. And by youthful, I don’t mean naive. I mean unblemished. I mean optimistic. I mean joyful and carefree and without pretense or fear. Mary is a breath of fresh air.”
06/18/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liv James is a mom, a wife, a communication vice president, and an author. She writes contemporary women's fiction/romantic suspense and has published two novels: The Trouble With Green and One for the Road.
You can visit Liv James HERE.
ABOUT THE TROUBLE WITH GREEN
Synopsis (borrowed from author's blog):
When Josie’s earth-friendly inns get national press it seems like a good deal all around. So much of a good deal, in fact, that her architect husband gets a new gig … on the other side of the country. And the owners of one of her best inns go missing, just days after the feature appears. And then there’s the long-forgotten Nathan Brown, whose appearance on her doorstep can only mean trouble. Josie must overcome the ghosts of her past if she has any hope of keeping her marriage and her business alive.
06/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Although Madeline Sharples loved poetry and creative writing as a young girl, she took a more practical career path by studying journalism and working as a grant writing, editor and technical writer. She co-authored a book about women in nontraditional professions called Blue-Collar Women: Trailblazing Women Take on Men-Only Jobs (New Horizon Press, 1994) and co-edited the poetry anthology, The Great American Poetry Show, Volumes 1 (Muse Media, 2004) and 2 (August 2010). Her poetry has been published by many publications including two photography books, The Emerging Goddess and Intimacy (Paul Blieden, photographer).
Madeline turned to another type of writing, memoir, as she grappled with her older son’s bipolar disorder and subsequent suicide. She and her husband of 40 years live in Manhattan Beach, California, a small beach community south of Los Angeles. Her younger son Ben lives in Santa Monica, California with his bride Marissa.
Just Thought You Should Know:
More than 30,000 Americans commit suicide each year, most leaving behind grieving families. Teenagers make up 5,000 of this group.
You can visit Madeline Sharples at her websites:
ABOUT THE BOOK
Leaving the Hall Light On is about living after loss. It's about finding peace and balance and various ways the author, Madeline Sharples, finds to bring herself together after feeling so helpless and out of control during her son Paul's 7-year struggle with bipolar disease and after his suicide in September 1999.
Sharples explains: "I write about the steps I took in living with the loss of my son, including making use of diversions to help me forget. Leaving the Hall Light On is also about the milestones I met toward living a full life without him: packing and giving away his clothes, demolishing and redoing the scene of his death, cataloging and packing away all his records and books, copying all of his original music compositions onto CDs, digitizing all of our family photos, and gutting his room and turning it into my office and sanctuary with a bay window that looks out toward a lush garden and a bubbling water fountain."
06/14/11
ABOUT JAMI ALDEN
Jami Alden is the Holt Medallion–nominated author for sexy romantic suspense. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her socially well-adjusted alpha male husband, her sons, and a German Shepherd who patiently listens to dialogue and helps her work out plot points. You can find out more about Jami and her books at JamiAlden.com, or by following her on Facebook and Twitter.
BIOGRAPHY (from Author's website):
Like so many romance readers, my first romance novel was by Kathleen Woodiwiss - The Flame and the Flower, to be exact. I was thirteen. I spent the next month working my way through her entire back list. Shortly thereafter I discovered Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Karen Robards, Catherine Coulter, Shirlee Busbee among others, and devoured their lavish historical epics full of overbearing alpha males and the women who brought them to their knees. I was hooked. My high school teachers marveled at my ability to read romance novels under the desk and still score straight A's. I started to imagine myself, living in a cabin in the mountains somewhere, writing romance novels.
It took me quite awhile to pursue my dream. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in English Literature, I worked in a variety of soul sucking admin jobs before I began my career in marketing. It wasn't exactly my dream job, but at least my writing appeared on several web sites and in many software marketing brochures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fit the phrase "and her loins melted like hot wax" into any of them.
During my stint as the world's surliest receptionist, I took my first stab at writing. The result was a very melodramatic western historical which reads like a bad Elizabeth Lowell rip off. Its currently languishing on my hard drive, forever stuck on page 330.
Then in fall 2001 I had an incredible stroke of luck and got laid off from my marketing job. I decided it was time to stop saying I wanted to be a writer and to actually give it a serious go. Fortunately my husband, a socially well adjusted alpha male, is a very generous patron of the arts.
Four years later, I sold my first book and I'm pretty much living the dream of getting paid to write romance. I don't live in a cabin in the mountains, but I do live in a rural-ish town near San Francisco (hey, we have deer and bunnies in our yard, along with the occasional coyote) with my husband, sons, and two dogs who patiently listen to my dialogue and help me work out plot points. When I'm not writing sexy romance, I enjoy running, reading, yoga and watching Food Network and bad reality TV.
ABOUT THE BOOK
New Forever author brings us a BREATHTAKING NEW TRILOGY: As the first book in an exciting and sexy new trilogy of romantic suspense novels with continuing characters
He lurks in the shadows, waiting and watching . . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . . BEG FOR MERCY
Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn't just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn't have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother's life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO.
Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can't stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city's elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.
06/12/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
People sometimes ask, ‘When did you start writing?” I started writing before I could actually “write” – telling stories by acting them out, playing all the character parts myself. Like most kids.
If I do that now I get strange looks. So I try not to do it.
Born and raised in Sydney, in Australia, I have a working background in newspaper and magazine publishing.
Writing fiction in the mystery/suspense genres has been a passion from a young age.
My short suspense stories have been published by magazines in England, North America, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia and New Zealand, and one of these has also appeared with the Scandinavian University Press.
My novel, ‘The Delta Chain,’ was an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter finalist, described by Publisher’s Weekly as a “…fast-paced thriller…hooks readers into caring about the chase…”
When I’m not writing, researching or commuting, my wife and I indulge in movies, exploring the coast, and the search for the perfect cappuccino
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis (borrowed from Smashwords):
The body of a young woman is washed ashore on a secluded beach. She does not fit the description of anyone on Missing Persons lists. Fingerprints, dental records and DNA provide no leads. Detective Adam Bennett discovers a pattern of similar cases - unidentified bodies found along the coasts of Australia and the United States. Six young men and women who seem to have never existed.
When her brother meets a terrifying death in the wilderness, Kate Kovacs is determined to use her IT skills to help track the killers. A baffling link is found between these cases, leading Adam and Kate on a labyrinth trail to a scientific research group, to a Washington power elite, and to a secret reaching back over thirty years to a war-ravaged Vietnam.
Powerful forces are gathering, and Adam and Kate just became their targets...
06/10/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Each morning shortly after the sun rises over Spokane, Washington, New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller pulls on her cowboy boots and heads for the stables for a few quiet moments with her horses before she settles in to write her pages for the day.
As the daughter of a town marshal, Linda has come home to the western lifestyle that gave birth to one of today’s most successful authors. With more than 80 novels to her credit, the self-confessed barn goddess left Washington years ago and pursued her wanderlust, living in Arizona and London and traveling the world. But now the “First Lady of the West” is glad to be back home, writing contemporary and historical novels that have earned her awards and placements on all the national bestsellers lists.
Linda traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she sold Fletcher’s Woman in 1983 to Pocket Books. Since then, Linda has successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, and concentrating on novels with a Western flavor. For her devotion to her craft, the Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Linda has come a long way since leaving Washington to experience the world. "But growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well," she allows. "And I'm happy to be back home."
To learn more about Linda, visit http://www.lindalaelmiller.com/. For a behind-the-scenes look at the sexy Creed cowboys, visit www.TakeACowboyHome.com.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
On the heels of the #1 New York Times best-seller A CREED IN STONE CREEK, “First Lady of the West” Linda Lael Miller is back with the highly anticipated CREED’S HONOR (HQN Books; June 2011; $7.99), the second installment in the rugged and romantic “Creed Cowboys” trilogy. Miller introduces eager readers to Connor Creed, a dedicated cowboy and cousin of Steven Creed from A CREED IN STONE CREEK, who is looking for his place in the Wild West.
Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn't his dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life.
Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend….
06/09/11Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Traci Hohenstein lives in NW Florida with her husband and three children. When not writing, she can usually be found at the beach with her family. She is currently at work on her next Rachel Scott series, Asylum Harbor which will be released Summer 2011.
You can visit Traci Hohenstein HERE:
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis:
Lt. Samantha (Sam) Collins, a firefighter, vanishes after a warehouse fire the week before she was to testify at her estranged husband’s trial for drug charges. The only clue to her disappearance is a firefighter helmet that was left behind at the scene.
Rachel Scott founded Florida Omni Search after her own daughter disappeared when she was four. She has worked with law enforcement agencies all over the United States in locating missing people. Sam’s mother calls Rachel for assistance in locating her daughter. However, the search for Sam takes her on a journey that she never expected.
As she digs deeper into Sam’s past, she finds out more about the marijuana operation her husband Ken, a former police officer, was involved with. In her desperate, terrifying search for Sam, Rachel also discovers clues about her own missing daughter, Mallory.
Will she locate Samantha in time and also find out what happened to her own daughter?
06/08/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Sheff, MD is a family physician with over 30 years’ experience in medicine, including serving in hospital leadership and consulting with hospitals and physician organizations throughout the country on their most difficult challenges. Recognized as a “doctor’s doctor,” respected medical author, and nationally acclaimed speaker, Dr. Sheff has dedicated his life to healing patients and healing healthcare
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the hushed stillness of a late night hospital room, confronted with a dead patient and an ethical dilemma, Dr. Sheff wonders, “What’s love got to do with medicine?” The answer he finds for himself in that darkest of hours, and now shares with all of us in Doctor Confidential, is “Everything!”
From the unique perspective of a nationally respected, mature physician, Dr. Sheff reflects deeply on the formative experiences of medical school and residency, giving the reader unexpected insights into the heart and mind of doctors, the experience of patients and their families, and ultimately the connection between love, medical practice, and the healing we all seek.
The unique stories in Doctor Confidential speak directly to anyone in medical training or considering a career in medicine, but also to the patient in all of us. Pulling back the veil of secrecy that too often surrounds medicine, Doctor Confidential provides compassion, humor, and ultimately hope that, when sick and most vulnerable, each of us can be heard, understood, and deeply touched by our physician.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tony McFadden (1960 - ?) left Canada two decades ago and has spent the bulk of the intervening time consulting for wireless operators throughout South East Asia. Now enjoying the relaxed lifestyle of coastal Australia he has embarked on a second career, writing suspense and thriller novels.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.
You can visit Mr. McFadden at his website: http://www.tonymcfadden.net/
ABOUT THE BOOK
Ellie Bourke, alumni of “Home and Away”, one of Australia’s longest running TV shows and a leading character in Bart Sweeney’s cult-classic horror “Beast of Bondi” moved to Los Angeles to further her acting career almost a year ago.
Bart loved working with her in “Beast”, and encouraged her to make the move. He believed her to be talented enough to make it on the big stage.
A year later and she’s still finding that success elusive. She’s thinking of packing it in and heading back to Sydney when Joel, her roommate and best friend, is found dead in his tub, a case of suspected suicide.
That pushes her over the edge. She books flights and packs her bags and is ready for the airport when she learns that Joel didn’t kill himself – he was killed.
Can Ellie convince the police that Joel’s death wasn’t suicide? Or accidental?
Can she stay alive herself, now that the killer knows what Ellie knows?
And can she find a career in a city that cares more for what’s on the outside than on the inside?
06/02/11
ABOUT JAMES KAUFMAN
An attorney, businessman and former judge, James J. Kaufman has published several works of non-fiction.
The Collectibles, his debut novel, draws heavily from his experiences in law, his dealings in the business world, and his interactions with people from widely different backgrounds. Kaufman lives in Wilmington, North Carolina with his wife, Patty. He is currently working on writing his second novel.
In addition to his writing, Kaufman is CEO of The Kaufman Group, Ltd, a company that assists financially troubled businesses across the United States through strategic turnarounds. Mr. Kaufman is also a member of the Board of Imaging The World (ITW), a not-for-profit health care company delivering ultrasound services to Uganda and other underserved populations, and in the process saving many lives.
You can visit his website at: http://www.jamesjkaufman.com/
GUEST POST
Readers often tell me how much they appreciate the characters in my book. Many have said they have thought about the characters long after they finished the book. Some men have told me they would like to be more like Joe. Others have asked why did Joe befriend the people he did? Why did he pick those people as “Collectibles”? In one way or another, people who have read my book were moved by the characters.
The story starts with two central characters, Joe and Preston. We meet them as 15-year old boys from different worlds who make life defining promises. These pledges become the common thread intertwining their lives. Joe promised himself as an orphaned teenager, that he would be uncommon. Now in his 40’s, highly regarded for his professional achievements, Joe has reached a pinnacle. Then tragedy strikes.
A child of wealth and privilege from New York’s Upper East Side, Preston’s financial empire is falling apart. He finds himself in middle age, unable to keep his teenage vow to avoid the failures of his father. When Preston seeks an attorney who can save him, he finds Joe, who accepts the challenge but only after extracting a promise that Preston will fulfill an unspecified condition when called upon in the future.
Joe calls in his unconventional IOU. The self-absorbed Preston balks when Joe tells him he must meet, earn the trust of and care for several people, each of whom has a serious personal challenge and none of whom Preston would ever want to know. These “Collectibles” include Johnny, a mentally-challenged dishwasher, Tommy, a gambler, Missy, a battered wife Vegas showgirl, Corey, an elderly yacht maker suffering from Alzheimer’s, and Harry, a bi-polar photographer.
Can Preston meet the challenge? Who are the people that will influence Preston and will his relationship with them become the bridge leading to his self discovery and change? The “Collectibles” and other characters in the novel all play a part in Preston’s journey. In creating these characters, I drew upon my own experiences with a wide variety of people and a broad range of business and legal experience. I have come to know these characters well, in the court room, in the world of business, and throughout life.
ABOUT THE BOOK
"Do what the other fella can’t. Be what the other fella ain’t, and then help the other fella.” Joe Hart has never let go of his uncle’s words. An orphan from the unspoiled Adirondack mountains, Joe leaves his humble beginnings and goes on to distinguish himself, first as a Navy submarine commander, then as an attorney unequaled in his field. But Joe's world crashes with an unexpected tragedy.
A child of wealth and privilege from New York’s Upper East Side, Preston Wilson harbors a fear of financial failure. When that fear threatens to become reality, Preston tracks down the one attorney who might be able to save him. Joe reluctantly decides to help—but only after extracting a promise that Preston will fulfill an unspecified condition when called upon. Preston, desperate, agrees.
Too soon, Joe calls in his unconventional IOU. The self-absorbed Preston balks when Joe tells him he must meet, earn the trust of and care for several people. Each of Joe’s "collectibles" –none of whom Preston would ever want to know—has a serious personal challenge. Can Preston find the integrity to make good on his promise to Joe? Does he have a choice?
06/01/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aris Whittier is a romance writer. She writes suspense, contemporary, and commercial woman's fiction. Her debut novel, Fatal Embrace is a romantic suspense that was featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine as a Red-Hot Read. Foolish Notions is a contemporary romance that has just a touch a mystery too. Across Eternity is a beautiful love story that transcends time.
Visit Aris Whittier at: awhittier.blogspot.com
ABOUT THE BOOK
Born a genius; education, wealth, and prestige came easy to Logan Richards. Actually, there wasn’t much that Logan couldn’t learn or acquire. However, he knew there was more to life than money and power. Logan was determined to find the woman who he'd dreamed of his entire life and know what it was like to love her before he died.
Amber Lewis, a waitress for a five-star restaurant in, Dana Point, California, was overworked, stressed, and wary of life since her sister, Heather, had passed away. Then, one evening while working she fell hopelessly in love with Logan Richards, a chivalrous man who felt deeply familiar.
For Amber, it was the beginning of a voyage of self-discovery and renewal. For Logan, it was the completion of life. For each of them it was the deepest sort of love
05/26/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Hanson writes thrillers about desperate people with a high-tech bent. Hackers. The CIA. Industry titans. Guys on sailboats. Mobsters. Their personal maelstroms pit them against unrelenting forces willing to kill. Throughout the journey, they try to find some truth, a little humor, and their humanity — from either end of the trigger.
Helen directed operations for high-tech manufacturers of semiconductors, video games, software, and computers. Her reluctant education behind the Redwood Curtain culminated in a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrated studies in Computer Science. She also learned to play a mean game of hacky sack.
She is a licensed private pilot with a ticket for single-engine aircraft. Helen and her husband spent their first anniversary with their flight instructor studying for the FAA practical. If you were a passenger on a 737 trying to land at SJC in 1995, she sends her most sincere apologies. Really.
Born in fly-over country, Helen has lived on both coasts, near both borders, and at several locations in between. She lettered in tennis, worked as a machinist, and saw the Clash at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium sometime in the eighties. She currently lives amid the bricks of Texas with her husband, son, and a dog that composes music with squeaky toys.
GUEST POST
In my youth, I loved watching the old film noir and gangster flicks of the 40’s and 50’s. When I see them now, though, the dialogue seems stiff. In my opinion, the worst situations in life are best medicated by a dose of levity. As long as the dramatic tension never crumbles into farce, I want a side of humor with all my pathos. The stories and dialogue I write reflect an appreciation of wit: a little sarcastic, occasionally caustic, and always relevant to the character’s situation.
It may sound hedonistic, but I aim to please myself when I write. Creating a ninety thousand word novel takes months to accomplish, and I expect to be entertained. When I finish, though, I’m going to ask readers to part with a bit of coin and a lot of personal time. I want to make sure they feel both are well spent with one of my novels. If I wince over a character’s plight or laugh at one of their quips, chances are good that my reader will too.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis:
At CIA headquarters, a young officer discovers that terrorists may have commandeered their computer systems to launch an unauthorized mission. Elsewhere, conspirators abduct nine people to manipulate the rules of their game. Two disparate ambitions — Clint Masters becomes the reluctant link in the chain of danger.
Ever since Clint’s almost ex-wife dumped him, he bobs along the Massachusetts coast in a sailboat with his black lab for company. He avoids all forms of technology, a counterintuitive effort for the burned-out founder of CatSat Laboratories. Tired of clutching the brass ring, he needed to untether, step off the corporate treadmill, and smell a flower. Fortunately, he met one, a beautiful, unspoiled woman who doesn’t treat him like a commodity. His relationship with Beth offers more promise than his marriage ever did, even if she is on dialysis for her recovering kidneys, until she disappears.
In spite of the evidence, her family refuses to admit she’s in danger. Without routine dialysis, she won’t survive. As Clint realizes that he loves Beth, damn-near ex-wife Paige sashays back into his life with disturbing news.
While the CIA young gun tracks his quarry, Clint enlists the help of two men to find Beth, a blithe Brit named Merlin, and Todd, his playboy partner-in-tech. But Clint must find Beth before her kidneys fail. And before someone unloads a bullet in his head.
Her first novel, 3 LIES, is now available on iBooks, Kindle, Pubit, and Smashwords. Her second novel, DARK POOL, is due for release in Spring 2011, and her third novel is brewing. While Helen writes about the power hungry, she genuinely mistrusts anyone who wants to rule the world.
ABOUT MEG MITCHELL MOORE
Meg Mitchell Moore worked for several years as a journalist. Her work has been published in Yankee, Continental, Women’s Health, Advertising Age and many other business and consumer magazines. She received a B.A. from Providence College and a master’s degree in English Literature from New York University. The Arrivals is her first novel. Her second novel will be published by Reagan Arthur Books in 2012. Meg lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with her husband, their three children and a beloved border collie.
You can visit her at her website: MegMitchellMoore.com
Follow her on Facebook
Follow @Mmitchmoore on Twitter
GUEST POST
Making it Personal
One thing I’ve learned as a debut novelist is that a few questions come up frequently. Among those questions: how much of my book, The Arrivals, is based on personal experience. I think this is a great question, and it’s one I always enjoy answering. In The Arrivals, three adult siblings return to their parents’ home in Burlington, Vt., over the course of a summer, bringing their grownup problems with them.
My answer to the question of “Is this based on personal experience?” is: not really. Lillian, the eldest Owen sibling, arrives on her parents’ doorstep, a three-year-old and an infant in tow, to escape a marriage that’s in jeopardy. (Unless there’s something nobody is telling me, my marriage is in pretty good shape.) Stephen, the middle sibling, brings his pregnant wife for a short visit that is extended by weeks due to pregnancy complications. (My three pregnancies were relatively uneventful.) Rachel, the youngest sibling, is fleeing heartbreak and personal financial disaster in New York City. (I did live in New York, well, okay, Hoboken, New Jersey, in my twenties, and I sure wasn’t rich, but my situation was less extreme than Rachel’s.) I guess what I’m getting at here is that my life is considerably more boring than those of my characters. My life would make for a pretty dull novel.
Still, I guess you could say that some of the circumstances within the situations—mini-situations, let’s call them—have roots in personal experience. Lillian’s daughter Olivia, who is three, is in some ways a composite of all the three-year-old girls I have known, and I have known plenty. I have three daughters, all of whom by now have passed through the Olivia stage (though the youngest was only one when I started writing the book three years ago). I have dragged my children to my parents’ house on more than one occasion, and I’m sure I have created there the sort of chaos Lillian creates in the Owen household. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine a living room strewn with little baby socks and chirping toddler toys, or a washing machine suffering from overuse, or a kitchen never completely clear of the detritus of somebody’s last meal. And my parents do currently live in Vermont, though not in Burlington, where the book is set. So, I guess my answer to the question above is, as I said: not really. But sort of.
My next book, due out next year, features characters who aren’t anything like me: one is a thirteen-year-old girl, one is a fifty-seven-year-old woman, and one is an Irish immigrant working in domestic service in the 1920s. Their situations are foreign to me, but as I wrote them I sat down and did what any fiction writer tries to do—and, on a good day, achieves—I tried to mine the universal emotions from somebody else’s specific experiences.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
It's early summer when Ginny and William's peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt.
First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood - only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.
By summer's end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family - and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.
05/24/11
ABOUT DR. LAINA TURNER-MOLASKI
Laina Turner-Molaski is business woman, mom, author, Professor and a major supportr of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her min character and lter-ego Presley Thurman.
With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczogtrnic.com. She us hopinhg to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.
Laina is currently living in Indianam with her family, and is always writing something, whether it's blogs, articles, business, journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is cntinuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.
You can visit her website here: http://www.lainaturner.com/
Who was I last year
BIO 2010
Laina Turner-Molaski is a business woman, mom, author, Professor, and a major supporter of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her main character and alter-ego Presley Thurman.
With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczofrenic.com. She is hoping to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off.
Laina is currently living in Indiana, with her family, and is always writing something, whether it’s blogs, articles, business journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is continuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Synopsis (borrowed from B&N)
Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn't allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her - she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not "sweat the small stuff," she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered - in her home town! Presley was excited - she hadn't seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn't seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn't afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator's security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper's good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator's wife, Helen, had been having an affair... with her best friend's boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator's love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper's secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo's she will find the killer... but will time run out!
05/18/11
Graham Parke
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Graham Parke is responsible for a number of technical publications and has recently patented a self-folding map. He has been described as both a humanitarian and a pathological liar. Convincing evidence to support either allegation has yet to be produced.
No Hope for Gomez! is his fiction debut.
You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/No-Hope-Gomez-Graham-Parke/dp/1432752480
You can visit his website: http://grahamparke.blogspot.com/
ABOUT THE BOOK
It's the age-old tale:
- Boy meets girl.
- Boy stalks girl.
- Girl already has a stalker.
- Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.
We've seen it all before, many times, but this time it's different. If only slightly.
When Gomez Porter becomes a test subject in an experimental drug trial, he is asked to keep track of any strange experiences through a blog.
What Gomez isn't ready for, is so many of his experiences suddenly seeming strange; the antiques dealer trying to buy his old tax papers, the phone-sex salesman who hounds him day and night, the super sexy research assistant who falls for him but is unable to express herself in terms outside the realm of science.
But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life. No longer sure who he can trust and which of his experiences are real and which merely drug induced delusions, he decides it's time to go underground and work out a devious plan.
Now, years later, his blogs have been recovered from a defunct server. For the first time we can find out firsthand what happened to Gomez as he takes us on a wild ride of discovery.
Oh yeah, and there's also a nurse with big boobs!
A finalist in both the Foreword Book of the Year Awards, and the USA Book News Best Book Awards, "No Hope for Gomez!" is available from Amazon and on order at any book store
05/17/11
ABOUT SPENCER SEIDEL
Spencer Seidel lives and works in suburban New Jersey but has also called Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine home. He is an honors graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and attended the Berklee College of Music to study guitar, which he has been playing for over 25 years. His love of reading ang books began as a child after discovering Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Later, he was drawn to darker work by authors such as Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Jack Ketchum, which continue to influence his dark mysteries and short stories.
ABOUT THE BOOK
There is the Maine of summer — warm, picturesque, filled with vacationing families — and then there is the Maine of winter, where the cold creeps into your bones and refuses to leave. Alice Wynter Dunn thought she’d never have to go back to her hometown of Redding, Maine, where secrets are buried under a thick layer of ice and the chill emanates from people’s hearts.
A phone call in the middle of the night. Alice’s infamous father, Edward “Papa” Wynter, is dead from a gunshot wound. Leaving her distant husband in their New Jersey McMansion, Alice races back to Redding. What at first seems like a simple case of burying her past along with her cruel, alcoholic father turns into a double mystery. Papa Wynter wasn’t a victim of suicide as originally thought — it was murder, and Alice’s abused twin brother, Chris, is missing.
Memories begin to crack the surface as apparitions from the past appear. The winter when Chris ran wild with his bad-seed cousin, cruising from petty crimes to irreversible tragedy, is revealed. Could this be the catalyst that drove Chris to become a hard-core alcoholic like their father? And did their cousin Ray, a junior sociopath in the making, really die in a snowmobile accident?
Supervising Lieutenant Detective Don Lambert has his suspicions. Chris and Papa were last seen arguing in their favorite townie bar the night of the murder — and they were fighting about Ray; the same Ray who tortures Alice’s memories. Things grow more complicated when the murder weapon is found and her mother, Jackie Ruth, is brought in for questioning. What is she hiding? What dark secret from Alice’s past is about to be exposed?
This enthralling thriller leaves a chilling trail as family members come to grips with the harm they have done to one another and the tragedy of a life without love.
05/16/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephanie Void has been writing since she was 14. She enjoys exploring new places, painting, singing, coffee, tea, and energy drinks. She’s a black belt and teacher of Shindoryu Aikijutsu; she personally assures you all the fight moves in this book are actually believable ones she may or may not have tested. She’s a Louisiana native who now lives near Boston.
She loves hearing from readers; you can contact her at her website: stephanievoid.com.
GUEST POST7 Reasons To Self Publish
1) TIME FRAME- I can get a book available to readers in a fraction of the time a publishing house would. Publishing houses can take up to 2 years to get a book on the shelves. All I have to do is put it together in the proper formats, and I’m done.
2) DISILLUSIONMENT- After reading some pretty terrible books and finding out that some of them were almost immediately snapped up for publication, I’ve largely lost my faith in the publishing industry as a quality filter. If I can’t trust publishing houses and agents to screen out the sub-par fiction, then what are they for?
3) CONTROL- I can design my own cover (I’m a graphic designer) if I want, and can keep the book the way I want it. It’s 100% MY vision, not that of an overstressed editor.
4) OWNERSHIP- The books are mine. If I want to give you a free e-book, I can.
5) MONEY- Amazon gives me 70% of the cover price. My royalties from a publishing house would be a mere fraction of that. I can charge you less and still make more money. We both win.
6) STICKING IT TO THE MAN- Being indie makes the rebel in me smile.
7) CHANGING INDUSTRY- People don’t just buy books at their local bookstores anymore. Now there are e-books and e-readers, even I-Pod applications that let you read books on the go. And sales are going up. This is the future.
Synopsis (borrowed from author's website):
Running from Secrets
Running from Secrets is a young adult (or YA) fantasy e-book. If you like dark fantasy about possessed queens, wind chimes with a secret code, naked paintings, mysterious professors, gutsy girls, and even a Dark Lord.... you're going to LOVE Running from Secrets.
Bethany has never felt as alone as she feels in Linwood—until she dreams up Chime, a woman on the run because of a magic crime she didn’t commit. The dreams get more and more urgent, so Bethany tries to banish them by writing them down, only to discover she’s stumbled into the role of unwitting controller of Chime’s world.
Chime is real here, and so is the possessed queen, minion army, mysterious professor, Vault Five, wind chimes with a secret code, child’s rhyme that can kill, the naked painting, and other things Chime’s story leads her to.
She has to fix the story without erasing Chime and her world, because if she erases Chime, she will die as well.
05/11/11
ABOUT MARGARET MALLORY
Margaret Mallory started out as a Midwest girl. Except for two years in Africa, she grew up in small towns in northern Michigan, where her dad was a county extension agent. She received degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Law School, and then headed to Washington, DC to save the world. When that failed, she packed up and moved to the Pacific Northwest for no reason except that it was beautiful and far from her last jobs and boyfriends. She admits to having a vague notion of finding herself a park ranger with a dog. The man she met was not a park ranger, but he was willing to get the dog. Marriage and children soon followed.
Margaret spent many rewarding—but rather wearing—years in jobs devoted to improving services for abused children and care for the elderly. Not long ago, she surprised (shocked?) her friends and family by abandoning her legal career—and steady job—to write novels. She is thrilled to spend her days writing stories of love and adventure, instead of going to endless meetings. After all, she has always loved romantic tales, heroic deeds, and happy endings. And, at long last, she can satisfy her passion for justice by punishing the bad and rewarding the worthy—in the pages of her novels.
With her two children off to college, Margaret spends most of her time working on her next books. She loves to hear from readers.
You can visit her at http://www.margaretmallory.com/index.html
Like her at Facebook http://www.facebook.com/margaretmallory.author
ABOUT THE GUARDIAN
THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS: BOOK I
Four fearless warriors return to the Highlands to claim their lands and legacies. But all their trials on the battlefield can't prepare them for their greatest challenge yet: winning the hearts of four willful Scottish beauties.
PASSION IGNITED
After years of fighting abroad, Ian MacDonald comes home to find his clan in peril. To save his kin, he must right the wrongs from his past . . . and claim the bride he's long resisted.
As a young lass, Sìleas depended on Ian to play her knight in shining armor. But when his rescue attempt compromised her virtue, Ian was forced to marry against his wishes. Five years later, Sìleas has grown from an awkward girl into an independent beauty who knows she deserves better than the reluctant husband who preferred war to his wife. Now this devilishly handsome Highlander is finally falling in love. He wants a second chance with Sìleas - and he won't take no for an answer.
05/10/11
ABOUT JAMES LEPORE
I practiced law for twenty-five years before retiring in 1999 to write and take pictures. My photography can be seen here.
I have written a number of works of short fiction that have evolved from my novels. After each novel was completed, its characters continued to live in my head, telling me, it seemed, that they wanted to go on living on the page. The stories that grew out of A World I Never Made will be published in February, 2011, in a volume entitled, Anyone Can Die. My second novel, Blood of My Brother, is available now at amazon and all other online booksellers.
I have heard it said that genre novels are plot driven, while novels in the literature category are character driven. I believe that my novels offer something of both: compelling, fast moving plots in exotic venues, and characters that are complex in that they are flawed, and, finding themselves caught up in situations of extraordinary stress and danger, are forced to face their own demons in order to prevail. It has been gratifying to find that many readers and reviewers have enjoyed this blend in my work.
My first three novels all feature people from the area where I have lived all of my life, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The characters in these novels are not the same and there are no connections between them. But the novels' themes are the same—the struggle of flawed men and women to change and grow in the face of great danger. In this sense the three novels can be categorized as a trilogy, the Tristate Trilogy is the name I am giving them.
The hardcover version of A World I Never Made, published in April, 2009, attracted a passionate audience of readers. The paperback version, along with the releases of my next two novels, are an opportunity for a broad, mass-market readership to experience my work. I do not think that anyone who reads my novels and stories will be disappointed. I am currently working on my fourth novel—the story of a high profile Manhattan prosecutor whose son is wrongly accused of murder—which will be published in 2011. I live in South Salem, NY with my wife, Karen Chandler, an artist whose work can be seen here.
P.S. As you may have guessed, I am an avid reader and have been all my life. I have compiled a list of my fifty favorite novels (the "LePore Top Fifty"). The list changes from time to time (since I have sole control over it), and I am working on a second Top Fifty list, but If anyone is interested in receiving a copy of the first list, just go to the "Contact The Author" page and ask for it in an email to me and I will send it along.
You can visit Mr. Lepore at http://jamesleporefiction.com/
ABOUT SONS AND PRINCES
Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):
Chris Massi has been running from his world his entire life. The son of a Mafia assassin and the former son-in-law of a mob kingpin, Massi has tried to stay on the right side of the law, building a prestigious career as an attorney, and insulating his children as much as possible. But now a series of tragedies have left him without a law license and without several of his loved ones. And at the same time, his teenaged son is beginning to gravitate toward the gangster world Chris has tried so hard to protect him from.
Michele Mathias has been running away from her life for more than a decade. Once a promising young woman with a future, she’s now a drug addicted street player living with the knowledge that her daughter – the only bright thing in her life – was taken away from her. When her roommate is murdered in a mob-related hit, her life intersects with Chris’s life – and their worlds change forever.
For Chris, a showdown is coming. The only way for him to save his son and regain his future is to face – and maybe even embrace – the demon he’s always avoided. For Michele, her last chance at redemption has arrived. How their journeys collide with the dark New York underworld is the stuff of the kind of suspenseful, passionate drama we’ve come to expect from James LePore.
Watch for my review in the coming weeks.
04/20/11
ABOUT DR. BRIAN O'GRADY
Brian O’Grady follows in the tradition of Michael Crichton as a physician who brings his in-depth medical knowledge to his craft. A practicing neurosurgeon from Richland, WA, O’Grady is a graduate of the University of New Mexico who completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic. His deep insight into the mysterious workings of the human brain brings HYBRID realistically to life.
Brian O’Grady follows in the tradition of Michael Crichton as a physician who brings his in-depth medical knowledge to his craft. A practicing neurosurgeon from Richland, WA, O’Grady is a graduate of the University of New Mexico who completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic. His deep insight into the mysterious workings of the human brain brings HYBRID realistically to life.
Visit Dr. O'Grady at: http://www.brianjogrady.com/
ABOUT HYBRID
IS THE ULTIMATE POWER WORTH HAVING
IF IT COMES FROM THE ULTIMATE EVIL?
What sort of untapped abilities lie within the human brain? Could we summon the powers of telepathy, telekinesis or mind control if we only knew how? Dr. Brian O’Grady, a Washington neurosurgeon, explores these intriguing questions in his pulse-pounding medical thriller HYBRID (The Fiction Studio; April 2011). “We have limitless connections between the nerve cells in our brains, yet we only use about 10 percent. Imagine if we could unlock our vast potential?” he asks. The key in Dr. O’Grady’s debut novel is a virus, which unleashes a chain of events in same spine-tingling spirit of suspense as The Andromeda Strain and the X-Files.
Seven years ago, everyone died in the Honduran camp from the EDH1 virus, but Red Cross worker Amanda Flynn. Airlifted home to America, medical professionals tried to identify why Amanda survived when others died gruesome, agonizing deaths or became violent savages. Little did they know that anyone who survived…changed.
Since her escape from quarantine, Amanda has been in hiding slowly realizing the powers that could have only come from her infection. She can sense things, do things using her mind, things that are incredible and sometimes incredibly dark. But as she resists the pull toward violence, a new survivor has entered her consciousness – one without her will to block evil impulses. One who revels in bloodlust and seeks to expand his mastery by forcing the end of human society. And he’s coming for Amanda.
A sharply written and engaging cast of characters adds to the fever excitement and suspense – Dr. Phil Rucker, the coroner whose Asperger’s syndrome comes complete with its own demons; Father John Oliver, the kindly priest whose faith is brutally tested; Rodney Patton, the homicide chief who sees what others miss; and Greg Flynn, Amanda’s father-in-law and the man whose moral center guides others in the storm.
04/19/11
ABOUT MNGMEI YIP
Mingmei Yip was born in China, received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She has published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City.
Visit her at http://www.mingmeiyip.com/.
1. Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.
Romantic adventure on the Silk Road with the lure of a three million dollar reward.
2. What inspired you to write SONG OF THE SILK ROAD?
I owe this novel to a brave and unconventional writer -- and a dream.
In the seventies, Taiwanese writer San Mao’s adventures with her husband in the Sahara Desert captivated many readers, including myself. Inspired by her, I decided to write about a young woman’s adventures in the desert. But instead of the Sahara, my lifelong fascination with the romantic history of the Silk Road led me to write about its Mountains of Heaven and the Taklaman Desert, also named Go-In-But-Never-Come-Out.
Then I had a dream.
In my dream a young woman receives a letter from an aunt whom she had never known existed. The niece was told to undertake a long journey in China, retracing the same routes the aunt had taken, meeting the same people, and doing things the aunt had done. The niece would receive a big sum of money, if she successfully carried out all the tasks – and if she survived.
I remember the dream, but not when it came to me. The young woman had a strong personality and I knew she wanted me to give her a voice. The result is this adventure and love story, Song of the Silk Road.
3. Where do you do most of your writing?
At home. I can’t write at cafes, since most have loud music which is a distraction for me. However if they play classical music, then I stop writing and listen.
4. What is your favorite book?
The 2,500 year old Daode Jing, Classic of the Way and Virtue. This is about the Way of the Universe and how to live in accord wth it. A central theme is how the soft, feminine power can overcome brute strength. I imbibed a lot of its philosophy over the years and it crops up in my novels.
5. Which part of SONG OF THE SILK ROAD was the most enjoyable to write?
There are a few. First, the love-making scene in the desert, imagining golden singing sand dunes, the unrelieved heat, the passion…all aphrodiasical.
Another sequence I particularly enjoyed is the protagonist Lily Lin’s platonic love with one of her admirers – an Ughur healer who loves and protects her without asking anything back from her. Later, upon learning his tragic story she discovers she can open her yin eye to see beings from the realm of the dead.
ABOUT THE BOOK
(borrowed fom B&N)
In this richly imaginative novel, Mingmei Yip--author of Peach Blossom Pavilion and Petals From the Sky--follows one woman's daunting journey along China's fabled Silk Road.
As a girl growing up in Hong Kong, Lily Lin was captivated by photographs of the desert--its long, lonely vistas and shifting sand dunes. Now living in New York, Lily is struggling to finish her graduate degree when she receives an astonishing offer. An aunt she never knew existed will pay Lily a huge sum to travel across China's desolate Taklamakan Desert--and carry out a series of tasks along the way.
Intrigued, Lily accepts. Her assignments range from the dangerous to the bizarre. Lily must seduce a monk. She must scrape a piece of clay from the famous Terracotta Warriors, and climb the Mountains of Heaven to gather a rare herb. At Xian, her first stop, Lily meets Alex, a young American with whom she forms a powerful connection. And soon, she faces revelations that will redefine her past, her destiny, and the shocking truth behind her aunt's motivations. . .
Powerful and eloquent, Song of the Silk Road is a captivating story of self-discovery, resonant with the mysteries of its haunting, exotic landscape.
04/14/11
ABOUT OLIVIA deBELLE BYRD
Olivia deBelle Byrd was born and bred in the South. She is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and a Kappa Delta. She resides in Panama City, Florida, with her husband, Tommy, and is the proud mother of Tommy Jr. and Elizabeth.
You can visit her web site: http://www.oliviadebellebyrd.com
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS:
While Olivia deBelle Byrd was repeating one of her many Southern stories for the umpteenth time, her long-suffering husband looked at her with glazed over eyes and said, “Why don’t you write this stuff down?” Thus was born Miss Hildreth Wore Brown—Anecdotes of a Southern Belle. If the genesis for a book is to shut your wife up, I guess that’s as good as any.
On top of that, Olivia’s mother had burdened her with one of those Southern middle names kids love to make fun. To see “deBelle” printed on the front of a book seemed vindication for all the childhood teasing.
With storytelling written in the finest Southern tradition from the soap operas of Chandler Street in the quaint town of Gainesville, Georgia, to a country store on the Alabama state line, Olivia deBelle Byrd delves with wit and amusement into the world of the Deep South with all its unique idiosyncrasies and colloquialisms.
The characters who dance across the pages range from Great-Aunt Lottie Mae, who is as “old-fashioned and opinionated as the day is long,” to Mrs. Brewton, who calls everyone “dahling” whether they are darling or not, to Isabella with her penchant for mint juleps and drama.
Humorous anecdotes from a Christmas coffee, where one can converse with a lady who has Christmas trees with blinking lights dangling from her ears, to Sunday church, where a mink coat is mistaken for possum, will delight Southerners and baffle many a non-Southerner. There is the proverbial Southern beauty pageant, where even a six-month-old can win a tiara, to a funeral faux pas of the iron clad Southern rule—one never wears white after Labor Day and, dear gussy, most certainly not to a funeral.
Miss Hildreth Wore Brown—Anecdotes of a Southern Belle is guaranteed to provide an afternoon of laugh-out-loud reading and hilarious enjoyment.
04/12/11
MICHAEL BARON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(and why no picture)
I grew up in the New York area and I’ve lived there my entire life. I worked in retail and taught high school English before I got my first book contract. I have gotten several additional book contracts since then, which is fortunate because I didn’t have the patience to work in retail and, while I quite enjoyed teaching, my approach was a bit too unconventional for most school systems. One school administrator told me that, “there are more important things than being a dynamic teacher.” Since I couldn’t name any of those things (at least in the context of school), I figured I didn’t have a long-term future in the profession. Hence, I became a writer, where I believe people appreciate a certain level of dynamism.
Though I started with nonfiction, I have always loved fiction and I have always wanted to write it. I’ve always had a particular affection for love stories. In fact, the very first book-length thing I ever wrote, when I was thirteen, was a love story. Mind you, it was the kind of love story that a thirteen-year-old boy would write, but it was a love story nonetheless. I have a deep passion for writing about relationships – family relationships, working relationships, friendships, and, of course, romantic relationships – and I can only truly explore this by writing fiction. These novels have given me a way to voice the millions of things running through my head.
My wife and kids are the center of my life. My wife is the inspiration for all of my love stories and my children enthrall me, challenge me, and keep me moving. One of the primary reasons I wrote my first novel, When You Went Away was that I wanted to write about being a father. Aside from my family, I have a few other burning passions. I’m a pop culture junkie with an especially strong interest in music, I love fine food (and any restaurant shaped like a hot dog), and I read far too many sports blogs for my own good.
You might have noticed that I haven't published a photo of myself. This isn't because I'm involved in the Witness Protection program or because I have an innate fear of cameras. It's because Michael Baron is a pseudonym. I'm writing these novels “undercover” because they're not entirely compatible with the nonfiction books I write and I didn't want to confuse readers. We're all different people sometimes, right? I just decided to give my alter ego another name.
You can visit Michael Baron's site at: http://www.michaelbaronbooks.com/Michael_Baron_site/Home.html
ABOUT THE BOOK
Dylan Hunter has it made. At 29, he has great friends, a huge job, all the women he can handle, and no commitments. A public relations executive, Dylan has dashed up the ladder of success by mastering the art of the spin – bending the truth to his and his clients’ needs. But when a former lover steps back into his life with a three-year-old girl by her side (no, she’s not his), Dylan suddenly finds himself in a place he can’t spin himself out of. And when Dylan unexpectedly becomes the child’s sole guardian, he finds himself to be like a circus performer trying to keep all of his spinning plates from crashing to the ground. In what seems like a blink of the eye, Dylan Hunter’s life has changed completely…whether he’s ready for it or not.
Check out my review of Spinning here. A 5/5 !!!!!
04/09/11
ABOUT LARISSA IONE
Many writers will tell you they began writing stories the moment they learned to wield a pencil. I’m no exception. But even as a child, I didn’t write “kid” stories. I preferred something more dramatic. Something that didn’t include Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot. I wanted my dogs to have names like White Fang or Cujo. I’ll always have my parents to thank for that. They never censored my reading material (though I suspect that if they had truly known what was between the covers of some of the books, they’d have been a little more careful,) so when other girls my age were reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume, I was immersing myself in Stephen King and Jack London.
Considering my fiction preferences, it came as no surprise to anyone that my first short stories were tales of horror, and my first novel, penned at the age of 12, was an Alaskan wilderness story with a wolf hero.
Eventually, my interests changed. Oh, I still enjoy a good Stephen King novel, and Jack London remains a favorite, but I discovered some new favorites while I was in college. Robert Jordan. Marion Zimmer Bradley. Mary Stewart. Oh yes, I’d found fantasy. I devoured every novel I could find, and in time I started writing my very own fantasy novel. That novel is still a work in progress, thirteen years later.
Eventually, after I’d read just about every fantasy novel published, I had to switch to something else. That something else was straight historical fiction. Again I exhausted my supply, but my longtime friend from my Air Force days, Karen, came to the rescue with something I never thought I’d read. Something I made fun of her for reading.
She made me read a historical romance.
Thus began a passion for, well, passion. I wanted to write romances, and I wanted to see them in print. To help fulfill that dream, I joined RWA, writers’ lists and critique groups. In order to build some writing credits, I worked on some military and National Weather Service technical manuals. As my writing improved, I began to sell my work to print magazines like The Canine Journal and Dog Fancy, and to online publications such as Writing-World.com.
Then, in February of 2006, while in the middle of recovering from hurricane Katrina (and after nearly giving up on writing,) I made my first sale to Red Sage Secrets. A couple of weeks later, that sale was followed by a sale to Bantam Dell with my collaboration partner, Stephanie Tyler. We write together under the pseudonym of Sydney Croft.
I also sold a series of dark paranormal romances to Warner, a sale that was extremely satisfying because I am finally able to combine my love of romance with the darkness that creeps into my voice, thanks to my youthful and still-present love of horror novels and dark fantasy. This sale also cemented my ability to write full time, a dream come true because of my husband's Coast Guard career and frequent moves. I can take my job with me! And happily, in March of 2009, the second book in this series hit the USA Today Bestseller list, and in April, the third book, Passion Unleashed, hit both the USA Today AND New York Times bestseller lists.
Visit her at http://larissaione.com/blog/news//
ABOUT THE BOOK
They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.
04/07/11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve O’Brien is a lawyer specializing in international corporate law and litigation. He has extensive experience in overseas business, including joint ventures, acquisitions, and start-ups in twenty-nine countries. He has in-depth expertise in risk management, corporate ethics, governance, and intellectual property. As a litigator he has chaired more than twenty state and federal jury trials and argued seven appellate cases before state supreme courts and US circuit courts of appeal.
O’Brien earned his juris doctorate from George Washington University Law School and served on the editorial board of The George Washington International Law Review. He has written commentaries and perspectives for prestigious publications such as The National Law Journal, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many magazines. He currently serves as General Counsel for a global consulting company. O’Brien lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Becky; they have two children.
Elijah’s Coin is his first novel.
Visit his site: http://www.aandnpublishing.com/blog
GUEST POST
I guess you could say horse racing is in my blood. I grew up in a tiny town in Nebraska that had a five-eighths mile racetrack and the meet was held in the Spring of each year. Truancy officers from the high school looked for me and my pals who had announced we were going out for the golf team, but only made it as far as the racetrack. I suppose it was inevitable that I would write a suspense mystery set at a racetrack.
Over the years I have read all the horse racing novels, Dick Francis, William Murray, Stephen Dobyns, even Willie Shoemaker published a series of racetrack novels. I also spent quite a bit of time over the years at racetracks. For a period of time I owned some racehorses in partnership with a group of friends. We were unusually lucky to have a few good runners.
Okay, we were stupid lucky.
One is still among the all time money winners for Nebraska bred horses. Another broke three different track records at three different distances at three different racetracks. Try that one.
Another was a filly which, I guess, inspired part of the story of Bullet Work. We purchased a Nebraska bred filly for the princely sum of $1200. She was not regally bred, but had the heart of a champion. She won her first two races and we shipped her to Remington Park in Oklahoma City for a big stakes race. Another undefeated filly was shipped in as well. She was a $500,000 Kentucky bred yearling named Remember the Day. Of course that horse was a huge betting favorite. Just like a Disney script, our little Nebraska bred filly stole the show, leading every step of the way at 15-1.
We were also fortunate to have Willie Shoemaker ride one of our horses when he was doing his farewell tour prior to his retirement. That race didn’t come out as well as we’d hoped, but it was still a thrill.
Bullet Work mixes in many of the lessons I learned about thoroughbreds and racing over the years, but is an entirely fictional story--nothing autobiographical here. I tried to capture the drama, the competition, the language, the relationships on the backside, and above all the love the caregivers have for the animals.
No story is easy to write. In fact, I can easily say I worked on this novel off and on for decades. But despite the starts and stops, I truly enjoyed creating these characters and this story, because they are people, places and things I have known and enjoyed nearly all of my life.
Steve O’Brien is a lawyer and fiction writer. His first book Elijah’s Coin received nine literary awards. Bullet Work, his second novel, will be released in Spring 2011.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From the Author:
Behind the glamorous exterior of horseracing lies the gritty reality of the backside. Within this fiercely competitive world of owners, trainers, vets, and jockeys something has gone terribly wrong. As opening day approaches, one racehorse is poisoned, another has her leg crushed by a lead pipe and a third mysteriously disappears. Shock and horror grip the racing community. Despite all security efforts, the brutal killings continue.
For Dan Morgan it becomes personal when his precocious two-year-old filly is targeted. Dan befriends AJ Kaine, a lonely, "horse whispering" young man. AJ is a hotwalker, the lowest of jobs in the backside food chain. But AJ has a secret—perhaps a secret that can corner a killer. With AJ's help, Dan must crack the extortion scheme or risk becoming the next victim.
04/06/11
ABOUT JILL SHALVIS
USA Today bestseller Jill Shalvis is the award winning author of over four dozen romance novels, including her upcoming sexy contemporary novel Simply Irresistible, book one in the Lucky Harbor series. The 4-time Rita nominee and 3-time National Readers Choice winner makes her home near Lake Tahoe.
Visit her website at www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and daily blog.
GUEST POST
For The Sweetest Thing
By Jill Shalvis
Writing a romance called The Sweetest Thing, which centers around a decidedly NOT sweet heroine, amused me. Tara Daniels is wound a little tight and likes things her way. She’s also a former southern belle who appreciates the fact that she’s right. A lot.
The Sweetest Thing? Not exactly.
But her heart’s in the right place, always. And, as it turns out, there’s a man who melts her like butter on a hot roll. Not only that, he can soften her in a way that she isn’t sure she likes. See, Tara thinks she has it all together, but it turns out she doesn’t. She doesn’t know a lot about herself. About all she has is the fact that she can cook like nobody’s business. Oh, how she loves to cook.
Tara was a challenge for me. Because here’s where I admit, I got a lot of her recipes from my husband. True story. I’m married to a big guy who works with his hands and is the ultimate Alpha Man -- and yet he can cook. Don’t try to figure him out, it’ll hurt your brain, trust me.
The recipe Good Morning Sunshine Casserole that Tara cooks in the book is all his. Just don’t tell him I “borrowed” it and am telling the world that it’s my heroine’s. It’d just go to his head.
P.S. For an ebook of Tara’s recipes, look for Heating Up The Kitchen wherever ebooks are sold.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Two Men Are One Too Many . . .
Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.
But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can't control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she's lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.
03/30/11
ABOUT LAYTON GREEN
In addition to writing, Layton attended law school in New Orleans and was a practicing attorney for the better part of a decade (even though he still resents having cut his hair for that first interview). He has also been an intern for the United Nations, an ESL teacher in Central America, a bartender in London, a seller of cheap knives on the streets of Brixton, a door to door phone book deliverer, and the list goes downhill from there.
He has traveled to more than fifty countries, lived in a number of them, and has a burning desire to see every country, city, beach, moor, castle, cemetery, twisted street and far flung dot on the map. Religion and cults, as well as all things spiritual and supernatural, have also been a lifelong interest. Combine the travel and the religion with fifteen years of Japanese Jujitsu training, and the Dominic Grey series was born.
Layton lives with his wife and son in Miami.
ABOUT THE SUMMONER
A United States diplomat disappears in front of hundreds of onlookers while attending a religious ceremony in the bushveld of Zimbabwe.
Dominic Grey, Diplomatic Security special agent, product of a violent childhood and a worn passport, is assigned to investigate. Aiding the investigation is Professor Viktor Radek, religious phenomenologist and expert on cults, and Nya Mashumba, the local government liaison.
What Grey uncovers is a terrifying cult older than Western civilization, the harsh underbelly of a country in despair, a priest seemingly able to perform impossibilities, and the identity of the newest target.
Himself . . .
The first work in a globe-hopping series whose protagonists investigate the world’s most bizarre and dangerous cults, The Summoner is a stylish, haunting novel of mystery and suspense that will linger long after the last page is turned.
03/17/11
ABOUT MEGAN MUNROE
Megan Munroe began her career as an actress, appearing in feature films, music videos, TV shows, and commercials, before moving to Nashville to pursue her career as a country musician and recording two albums.
A teen beauty queen, personal trainer and former literary publicist, her range of life experiences and proven ability to succeed as a nice girl in a bitch's world have led to features in Cowboys and Indians, Country Weekly and more. For more information, visit MeganMunroe.com.
Follow at:
Online: MeganMunroeAuthor.com
Twitter: @nicegirlsrule
@bitch_pleaze
Turner Publishing is an award-winning, independent publisher based in Nashville, Tennessee. Imprints include Turner, Trade Paper Press, and Iroquois Press. For more information, visit TurnerPublishing.com.
GUEST POST by MEGAN MUNROE
The Filter Philosophy: A Nice Girls Guide to Speaking Her Mind
As we look back during National Women’s History Month and celebrate all the women who’ve paved the way for our success, it’s also the perfect quarter point to revisit your goals and intentionally recommit yourself to the positive history you would like to make in 2011.
We’ve all heard the quote “well behaved women rarely make history” (in fact I have a whole chapter in my book dedicated to it) but before you bust out the motorcycle boots and get a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe on your forearm, you may be surprised to find out that the author of that quote didn’t write it as a free pass to behave badly.
In fact, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote that line out of the simple observation that well-behaved women who led fascinating and quiet lives rarely made headlines.
The same is true today.
Unfortunately, in today’s media we don’t often see good examples of women making daily positive change. Instead, the 24/7 news cycle showcases the constant influx of unfiltered comments and news”worthy” stories from women like Jersey Shore’s Snooki and Lindsay Lohan—converting this type of bad behavior into the norm and setting the bar lower and lower.
However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t women in the media that are using their notoriety for good, we just don’t hear about them as often. The website, www.looktothesatrs.com highlights “the world of celebrity giving”, where women like Taylor Swift are applauded for donating $500,000 to the relief fund for the Nashville floods and Alicia Keys who raised 1.1 million dollars for her Keep a Child Alive foundation by encouraging her celebrity friends to refrain from tweeting until the money was raised.
The difficult part for regular Jane’s like you and me, is that we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to donate to a cause. But that doesn’t mean we can’t become positive change makers.
I’m a firm believer in the idea that affecting the world you live in doesn’t take a lot of money- it just takes conscientiousness and time.
This year, since money is tight for everyone, instead of making a lengthy list of resolutions that you probably won’t keep why not take one small principle and apply it to your daily life, one principle that can help define your personal history?
Here’s one to try. I call it filtering.
Filtering means that instead of speaking your mind the minute a thought enters it, take some time to formulate your opinion and say it with kindness and empathy. We have too many women in the media and in our neighborhoods speaking without a filter, and this can lead to some bad behavior.
I believe that in order to be a passionate and successful woman in this world we have to be bold in our passions and stand up for ourselves. But I also think there may be a little too much speaking and not enough listening going on.
That's why this filter is so important. It can clear out unnecessary comments and instead put the thought back into thinking.
Nice girl or bitch- we are all human, which means that we will say things we shouldn't. But the difference is that a nice girl invests the time it takes to put her filter on, and the bitch just blurts without caring who gets hurt.
Discovering my filter was one of the reasons I decided to write Bitch, Please! I wanted to get better at being honest and to become a woman of integrity—like so many of the great women who’ve come before me.
So what are some simple steps for filtering?
1. Get up or bite down.
This may mean excusing yourself to use the restroom, asking for a glass of water, or physically biting your tongue before you respond during a potentially uncomfortable or hurtful conversation.
In the conversations I have with women who deal with "bitches", I find that the hurtful things taking place have more to do with an unfiltered thought-to-mouth process than intention. In today's world we are told to "speak our mind"- but can we agree that sometimes the negative things we think shouldn't be said? Or at least they should be filtered?
2. Build up
After you’ve formulate a filtered thought, a good rule of thumb is to always compliment before you say anything negative. Don’t just say, “Suzie, I like your headband but your advice sucks.” Say something kind. “Suzie, you know I have always appreciated your opinion, but right now I just need some time to figure this out on my own.”
A filter doesn't just keep you from saying things you shouldn't it also helps you to say what you really mean.
These are just two simple way to make March the kicking off point to create more positive impact in your corner of the world.
I would encourage you today to install a filter.
It just takes a moment to think before you speak, but it can take a lifetime to try and take back what’s already been said.
Making history and changing the world begins in your backyard. Your family, friends, and foes are a microcosm of that world, and that is the stage by which you have been blessed to live out your life and make positive history.
So the question begs to be asked, do you think using discretion when it comes to speaking your mind is a good or bad way to be and can it really alter your personal history?
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Megan Munroe is the author of Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, and founder of the Nice Girls Rule Movement. For more thoughts on living a filtered life visit: www.nicegirlsrule.blogspot.com or http://www.meganmunroeauthor.com/.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from Amazon):
Megan Munroe's Bitch, Please! delivers a saucy communiqué empowering nice girls to kick passivity to the curb and instead use the strength of inward kindness to shake the foundation of the bitch's empire. Bitch, Please! provides compelling answers to questions that nice girls often ask, like:
How do I handle confrontation with the bitch in the next cubicle?
Why does the bitch always seem to get what she wants?
If being nice is a good thing, why do I feel like a doormat?
From practical how-to-succeed scenarios to laugh-out-loud lessons, this humorous yet poignant dialogue has something for every woman. A unique mix of rhetoric, real-life revelations, kitschy quizzes, and food for thought, this is the perfect road map for your journey to create a successful life in a nice-girl fashion.
FROM TURNER PUBLISHING:
Nice Girl Advocate Kicks Passivity to the Curb in Debut Book
(Nashville, TN) Actress, model, singer-songwriter and nice-girl advocate Megan Munroe delivers a saucy communiqué empowering nice girls worldwide to kick passivity to the curb in her debut book Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, which releases in March 2011.
Shaking the bitch’s empire with chapter topics like Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and other big B’s to What Emily Post won’t tell you, this book is a cover-to-cover entertainment treatise with an addictively enjoyable conversational style.
Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World
03/16/11
ABOUT ETHAN CROSS
When a fireman or a policeman would come visit his school, most of his classmates’ heads would swim with aspirations of growing up and catching bad guys or saving someone from a blazing inferno. When these moments came for Ethan Cross, however, his dreams weren’t to someday be a cop or put out fires; he just wanted to write about it.
And his dream of telling stories on a grand scale has come to fruition with the release of his new book, The Shepherd.
Ethan Cross is the pen name of a thriller author living and writing in Illinois with his wife, two daughters, and two Shih Tzus
Synopsis:
Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante’s beautiful daughter -a woman with whom he’s quickly falling in love- Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.
Welcome to the world of The Shepherd
My novel, The Shepherd, is the first book in a series of thrillers that I believe would be greatly enjoyed by fans of authors such as James Patterson, Dean Koontz, David Morrell, Thomas Harris, Lee Child, and Jeffery Deaver. This introductory book of the series is a stand-alone novel, but provides the reader with an opening into the world of The Shepherd Organization.
03/08/11
ABOUT KATHY CANO- MURILLO
People know me as The Crafty Chica, always ready to sprinkle glitter on anything and everything.
But you know what? I've been writing longer than I've been crafting!
Inspired by Judy Blume and Erma Bombeck, I caught the literary bug in grade school. I really owe it to Erma. In sixth grade, I read her book, If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, over and over. I thought that title was just so dang clever. I remember reading an Erma essay out loud to my mom on the way to the grocery store and both of us were in tears from laughter. Erma's kooky storytelling inspired me to draw pictures and write colorful stories to match. I wanted to grow up to be the Mexican version of Erma. When high school rolled around, I immediately signed up for journalism and yearbook.
Years later, I became a full-time features reporter and craft columnist for the The Arizona Republic. I loved that job. I covered arts and entertainment. After launching CraftyChica.com in 2001, I began blogging in 2003. Diary of a Crafty Chica was an outlet to share the joys and tribulations of "crafts, drama and glitter." I juggled a full-time job, college, an art business and a family. At that time, I already had two craft books out and felt accomplished. One day, my agent called me to chat with an editor at Simon & Schuster. She asked if I would consider writing a novel based on my blog. I laughed off the request on the ouside, but inside, my heart pounded as if I had just sucked down a quad mocha! But when a second editor from HarperCollins asked the same question, I took the idea serious.
Sort of.
There I was, working in the Features newsroom of one of the largest newspapers in the country, but I still lacked confidence. I sat by a team of talented wordsmiths and compared myself to them. I spent one year outlining an idea. That is totally stalling for me - usually when I want to complete a task, I'll do it in one night! I just couldn't work up the courage to write the opening sentence. I eventually joined a local writing group, and signed up for National Novel Writing Month. I cranked out the first draft of my novel, then-titled, The Crafty Chica Chronicles. I spent the next year editing it. My schedule was tight - the only time I could work on it was after 10 p.m. when my husband and kids hit the sack. I stayed up until 2 a.m., four days a week to finish.
In May 2005, I submitted the manuscript to my agent, who sent it back with major revisions. "This book needs a plot! It has so many directions, it is exhausting! Back to the drawing board!" I cried at the other end of the phone as I scribbled on the manuscript pages. I doubted my skills. I put the project away and decided to devote more time to my family - and sleep!
Here is where the universe came into play - in May 2006, I taught a writer's shrine workshop at Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez's inaugural Chica Lit Fiesta in Miami, FL. After listening to dozens of amazing writers share their publishing stories and book excerpts, I came home ready to kick some keyboard booty. I pulled out that manuscript and kissed it. I read my agent's notes and got back to work - again from 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
In early 2007, I submitted the revisions again to my agent. I'll never forget her words: "I love this, I can sell this!" - followed by 11 pages of single spaced notes of changes. I happily made them. She then sent me seven pages of double spaced notes. I made those revisions, sent them in and she responded with minor margin notes. By the end of June, we were ready to submit the manuscript to editors!
The second week of July 2007, the book went out to 11 editors. In the first few days, the declines came in. "All it takes is one," my agent reassured. By Wednesday, an editor made an offer! Within 24 hours, two more editors followed suit! By the end of the week, I accepted a two-book deal from Grand Central Publishing. But the revisions didn't stop there. I worked with my editor to re-craft the plot which became my debut novel, WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER (released March 2010). My second novel, MISS SCARLET'S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING comes out March 8, 2011.
Guess what I'm doing these days? Working on my third novel!
I love contemporary women's fiction. I love cheering for the underdog. I love happy endings. I love pop culture. I love being Mexican-American. I love being a mom and a wife. I love arts and crafts. You can expect all of those in my new Crafty Chica novel series from Grand Central Publishing!
Kathy Cano-Murillo is a lifelong writer and artist. Her crafts have been carried by hundreds of retailers including Bloomingdales, Target, and Hallmark. She is a former entertainment reporter for The Arizona Republic, and has authored seven books including Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing. She is the founder of CraftyChica.com, a wildly popular web site to inspire women to brighten their lives with clever craft ideas. She has been seen on LifetimeTV.com, HGTV, SiTV and DIY Network. She has been profiled in The New York Times, USA Today and NPR, and now has an extensive Crafty Chica product line. Kathy lives in Phoenix, AZ, with her husband, two kids and five Chihuahuas. Her motto for life is "Crafts, drama and glitter".
Visit Craftychica.com
Sometimes to find your life's true path, you have to stray outside the lines . . .
Scarlet Santana is never happier than when creating fabulous fashions for women of all shapes and sizes. Now, after years of hard work, she finally has the chance to live her dream and study under the hottest designer in New York. To raise money for her move, Scarlet opens an after-hours sewing school in a local record shop, teaching a type-A working mom whose rigid parenting style is causing her family to unravel and an enigmatic seamstress with a mysterious past.
But as stitches give way to secrets and classmates become friends, the women realize an important truth: There is no single pattern for a good life. Happiness is always a custom fit.
03/03/11
ABOUT STACY JUBA
Stacy Juba is the author of the mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim (Mainly Murder Press), as well as the patriotic children’s picture book The Flag Keeper. Her young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn will be released by Mainly Murder Press in January 2012. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit. Stacy is also one of the moderators at Bestseller Bound, a site that connects indie and small press authors with readers, reviewers and book bloggers.
Web site: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/
ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY
Should we dig for the truth when Pandora’s Box is a coffin of buried secrets?
Kris Langley has always been obsessed with murder. She blames herself for the violent death of her cousin when they were kids and has let guilt invade every corner of her existence. Now an editorial assistant and obit writer, Kris stumbles across an unsolved murder while compiling “25 Years Ago Today” items from the microfilm. Determined to solve the case and atone for the death of her cousin, Kris immerses herself in the mystery of what happened to Diana Ferguson, a talented artist who expressed herself through haunting paintings of Greek mythology. Not only does Kris face resistance from her family and her managing editor, she also clashes with Diana’s suspicious nephew, Eric Soares – until neither she nor Eric can deny the chemistry flaring between them. She soon learns that old news never leaves the morgue and that yesterday’s headline is tomorrow’s danger, for finding out the truth about that night twenty-five years ago may shatter Kris’s present, costing her love, her career, and ultimately, her life.
03/01/11
Sheila Hendrix is a native of Alabama and resides there with her husband of fifteen years. She has no children except for her two dogs. she is the author of the Young adult series, The Dark Circle. She also does reviews for two magazines. Writing has always been a dream and passion of hers. She is currently working on other books in the McCannon brothers series.
GUEST POST
Unconditional Love
Thinking about what I wanted to write this post about, I decided on a topic that is close to my heart. I love to read book about brothers, family, lovers, etc. In Romantic Suspense the hero will always do whatever he has to do to protect his woman. I also like books where brothers love each other so much, they are willing to do anything for the other, even give their life as a sacrifice for each other. Too many times in life I find out that people no longer care about each other. Everyone it seems is out for number one and they just leave everyone else behind. I feel as if the world would be a better place if people cared about each other. How nice would it be for someone, when you or someone you love is threatened, to stand up for you and say to the enemy, "If you want to get through them, you have to go through me." Even the bible says, "Happy is the man who lays down his life for his friends." How many of us would lay down our lives for the other? When did we get so single minded and afraid? In the old days, people fought for each other and they were honorable who did. They were considered hero's.
That's what I try to show in my book, The Betrayal. Zack and Matt are brothers who love each other unconditionally and would do anything for each other even die. I think if we all would take a lesson from them and act on it, the world we live in would not be such a scary place.
Synopsis:
When Zachariah and Matthew McCannon were young, their parents abandoned them, leaving Zack to take care of his little brother, Matt. Though they lived with their grandmother, she was always sick, so Zack was forced to raise him. This was not an easy task.
Zack had his hands full because of Matt’s unusual powers. He has visions and dreams that come true, and when he gets angry or upset, he can move things with his mind. Because of this, evil seeks him, keeping Zack on his toes as his protector.
As the brothers grew older, they became hunters, pursuing evil supernatural forces. After Matthew has a dream, it sends them on a hunt for cave, not knowing why, but realizing it is necessary. When they arrive, Matt finds the vision was a trap.
A Darkness like no other wants to control Matt and kill Zack. The Darkness is named, Alanya, which means, The Destroyer.
Alanya hates the brothers. In the past, every time he tried to apprehend Matt, Zack would thwart him by protecting his brother. Alanya is incensed that a mere human boy can beat him, for demons are not to be defied.
When Alanya asks Zack, “How far will you go to save your brother?” Zack answers, “As far as I have to.”
Now, the brothers are faced with a deadly force they never had to deal with before. This demon is on a deadly mission to destroy everything the brothers hold dear. If the McCannon’s are not careful, neither of them will be able to escape.
02/23/11
ABOUT CHARLES SOTO
I’ve always had a love for writing, from my early years in high school and throughout my entire life. The power of words and the emotions that they can produce have always led me to follow my imaginations and dreams. Even though, at times, the life of a writer can be a lonely world, it’s in this world where I find my solace. When I’m alone in my writing room, sitting in front of my laptop nothing seems to matter to me, nothing but the world and characters that I’m trying to create. I get lost in a dreamscape, it seems, envisioning my story as if it is a movie playing before my eyes. The reality that I try to create reflects in the topics that my writing interests bring me to and I’m honored to now add my name to the list of authors who dared to cover an issue that voices such strong opinionated oppositions as abortion. Authors such as the late great Michael Crichton, Robert Shapiro, John Irving, Elisabeth Hyde, Sharon Oard Warner and Kathryn Trueblood just name a few on a long list of greats.
I wanted to write about a topic where Passion overrides opinion and opinion evokes passion. A story that places the readers inside the characters lives for themselves. I want the reader to feel and come to understand what struggles and endurance the characters are going through and what they would do under the same circumstances. The thought of portraying a corrupt clergyman as the villain in my story, reflects to the power that a man of the cloth truly has over his parishioners, the lengths that some may follow him to and questions of morality that arise.
Heartache & Sin, above all else, is a love story between a husband and wife. The struggles they endure when they come to the painful crossroad of debating to abort or deliver their child of miracles. I used North Dakota as the background for my story, living in Minnesota for over fifteen years I got to know my neighboring state well, and I felt for my story to work I needed an area such as this. A place where family, friends and church remain a priority in peoples lives. Where the closeness of growing up in the country on a farm reflects in the lives that people lead, and in doing so, create a story that the reader can feel and come understand. A story that creates compassion and resolve yet produces the raw, uncensored emotion that such a topic brings out.
Now, although I currently live in Minnesota, It’s a long way from my birth place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even though I grew up and went to school in northern California , Vegas always seemed to call me back. After I graduated high school I moved back and lived there for years until I met my wife, Patty. She’s from Minnesota and after visiting her home town a couple of times I fell in love with the area. After the birth of our second daughter we decided to move there and have lived here ever since. I’ve been lucky enough to share my life with her for over twenty two years and there’s no one I’m closer to. I love that she rides her own bike and if we aren’t out riding our Harley’s in the summertime or on our jet ski, then we’re enjoying rock concerts or traveling.
I do try to put some time away for my artwork as well as my writing. When I grew up in California I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a lot of talented people and was taught the art of ceramics under the direction of my mentor, Bernard Seagul. Just like my discovery of words, which I must say was greatly influenced by Neal Peart of the famous rock band, Rush, I was hooked just as much from the moment I started working with clay and I’ve been creating ceramic sculptures ever since.
After years of struggling and trying to make it with my art and writing, I finally landed an agent to represent me, but after a year of no sales I decided to pursue my efforts else where. I was listening to the Lex and Terry morning show, like it seems I always am, when they where looking to hire one of their listeners to work on their show. I remember Lex saying when he first got into radio he didn’t know anybody or have experience, but he just knew he wanted to be around it; it was what he wanted to do, so he took a meaningless job and eventually worked his way up. I thought, that’s exactly how I feel, so I leaped in with both feet and finally have my first novel published and a second one ready to go.
I wrote Heartache & Sin, 2005 while I was recovering from a devastating accident when I fell 30 feet at work. Can you believe it! I fell 30 feet, landed on concrete and I’m still alive! What surprises me the most is how well I recovered, returning back to nearly the form I was in before my accident. I truly believe there is a higher power, and for some reason God spared me on that day. That reason being of course, pursuing my dreams of becoming an author and accomplished sculpture and I’ve been doing it ever since. So I hope you enjoy Heartache & Sin. Please leave me a blogg message and tell me what you think of my book, Video Book Trailer, my website or anything else you would like to discuss. Feel free to look me up on face book and twitter, or simply leave a message on my contact page. I promise I’ll get back to you.
Visit his website: http://www.authorcharlessoto.com/index.html
ABOUT THE BOOK
Hard-driving and provocative, this unconventional love story will have audiences talking for weeks after reading. Charles Soto touches the heart of humanity with this epic tale, tackling the hardships of abortion. Dissecting the tenderest parts of a mother’s being, while destroying a father’s conscience.
Heartache and Sin tackles the very heart and soul of each and every one of us. A must-read page turner that will have readers on the edge of their seat until the final page is turned. A compelling, endearing love story for both women and men, gripping the very foundation of marriage, courage and strength, with hard-driving emotion as its ploy. This debut will have audiences talking for weeks as love, hate, murder and church collide when a couple finds themselves a painful crossroad, debating to abort or deliver their child of miracles in this wicked tale of how a man of the cloth, who’s power and control is willing to risk the life of a pregnant parishioner.
Steven and Karen Wheaton seem to have it all. A smart, devoted and incredibly loving couple, their only hard grief is that in direct response to Karen’s severe, debilitating diabetes the two are unable to bare children. While Steven shows compassionate resolve, understanding and acceptance, Karen grieves and comes to grips with this fact by joining a church whose clergyman is a staunch, fierce opponent to abortion. In fact, Pastor Ryan McDonald is a man of many atrocities and is willing to do anything, even commit kidnapping and murder, to uphold the tenets of his vicious canons. Though, when Karen and Steven learn she’s pregnant and becomes deathly ill, they struggle with the tragic dilemma of having to choose between life and death for their unborn child. The unmerciful fate that Karen and Steven endure, at the hands of the pastor, boils to an explosive conclusion. Ultimately tragic, this debut is a fascinating social commentary on this complex issue that has no easy answers and an illustration of what evil a man of the cloth will provide a faithful parishioner. Can Steven save his wife and his baby’s life? If he can’t, which will he choose?
02/22/11
ABOUT MOLLY HARPER
Molly Harper is the author of the acclaimed Nice Girls vampire series as well as the stand-alone novel AND ONE LAST THING… She is a former humor columnist and newspaper reporter who studied print journalism at Western Kentucky University. Her first work of darkly humorous fiction was composed at age eight—a story about her third-grade class taking a trip around the world and losing a kid in each city. She lives in western Kentucky with her husband and children.
Visit mollyharper.com and singleundeadfemale.blogspot.com, and follow Molly on Twitter @mollyharperauth.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Pocket author based new book on 2009 ice storm experience
An ice storm. Stranded in a strange, isolated place without power. Children with an unsettling ability to win staring contests. This is how horror movies start.
Watching the news coverage as cities across the Midwest are pelted by the much-touted historic blizzard, I'm having strange sympathy pangs. In January 2009, an ice storm ripped through Kentucky, taking out power and phone lines for thousands of homes, including mine. The first night I spent camped out in my in-laws' darkened living room with my two young children, I was sure this was just a temporary blip. It was going to be a funny story we could tell the next winter. As in, "Remember that night we had to sleep on an air mattress in front of Grandma's fireplace and cook on a gas grill in the garage?"
By the sixth night, I was no longer amused.
Over the next week, Kentuckians were cold, cranky and progressively ill-groomed. I returned to my dark, cold house to forage for supplies one afternoon, only to find my neighbor shaving his head in his driveway. I sincerely hoped that was related to the lack of electricity and not just a personality quirk I'd never noticed before. Neighborhood block parties have been stilted and awkward since.
But I managed to channel my cabin fever, before going the full fire-ax-through-bedroom-door and elevator-full-of-blood route. I started writing. Having recently published the Nice Girls books, a vampire romance series about an undead librarian in small-town Kentucky, I'd already decided that I wanted to write a werewolf story. And being isolated, in the dark, in an increasingly crowded, enclosed space, I decided to set the story in the frozen regions of Alaska.
While we waited for the power to come back on, I wrote about twenty pages of notes by candlelight. What emerged was the story of Mo Wenstein, a woman who moves across the country to escape her intrusive hippie parents and make a life for herself in the remote town of Grundy, Alaska. Cantankerous neighbor Cooper has been giving Mo a hard time about her place in her new community since day one. But when Cooper stumbles onto her porch, naked, with a bear trap clamped around his ankle, she realizes there's more to him than a surly- though attractive- surface. A series of werewolf attacks, for which Cooper may or may not be responsible, dysfunctional werewolf clan drama, and romantic hijinks ensue.
The manuscript grew over the next few months and became HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF, which is due to be released by Pocket Books on Feb. 22, wherever books are sold. The sequel, THE ART OF SEDUCING A NAKED WEREWOLF, will follow on March 29.
So, while the encroaching claustrophobia is frustrating, make the best of your snow days. Use the milk, eggs and bread you hoarded to make French toast. Plow through the To-Be-Read pile of paperbacks on your nightstand. Write journal entries about the sights, sounds and emotions you're experiencing as a blizzard survivor.
You never know. You could turn this experience into your first manuscript.
02/09/10
ABOUT ERIN HEALY
Erin Healy is an award-winning editor and bestselling co-author of the supernatural suspense novels Kiss (Thomas Nelson 2009) and Burn (Thomas Nelson January 2010) with Ted Dekker. Her solo debut, Never Let You Go (Thomas Nelson May 2010), ushered in a new brand of fiction, building on her work with Dekker, that melds supernatural suspense with female-friendly relational drama.
Now, with The Promises She Keeps (Thomas Nelson February 2011 978-1595547514 $14.99), Healy continues to deliver a unique take on suspense with a little decidedly feminine point of view.
Healy is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services and specializes in fiction book development. She has worked with popular authorssuch as Frank Peretti, James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, L. B. Graham, Brandilyn Collins, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Robin Lee Hatcher, Denise Hildreth, Denise Hunter, Jane Kirkpatrick, Gilbert Morris, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer and Robert Whitlow.
Healy earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in communication studies from Westmont
College in Santa Barbara, Calif., and began her career as an editor for Christian Parenting Today during the
mid-1990s. After advancing from assistant editor, to associate editor, to editor while working for the
magazine, she moved on to serve as a book editor for WaterBrook Press. She founded WordWright
Editorial Services in 2002.
Healy began working for Dekker the same year, editing 12 of his well-known, heart-pounding stories,
before collaborating with him as a co-author on Kiss and Burn. Her solo debut, Never Let You Go, is a
supernatural suspense tale about a single mother’s struggle to protect her daughter as threatening elements from her past unexpectedly re-emerge.
On the differences between Never Let you Go and The Promises She Keeps, Healy says:
“Promises keeps the supernatural core, but without angels and demons this time, and without as much
oppressive darkness. The result is a spiritual conflict between characters that is more interpersonal than
private. I hope readers feel that Promises still does a great job of asking high-stakes spiritual questions in
exciting, dramatic and memorable ways while drilling a few more inches into the human heart.”
Healy currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with her husband, Tim, and two children. She is a
member of International Thriller Writers and the American Christian Fiction Writers. Visit www.erinhealy.com for more information.
ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (BORROWED FROM B&N)
It's her destiny to die young. The man who loves her can't live with that.
Promise, a talented young vocalist with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging witch and art collector in search of the goddess who will grant her immortality.
When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that Promise is the one she seeks. But Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and opposes Porta, comes between the women with his mysterious visions and drawings, and plunges everyone into a flesh-and-blood confrontation over the true meaning of eternal life.
02/03/11
ABOUT JOSEPH HAYES
Joe Hayes is a native of Chicago. He grew up in a family of eight children in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side, where the Irish-Catholic heritage and influence was strong and visible. Joe attended St. Barnabas Elementary School, Brother Rice High School and De Paul University before leaving Chicago to attend law school in California, at UC Berkeley. Since graduating from Berkeley, he has practiced law in Chicago, San Diego and Houston. Joe currently serves as chief ethics officer and assistant general counsel for a large, publicly held company based in Houston, Texas, and is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts in his field. In his professional capacity, he has written extensively about legal and ethical issues and frequently speaks about such issues before employee and industry groups. When No One is Watching is his first work of fiction. His second novel, a legal thriller entitled Consequential Damages, is expected to be published next year.
Joe currently resides in The Woodlands, Texas, with his wife, Susan, and their three children, Amy, Sean and Erin.
Visit his website at: http://www.joseph-hayes.com/
ABOUT WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING
When Danny Moran is roused from a drunken stupor, he finds himself behind the wheel of his Porsche looking at a grisly accident scene. It seems clear to him and everyone else that he was the cause of the fatal wreck, and he is left to face life-altering consequences: criminal prosecution, financial ruin, public disgrace and an overpowering sense of guilt.Unbeknownst to Danny, he didn’t cause the accident. His best friend and aspiring politician, Blair Van Howe, was driving Danny’s car that night because Danny had drunk himself into oblivion. Knowing that Danny was prone to alcohol-induced memory blackouts, and panicked at the prospect of seeing his promising political career explode in scandal, Blair made it appear that the accident was Danny’s fault and fled the scene. While Danny struggles to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, Blair’s political career takes on a meteoric trajectory, as he rises from Chicago’s South Side to become a beloved and fabulously successful figure on the national stage. But when a dogged detective digs deeper into the case, Blair must decide just how far he is willing to go to keep his dark secret.
When No One is Watching is both a page-turning thriller and a poignant tale of a man’s search for meaning and redemption in the face of cruel and overwhelming personal hardship. It explores the impact of guilt on the human mind and heart, and searches for inspiration and heroism in unexpected places. Among other thought-provoking questions, author Joseph Hayes asks, is “the greater good” just a lie we tell ourselves to justify the sins we commit when no one is watching?
01/27/11
ABOUT REID ROSENTHAL
Reid is fourth generation land and cattle. His cowboy heart and poet’s pen captures the spirit of the western landscape and its influence on generations of its settlers. His long-standing devotion to wild and remote places and to the people—both past and present—who leave their legend and footprint upon America and the American West is the inspiration and descriptive underpinning of all of his writing.
FROM THE AUTHOR
ExpressionI was musing the other day while taking a break from writing Maps of Fate, the second book of my Threads West, An American Saga series. I paced over to the window. Misty shadows of snow squalls clung to the mountains around the ranch house. I looked back at the desk. Threads West, the bestselling first book of the series nestled side by side with my camera. My eyes widened as an epiphany struck me. Each is a tool for expression in image or word, and has as a central theme the power of the land, and the primal role that energy plays in shaping passions, lives and spirits.
Since I began writing the series, I am always accompanied by a small dictation device. For forty years it has been rare that I ventured anywhere without a camera.
My poor photo gear has been rolled on by horses, accompanied me on various fishing expeditions and been forgotten and then retrieved on cold snowy ridges during elk season after long return hikes. A few unfortunate pieces have even taken a swim with me when I lost my footing and drifted and tumbled down some river somewhere in North or South America. My dictation tool has been similarly abused. The perils of equipment in the wild and remote!
The incredibly wide range of subjects and styles of authors intrigue me. I am also fascinated by the varying styles of different photographers and disparate aptitudes certain artists have for a range of subject matter.
I am a landscape photographer. The camera and Threads West side by side on the desk brought home sudden realization. I am also a landscape writer. The land is as much a character in my books as it is the predominate image of my photos. That flows, I suppose, from the affinity I have always felt with the energy that radiates from landscape. It is my touchstone.
I am fascinated by and simply love to photograph or write of the endless variety of light, shape, angle and seasons of the land. There is no second of any minute, of any hour, of any day of any millennium which is exactly the same in any terrain.
The season, sun aspect, clouds, weather, time of day, angle of shadow, and wind are all ingredients in the ever changing and never duplicated recipe of a landscape photograph. So too are they the critical elements in penning a descriptive scene. The instant in which the image is created can never be duplicated. It is the only recording of that particular millisecond of that scene from that specific vantage that carries into infinity.
I smiled as another parody struck me. Right on the front page of my website, www.ReidLRosenthal.com are not only discussions of my books but the precursor to the site’s landscape photos pages!
I became more excited as the full force of my discovery struck me. Papers flew everywhere as I pawed the cluttered desk surface for a copy of my “fiction author biography,” and some blogs I had posted on my website long prior to completion of Threads West. I found them finally and held one in each hand looking back and forth.
From the Photo Blog:
“This spring morning the land was particularly vibrant. Wildflowers dotted the southern flanks of gentle rolls of prairie. Grasses fluttered lightly in a soft breeze. They shimmered and danced like ripples of sea waves across the landscape. Along the base of a particularly beckoning series of low sandstone bluffs stretched a riparian ribbon of emerald slightly darker than the coming summer greening of the grass around it. Across the top of the miniature butte, a bright almost ethereal mist began to rise and form.
As I ascended a distinct game trail along the side of the tiny cliffs my eyes became level with the top surface of the butte. The density of mist had increased. It chugged and boiled slowly along the top of the stony surface. Each seductive billow and hollow created a visual incident which appeared, then disappeared, and then materialized again, ghostly, with prisms of color that trembled as the sun caught the movement of the vapors. A magical dance of ground rainbows.
Directly in front of me, my eyes still level with the surface of the top of the warming rocks was a cluster of foxtail. They were bathed in sunlight, their pine cone like tips bristled with soft feathery golden spires, a perfect foreground to the rainbows performing on the stage of earth just behind them.”
From My Fiction Author Biography:
“If your mind and spirit are seduced by images of windswept ridge tops, flutters of aspen leaves caressed by a canyon breeze, and the crimson tendrils of dying sun…if your fingers feel the silken pulse of a lover and your lips taste the deep kisses of building passion…if nostrils flare with the conjured scents of gunpowder and perfume, sage brush and pine, and your ears delight in the murmur of river current…if your heart pounds at the clash of good and evil and with each twist and turn of interwoven lives you feel a primal throb, then I have accomplished my mission.” ~Reid L. Rosenthal, author of Threads West, An American Saga.
I have found new purpose and energy (not that I have ever lacked either) in my prose and photographic expression now that I have become cognizant of their synergy. They are both of the land, the stage upon which we and the characters in my novels line dance in a fleeting moment of existence, to then be replaced by the shoulder taps of successive generations. The only character or image that survives all the previous and the entirety of chapters or photograph yet to come is the land itself.
The epic saga of Threads West begins in 1855 with the first of four richly-textured, complex generations of unforgettable characters. The separate lives of these driven men and independent women are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West. They are swept into the dangerous currents of the far-distant frontier by the mysterious rivers of fate, the power of the land and the American spirit. Their turbulent journeys are heartbreaking quests intertwined with romance and adversity, passions and pathos, despair and triumph.
This is not only their story. It is our story.
It is Threads West: An American Saga.
Like on FB:
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ABOUT THE BOOK
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from B&N):
USA Book News National Best Book Awards ... Threads West is a WINNER in the Fiction & Literature: Western category and FINALIST in the Fiction & Literature: Romance category.
The romance of America, her people, her spirit, and the West. The ongoing story of us. This first book and namesake of the six-novel series is being compared by reviewers and authors to Lonesome Dove and Centennial. The tale bursts with the adventure, romance and promise of historical America and the West. The epic saga of Threads West begins in 1855 with the first of four richly-textured, complex generations of unforgettable characters. The separate lives of these driven men and independent women are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West. They are swept into the dangerous currents of the far-distant frontier by the mysterious rivers of fate, the power of the land and the American spirit. Their turbulent journeys are heartbreaking quests intertwined with romance and adversity, passions and pathos, despair and triumph. This is not only their story. It is our story. It is Threads West, An American Saga.
01/18/11
ABOUT DANIEL PALMER
Daniel Palmer spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer, helping to build first generation websites for Barnes & Noble and other popular brands. An experienced musician and songwriter, Daniel has recorded two CDs and licensed his songs for commercial use. A graduate of Boston University, Daniel lives in New Hampshire with his wife and two children.
You can learn more about Daniel Palmer at his website: http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/
ABOUT DELIRIOUS
Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):
Charlie Giles is at the top of his game. An electronics superstar, he’s sold his startup company to a giant Boston firm, where he’s now a senior director. With his dog, Monte, at his side, Charlie is treated like a VIP everywhere he goes.
Then one day, everything in Charlie’s neatly ordered world starts to go terrifyingly wrong. His prestigious job and his inventions are wrenched away from him. His family is targeted, and his former employers are dying gruesomely, picked off one by one. Every sign, every shred of evidence, points to Charlie as a cold-blooded killer. And soon Charlie is unable to tell whether he’s succumbed to the pressures of work and become the architect of his own destruction, or whether he’s the victim of a relentless, diabolical attack.
In a desperate struggle to save his life, Charlie races to uncover the truth, all the while realizing that nothing can be trusted — least of all his own fractured mind…
You can also find Mr. Palmer at these sites:
Become a Daniel Palmer Books Fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/danielpalmerbooks
Follow Daniel Palmer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/danielpalmer
http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/
InVision Blog: http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/invision-blog/
(To preorder this book, go here: http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/news/pre-order-delirious/)
01/08/11
About YVONNE S. THORNTON, M.D., MPH
Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH, is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and board-certified specialist in obstetrics, gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine (high risk obstetrics) at New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York. She has personally delivered more than 5,000 babies in her career and has overseen or supervised more than 12,000 deliveries. She is a former Vice-Chair of a department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is the mother of two children.
She is the author of The Ditchdigger’s Daughters, her memoir about growing up in a poor family with parents who were determined to see all their daughters rise above their circumstances and become doctors, and Woman To Woman, a health guide that answers many questions women have about their bodies from someone who’s been on both sides of the stirrups.
During her 35-year career in medicine, she has conducted research at The Rockefeller University, the National Institutes of Health Pregnancy Research Branch, National Naval Medical Center, Naval Medical Research Institute, and New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. She is the author or co-author of more than a dozen scientific papers. She also serves as a reviewer for the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
She received her medical (M. D.) degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and her Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
GUEST POST01/04/11
Something to Prove, the sequel to the Bestselling, The Ditchdigger’s Daughters
My first memoir, The Ditchdigger’s Daughters chronicled my family’s life, centering around my father, Donald Thornton, a blue collar worker who had dropped out of high school at age 14. My father wanted a better life for his five daughters and decided that we should all become doctors. Never mind that this was the 1950s, when women weren’t expected to have such ambitions – especially not young black women from poor families. My father had a dream and together with my mother, they developed a plan to make that dream a reality. Despite the odds, three of their daughters did become doctors; a fourth became an attorney.
Since 1995, when The Ditchdigger’s Daughters was first published, I’ve gotten letters and emails from readers, telling me how inspired they were by the story, and how much they wanted to know what had happened after the close of the book. Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy is my answer to those readers.
As readers of Something to Prove will discover, in the 1980s, academic medicine was very much a white male bastion, and the presence of a black female Ob-Gyn, especially one whose credentials matched those of the members of that exclusive club was greeted, shall we say, less than enthusiastically.
Because my sub-specialty is high-risk pregnancies, Something to Prove is also filled with heart-stopping moments in the operating room, such as the emergency surgery we were called on to perform on a woman whose fetus had developed in her abdomen, completely outside her uterus… and the tragedy barely averted when a young woman, who ignored the warning signs of infection, came to the hospital, hemorrhaging blood almost faster than we could replace it.
What I hope readers will find in this book though, beyond the drama, is inspiration to show them that if I could succeed despite financial hardships, setbacks, gender and racial discrimination, they can too. We women have always had to work twice as hard to be thought half as competent (but you know the rest of that old saying).
- Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH
SOMETHING TO PROVE:
A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy
By Yvonne S. Thornton, M.D., MPH
with Anita Bartholomew
President Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey counted themselves among the thousands of ardent fans of Dr. Yvonne Thornton’s beloved bestseller, THE DITCHDIGGER’S DAUGHTERS (1995), which eventually became a movie. Now she continues the remarkable true story in SOMETHING TO PROVE: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy (Kaplan Publishing, January 2011) as the first of the Thornton sisters to become a physician and the first African-American woman in the country to become a double-Board Certified specialist in obstetrics, gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine. Dr. Thornton tells the story of her amazing father who moved his wife and daughters from the tenements in Harlem to a small house in New Jersey that he built with his own hands from materials bought on a ditchdigger’s salary. Donald Thornton cherished a mighty dream – that all of his daughters would become medical doctors, respected professionals in white coats and “scripperscrappers” (stethoscopes) – a designation he believed would shield them from the pernicious specter of prejudice. To pay for their educations, he began the all-girl Thornton Sisters band and taught them how to work hard: his girls went to school during the day, studied at night and played gigs on the college circuit every weekend.
SOMETHING TO PROVE picks up where the first memoir left off with the passing of Yvonne’s beloved father, Donald Thornton, and the beginning of Yvonne’s career as an assistant professor at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. It was there that Dr. Thornton established and developed the program for a new form of early prenatal diagnostic testing known as CVS (chorionic villus sampling) that is in common use today. As Director of Clinical Services at Cornell, Dr. Thornton was consigned to the sub-basement with no operating budget and expected to teach, run the clinic and establish a private practice.
Remembering her father’s teachings never to give up and to “build her own house,” Dr. Thornton found ways to improve the clinic and bring better care to her patients. She handled the most difficult – and often frightening – medical cases, including a baby born outside the womb, while dealing with a prejudiced and stifling bureaucracy. Turning to her orthopedic surgeon husband for support, Dr. Thornton pushed herself to her limits to be there for her patients, her husband and their two children.
After years of being passed over for promotions and opportunities, Dr. Thornton left Cornell to establish one of the first prominent centers for Perinatal Diagnostic Medicine at Morristown Memorial Hospital under her beloved mentor. It was an ideal position until her mentor’s retirement, which led her to an appointment that finally shattered the glass ceiling of medical academia and made her one of only 12 percent of female physicians to attain the academic rank of full professor.
Interweaving the challenges and triumphs of family life with her professional joys and sorrows, Dr. Thornton paints a vivid portrait of a woman who exceeds her father’s dreams and sees that dream live on in her own son and daughter as they extend the family legacy by entering the fields of neurosurgery and reconstructive surgery, building upon the bedrock foundation Donald and Itasker Thornton built with their very own hands.
You can visit Dr. Thornton's website here: http://www.doctorthornton.com/biography.htm
RESURRECTING ANTHONY:
A True Story of Courage & Destination
By Linda Cole and Tony Cole
“Courage is the one telling trait that allows us to soldier on in the face of life’s greatest challenges,” writes Linda Cole. “We never know who we are capable of becoming until we are put to the test.” In this remarkable story RESURRECTING ANTHONY: A True Story of Courage & Destination (Alexandra Publishing, January 2011) authors Linda and Tony Cole find themselves stretched beyond anything they could have ever imagined when their 12-year-old son, Anthony, declares to a friend “I have no pulse” and collapses on the school playground.
It takes paramedics 13 tries to shock Anthony back to life, only to discover that the healthy, athletic boy has had a heart attack caused by a rare abnormal electrical pathway in his heart. It took four to five minutes to resuscitate him which deprived his brain of oxygen setting into motion a chain of medical events that ultimately resulted in global traumatic brain injury.
Drawing courage from their family and faith, the Coles face the enormity of Anthony’s situation and search for answers that will give them back their son. Ever the pragmatist, Linda plans for all of Anthony’s day-to-day care while Tony intensifies his efforts to coach his boy back to the person he was before his heart attack. Driven by the need to make progress before the window for optimal recovery closes, they begin an experimental treatment hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), to restore whatever function Anthony has left.
Slowly, glimpses of Anthony emerge, a light in his eyes, a brief smile, and one day, his first words since his journey began – “yeah, baby!” – inspired by cheerleaders during a football game on TV.
Anthony’s incremental progress leads to a series of personal revelations for his father. Tony’s test is to understand his new Anthony, whose greatest gift now is the ability to live totally and completely in the moment, the riveting heart of this tender tale. “I realized I must let go of my first Anthony in order to accept and love this new and different one,” Tony says.
“This was not an easy story to tell,” writes Linda Cole. “We found the courage to tell it because we hope that those in crisis will learn how to cope, how to be open and accepting of offered help, and how to advocate for needed services. We hope to inspire people to summon the courage they need to persevere, to commit without reservation, to adapt. We hope that others might learn from our mistakes and gain from our progress. We wrote this book and created the “Personal Courage SeriesTM” as a vehicle for people who have experienced life changing crisis to share their stories, learning and hope.”
The book also includes helpful “Toolbox” or takeaways for living through crisis which includes organizational advice for dealing with the maze and mountain of paperwork that results from hospital and insurance bills. It also has an indispensible directory of resources that includes contact info for groups such as: Brain Injury Association of America and the National Association of the State Directors of Developmental Disabilities. For more information please go to www.resurrectinganthony.com
Tony and Linda Cole are the founders of Anthony Cole Training Group established in 1991 to help sales people and their organizations drive consistent and predictable results through a unique, multi-faceted approach custom tailored to each organization.
ABOUT LINDA AND TONY COLE
Tony and Linda Cole co-wrote Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage & Destination, which tells the story of their 12-year-old son's heart attack and brain injury. A look back over the decade since the event helps the reader see how her once perfect family survived the devastating loss of a child and how a new family has come to be. Visit www.resurrectinganthony.com for more information and to purchaseThe Coles launched Anthony Cole Training in 1991, a company that builds sales cultures within organizations nationwide. An immediate success, by the end of 1998, the little company of two grossed half a million dollars. However, when their son became severely brain injured, the company down shifted for several years. In 2003, having adjusted to a new life and family, the company began to grow once again. Visit www.anthonycoletraining.com for more information.
Linda founded Alexandra Publishing in 2009 to bring stories of personal courage to those who are enduring difficult times. Her goal is to provide real life experience, insight and useful strategies and resources, empowering readers to meet and overcome their challenges. Linda's vision is to compile thousands of courageous stories from the multitudes of people who have weathered tragic personal storms and have found their way to a new life. Each Personal Courage® book will contain narratives from different contributors dealing with a specific life challenge such as Alzheimer's in a loved one or a young family losing a parent or divorce and the aftermath. Visit http://resurrectinganthony.com/courage.html to share your Story of Personal Courage.
About Resurrecting Anthony:
Tony and Linda Cole were living the American Dream—a successful national training company, a nice home, a close-knit circle of friends and a loving family.Then came the call every parent dreads.
Their twelve-year-old son Anthony had collapsed on the school playground. In the ensuing panic-stricken moments, Anthony lay motionless, unconscious, not breathing. These critical minutes without oxygen left his brain damaged. In one heartbreaking afternoon their idyllic world was shattered and the son that Tony and Linda Cole knew was gone.
Resurrecting Anthony is the true, inspiring story of an unexpected tragedy that steals a child from his family and initially leaves them full of grief and sorrow. It reveals the Cole family's incredible devotion and determination—despite the medical evidence and advice of health professionals—to return Anthony to his previous self.
Steadfast and single-minded of purpose, Tony Cole tries to balance stressful business demands and the emotional dynamics of a devastated family as he desperately tries to bring his son back.
Ultimately, it is a story of courage—the courage to summon inner strength to make hard decisions, the courage to do what must be done, and finally the courage to accept a new life and family.
01/01/11
I was thinking, now that I have a full year of blogging and reviewing under my belt, so to say, how do I want to start off my 2nd year. If you have followed my blog, you know I have been a big James Patterson fan, even to the point of saying he was my overall # 1 male author. However, in 2010, I was introduced to a new author, read 3 of his books and have to tell you that he picked up speed and sprinted to the finish line. On Thursday, I announced that I had found a new # 1 male author. The timing couldn't have been better !! I just finished reading his 4th novel and planned on it being my first review of 2011. What a way to start the New Year? Right? But then I had an idea!! How perfect would it be, not only to have my first review be of one of his books, but if he would be the first author that I hosted for a visit in 2011!!!! An invitation went out and he graciously accepted. So please help me welcome my Number 1 (and hopefully you will also become a fan) author, Vincent Zandri.
About VINCENT ZANDRI
Vincent Zandri is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called "Brilliant" upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Translated into several languages including Japanese, Russian, French and the Dutch, Zandri’s work has also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Other novels include Moonlight Falls (R.J.Buckley), Godchild (Bantam/Dell), and Permanence (NPI). His newest thriller, The Remains (Stone House) will be published in July, 2010 in E-Book and in November, as a Trade Paperback. Forthcoming novels include The Concrete Pearl (Stone Gate), a new detective series starring the brassy but beautiful construction business owner, Ava "Spike" Harrision, and the re-publication of the classic, As Catch Can (Stone Gate).
An adventurer and freelance photojournalist, Zandri has been the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine.
He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.
GUEST POST
2011 Resolutions and Dissolutions!
By Vincent Zandri
2011 is not only going to be the year I establish some serious new goals for myself. More importantly, it will also be the year I dissolve or, give several things up (I gave up smoking 5 years ago and have stuck to it!). Things that not only have become terrific time wasters, but that are unhealthy or are leading me in directions I no longer want to go.
For instance, I’m no longer going to “obsessively” check on my Amazon rankings. I’ve actually started on this, checking my numbers only once or twice a day instead of every hour on the hour. In 2010 my books The Remains and The Innocent became Number 1 Amazon Hot New Bestselling Releases in Hard-Boiled and Psychological Suspense fiction, as well as Amazon Bestsellers in Hard-Boiled Mysteries, and it caused the junky in me to jones for those stellar Amazon rankings. When the rankings got better, I felt high. When the rankings slacked off, I felt depressed and irritable. Not good! Then I found out that the numbers really don’t mean anything. That it’s a matter of how well you sell over time. And anyway, shouldn’t a writer be concerned primarily about writing, and secondarily about rankings?
Second thing I’m dissolving, or changing, if you will: My blog postings at The Vincent Zandri Vox (also my Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin contributions) will no longer be about me, myself, and I. They will include guest blogs from other authors, reviews of other books, and commentary on relevant issues that affect the drastically changing literary world we live in.
So why the shedding; why the changes?
Exactly one year ago a small publisher, RJBuckley published Moonlight Falls, my first novel in more than five years. My career up to that point had been at a standstill, even after having received a major six-figure advance in 1999 from Delacorte in a two book deal. That said, given a new opportunity to make good, I wanted to give myself one full year of guerilla marketing focusing entirely on myself and my work. And it worked! So well in fact, I ended up signing a whole bunch of new contracts with StoneHouse Ink. And when that went well, the publisher actually created a brand new imprint for me and several of their “darker” authors called StoneGate Ink.
But one year of advertising entirely about oneself is enough. Time to shed what could become a dangerous if not narcissistic habit and start paying attention to some other great and upcoming authors out there who will sooner than later, be sharing the same literary platform. Who are some of those authors? Bri Clark, Aaron Patterson, Les Edgerton, just to name a few, but of course, I could go on and on. The point here is that Indie publishing is taking the world by storm and while not all of the authors I mentioned are published only by Indie presses, 2011 will be the year many of them make their mark, and I plan on featuring many of them in the “Vox.” No doubt some of their books will be reviewed here as well.
It’s a positive move to make New Years resolutions. So long as you stick to them. For instance, I want to eat better, climb the ancient pyramids, publish more journalism features, be a better father, a better partner, a better man.
But it’s also a good thing to make dissolutions so long as the shedding process makes you free and therefore, the over all breathing process easier. As difficult as it may seem, I plan on letting go of old friendships and relationships that no longer work or are pulling me down in negative ways. Doesn’t mean I don’t care, or in some cases, love these people. It’s just that I can no longer assume the awesome responsibility of trying fix something that for now anyway, seems irreparably broken. What was Einstein’s definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I want to limit my intake of sweets, red meats, and beer, at least during the week. I want to allow myself the luxury of being bored sometimes, so that I have time to think. I want to toss a whole bunch of stuff out or give it all away, including old clothes, papers, magazines, useless junk, and clutter. I want to live a simpler, freer existence. Finally, I want to give up some of my cash to charities close to my heart. The Boston Children’s Hospital for one.
This year I’ve gotten an early head start on making some necessary life changes. And I already feel much better about myself and the world. I hope you can do the same.
Vincent Zandri Books to be released in 2011:
-GODCHILD (PART II of the Jack Marconi Series) by StoneGate Ink (previously published by Bantam/Dell)
-Special Kindle/E-Book Edition THE REMAINS/SWEET DREAMS by Vincent Zandri and Aaron Patterson, by StoneHouse Ink. (The Two Amazon Bestsellers combined in one edition)
-Special Kindle/E-Book Edition THE INNOCENT/GODCHILD, by StoneGate Ink (The Two Part Series Collected into one edition)
-THE CONCRETE PEARL (Part I of the new Spike Harrison Series), by StoneGate Ink.
-Also, two new Digital Shorts and possibly the Part II in the Dick Moonlight series!
12/01/10
Lenny Emanuelli
Inspiration behind At the Crossroads of Terror
By Lenny Emanuelli
My first novel, At the Crossroads of Terror, came from a lifetime of personal experiences and interests. The original inspiration came from the touching true story a survivor of sexual assault shared with me. Before writing this novel, I was a songwriter and musician. I always tried to write songs with lyrics that would touch the listener's heart, and this woman’s ordeal deeply touched mine. Included in my novel almost verbatim, her unbelievable story is one I will never forget.
Her personal experience stirred my memory and brought me back to a night in the 1970s when I witnessed a horrific sexual assault. Leaving a NYC disco in the early morning hours with a band mate, we came across a young lady being violently assaulted by a gang of thugs. We managed tostop the attack by frightening them off and getting her help. I will never forget her mental and physical appearance after that attack—the look on her face was dreadful.
These emotional stories inspired me to research true crimes of gang violence and capture them in the details of my novel. I decided to donate a portion of the profits to an organization helping such victims, which led me to RAINN (www.rainn.org).
My book is fiction, a story I made up somewhere between a childhood fear and a winter’s nightmare. However, the violence described is real and occurs somewhere in the United States every two minutes. I hope At the Crossroads of Terror brings to the forefront some of the real life violence that takes place in every American city today and reminds us that we, as a civilized nation, have the means to put an end to it.
About the book
A suspense thriller that tackles the gritty reality of sexual assault, At The Crossroads of Terror follows an average Joe wrongly accused of murder and a street reporter, who team up to prove his innocence and
become immersed in the dangerous underworld of organized crime. The back of the book includes helpful prevention tips and a list of help hotlines for sexual assault victims. Visit http://lennyemanuelli.net for more information.
11/30/10
ABOUT DR. ROBERT GREER (photo by Elizabeth Gorman)
ROBERT GREER is a professor of pathology, medicine, dermatology, and dentistry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical
Campus in Denver, where he specializes in head and neck pathology and cancer research. The author of eight previous CJ Floyd mysteries, including The Devil’s Backbone, The Mongoose Deception, and Blackbird, Farewell, and two medical thrillers, he reviews books for KUVO, a Denver NPR affiliate.
Learn more about Robert Greer at wwwrobertgreerbooks.com.
FROM THE AUTHOR:
FROM THE AUTHOR:
The most frequent question I’m asked about my latest novel, FIRST OF STATE, is why a prequel? And that’s a reasonable enough question since you would think that after ten CJ Floyd novels readers would know my African-American Denver bail bondsman intimately. However, in my first CJ Floyd novel, THE DEVIL’S HATBAND, the reader meets CJ as a man of forty-four. In that novel you learn as much about the character as I could possibly weave into a single book. You learn that he’s a loner, that he has had a failed marriage, that he is a Vietnam veteran and that he is haunted by the horrors of that war. Yet as you follow CJ throughout the next nine novels, you never really know until FIRST OF STATE, what happened to him between the time he returned from Vietnam at the age of twenty-one and the opening of THE DEVIL’S HATBAND. How did CJ get to be who he is? Who taught him his investigative skills? How did he become friends with his murder-solving eclectic band of side kicks? And finally, what cases had he cracked and what murders had he solved prior to FIRST OF STATE?
In FIRST OF STATE readers get to see a youthful CJ Floyd. An agitated troubled young man who is unsure of himself and a man who is haunted always by Vietnam. You have the opportunity to see him join his Uncle Ike’s bail bonding business and to watch him mature as an investigator under Ike’s tutelage. The reader also gets a glimpse of CJ as a novice western memorabilia collector long before he evolves into an antique collecting pro.
ABOUT THE BOOK
ROBERT GREER’S latest novel—a prequel to his CJ Floyd mystery series—takes readers back in time to a very different CJ Floyd. It’s 1972, and the twenty-two year-old decorated war vet has recently returned to Denver from Vietnam with post-traumatic stress disorder. Navigating depression, he finds a friend in World War II vet and amputee Wiley Ames, who shares his passion for rare and valuable western memorabilia.
When Ames and a mysterious Chinese man are found murdered, CJ’s already fragile world threatens to collapse. His attempts to find his friend’s killer are thwarted at every turn, and finally he joins his Uncle Ike’s business as a bail bondsman and bounty hunter. Five years later one of Ames’s treasured antique license plates turns up at a Denver flea market, and CJ is once again off and running. The trail to Wiley Ames’s murderer leads CJ down a dark path strewn with backstabbing antique dealers, conniving friends and relatives of Ames’s, and a shadowy musician. Equally a white-knuckle-ride murder mystery and a tale of a traumatized young man coming to terms with his past, First of State features the kind of fresh characters, street smart dialogue, and ingenious plot twists that have made this series a critical and commercial success.
11/24/10
SHEILA LOWE
Guest Post by Sheila Lowe
After analyzing handwriting professionally for more than thirty years, I was ready to kill someone. I’d already published two non-fiction books about handwriting (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis and Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous), and loads of articles and monographs; I’d helped create the Handwriting Analyzer software. But mystery was always my first love and I’d wanted to write a novel since my teens.
I was sitting in the dentist’s chair, trying to take my mind off the sound of the drill, when I thought about a woman I knew who had died suddenly. The police ruled the death a suicide, but several mysterious elements swirled around the circumstances, such as the 300 butter wrappers found in her house, and the little black book that suggested she was not the person she appeared to be. So I wrote Poison Pen, a tale of psychological suspense where I made this woman a Hollywood publicist—the type you love to hate—and began the story at her funeral. The question that draws my main character, Claudia Rose, into the plot concerns a supposed suicide note found near the body: did the dead woman actually write it? Like me, Claudia is a forensic handwriting expert who authenticates handwriting in cases of suspected forgery, and a handwriting analyst who uses handwriting to develop behavior profiles.
I hadn’t planned to write a series, but when POISON PEN didn’t sell right away (it took seven years and numerous revisions), I started writing WRITTEN IN BLOOD. This story, too, had elements of a real-life murder. I added an emotionally troubled fourteen-year-old named Annabelle Giordano, who becomes attached to Claudia when they work on a graphotherapy program together. It’s really Annabelle’s story.
After POISON PEN received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly and won a couple of awards, I was offered a four book deal with Penguin. The third book was DEAD WRITE, which took Claudia to New York to work for the eccentric owner of a very expensive dating service where people were suddenly dying. I actually did a lot of work for an expensive dating service, but as far as I know, none of the clients were murdered.
The fourth book, LAST WRITES, just came out. The story centers around the search for a three-year-old who goes missing in a fundamentalist religious cult. When Claudia gets an invitation to analyze handwriting for the cult leader and becomes one of the few outsiders to be allowed into the Ark, their remote compound, she gets to see firsthand what happens when people give away their power and stop thinking independently. She has only a few days to uncover the truth before the prophecy of a secret parchment can be fulfilled and a child’s life is written off for good...
Although handwriting plays an important part in my books, Claudia doesn’t solve crimes through handwriting analysis. She’s not a detective (her boyfriend Joel Jovanic is), but she is drawn into the stories through her clients, and she uses her knowledge of psychology and handwriting to better understand the people who populate the books. Readers often email to say they’ve become fascinated with handwriting analysis through my stories. I also welcome emails from readers who say my books have kept them up reading late into the night—the best compliment an author can hear.
For now, at least, my handwriting analysis practice continues to be my “day job,” and with at least ten thousand handwriting samples already in my files, there is plenty of fodder for future books. I love writing my forensic handwriting series and will happily produce as many Claudia Rose stories as my readers allow me to.
Website – http://www.claudiaroseseries.com/
Twitter – www.twitter.com/Sheila_Lowe
ABOUT LAST WRITES
Forensic Handwriting expert, Claudia Rose, returns this summer in another page-turning thriller by critically acclaimed author, Sheila Lowe.
Claudia’s friend Kelly learns that she’s an aunt when her estranged half sister, Erin, shows up at her home in desperate need of help. Erin and her husband have been living quiet lives as members of The Temple of Brighter Light in an isolated compound. But now her husband and young child have disappeared, leaving behind a cryptic note with a terrifying message. Seizing an opportunity to use her special skills as a forensic handwriting expert, Claudia becomes one of the few outsiders ever to be invited inside the compound. She must uncover the truth about Kelly's missing niece before the prophecy of a secret ancient parchment can be fulfilled and a child's life is written off for good…
As the fourth book in the series, LAST WRITES demonstrates Sheila Lowe’s ability to captivate readers, build suspense, and keep the pages turning.
Discover more Forensic Handwriting Mysteries at
11/11/10
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SHELDON RUSSELL
A retired college professor, Russell lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with his wife, Nancy, an artist. He has previously won the Oklahoma Book Award and the Langum Prize for Historical Literature.
The Yard Dog, the first Hook Runyon novel, was nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award and earned high praise as Russell’s debut mystery.
ABOUT THE BOOK, THE INSANE TRAIN
Synopsis:
The Baldwin Insane Asylum in Barstow, California, has recently burned to the gound in an inferno that cost many inmates their lives and injured scores. Now, Hook Runyon has been put in charge of security for a train that is to transport the survivors, alongside the head of the asylum, Dr. Baldwin, the attending doctor, taciturn Dr. Helms, and a self-sacrificing nurse named Andrea, to a new location in Oklahoma.
Hook hires a motley crew of WW II veterans to help, and they set out for the new destination. But things go awry on the Insane Train, as several inmates and attendants are found dead, and Dr.Baldwin seems increasingly disoriented and incapable of running operations.
With Andrea's help, Hook begins investigating the suspicious deaths, and uncovers a trail of revenge that has been a long time in the planning ... by a person as mentally disturbed as her charges.
10/20/10
About The Author: Samantha Bee
SAMANTHA BEE joined the cast of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2003 and now holds the title Most Senior Correspondent, having systematically eliminated all those before her. She was born and raised in Toronto, and when she is not working, she enjoys walking her toddlers in circles around her tiny apartment and correcting spelling errors on menus. Samantha and her husband, fellow Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones, live in New York City with their two children.
“ I was the living definition of the term indoor kid. I wasn’t technically allergic to the sun or to fresh air, but stepped outside infrequently and gingerly anyway, like a baby vampire learning to survive in the civilian world. I had the complexion of Powder and the muscle tone of a pile of flubber.” - Samantha Bee
As the Most Senior Correspondent on The Daily Show, Samantha Bee has built a career out of coaxing people into caricaturing themselves. Now in her first book, I KNOW I AM, BUT WHAT ARE YOU? (Gallery Books; on-sale June 1, 2010; Hardcover; $25.00) Samantha turns the spotlight toward her own imperfect life as relentlessly as she skewers her hapless interview subjects.
Critics have called her “sweet, adorable, and vicious.” But there is so much more to be said about Samantha Bee. For one, she’s Canadian. Whatever that means. And now, she opens up for the very first time about her checkered Canadian past. With charming candor, she admits to her Lennie from Of Mice and Men– style love of baby animals, her teenage crime spree as one half of a car-thieving couple (Bonnie and Clyde in Bermuda shorts and braces), and the fact that strangers seem compelled to show her their genitals. She also details her intriguing career history, which includes stints working in a frame store, at a penis clinic, and as a Japanese anime character in a touring children’s show – sounds like a great ride, eh?
Samantha delves into all these topics and many more in this thoroughly hilarious, unabashedly frank collection of personal essays. Whether detailing the creepiness that ensues when strangers assume that your mom is your lesbian lover, or recalling her girlhood crush on Jesus (who looked like Kris Kristofferson and sang like Kenny Loggins), Samantha leaves no stone unturned. She shares her unique point of view on a variety of subjects as wide-ranging as her deep affinity for old people and her hatred of hot ham. It’s all here, in irresistible prose that will leave you in stitches and eager for more.
10/14/10
About Sara Robinson
I live in Charlottesville, VA and have been here since 1997. I was born on the campus of UVA and grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, in the town of Elkton. In 2009, I retired from full-time active corporate life as a Business Development Manager for a minerals mining and chemical manufacturing firm. For most of my career I was in the chemical and/or minerals mining and processing industries. During that time, I published prolifically in technical journals, trade journals, reference books and conference proceedings. Now I am in touch with the right/write side of my brain. The memoir was my first attempt at creative writing, and I hope that will serve as a springboard for my next writing projects, which are in progress. I am working on a collection of short stories and a novel. The novel, as I intend it, will be the first of a five book series of murder mysteries that take place in a fictional town in the Shenandoah Valley.
I am a member of the Blue Ridge Writers Club, The Virginia Writers Club, and the National League of American Pen Women. I do my research at the Elkton Welcome Center which houses a large collection of Hobby Robinson photographs, memorabilia, and his books.
About Love Always, Hobby and Jessie
Now for a synopsis of the memoir, Love Always, Hobby and Jessie. Have you ever had a feeling that a couple's future is successful or doomed just by witnessing a brief exchange between them? I think a lot of people are fooled by what they witness in watching couples. Hobby and Jessie in the early years of their marriage were not doomed if what is seen on the outside or on the edges is witness. Their story unfolds from their beginning courtship, through the early years of their marriage, until they died. The heavy focus of the book is on the early years and as their marriage marks time, their conflicts and resolutions are told in the book's chapters. Some of their conflicts were felt by their daughter who tells the stories as she recalls them. It is a book that will make you laugh, break your heart, and perhaps give you the gift of understanding how at least one couple found a way to keep a love always.
09/21/10
About Christopher Stookey
Christopher Stookey, MD, is a practicing emergency physician, and he is passionate about medicine and health care. However, his other great interests are literature and writing, and he has steadily published a number of short stories and essays over the past ten years. His most recent essay, “First in My Class,” appears in the book BECOMING A DOCTOR (published by W. W. Norton & Co, March 2010); the essay describes Dr. Stookey’s wrenching involvement in a malpractice lawsuit when he was a new resident, fresh out of medical school. TERMINAL CARE, a medical mystery thriller, is his first novel. The book, set in San Francisco, explores the unsavory world of big-business pharmaceuticals as well as the sad and tragic world of the Alzheimer’s ward at a medical research hospital. Stookey’s other interests include jogging in the greenbelts near his home and surfing (he promises his next novel will feature a surfer as a main character). He lives in Laguna Beach, California with his wife and three dogs.
To find out more about Chris, visit his Amazon’s author page at http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Stookey/e/B003UVLDI4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.
About Terminal Care
Phil Pescoe, the 37-year-old emergency physician at Deaconess Hospital in San Francisco, becomes alarmed by a dramatic increase in the number of deaths on the East Annex (the Alzheimer’s Ward). The deaths coincide with the initiation of a new drug study on the annex where a team of neurologists have been administering “NAF”—an experimental and highly promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease—to half of the patients on the ward.
Mysteriously, the hospital pushes forward with the study even though six patients have died since the start of the trial. Pescoe teams up with Clara Wong—a brilliant internist with a troubled past—to investigate the situation. Their inquiries lead them unwittingly into the cutthroat world of big-business pharmaceuticals, where they are threatened to be swept up and lost before they have the opportunity to discover the truth behind an elaborate cover-up.
With the death count mounting, Pescoe and Wong race against time to save the patients on the ward and to stop the drug manufacturer from unleashing a dangerous new drug on the general populace.
About Kathryn Shay
Kathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned her first ‘romance,’ a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists – and with one hardheaded editor in particular. Looking back, Kathryn says she should have known then that writing was in her future. But as so often happens, fate sent her detouring down another path.
Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women’s college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who’d attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, “I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that.”
Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she’d again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.
Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-five books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format. Her first mainstream fiction book will be out from Bold Strokes Books in September, 2010
Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations – readers say they feel they know the people in her books – and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.
Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. “My life is very full,” she reports, “but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams.”
About The Perfect Family
In THE PERFECT FAMILY, seventeen-year old Jamie Davidson doesn’t think being gay should be such a big deal…until he comes out to his parents and friends. Even as Jamie celebrates no longer needing to hide his true self and looks forward to the excitement of openly dating another boy, the entire Davidson family is thrown into turmoil.
Jamie’s father Mike can’t reconcile his religious beliefs with his son’s sexuality. His brother Brian is harassed by his jock buddies and angry at Jamie for complicating all their lives. Maggie, his mother, fears being able to protect her son while struggling to save her crumbling marriage. And Jamie feels guilty for the unhappiness his disclosure has caused.
What happens in their small town community, in the high school, in two churches–one supportive and one not—as well as among friends and relatives is vividly portrayed. Finally, every member of their “perfect family” must search their hearts and souls to reconnect with each other in this honest, heartwarming, and hopeful look at the redemptive power of love and family.
08/24/10
07/30/10
07/27/10
About Claire Cook
About Seven Year Switch
07/23/10
Abbie Fox hasn’t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which she’s jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent emails begging her to return home to Nantucket. Their middle sister, Emma, has taken to her bed, emotionally devastated after the loss of her high-powered stockbroker’s job and a shockingly unexpected break-up with her fiancé. Also, Lily is deeply worried that Marina, the beautiful, enigmatic woman renting their guesthouse, has set her sights on the sisters’ widowed father, Jim. The Fox girls closed ranks years ago after the haunting, untimely death of their mother, but seeing their dad move on with his life forces each of them to take stock.
07/20/10
09/14/10
About Pamela Samuels Young
Corporate attorney Pamela Samuels Young has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. Fed up with never seeing women or people of color depicted as savvy, hot shot attorneys in the legal thrillers she read, Pamela decided to create her own characters. Despite the demands of a busy legal career, Pamela accomplished her ambitious goal by rising at four in the morning to write before work, dedicating her weekends to writing and even spending her vacation time glued to her laptop for ten or more hours a day.
The Essence magazine bestselling author now has four fast-paced legal thrillers to show for her efforts: Every Reasonable Doubt (BET Books, February 2006), In Firm Pursuit (Harlequin, January 2007), Murder on the Down Low (Goldman House Publishing, September 2008) and Buying Time (Goldman House Publishing, November 2009). New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel described Buying Time, Pamela’s first stand-alone novel, as a “deftly plotted thriller that combines the best of Lisa Scottoline and Robert Crais.”
Pamela has achieved a successful writing career while working as Managing Counsel for Labor and Employment Law for a large corporation in Southern California. Prior to that, she served as Employment Law Counsel for Raytheon Company and spent several years with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP in Los Angeles. A former journalist, Pamela began her broadcasting career as a production assistant at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, where she was quickly promoted to news writer. To escape the chilly Detroit winters, she returned home to Los Angeles and worked at KCBS-TV as a news writer and associate producer.
Pamela has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from USC, a master’s degree in broadcasting from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and received her law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and is the Fiction Expert for BizyMoms.com.
Pamela is a frequent speaker on the topics of discrimination law, diversity, writing and pursuing your passion. She is married and lives in the Los Angeles area. To contact Pamela or to read an excerpt of her books, visit http://www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com/
About Buying Time
Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan.
Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems.
In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath.
The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.
Soon, a determined federal prosecutor is hot on Waverly’s trail. But when the prosecutor’s own life begins to unravel, she finds herself on the run—with Waverly at her side.
08/25/10
About Sharon Donovan
Sharon Donovan lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her family. Prior to the loss of her vision, she was a legal secretary for the Court of Common Pleas where she prepared cases for judges in Domestic Relations. Painting was her passion. When she could no longer paint, she began attending creative writing classes and memoir workshops. After a long and winding road, a new dream arose. Today, instead of painting her pictures on canvas, Sharon paints her pictures with words.
Sharon writes stories of inspiration and suspense. She has certificates in business and medical transcription. She is a published author with The Wild Rose Press, White Rose Publishing, Whimsical Publications and Chicken Soup for the Soul. Echo of a Raven received a CTRR award for outstanding writing, and The Claddagh Ring is a 2009 CAPA nominee. To read excerpts and reviews of Sharon’s books and to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website at http://www.sharonadonovan.com/.
About Mask of the Betrayer
When the whispers in the night, the whispers of her lover, are the whispers of a killer, will Margot escape before she becomes the next victim?
Deep in the foothills of Red Rock Canyon, a serial killer stalks. He leaves his signature—a skull mask on the corpse. But when the homicide cop realizes the crimes are the reenactment of a case never solved ten years ago–all fingers point to Michael DeVeccio. And when Margot realizes she is married to the killer, her life becomes a living nightmare.
08/24/10
About Sally Koslow
Sally Koslow is the author of The Late, Lamented Molly Marx and Little Pink Slips. Her essays have been published in More, The New York Observer, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She was the editor in chief of both McCall’s and Lifetime, was an editor at Mademoiselle and Woman’s Day, and has taught creative writing at the Writing Institute of Sarah Lawrence College. The mother of two sons, she lives in New York City with her husband.
You can visit Sally Koslow’s website at http://www.sallykoslow.com/.
About With Friends Like These
When Quincy, Jules, Talia, and Chloe become New York City roommates in the early nineties, they become fast friends despite their drastically different personalities. Now, nearly twenty years later, their lives have diverged as much as they possibly can within one city: Quincy is mourning a miscarriage and lusting for the perfect Manhattan apartment; Jules, a woman with an outsize personality, is facing forty alone; Talia, married and the mother of a four-year-old, is her family’s reluctant breadwinner; and Chloe faces pressure from her hedge fund manager husband to be more ambitious. As these women grapple with the challenges of marriage, motherhood, careers, and real estate, they can’t help but assess their positions in life in comparison to each other–leading them to envy and disillusionment. Honest and entertaining, and written in Sally Koslow’s trademark wry, vivid prose, With Friends Like These asks serious questions about what makes female friendship endure, and to whom a woman’s loyalty most belongs.
08/18/10
About Lisa Gardner
Lisa Gardner is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels. Her Detective D. D. Warren novels include The Neighbor, Hide, and Alone. Her FBI Profiler novels include Say Goodbye, Gone, The Killing Hour, The Next Accident, and The Third Victim. She lives with her family in New England, where she is at work on her next D. D. Warren novel, Save Me, which Bantam will publish in 2011.
You can find Lisa online at http://www.lisagardner.com/.
About Live to Tell
He knows everything about you—including the first place you’ll hide.
On a warm summer night in one of Boston’s working-class neighborhoods, an unthinkable crime has been committed: Four members of a family have been brutally murdered. The father—and possible suspect—now lies clinging to life in the ICU. Murder-suicide? Or something worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is certain of only one thing: There’s more to this case than meets the eye.
Danielle Burton is a survivor, a dedicated nurse whose passion is to help children at a locked-down pediatric psych ward. But she remains haunted by a family tragedy that shattered her life nearly twenty-five years ago. The dark anniversary is approaching, and when D. D. Warren and her partner show up at the facility, Danielle immediately realizes: It has started again.
A devoted mother, Victoria Oliver has a hard time remembering what normalcy is like. But she will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood. She will love him no matter what. Nurture him. Keep him safe. Protect him. Even when the threat comes from within her own house.
In New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner’s most compelling work of suspense to date, the lives of these three women unfold and connect in unexpected ways, as sins from the past emerge—and stunning secrets reveal just how tightly blood ties can bind. Sometimes the most devastating crimes are the ones closest to home.
08/13/10
James Hayman
Like McCabe, I’m a native New Yorker. He was born in the Bronx. I was born in Brooklyn. We both grew up in the city. He dropped out of NYU Film School and joined the NYPD, rising through the ranks to become the top homicide cop at the Midtown North Precinct. I graduated from Brown and joined a major New York ad agency, rising through the ranks to become creative director on accounts like the US Army, Procter & Gamble, and Lincoln/Mercury.
We both married beautiful brunettes. McCabe’s wife, Sandy dumped him to marry a rich investment banker who had “no interest in raising other people’s children.” My wife, Jeanne, though often given good reason to leave me in the lurch, has stuck it out through thick and thin and is still my wife. She is also my best friend, my most attentive reader and a perceptive critic.
Both McCabe and I eventually left New York for Portland, Maine. I arrived in August 2001, shortly before the 9/11 attacks, in search of the right place to begin a new career as a fiction writer. He came to town a year later, to escape a dark secret in his past and to find a safe place to raise his teenage daughter, Casey.
There are other similarities between us. We both love good Scotch whiskey, old movie trivia and the New York Giants. And we both live with and love women who are talented artists.
There are also quite a few differences. McCabe’s a lot braver than me. He’s a better shot. He likes boxing. He doesn’t throw up at autopsies. And he’s far more likely to take risks. McCabe’s favorite Portland bar, Tallulah’s, is, sadly, a figment of my imagination. My favorite Portland bars are all very real.
Visit James on the web at http://www.jameshaymanthrillers.com/.
Lainie Goff thought she had it all. The ambitious young attorney was brilliant, beautiful, and on a fast-track to a lucrative partnership at one of the top firms in New England. But then, one cold night, a dark and ugly secret comes back from Lainie’s past and she pushes things too far. Soon her body is found, frozen solid in sub-zero temperatures at the end of the Portland Fish Pier.
A mentally ill woman named Abby Quinn witnesses the brutal crime. But when she tells what she has seen, nobody will believe her. Not until she too mysteriously disappears.
In The Chill of Night, Portland homicide detective Michael McCabe finds himself finds himself fighting memories from his own past as he races to find the killer before another life is lost.
James Hayman once again tells a gripping tale of evil and deceit and creates characters so real and so human, we want to meet them again and again.
Read the Excerpt!
Abby looked up and saw a low dark thing moving toward her. A black form, now visible through the whipping snow, now obliterated by it. With each step it grew clearer and bigger. At twenty feet it began to take shape. Animal. Not human. A large dog, gray fur glistening under crystals of snow, cruel icy eyes shining through the night, more wolf than dog. She stopped but the animal kept coming. She could hear its rumbling growl. Low. Menacing. Commanding. Her heart beat against the walls of her chest so hard she was certain it would break through. She knew what the creature wanted. She knelt on her hands and knees. It bared a fang long enough and sharp enough to penetrate the soft flesh at back of her neck. She lowered her head and waited for release. But release didn’t come. Finally, after a minute or two, she looked up and it was gone. She could see nothing in front of her but the snow-covered street and the wind-swept flakes still hurtling down through the night sky. She stayed where she was, kneeling in the snow. She could hear a child crying. She listened. After a bit she realized the sound was coming from her. She got up and started walking again.
07/30/10
Scoop on Bestselling Author (1 of 3) P.S. Check out what is happening this weekend...at bottom of post!!!
If you follow my blog, you know that I think this author is great and over the top talented. I have even compared his works to James Patterson. I reviewed his novel Moonlight Falls, (05/25/10) which I couldn't put down, and hosted a Guest Author (05/10/10) posting through Pump Up Your Book. Mr. Zandri has been a frequent visitor of my blog. He generously gave his time one Sunday for a LIVE chat. Recently I hosted a Guest Author (07/12/10) for his newest book, The Remains, which is currently in the Top Ten "Amazon Hot New Release". Vin has been very busy, touring for The Remains and he also just released a "Digital Short", entitled Pathological, also available on Amazon. Can you keep a secret? Shhhhhh...another scoop....there is a lot more to come!!! He is on a roll!!!!
Author quote for Pathological:
"Stone House and its new imprint Stone Gate want to do ten stories in all over the course of about a year, then collect them and publish them as a book. I'm really excited about the emergence of the Digital Short."
The Birth of the Mighty Digital Short
By Vincent Zandri
The new digital publishing age has brought a lot of great things to both readers and writers. Affordable books, Kindle downloads, E-Reader downloads, virtual tours, book trailers, mommy blogs, and most of all, a new selection of brand new writers who, had they been left to suck up to the mighty New York big six, might wallow in obscurity and rejection for the rest of their productive lives.
The new digital publishing model has changed all that. It’s allowed writers who have been constantly rejected from New York as being “unmarketable” to now earn an audience. A global audience. It’s also helped writers like me who have previously been published by major New York publishers but who didn’t earn our a mid-six-figure advance, to once again enter into the game, but this time with books that will remain in print and in electronic form, forever and ever.
But the digital age has also offered us something more. Something very mighty, yet at the same time, very small in length. I’m talking about the Digital Short. Known to most of us as the plain old short story, the Digital Short is more than that. Written to read like a short novel or novelette, the DS is published by your traditional book publisher with its own striking cover, and alluring product description. When you go to Amazon.com to checkout a new DS for the first time, you feel like you’re looking at brand new, novel- length book. But in reality, the story might comprise 5000 words or even less.
Unlike traditional short stories, the Digital Short, as it’s name implies, will never see print. It will however be made available to legions of fans who either already by that author’s books or who are curious about that author and want to get a taste of his or her work without spending too much money. Speaking of money, the beauty of the DS is that it costs less than a buck. For less than a small, rancid cup of coffee at your average roadside gas station you can enjoy a lifetime of reading and viewing pleasure from a Digital Short. All you get from the pricier cup of coffee is heartburn.
My new Digital Short, Pathological, published by Stone House Ink, is actually adopted from a crime short that was previously published it two literary journals. It’s not only mean to keep my faithful readers happy but it’s also used as a marketing tool to lure more readers to my full-length fiction. And the story seems to be popular. After only one day on Amazon and Smashwords, Pathological, is already approaching bestselling numbers. It is solidly propping up my brand new bestselling thriller, The Remains, and will continue to do so for months, up until and including the novel’s Trade Paperback publication and audio publication come this November.
So, what are the four main ingredients to a successful Digital Short?
Just like a full-length novel it requires:
-A striking cover
-A great price
-A catchy but brief product description
-A great, great, great story
Both me and my publisher plan on digitizing more of my short fiction and creating a series of Digital Shorts. When we have published ten of them, we’ll put them together in a full-length publication that will be as striking as the original, individual stories themselves.
The price will be right, the cover will rock, and the product description will make you want to die before not buying the book.
And of course, the stories will be great!
07/27/10
About Claire Cook
Claire Cook is the bestselling author of seven novels, including Must Love Dogs, which was adapted into a Warner Bros. movie starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, The Wildwater Walking Club, Life’s a Beach, and her latest, Seven Year Switch. Her reinvention workshops have been featured on The Today Show, and she has been a judge for the Thurber Humor Prize and the Family Circle fiction contest. Her books have been featured on Good Morning America and in People, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and more. She has two kids, seven brothers and sisters, and one husband. She lives in Scituate, MA.
Visit her website and find reinvention and writing tips at http://www.ClaireCook.com. Find her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClaireCookbooks/. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ClaireCookbooks/.
About Seven Year Switch
Jill Murray is content living a man-free existence. She’s got Anastasia, her ten-year-old daughter, and a sweet little bungalow to call home. Life as a cultural coach didn’t turn out quite the way she planned, but between answering phones for Great Girlfriend Getaways and teaching Lunch Around the World classes, the dust in this Jill-of-all-trades life is starting to settle.
Then her ex-husband comes back.
They say that every seven years you become a completely new person, and Jill has long ago stopped wishing her deadbeat husband would return. Now she has to face the fact there’s simply no way she can be a good mom without letting Seth back into their daughter’s life. But why can’t she seem to hold herself together around him? And then there’s Billy, the free-spirited, bike-riding entrepreneur who hires Jill as a consultant. When their business relationship seems destined for something more Jill’s no-boys-allowed life is suddenly anything but.
It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help Jill make her choice — between the woman she is and the woman she wants to be. It’s a wild ride, sure to thrill Claire Cook’s many fans, complete with laughter, revelations, and one heckuva big tarantula.
07/23/10
Nancy Thayer is the New York Times bestselling author of Summer House, Moon Shell Beach, The Hot Flash Club, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again, Hot Flash Holidays, The Hot Flash Club Chills Out, and Between Husbands and Friends. She lives on Nantucket. You can visit Nancy Thayer’s website at http://www.nancythayer.com/.
Abbie Fox hasn’t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which she’s jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent emails begging her to return home to Nantucket. Their middle sister, Emma, has taken to her bed, emotionally devastated after the loss of her high-powered stockbroker’s job and a shockingly unexpected break-up with her fiancé. Also, Lily is deeply worried that Marina, the beautiful, enigmatic woman renting their guesthouse, has set her sights on the sisters’ widowed father, Jim. The Fox girls closed ranks years ago after the haunting, untimely death of their mother, but seeing their dad move on with his life forces each of them to take stock.
Over the course of the summer, the sisters’ lives grow as turbulent as the unpredictable currents encircling Nantucket. When Abbie encounters an incredibly appealing married man, she breaks her own rules in the name of love, fearing all the while that she’ll regret it. Meanwhile, type-A Emma learns a new definition of success, and strong-minded Lily must reconcile her dreams with reality. Even Marina, who has come to Nantucket to forget heartbreak and betrayal, faces an astonishing turn of events that will find her torn between fate and freedom. At summer’s end, these unforgettable women will face profound choices—and undergo personal transformations that will surprise even themselves.
This book needs to be in your beach bag along with towel and sunscreen. You can order it here:
07/20/10
Some Thoughts About Writing
Years ago I read something that continues to motivate me. I don’t remember who said it or where I read it, but it has been my guiding principle ever since. Simply put, if you are truly a writer, then set aside one hour each day and write.
It’s amazing what can happen when you adhere to that discipline. It doesn’t make any difference if you are working on a novel or writing blogs, just write. I set my time in the morning. Some days the hour is painstakingly long and seems to never end, especially when writing dialogue—I hate writing dialogue. Other days, the words seem to flow and four hours pass before I realize it.
Having something to write about is another issue. I love mysteries. I am a problem solver by nature, so creating a murder and lining up the usual subjects is fun for me. I love dreaming up ways to keep the reader guessing or how to throw in a twist at the end. During the writing of my second Anne Marshall book, Revenge Served Cold, I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and realized I had the wrong killer. Don’t be afraid to go back and rewrite your book, no matter how far you are in the process.
For me, creating the characters is the easiest part. My characters come from personal experiences. People I know, either intimately such as friends and family, or casually like the lunatic who works in the pod next to me. I might change the color of hair, or even the gender, but the basic personality is the same.
My protagonist, Anne Marshall, is me—or my alter ego. Alright, Anne is young and I’m in my 60s; Anne is slim and in shape while I am overweight and find exercise hazardous to my health; and, Anne has dark hair and dark eyes where I am a blond with blue eyes. Other than those minor differences, we are one in the same. We share the same experiences of balancing work, school and relationships while attending law school at night. We have the same deep friendships with study group members, and the same need to continually fix other people’s problems.
For Anne’s trusty sidekick, it made sense that it should be her father. Their relationship was unique and extraordinary; I just didn’t realize he was dead until I was halfway through the book. This was another one of those 3:00 in the morning realizations. By making Anne’s father a ghost, I was able to give Anne the superhuman qualities an amateur sleuth needs, while exploring their father daughter relationship in a way I could not if he were alive. As all authors know, stories take on a life of their own.
Writing is not easy. We all encounter writer’s block and procrastination. But, for me, adhering to the one hour a day rule gets me over the rough spots. Whoever it was that gave that advice, thank you.
07/14/10
About Julie Hyzy
Julie Hyzy's first experience with food included flipping burgers and chopping onions at a neighborhood hot dog stand. She traded that experience for a job as a singing waitress at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour -- but gave that up when she started college (and because she couldn't carry a tune).
Over the years, she's acted in community theater productions, appeared in television commercials, and crashed a previously all-male fraternity to become one of the first female brothers in Loyola University's Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi. Julie had dreams of becoming a writer, but family, friends, and frat brothers convinced her otherwise. Having held positions as junior officer at a downtown bank, office manager at an architectural firm, and financial advisor at a prestigious wealth management company, she realizes that the business degree was probably a good choice -- but fiction is truly her passion. Now, with some well-earned life experience behind her, she's delighted to finally be able to make writing a priority in her life.
Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, but now it's up to a new curator Grace Wheaton and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers to protect dear old Marshfield. But to do this, they'll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid Wheaton family secrets-and sour grapes out for revenge.
07/12/10
About Vincent Zandri
The Remains author, Vincent Zandri, is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, Moonlight Falls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.
You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at http://www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com/
Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.
Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.
Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.
But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.
.07/02/10
Heather Hummel is an award winning author and ghostwriter. She has been called “a writer’s writer” by Victoria Moran (radio host, author, and frequent guest on Oprah).
Heather has guided new authors through the publishing ropes in the roles of ghost writer, writing coach, writing workshop teacher, editor, and publisher. Her message to new and aspiring authors has been voiced to a variety of audiences, including Victoria Moran’s radio show, “A Charmed Life.” Heather and/or her books have appeared in newspapers such as: Publishers Weekly, USA Today and the Washington Post; and in magazines that include: Body & Soul, First, and Spry Living—a combined circulation and audience of nearly 15 million.
Heather Hummel’s published works include:
Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age (McGraw Hill, 2008)
– Merit Award of the 2009 Mature Media Awards
Through Hazel Eyes (PathBinder Publishing, 2008)
– 1st Honorable Mention of the 2009 New York Book Festival
The Universe is My Sugar Daddy (PathBinder Publishing, 2009)
A graduate from the University of Virginia, Heather holds a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree and is working toward a Ph.D. in Metaphysical Sciences.
Visit Heather’s website at http://www.heatherhummel.net/
About Through Hazel Eyes
Through Hazel Eyes won the first Honorable Mention at the New York Book Festival in 2009. The novel is a journey of life through the eyes of Madison Ragnar, a high school English teacher who is struggling to recover from an emotionally abusive relationship. Madison s speckled view of the world is seen through her troubled students, a fellow teacher, an intriguing man who enters her life, and a haunting past. Yet everything comes into focus when she learns to trust in herself for the first time in thirty years.
Madison discovers that the most commanding role played throughout our lives is fate. There are times when we embrace it, times when we curse it, and always times when we are blinded by it. As a result of blinding fate, Madison s past catches up to her, and with the help of her students, she learns why a mockingbird is worthier than a diamond ring.
“Because the iris is the tunnel to our souls, this is where we look in others to find unspoken answers. It is the whites of our eyes that hold our sacred secrets, and knowing that the iris will divulge all, the white remains pure.” - Madison Ragnar, Through Hazel Eyes.
06/22/10
About Becky Due
Happily married she and Scott live in Colorado, Florida and Alberta, Canada with their two “kids” Buddy the Cat and Shorty the Pug.
Becky has been a guest on national radio programs and has been the subject of numerous newspaper and national magazine articles for empowering women through her novels. She has served as a guest speaker at Women’s Resource Centers, Shelters, Colleges and High Schools within the United States. Becky has had extensive training at Victim Services, worked the 24-Hour Sexual Assault Crisis-Line and was a Victim’s Advocate where she offered one-on-one assistance and support to rape victims. In 2007, Becky started, Women Going Forward, the first national women’s telephone support group, which ran for almost two years. After receiving much recognition for her novels, Becky’s focus turned back to her writing and empowering women through her novels.
Becky’s latest book is a supsense novel titled Returning Injury: A Suspense Chelebrating Women’s Strength. You can visit her website at www.beckydue.com.
Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to foud days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?
05/21/10
I am honored to have Mr. Leever, author of The University visit today so please help me welcome him to my blog. He is also kind enough to giveaway one of my followers and/or visitors a SIGNED copy of his book, The University.05/10/10
Jeffrey Leever is the author of the mystery/suspense novels The University (Capital Crime Press, 2009) and Dark Friday (Capital Crime Press, 2007).
He is a former PR staff member for Colorado Governor Bill Owens, as well as former senior editor for a nonprofit organization. He now lives in Blue Springs, Missouri.
A Nebraska native, he wrote a college football column, the Scarlet Commentary, for several years. He holds a degree in English with a writing emphasis and is perpetually at work on his next suspense/mystery novel.
To learn more about the author and the book, visit his website at JeffreyLeever.com.
Ah, college life at Tremont University. A place for learning. Partying and dating. And murder.
When investigative journalist Kevin Gibson lets his cousin, a former cop, talk him into looking into a student's disappearance at Tremont University, he gets more than he bargained for. A former student — injured in a brutal attack two years ago and in a coma — may hold a critical piece of information that can solve the mystery. Meanwhile, an attractive coed continues to hide a very dark secret.
Tremont junior Brett Duncan is determined to find out what happened to his best friend, who's gone missing. Along with his girlfriend Ciera Kindle, Brett is drawn into a cunning world few know exist -- a conspiracy involving faculty, students, and some well-connected people in high places.
Beneath the campus’ Hallmark-card exterior lie many secrets, and a pulse-racing mystery with plenty of chills along the way.
05/10/10
I am honored to have Mr. Vincent Zandri, author of Moonlight Falls, visiting today as he virtually tours the blogosphere.
I am honored to have Mr. Vincent Zandri, author of Moonlight Falls, visiting today as he virtually tours the blogosphere.
About Vincent Zandri
Vincent Zandri is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Moonlight Falls is his fourth novel. He is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for RT ( Russia Today TV) which have been syndicated and translated in several different languages throughout the world. He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia, Globalspec and more. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thrillerl. Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz. You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at http://www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com/
About Moonlight Falls
Moonlight Falls is the Albany, New York-based paranoid tale (in the Hitchcock tradition) of former APD Detective turned Private Investigator/Massage Therapist, Richard “Dick” Moonlight, who believes he might be responsible for the brutal slaying by knife of his illicit lover, the beautiful Scarlet Montana. The situation is made all the worse since Scarlet is the wife of Moonlight’s boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana.
Why does Moonlight believe he might be responsible?
He’s got a small fragment of a .22 hollow point round buried inside his brain, lodge directly up against his cerebral cortex. The result of a botched suicide attempt four years prior to the novel’s start, an operation to remove the bullt frag would be too dangerous.
But the bullet causes Moonlight lots of problems, the least of which are the occasional memory loss and his rational ability to tell right from wrong. The bullet frag also might shift at any moment, making coma and/or sudden death, a very real possibility.
Still, Moonlight has been trying to get his life together as of late.
But when Scarlet begs him to make the trip over to her house late one rainy Sunday night to issue one of his “massages,” he makes a big mistake by sleeping with her. Later, having passed out in her bed, he will be rudely awakened by a garage door opening and Jake’s unexpected and very drunken homecoming. Making his impromptu escape out a top floor window, Moonlight will seek the safety of his home.
Two hours later however, he will receive another unexpected visit from Jake Montana. This time the big Captain has sobering news to report. He’s discovered his wife’s mutilated body in her own bed. She’s been murdered and now he needs the P.I. to investigate it in association with Albany ’s “overtaxed” Special Independent Unit before I.A. pokes their nose into the affair. Moonlight takes a big step back. Is it possible he made a second trip to the Montana home-sweet-home and just has no recollection of it? Once there, did he perform a heinous crime on his part-time lover? Or is this some kind of set up by his former boss? Is it really Jake who is responsible for Scarlet’s death? Does he wish for Moonlight to cover up his involvement, seal the case before Internal Affairs starts poking their nose into the situation?
There’s another problem too.
Covering Moonlight’s palms and the pads of his fingers are numerous scratches and cuts. Are these defensive wounds? Wounds he received when Scarlet put up a struggle? Or are they offensive wounds? Wounds he couldn’t avoid when making his attack on Scarlet with a blade? The answer is not so simple since Moonlight has no idea where he acquired the wounds.
Having no choice but to take on the mission (if only to cover his own ass), Moonlight can only hope the answers to his many questions point to his former boss and not himself.
Read an exerpt from his book and the raving reviews he has gotten thus far. The link is http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/04/19/moonlight-falls-virtual-book-tour-may-2010/. You can also see the trailer of Moonlight Falls at the above site.
ADDENDUM: I will be posting my review of Moonlight Falls in the near future, so please be on the look out for that and stop by to see what I have to say about Moonlight Falls. I am looking forward to reading Moonlight Falls and from the reviews I have read, I am sure that this is going to be a great read !!!
03/27/10
Please help me welcome Mr. Bill Walker, author of A Note from an Old Aquaintance
Author's Thoughts:
One of the most difficult aspects of writing, in my humble opinion, is dialogue. It is also one of the most important. In fact, I would wager that most people wouldn't care to read a book without it. So, how does one develop an ear for dialogue? After all, we hear people around us speak all day long, every day. Dialogue should be a snap, right? Wrong. In real life people speak in fragments that would look awful on the printed page and sound even worse in the reader's mind, and I'm not even counting if it makes sense or not. Your dialogue must serve the story and can't afford to waste time going off on tangents like all of us do in real life.
When I first endeavored to write professionally, while I could turn a decent descriptive phrase, or two, dialogue was my weak point, my Achilles heel, as it were. It sounded phony, stilted and wooden. No matter what I wrote, I hated the dialogue. And then I started using a technique that seems to work for me. I started casting my characters in my mind, using either real people, such as people I knew or famous actors and actresses, or simply vivid constructs, and assigned them voices and accents. I then deliberately imagined each scene as a little movie of the mind, to be played over and over again as I tried different lines of dialogue. Now, this may seem like a no-brainer, but this may not work for everyone. Because of my desire to be a filmmaker I tend to think cinematically.
Once you start doing this, and it will still take practice, the dialogue will flow more naturally, because you as the writer will inhabit the role of each character as you write them. In effect, you become the ultimate actor. One thing you should avoid, however, is too much dialect. While Mark Twain got away with it, modern readers don't want to wade through pages of words with strange and unique spellings. Instead of making your characters more vivid, you distract the reader, pulling them out of the story. And you NEVER want to do that, if you can help it.
Through my little cinematic technique you can use normal language, slanting a word or two, or using certain phrases unique to that character to make him or her sound Irish, for instance. They don't have to speak like the Lucky Charms leprechaun and in fact they shouldn't, unless you want to stray into the land of cliché. In any event, give my technique a try and see if it works for you.
About A Note From an Old Acquaintance: 
Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma. A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair.
Everything changes the morning an e-mail arrives from Boston artist Joanna Richman. Her heartfelt note brings back all the poignant memories: the night their eyes met, the fiery passion of their short-lived affair, and the agonizing moment he was forced to leave Joanna forever. Now, fifteen years later, the guilt and anger threaten to overwhelm him. Vowing to make things right, Brian arranges a book-signing tour that will take him back to Boston. He is eager to see Joanna again, but remains unsure where their reunion will lead. One thing is certain: the forces that tore their love asunder will stop at nothing to keep them apart.
Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.
You can find my review dated 02/27/10....
Thank you Mr. Walker for stoppng by, sharing your thoughts and allowing me the opportunity of reading a very enjoyable book. This reader will be awaiting your next novel.
03/23/10
PLEASE HELP ME WELCOME MR. JAMES HAYMAN..............
AUTHOR OF THE CUTTING
AUTHOR OF THE CUTTING
Like McCabe, I’m a native New Yorker. He was born in the Bronx. I was born in Brooklyn. We both grew up in the city. He dropped out of NYU Film School and joined the NYPD, rising through the ranks to become the top homicide cop at the Midtown North Precinct. I graduated from Brown and joined a major New York ad agency, rising through the ranks to become creative director on accounts like the US Army, Procter & Gamble, and Lincoln/Mercury.
We both married beautiful brunettes. McCabe’s wife, Sandy dumped him to marry a rich investment banker who had “no interest in raising other people’s children.” My wife, Jeanne, though often given good reason to leave me in the lurch, has stuck it out through thick and thin and is still my wife. She is also my best friend, my most attentive reader and a perceptive critic.
Both McCabe and I eventually left New York for Portland, Maine. I arrived in August 2001, shortly before the 9/11 attacks, in search of the right place to begin a new career as a fiction writer. He came to town a year later, to escape a dark secret in his past and to find a safe place to raise his teenage daughter, Casey.
There are other similarities between us. We both love good Scotch whiskey, old movie trivia and the New York Giants. And we both live with and love women who are talented artists.
There are also quite a few differences. McCabe’s a lot braver than me. He’s a better shot. He likes boxing. He doesn’t throw up at autopsies. And he’s far more likely to take risks. McCabe’s favorite Portland bar, Tallulah’s, is, sadly, a figment of my imagination. My favorite Portland bars are all very real.
You can visit James’ website at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com or his personal tour page at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/01/22/1640/.
What’s the Difference Between a Mystery (Or Whodunit), and a Thriller or a Novel of Suspense?
A dear old friend of mine recently read The Cutting and commented that he loved the book, loved the characters, and loved the suspense. Said it kept him on the edge of the seat and couldn’t wait for McCabe#2 (The Chill of Night-which comes out June 22nd). However, he said, he had one problem. He knew who the bad guy was pretty early on in the game. Why did I give it way?
I responded that my reason was that The Cutting was more of a suspense thriller than a mystery or whodunit. “What’s the difference?” he asked, “I thought they were pretty much the same thing.”
Looking at emails I’ve received since The Cutting came out last summer, I discovered there’s a fair amount of confusion on this issue. While there’s no official answer, here’s an unofficial answer or at least my own personal opinion.
A mystery, according to Hayman, depends on the hero solving an intellectual puzzle that leads him to discover “Whodunit.” Action is often minimal. The sleuth is seldom, if ever, in physical danger and the reader is kept guessing until the end. Reader satisfaction is derived from guessing the answer before the sleuth does or, failing that, enjoying the unraveling of the mystery and going back to look over the subtle clues the author sprinkled in along the way. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is of course the progenitor of many of the best sleuths out there. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are also among the earliest and most famous.
A thriller or novel of suspense keeps the readers interest by ratcheting up the action and putting someone’s life in imminent danger. Sometimes it’s the hero. Sometimes it’s an innocent by stander or potential victim. What’s kept so many readers glued to The Cutting is the awful suspense of the ticking clock, not knowing whether McCabe can save poor Lucinda Cassidy from a horrible death before time runs out. That kind of tension definitely makes The Cutting much more of a thriller than a mystery.
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books and John Sandford’s Prey novels are examples of other books that are thrillers much more than mysteries.
Needless to say there’s a lot of overlap and many books blend a little of both. Mine do. But, going forward, readers can expect most of the books in the Mike McCabe series, like The Cutting and the upcoming The Chill of Night will fall firmly into the thriller camp.
Hope that helps to clear up the issue.
