WELCOME BACK LORI FOSTER

LORI FOSTER

Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. She also received the Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy and Contemporary Romance.

Lori believes it is important to give back to the community as much as possible, so she routinely arranges events among authors and readers to gather donations for various organizations.
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Q&A with Lori Foster

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
The ideas are just… there. I’m so amazed by authors who can teach this stuff, because it’s impossible for me. I’ll be minding my own business (often working on a different book) and bam! I get hid upside the head with characters who want on the page – or sometimes they just show up on the page without even introducing themselves first – and sometimes that’s not enough for them. They want their own books too!

It’s almost magical to me. I could never dissect the process or explain it.

It just is.

Once the characters are there, THEY tell me what the idea is. They lead me through the plot, sometimes page by page – although sometimes they tell me the whole story right up front.

Your routine when writing?  Any idiosyncrasies?
I prefer to write at my desk at the lake house and I write from the morning, say around 10 am (after I’ve finished emails and online stuff) until 5 or 6pm. When I’m under a close deadline that expands with me starting earlier and going later in the day. I’m only at the lake house during mild/warm weather though, and I like my office space at home too. At the lake house, my desk overlooks the lake, and at home my desk faces French doors that lead to the pond. Water inspires me!

I LOVE my music playlist. I have a lot of Kid Rock on there. He’s my fave. Also KORN. Lots & lots of KORN. Some Marilyn Manson. Cage the Elephant. Nirvana. I have a few artists where I like only one song – like “Rumour” by Adele, or “List of Demands” from Saul Williams.  Overall I have around 200 songs on my playlist.

What is your favorite book?
Of my own? Hmmm. Probably “My House, My Rules,” from one of the Bad Boy anthologies.

Of others? Well, I love the Sherbrook series by Catherine Coulter.  If I can only pick one, maybe “Perfect Partners” by Jayne Ann Krentz. It was so brilliant!

What’s on your nightstand right now?
Clock, lamp, decorative tissue box, plug for my iPad, a pair of eye glasses (I have several around the house) and CRASH INTO YOU by Katie McGarry. It’s *amazing.* I’d have finished reading it by now, except we just welcomed our 3^rd grandson into the world and that occupied me for a few days.

What are you working on next?
I just finished Dash’s story. Dash is the brother of the hero from the first book, RUN THE RISK. I think readers will be surprised with Dash now that it’s his turn to reveal his soul. I know I was surprised! I kept thinking, Dash, you devil! Lol.

And now I’m ready to get started on Cannon’s book. Cannon (You met him in GETTING ROWDY) will actually star in the first book of a new series set for Sept 2014.  I really enjoyed him in GETTING ROWDY, and he has a larger role in Dash’s book, DASH OF PERIL (April 2014) so I hope readers like him as much as I do!

Favorite leisure activity/hobby?
My favorite pastime is anything with family. We have big family parties at my house. I look for reasons to invite all 60+ people over.

I also love, love, love going to movies. Horror and action are my favorite movie genres, but I can comedy and romance in a pinch. Drama… almost never. Who needs more drama? How is that entertainment?

Also really love the outdoors for relaxing. Hubby and I love to go to Hocking Hills (Fantastic place! Look it up!) or Cumberland Falls or The Natural Bridge. We have a small lake house and I spend much of the summer there. Boating, swimming, skiing… just being outside and seeing the birds and fish and hearing the breeze in the trees and feeling the sun on my skin… Love it.

Favorite meal?
I love roast and mashed potatoes, stuffed pork chops, beef stew and bean soup and sauerkraut with ribs… I’m a country girl.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An alpha hero’s attraction to the one woman he can’t have could draw him into a killer’s snare.

Charismatic bar owner Rowdy Yates isn’t the kind of man women say no to. So when he approaches waitress Avery Mullins, he fully expects to get her number. However, the elusive beauty has her reasons for keeping her distance— including a past that might come back to haunt them both.

Avery spends her nights working for tips…and trying to forget the secret Rowdy is determined to unearth. But when history threatens to repeat itself, Avery grows to rely on Rowdy’s protective presence. As the sparks between them ignite, she will be forced to choose between the security she’s finally found…and the passion she’s always wanted.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Contemp. Romance
Publisher: Harlequin HQN Books
Publication Date: October 2013
Number of Pages: 400
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-77779-2

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WELCOME SARA CONNELL

SARA CONNELL

Sara Connell is an author, speaker, and life coach with a private practice in Chicago. She has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, NPR, The View, FOX News and Katie Couric. Sara’s writing has been featured in: The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Parenting, Psychobabble, Evolving Your Spirit, and Mindful Metropolis magazines. Her first book, Bringing in Finn; an Extraordinary Surrogacy Story (Sept 4, 2012 Seal Press), was nominated for Book of the Year 2012 by Elle magazine.
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GUEST POST

Even before the seven-year journey I took to have a child, I would have said that every birth is extraordinary. The phenomenon of an egg and a sperm joining to create a human life is, to me, miraculous. Paradoxically, I’d always thought, the way an egg and sperm come together—through sex—is a wonderfully basic thing that anyone, regardless of education, creativity, skill or life advantages can do.

Nine years ago, when my husband and I gave ourselves over to the primal desire of having a child, this is what we wanted: a totally normal conception followed nine months later by an extraordinary event—the birth of a healthy child.

Normal, however, did not turn out to be our path.  Instead of dinner out and making love, we drove back and forth from the fertility clinic and took turns injecting hormones into my stomach and behind.  We worked up to IVF and got pregnant! With twins!  Five and a half months into the pregnancy I went into pre-mature labor and the twins were delivered, stillborn.  A year later: a miscarriage, more IVF (six rounds in all). The word “extraordinary” did not enter into conversation during this time, unless it was to describe our extraordinary feelings of grief, despair, and loss.

We took a break. And during this time, my mother, who had, according to her, never done an extraordinary thing in her life, saw a story about a post-menopausal woman who’d become pregnant and made the collosally generous and yes- extraordinary- offer to be a surrogate for our child.

Fearing our fertility clinic might refer us to a team of psychiatrists, we proceeded with caution, trying to guard our hearts. But to our surprise, our doctor did not dismiss our idea.  While the viability of a woman’s eggs are influenced by her years on the planet, it turned out that the uterus does not age in the same way. (definitely extradordinary!)

After batteries of tests, my mother was cleared to be a “gestational host” ( a woman who carries the biological child of a couple).  My eggs were joined with my husband’s sperm and then transferred into my mother’s uterus—and on the second joint IVF attempt, we heard the amazing news: we were pregnant and the pregnancy was advancing.

My mother moved in to our house in Chicago. We read Harry Potter books to the baby. We took walks and cooked my mother nourishing meals of her favorite foods. And in February 2011, thirty-nine weeks after we received that call of congratulations from our doctor, Finnean Lee Connell came into the world.  Two beautiful hands, ten perfectly shaped toes, a face with a tiny nose that lifted up at the end like my husband’s. A beautiful, vibrant new life that the doctors in the delivery room pronounced, perfectly, wonderfully, “normal.”

At two and a half years, Finn is talking, running, making friends and running to the potty – sometimes making it, sometimes not- when he needs to go.  He is – as many parents truthfully but obnoxiously say- our greatest joy; in every way “normal” and most definitely, extraordinary.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bringing in Finn is the true story of a couple who wanted nothing more than to have a family and a mother who would do anything for her daughter. After unsuccessfully trying to conceive naturally, years of fertility treatments, miscarriage and a late term loss of twins, Sara and Bill Connell were emotionally and financially depleted and at a loss as to how they could have a family. When Sara’s mother Kristine offered to be their surrogate, the three embark on the journey that would culminate in Finnean’s miraculous birth and complete a transformation of their at-one-time strained mother-daughter relationship.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Seal Press
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN-10: 1580055419

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WELCOME STEPHEN BOOTH

STEPHEN BOOTH

Stephen Booth is an award winning British crime writer, the creator of two young Derbyshire police detectives, DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry, who have appeared in twelve novels set in England’s beautiful and atmospheric Peak District.

Stephen has been a Gold Dagger finalist, an Anthony Award nominee, twice winner of a Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel, and twice shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. Ben Cooper was a finalist for the Sherlock Award for the best detective created by a British author, and in 2003 the Crime Writers’ Association presented Stephen with the Dagger in the Library Award for “the author whose books have given readers the most pleasure”.

The Cooper & Fry series is published all around the world, and has been translated into 15 languages. The latest title is DEAD AND BURIED, with a new book, ALREADY DEAD, published in June 2013.
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Q&A with Stephen Booth

Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
I think all writers make use of their personal experiences, though they may not be recognisable by the time they appear in a fictional story. In fact, it’s quite therapeutic to take something that’s happened to you and write about! I try to make my Cooper & Fry novels as contemporary as possible, so my characters’ lives will be affected by things happening in the real world at the time. Actually, since I’m working on a novel up to 12 months before it’s published, I’m trying to predict the future a bit.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the storyline brings you?
When I set out to write a new book, I have no idea what’s going to happen, or how it will end. I write in a very ‘organic’ way, starting with vague ideas about a few characters and a place they belong to. I write around them until I start to know who they are. Then I put them into a situation where they’re under pressure (this will normally involve a murder or a dead body, of course!), and I watch what they do. So the story arises out of the characters, and it’s always a discovery process for me as I write it. Luckily, I’m writing about police detectives, so I rely on them to do their part of the job and ask all the questions!

Your routine when writing?  Any idiosyncrasies?
I’m one of those writers who doesn’t really have a routine. I know the way to kick-start the creative process at any time of the day is to sit down and start writing. But I do most of my writing in the evening, sometimes into the early hours of the morning. It’s quieter then, with fewer distractions. One of the drawbacks to working from home is that everyone knows you’re there and available! So it’s hard to create the sort of structured working day you have in most jobs. When I’m writing, I tend to listen either to music, or to drama and talk programmes on the radio. Something I’ve just heard in the background can often pop an idea into my head (BBC Radio 4 is wonderful for this).

Is writing your full time job?  If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Yes, I’ve been a full-time writer for the past 12 years. Before that, I was a newspaper journalist. I started my first reporter’s job at the age of 21, after I graduated – so I suppose writing (or at least editing) has always been my job.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
I grew up on Agatha Christie and the great, classic British crime novelists (who all seemed to be female). Of that older generation, the writer who can still produce something new and interesting after all this time is Ruth Rendell. Some of her books, like ‘A Judgement in Stone’, are extraordinary achievements. But I have many other favourites, including Reginald Hill, Peter Robinson and Michael Connelly.

What are you reading now?
I’ve been asked by the British Library to write introductions for two novels being re-issued in their Classic Crime series. They’re by a long-forgotten British mystery writer from the Golden Age called M. Doriel Hay, and they’re classics of their period.

Are you working on your next novel?  Can you tell us a little about it?
Yes, I’m currently writing book #14 in the Cooper and Fry series, which is called ‘The Corpse Bridge’. I hope the title suggests there might be a dead body or two! The story uses an aspect of the Peak District’s history and folklore to create a modern-day mystery. The old ‘corpse ways’ were routes taken by mourners carrying a coffin for burial, sometimes for miles over difficult terrain. When the local land-owning aristocrat decides to re-develop the villagers’ burial ground for his own commercial gain, new corpses start to appear…

Your novel will be a movie.  Who would you cast?
I’m asked this question a lot, since the Cooper and Fry novels are currently in development for a TV series in the UK. And readers definitely have their own opinions! But as an author I think it’s very risky to start getting pictures of an actor in my head. There are no actors exactly like my mental image of Ben Cooper or Diane Fry, and the danger is that you can lose your original character if you focus too much on an actor. If and when it comes to casting, it will be someone else’s interpretation of the character, and I’m quite relaxed about that.

Would you rather read or watch TV/movie?
No contest here! I must be one of the few people left in the world who doesn’t own a TV (and I never have). For me, there’s a huge difference. When you’re watching TV, the story is going on over there in the corner of the room. But when you’re reading a book, the story is taking place inside your head. And the pictures are better too! I do watch movies, but I tend to go for something spectacular and undemanding, where I’m not expected get involved with the characters too much. Cinema does that very well.

Favorite food?
Cantonese Dim Sum

Favorite beverage?
I’m a rare teetotal Brit, so an Apple and Mango juice will suit me, thanks!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The helicopters are halted. The search for fifteen-year-old Laura Vernon ends when her body is found, murdered, in the forest.

On his hunt for the killer, detective Ben Cooper begins to suspect the people of Derbyshire are guarding some dark secrets-secrets that Laura might have known. Further complicating his investigation, Cooper is paired with an unfamiliar partner: Diane Fry, a woman as tenacious as she is alluring. Together they learn that in order to understand the town’s present, they must unearth its past.

Black Dog is like Twin Peaks by way of Tana French, and the first novel in the multiple award-winning Cooper and Fry series.

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BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Fiction/Crime
Published by: Witness / HarperCollins
Publication Date: 10/8/2013
ISBN: 9780062301963
Series: 1st in the Ben Cooper & Diane Fry Series

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
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I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

WELCOME STEVE ALTEN

STEVE ALTEN

Steve Alten earned his Bachelors degree at Penn State University, a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Delaware, and a Doctorate of Education at Temple University. Struggling to support his family of five, he decided to pen a novel he had been thinking about for years. Working late nights and on weekends, he eventually finished MEG; A Novel of Deep Terror, a thriller about Carcharodon megalodon, the 70-foot prehistoric cousin of the great white shark. MEG went on to become an international best-seller, with movie rights sold. The Mayan Calendar plays a big part in his Domain series — another international best-seller sold in the U.K. as THE MAYAN PROPHECY series. Steve’s other work includes The LOCH — a modern-day thriller about the Loch Ness Monster, The SHELL GAME — about the end of oil and the next 9/11 event, and GRIM REAPER: End of Days — a modern-day Dante’s Inferno which takes place in New York when a man-made plague strikes Manhattan. His best work yet, THE OMEGA PROJECT – was released in August 2013. As an author, Steve has two goals. First, to continue to work hard to become a better storyteller and create exciting page turning thrillers. Second, to remain accessible to his readers. Steve reads and answers all e-mails, uses the names and descriptions of his loyal fans as characters in all his novels, and even hires readers as editors, depending on their particular expertise.
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Q&A with Steve Alten

ABOUT THE BOOK

In The Wizard of Oz, a runaway finds herself transplanted to a strange land, only to learn it was all a dream. In Planet of the Apes, an astronaut awakens to find himself in a strange land, only to realize he is still on Earth. The Omega Project ups the ante, and neither the hero nor the reader will know the true reality until the very last page. In 2028, twelve astronauts and a scientist are cryogenically frozen for 30 days beneath the Ross Ice Shelf to prep for a mission to Europa. Only one will awaken… 12 million years in the future!

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BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Fiction
Published by: Tor/Forge
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 0765336324

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
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I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

WELCOME LESLEY DIEHL

LESLEY DIEHL

Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida–cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office. Back north, she devotes her afternoons to writing and, when the sun sets, relaxing on the bank of her trout stream, sipping tea or a local microbrew.
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ABOUT THE BOOK

Spunky and outspoken Eve Appel moves from Connecticut to rural Florida intent on starting a new life, free of drama, and more importantly, her soon-to-be ex-husband. The rural Florida town of Sabal Bay, situated only an hour from West Palm, proves to be the perfect spot for her consignment store. Thanks to the recent economic downturn, Florida’s society matrons need a place to discreetly sell their stuff and pick up expensive-looking bargains. But Eve’s life, and her business with it, is turned upside down when a wealthy customer is found stabbed to death in a fitting room. As accusations fly and business slows, Eve decides to take things into her own hands. With the help of an unlikely bunch of friends—including her estranged ex, her best friend, a handsome private eye, and a charming mafia don—she struggles to find answers and save lives. Through a maze of distorted half-truths, dramatic cover-ups, and unrequited passions, Eve learns just how far the wealthy will go to regain what they have lost. A Secondhand Murder is Book 1 of the Eve Appel Mysteries Series.

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BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published by: Camel Press
Publication Date: 9/15/2013
Number of Pages: 260
ISBN: 978-1-60381-935-0

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
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I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

WELCOME JAMES HAYMAN

JAMES HAYMAN

James Hayman is a native New Yorker having been born in Brooklyn and raised in Manhattan. Like many city kids, he was sent off to a New England boarding school at fourteen. Eight years later he graduated from Brown University and returned to New York where he spent the next twenty-five years working as a copywriter and creative director at some of Madison Avenue’s biggest ad agencies, creating print and TV advertising for clients like the US Army, Lincoln Mercury, Merrill Lynch and Procter & Gamble. After deciding that the New York agency business was “no country for old men,” Jim left Madison Avenue and moved to Portland, Maine where he worked for several years as a freelance business writer, publishing dozens of articles and two non-fiction business books. In 2007 he decided to follow in the footsteps of other former “Madmen” (James Patterson, Stuart Woods, Chris Grabenstein and Ted Bell to name just a few) and begin a new career writing suspense/thrillers. His debut novel, THE CUTTING was the first in a planned series featuring Portland homicide detectives Michael McCabe and Maggie Savage. It was quickly published and garnered rave reviews both in the print media and online. THE CUTTING was followed by THE CHILL OF NIGHT. Both books have been published around the world and translated into six languages. The third McCabe/Savage thriller, DARKNESS FIRST, is due from Harper Collins’ new Witness imprint in October. Jim lives in Portland with his wife, the artist Jeanne O’Toole Hayman.
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Q&A with James Hayman

Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
Absolutely, both in terms of character and plot. I think every writer does.

For example, the story in Darkness First centers around the epidemic and very real abuse of and addiction to prescription painkillers in rural Maine. Much of what I wrote in the book grew out of conversations I had with the real life sheriff of Washington County where the book is set and an officer assigned to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. Darkness First also reflects the growing poverty of coastal towns in Washington County like Eastport and Machias where a once thriving fishing industry has largely crashed with the disappearance of the fish. Eastport was once home to more than a dozen sardine canneries.  None of them survive today, not even as the fictitious ruin in which I set a climactic scene in the novel.

My earlier book, The Chill of Night, is about child abuse.  Much of it is based on the scandals in the Catholic Church. A book titled Our Fathers was an invaluable resource as was a passing acquaintance I had with Father Bruce Ritter, a Franciscan priest and the celebrated founder of Covenant House in New York.  Ritter was later accused and found guilty of abuse, all the while posing as a champion and protector of runaway teens.

As for my characters, both my detectives, Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage, are drawn from real life.  As I’ve said elsewhere, McCabe is my alter-ego. We were both born and raised in New York City and later moved to Portland, Maine.  We both like good scotch whiskey, old movie trivia and the New York Giants.

Maggie, who I have a huge crush on, is based on a number of women I’ve known and cared for in my own life including my wife Jeanne.  I’ve also raised a beautiful intelligent daughter not unlike McCabe’s daughter Casey. All my books reflects that experience.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
Both.  My story in Darkness First grew from a comment made by my source in the Maine DEA, that the nightmare scenario for the agency would be the smuggling of a huge quantity of Oxycontin tablets, by water, from Canada into the US. The book opens with exactly that scene.

You can read the prologue and first chapters for free on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-First-McCabe-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00CGZXQDU/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_1  or Barnes & Noble.com www.jameshaymanthrillers.com/books .

Your routine when writing?  Any idiosyncrasies?
I mostly don’t write at home even though I have a beautiful house overlooking the ocean with a room I call my office.  When I’m there, I find it is too easy to be distracted by things that have to be taken care of. Especially, when I reach a hard place in the writing.

Consequently,  I try to treat writing as a job I have to report to. I get up and go to work each morning in the great reading room in the Glickman Library at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

Is writing your full time job?  If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Writing is, for the most-part, my full-time job. When I say the most part, I mean that I also do some other things. I manage a couple of rental properties we own which, happily,  takes relatively little time.  I also occasionally accept freelance advertising or business writing assignments which can be fun and also help with any cash-flow issues. I’ve also served on the boards of a couple of non-profits, the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance which supports writers and writing in the State of Maine.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
There are many.

My favorites among mystery and thriller writers include James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, Tana French, Michael Connelly, Kate Atkinson, Alan Furst, Tony Hillerman, an Irish writer named Alan Glynn and, based on one book, “Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn. I’m sure I’m forgetting others because I do read a lot.

Outside of the mystery/thriller genre, I like the books of Ian McEwan, J. M. Coetzee, Larry Brown, Erik Larsson, David McCullough, and greats like Saul Bellow, John Cheever and Philip Roth.  And, of course, there is Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

What are you reading now?
I’m currently in the middle of a very strong novel by a writer named Roxana Robinson who is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The book is called “Sparta,” and it’s about a young marine officer returning home from two tours in Iraq with a severe case of PTSD.  Robinson writes the book from the marine’s point of view and does a brilliant job of capturing the confusion and disorientation of suddenly finding oneself beyond the dangers of the war and back in the ease of middle class suburban life.

Are you working on your next novel?  Can you tell us a little about it?
I am. The book (as yet unnamed) is about McCabe and Savage investigating a series of murders in Portland that exactly mirror murders that took place on an island in Casco Bay more than one hundred years ago.  Mccabe’s photographic memory proves to be a help in unraveling the mystery. Beyond that I can’t say much without spoiling the tale.

Your novel will be a movie.  Who would you cast?
That’s a tough one. I sort of see McCabe as someone like Gerard Butler, or  maybe Clive Owen or possibly Patrick Dempsey.

I see Maggie as Anne Hathaway. Or maybe Katherine Heigl. Or Claire Danes.

Would you rather read or watch TV/movie?
Read. While there are TV shows that I think are terrific and that I’ve enjoyed (The Killing, Breaking Bad and The Wire among others), I find novels give me much more access to and involvement with the characters.

Favorite food?
 I’m definitely an omnivore.  As long as it’s well prepared, I love all kinds of food from great New York hot dogs to the fanciest French cuisine. You name it, I’ll eat it.

Favorite beverage?
I’m a Diet Coke addict. And a coffee addict.  I drink four or five cups of strong black brew a day. Beyond that, like my hero McCabe, I’ve always enjoyed good single-malt Scotch Whiskey.  Unlike McCabe, I now drink more red wine than whiskey, mostly Cabernets and Malbecs. I also like a lot of the terrific microbrews available in Maine, especially Peak Organic IPA and Geary’s Hampshire Special Ale.

ABOUT THE BOOK

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Witness
Publication Date: 10/1/2013
Number of Pages: 434
ISBN: 9780062301697

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

 

WELCOME TONI PICCININI

TONI PICCININI

Toni’s writing career started when she stapled her first “book” together and launched it at a reading attended by her brother, Scotty, and her Boxer, Lonesome. The title-less story was a mash-up of Hansel and Gretel, The Six Swans, and a Box Car Children adventure, with the protagonists (sister, brother, and dog) risking everything in their quest for a magical lump of coal that would save the town. It was an immediate success. During the fifty years between her first and second book, The Goodbye Year: Wisdom and Culinary Therapy to Survive Your Child’s Senior Year of High School (and Reclaim the YOU of You) she has, in no order of importance or chronology

• · opened a “Top 100” San Francisco restaurant
• · published scientific articles on the efficacies of antibiotics
• · sang the National Anthem at high school football games
• · published essays, recipes, and cookbook reviews
• · sent three children off to college

Toni lives in Marin County California, which is a long way from her Western Pennsylvania hometown, Heilwood. She is busy on her next book, which may revisit the power found in a magical lump of coal.
Connect with Toni at these sites:

GUEST POST

How To Reclaim the YOU of You

A funny thing happens on the way to Motherhood Nirvana—we get a little lost. It is so busy being a mom. One day tumbles into the next and by the time we come up for air our baby is a senior in high school. The summer before my oldest and only daughter, Page, started her senior year I could feel the sand shifting beneath me. I had dove into the deep end of motherhood, gratefully, gleefully, and completely. Before Page graduated from pre-school she had a toddler and infant brother at home. We were a family of five and I was defined as “Mommy” a role I cherished. When my first Goodbye Year started I recognized that it would be a year of Last Times. What I didn’t recognize was the woman staring back at me in the bathroom mirror.

 I had three Goodbye Years and they couldn’t have been more different from one another. I was a different person each time, too. As I let go of my need to please everyone in my family I caught glimpses of my authenticity. It didn’t happen in one day, or one year, but the journey back to womanhood was and is a beautiful one.

From Chapter One: The First of the Lasts

“The start of a new school year means new friends and some- times saying goodbye to old ones. The September of your Good- bye Year might also mean saying the first goodbyes to some of the roles that you have taken on as mom. With the last back- to-school night dawns the realization of just how much of your social time is spent with fellow moms, whom you met as you settled into your new roles as purveyor of food, school supplies, and clothes, and conveyer of bodies to class, baseball practice, and dance recital. If your child liked another child, you met the mother, and a friendship was formed. That’s nice. They’re nice. Your friendships are still valid, but ask yourself two questions: Will you spend time with this group after graduation? And what kind of folks might you be spending time with if this had never happened, this being your motherhood?

To Do: Join a New Group
It can be as easy as taking a class. Are you interested in photography? Not the family-photos-on-the-annual-vacation kind; I’m talking about black-and-white shots of raindrops pearled on a paned window. Maybe you really know how to apply eye shadow. That’s a skill and could be your passion. Take a cosmetics class or volunteer your talents to the makeup department of your community theater and meet like-minded folks. The members of your new tribe may be much older or much younger than you. They may be single, childless, pierced, or Republican, but they will share your passion for the written word, coastal conservation, or a rubber of bridge. Your new group will stimulate a spark in the You of you that has been buried under the weight of years of motherhood. Don’t worry. The flame is still there; it just needs some air.”

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Goodbye Year is an inspirational, honest, and hilarious tale of Toni’s approach to the end of an era in the Piccinini household.

For many mothers, a child’s senior year brings about a serious look back on the past eighteen. Every event—from Halloween to Mother’s Day—becomes The Last Time.

Toni Piccinini knows exactly what that’s like, and in The Goodbye Year, she offers the loving support every soon-to-be Empty Nester needs. Think of Toni as your bossy-but-loving Italian auntie, with modern sensibilities and a packed pantry. With the wisdom she’s acquired from saying goodbye three times to her own children, she reassuringly holds your hand while encouraging you through the insanity of the college application process, the rejections and the acceptances, and the teary dorm drop-offs. Even better, she reminds every mother that the best is yet to come—freedom, creativity, flexibility, and the Me Years.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Health & Well Being
Paperback: 264 Pages
Publisher: Seal Press
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
ISBN: 1580054862

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WELCOME B.J. DANIELS

AUTHOR NAME

B.J. Daniels wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of 37 published short stories.

That first book, ODD MAN OUT, received a 4 ½ star review from Romantic Times magazine and went on to be nominated for Best Intrigue for that year.

Since then she was won numerous awards including a career achievement award for romantic suspense and numerous nominations and awards for best book.

Daniels lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and two Springer Spaniels, Spot and Jem. When she isn’t writing, she snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis.

She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death and Romance Writers of America.

To contact her, write: B.J. Daniels, P.O. Box 1173, Malta, MT 59538 or email her atbjdaniels@mtintouch.net
Connect with B.J. at these sites:

Q&A with B.J. Daniels

Writing and Reading:
-Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
I draw mostly from personal experience. With FORSAKEN, I had done a newspaper article about an old sheepherder and his “tender,” the young man who took care of camp while the sheepherder took care of the sheep.

So when I began to write my book, I remembered that old sheepherder (I think he said 3 words total) and the poor young man who couldn’t shut up after traveling 150 miles with the sheep over 3 months back in the Beartooths with only the sheepherder as company. J

So I remembered that and it gave me the idea for the book. Other books come from overhearing conversations, news, newspaper stories, or just my own crazy thoughts. J

-Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
I write by the seat of my pants, so I just start writing at the beginning and hope for the best. For FORSAKEN, I knew I would have a mystery and a romance and 2000 sheep back in a remote part of the Beartooths. That’s about all I knew. As I meet the characters, they tell me the story.

-Your routine when writing?  Any idiosyncrasies?
I write every day. My goal is 10 pages. Once I get those done I can quit for the day. Idiosyncrasies? Hmmm. I have to have a Coke Zero or I can’t write. J

-Is writing your full time job?  If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Writing is my full time job. When I’m not at the computer I’m thinking about my characters. There aren’t any days off because of that.

-Who are some of your favorite authors?
Oh gad, I love so many of them. Off the top of my head…Lisa Gardner, Gillian Flynn, Harlan Coben, T. Jefferson Parker, so many more. I read anything I can get my hands on.

-What are you reading now?
Deadwood by Dani Amore

-Are you working on your next novel?  Can you tell us a little about it?
I am always working on my next novel. J MERCY is the fifth book in the Beartooth, Montana series. The series began with UNFORGIVEN, then REDEMPTION, then FORSAKEN. ATONEMENT comes out in March and then MERCY. MERCY is about a US Marshal who goes rogue to catch a serial killer. It isn’t your usual serial killer kind of book though and it’s going to be a lot…sexier than some of the others. That’s all I can tell you because I haven’t written it yet.

Fun questions:
-Your novel will be a movie.  Who would you cast?
I would love to see the Beartooth series as a TV series or movie. I think Tom Selleck could be my sheriff. Or Sam Elliott. The younger hero? Collin Firth.

-Manuscript/Notes: hand written or keyboard?
Keyboard. I can’t imagine not working on a computer.

-Favorite meal?
Anything Mexican

-Favorite food?
Chile Rellenos (that would be peppers and cheese)

-Favorite beverage?
Coke Zero. J

Thank you for stopping by CMash Reads and spending time with us

Thank you for having me. It’s been fun.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Danger runs high and passions burn hot in Montana’s wild country

Big-city detective Bentley Jamison is a long way from home in the Beartooth wilderness when one of local rancher Maddie Conner’s ranch hands goes missing. Towering mountains and a small, tight community are as unfamiliar to Jamison as herding sheep, but he’s never shied away from a challenge. As the new deputy sheriff, he’s sworn to protect every inch of this rough terrain—starting with unraveling a mystery that has left Maddie a wide-open target.

Maddie’s as beautiful—and untamable—as the land around them. Like Jamison, she won’t back down from danger. But desire that flares hotter than their tempers only raises the stakes when a fierce storm traps them in the high mountains. Caught in a killer’s sights, Jamison and Maddie must trust one another, because now survival…and love…are all that matter.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Harlequin HQN
Publication Date: Sep 24 2013
Pages: 384
ISBN: 9780373777808

PURCHASE LINKS:

         

THANKS TO ANNA AT HARLEQUIN,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY TO GIVE AWAY.
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