Guest Author Barbara Taylor Sissel

CMash May 18, 2012 Leave a Comment

If the name of our guest today sounds familiar to you, it is because she was here in March when she stopped by to talk about her book, The Ninth Step, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We had some email correspondence and to my surprise, she generously gifted me a copy of one of her other books. Another great read so I asked if she would come back, visit with us all and talk about the book that she sent me, and to my delight, she accepted. So please, help me welcome back, Barbara Taylor Sissel.

ABOUT BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL

Barbara Taylor Sissel is a freelance writer, book reviewer, and editor. In addition to The Ninth Step, she is the author of two other novels, The Volunteer and The Last Innocent Hour. A one-time editor for a small regional press, Barbara has written extensively for the public relations field. Her short stories and articles have appeared in a number of venues.

An avid gardener, Barbara is currently working with numerous clients on a variety of projects and writing a new novel. She has two sons and lives in Texas outside Houston.

For more information on past and forthcoming books, visit her website. She also blogs here.

GUEST POST

The Roots of the Story

One day I read in the newspaper about a man called a volunteer. In the article, the term “volunteer” wasn’t used in its usual sense. It applied to a prisoner on death row, a man who had been incarcerated there for a number of years, and who had subsequently decided to call off his appeals. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was a volunteer. So was serial killer Gary Gilmore.

The inmate whose story I followed through the news media had to go through channels. It wasn’t a simple matter of asking to die and having the request granted. There was a whole long legal process. In addition to petitioning the court through his attorneys, he had to submit to examination by psychiatrists and pronounced sound enough in mind to make such a decision. There were hearings, more than one if I remember right. He endured a lot of backlash from his fellow inmates. They thought he was copping out, that his act of volunteerism was tantamount to saying he supported the death penalty. Anti-death penalty groups were also against him. They contended, and still do, that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment and should be outlawed no matter who is asking for it. Others labeled it—and again, they still do—state-assisted suicide. According to them, the inmate was getting one over on the system, using it, in other words, to do what he could not find a way to do. All of this was interesting to me to think about, in particular I wondered what it was like to know the exact date of your death. Did the inmate have a calendar and did he mark the day with a red X? But even more than that, what weighed on my mind as I followed the inmate’s story through a number of days was the impact all of this was having on his family.

I wondered, too, about the families of his victims, the two people whom the inmate had murdered after taking them hostage in the course of a convenience store robbery. I wondered about the parents, children and siblings of these three people. I wondered about their friends, all the people who had known them way back when. In the “before” time, when they were just kids and still innocent.

I wondered most about the mothers. I’m a mother. I have two sons, both grown, but I still recall vividly how it felt holding them in my arms. I remember their small faces upturned to mine and their rapt attention when I read to them or sang to them. I remember walks in the woods with them and eating out in restaurants and going bye-bye in the car. I remember the warmth of their hands in mine when we crossed a busy street. So many small acts of love go into a childhood; as mothers we invest so much tender care, so much loving time in our children. Had the death row inmate’s mother invested in her son in this way? Chances are she had not. At least that’s what the statistics say, that criminals don’t ordinarily come from stable, loving homes. And if in the case of this inmate that was true, if this mom hadn’t loved her son, what happened? Why didn’t she?

So while The Volunteer is a story about death row, it is more a story about families under duress, families in the time of calamity. It is a story of mothers and their children when the children are young and when they are middle aged and their parents are old and all the sins come home to roost. It is the story of a woman, a mother and psychologist, who through a shattering series of events uncovers a terrible secret in her past, one that ultimately leaves her holding the power to save a man’s life even as it threatens everything she has come to believe about herself.

After I read the newspaper article, I wanted to know about the mothers; The Volunteer is the story about them that unfolded through hours of what proved to be fascinating and compelling research and writing. I hope you’ll be intrigued now and want to read it and if you do, that you’ll enjoy it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the fall of 1999, psychologist Sophia Beckman is compelled by the court to give testimony on behalf of a death row inmate that results in his sentence being overturned. Haunted by secrets from her past, she avoids the media spotlight as much as possible, but soon, other prisoners’ families come seeking her assistance. One family in particular, the wife, children, and brother of Jarrett Capshaw, is especially insistent. Forty-one days ago Jarrett’s request to die was granted by the State of Texas, and he became a dead man walking, a man they call a volunteer.

Jarrett’s crimes were unusual, involving the theft of precious Mayan antiquities. Murder was never part of the plan, but murder is what happened. He pulled the trigger, and as little as he feels prepared for it, as much as he struggles with matters of the soul, he’s ready to die. It is the only way his family and the families of his victims will be free to move on. While Jarrett labors to find the words to say good-bye to those he has loved, Sophia finds herself drawn into a relationship with his wife and oldest son. It is Jarrett’s family she can’t resist and there will be a price to pay. But not even Sophia could have foreseen the outcome when the brutal truth is exposed, the unalloyed facts that, incredibly, will deliver Jarrett’s fate straight into her hands.

The Volunteer is a story about families, how they are made, and how in one single, horrifying instant, they can be broken. It is a story about mothers and the lies they tell to protect their children, to keep them from being hurt. But what happens when the truth comes out anyway and nothing and no one is spared? Sometimes the truth has the power to break your heart, and in Sophia’s case it will also endanger her freedom and threaten everything she has ever believed about her life.
Read my review here.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL, I HAVE TWO (2)
EBOOK EDITIONS OF THIS FANTASTIC BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

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.

Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author Peter Leonard

CMash May 15, 2012 Leave a Comment

Today is a very special day and I get to share it with all of you. My guest has been here before with his previous novel, Voices of the Dead, and today he is back with his newest book. Why is it special? Because Peter and Mr. Aronica, publisher of The Story Plant, have given me the honor of kicking off his virtual tour with Partners In Crime Tours, as All He Saw Was The Girl hits the shelves today!!!!!! So please help me welcome back , Mr. Peter Leonard!

ABOUT PETER LEONARD

Peter Leonard lives in Birmingham, Michigan with his wife and four children. He is a partner in the ad agency Leonard, Mayer & Tocco, Inc.

Peter Leonard’s debut novel, QUIVER was published to international acclaim in 2008, and was followed by TRUST ME in 2009, and VOICES OF THE DEAD in 2012.

You can visit Peter at his website here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rome:

McCabe and Chip, two American exchange students, are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl, and a flawed kidnapping plan.

Detroit:
Sharon Vanelli’s affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.

Brilliantly plotted and shot through with wry humor, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL sees these two narratives collide in the backstreets of Italy’s oldest city.

See my review here.

Amazon link B&N link

Read an excerpt:

Sharon was thinking, who was this guy lived in a five-thousand-square-foot house – not that his taste was any good – on Lake St. Clair, had nothing but leisure time or so it seemed?He called her four, five times a day, said, “How you doing?”And Sharon would say, “Same as I was when you called fifteen minutes ago.”“Baby, I miss you. Tell them you’re sick, we’ll go to the casino.” Or he’d be at the track or a Tigers day game, he’d say, “I gotta see you. Take the afternoon off, I’ll send a car.”She’d been going out with him for three weeks and it was getting serious. They’d meet at noon, check into a hotel a couple times a week and spend two hours in bed, screwing and drinking champagne. It was something, best sex she’d ever had in her life. He did things to her nobody had ever done before. She’d say, where’d you learn that? And he’d say, you inspire me, beautiful. The only bad thing, he called her Sharona, or my Sharona. Everything else was great so she let it go.

They’d take his boat out on Lake St. Clair and she’d sunbathe topless. Something she’d never done in her life and never imagined herself doing. She felt invigorated, liberated. He always told her she looked good, complimented her outfit. Showered her with gifts, bought her clothes and jewelry. She felt like a teenager again. They’d meet and talk and touch each other and kiss. She was happy for the first time in years. She had to be careful. Ray, the next time he came home, might notice something and get suspicious.Why’re you so happy? she could hear him saying – like there was something wrong with it.

But this relationship with Joey also made her nervous. Things were happening too fast. She was falling for him and she barely knew him, and she was married.

DISCLAIMER
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

Book Review, Guest Author, Showcase, The Book Trib/Media Muscle

Guest Author Diane Chamberlain

CMash May 12, 2012 2 Comments

I am beyond thrilled today…..I AM ECSTATIC!!! Today’s guest is phenomenal. I was hooked when I read 2 of her previous books The Lies We Told and The Midwife’s Confession.

Please indulge me to tell you what I did. When the husband and I went on vacation last year, one of the books that I packed was The Midwife’s Confession. LOVED IT!! So when Steve surprised me with another trip back to Aruba around the same time we went last year, which we just returned from 3 days ago, I started my priority mental packing list. What books to take with us. There ARE priorities lol. Around the same time I found out about this year’s trip, Ms. Chamberlain “friended” me on GR. And I can’t believe what I did, but I did it. I emailed her in February, told her about Aruba and asked if there was a new book coming out and would she be on tour with it in the form of ARCs because I would love to participate. To my surprise and delight, she had her publisher send me a digital version. However, knowing it was tucked safely in my Kindle, I was too tempted and had to read it before our vacation. OMG!! LOVED IT!!! The only problem now…I have to wait until her next book.

So without further ado, the very talented best selling author, Ms. Diane Chamberlain!!!

ABOUT DIANE CHAMBERLAIN

I was an insatiable reader as a child, and that fact, combined with a vivid imagination, inspired me to write. I penned a few truly terrible “novellas” at age twelve, then put fiction aside for many years as I pursued my education.

I grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey and spent my summers at the Jersey Shore, two settings that have found their way into my novels.

In high school, my favorite authors were the unlikely combination of Victoria Holt and Sinclair Lewis. I loved Holt’s flair for romantic suspense and Lewis’s character studies as well as his exploration of social values, and both those authors influenced the writer I am today.

I attended Glassboro State College in New Jersey as a special education major before moving to San Diego, where I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from San Diego State University. After graduating, I worked in a couple of youth counseling agencies and then focused on medical social work, which I adored. I worked at Sharp Hospital in San Diego and Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. before opening a private psychotherapy practice in Alexandria, Virginia, specializing in adolescents. I reluctantly closed my practice in 1992 when I realized that I could no longer split my time between two careers and be effective at both of them.

It was while I was working in San Diego that I started writing. I’d had a story in my mind since I was a young adolescent about a group of people living together at the Jersey Shore. While waiting for a doctor’s appointment one day, I pulled out a pen and pad began putting that story on paper. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I took a class in fiction writing, but for the most part, I “learned by doing.” That story, PRIVATE RELATIONS, took me four years to complete. I sold it in 1986, but it wasn’t published until 1989 (three very long years!), when it earned me the RITA award for Best Single Title Contemporary Novel. Except for a brief stint writing for daytime TV (One Life to Live) and a few miscellaneous articles for newspapers and magazines, I’ve focused my efforts on book-length fiction and am currently working on my nineteenth novel.

My stories are often filled with mystery and suspense, and–I hope–they also tug at the emotions. Relationships – between men and women, parents and children, sisters and brothers – are always the primary focus of my books. I can’t think of anything more fascinating than the way people struggle with life’s trials and tribulations, both together and alone.

In the mid-nineties, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a challenging disease to live with. Although my RA is under good control with medication and I can usually type for many hours a day, I sometimes rely on voice recognition technology to get words on paper. I’m very grateful to the inventor of that software! I lived in Northern Virginia until the summer of 2005, when I moved to North Carolina, the state that inspired so many of my stories and where I live with my significant other, photographer John Pagliuca. I have three grown stepdaughters, two sons-in-law, four grandbabies, and two shelties named Keeper and Jet.

For me, the real joy of writing is having the opportunity to touch readers with my words. I hope that my stories move you in some way and give you hours of enjoyable reading.
You can visit Ms. Chamberlain at her website and Facebook page.

GUEST POST

Using personal stories in writing: do or don’t?

Every writer has to decide for herself how autobiographical to make a novel. First novels often tend to be the most autobiographical because those personal stories are itching to be told. But what will the author write about for book two? Or three? Or twenty? I discovered early on that writing from personal experience didn’t serve me well. First, as thrilling as my personal stories were to me, I doubted they’d be that exciting to my readers—unless I told the really juicy ones, and I wasn’t going there! Second, personal stories rarely involve only one person, and I would never be comfortable writing about other “real people” in one of my books.

Even worse than using my own experience is using someone else’s. When I was a new writer, I also had a private psychotherapy practice. I decided not to tell any of my clients about my fledgling second career, not wanting them to worry I might use something they told me in confidence. However, after an article about me appeared in the local paper, I knew I had to come clean. I told every potential client that I was a fiction writer but would never use something I heard in my office in my writing. Then I allowed them to make the decision whether to work with me or not. Despite hearing some very intriguing/moving/amazing stories, I kept that promise.

What I do incorporate into my books, though, is what I’ve learned about people in general from my work as a social worker. For example, many of my books have a strong medical element in them influenced by my years as a hospital social worker, when I had the privilege of witnessing people at their most vulnerable, their most courageous, their most human. Although I never use specific people or situations in my novels, what I learned from working with people influences everything I write.

To follow Ms. Chamberlain’s tour and read more great posts, like above, click here !!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and worrying about keeping food on the table. He’s never regretted his decision: Bella is the light of his life. But after Travis loses his job and his home, the security he’s worked so hard to create for his daughter begins to crumble. When he receives a job offer, he thinks his troubles have come to an end . . . not realizing that they’ve only just begun.

READ AN EXCERPT:

Meeting Bella
I was sipping coffee in my brown leather chair at JumpStart, typing a post to my Harley’s Dad group, the online support group that had become my lifeline since Carolyn’s death, when my iPad beeped to alert me to an email. It was from my supervisor, Gene, at the pharmacy. We’re looking forward to having you back a week from Monday, the email read. I guessed that was his way of not so subtly reminding me I was expected back. I was dreading my return to work, but now it was a matter of money as well as what my therapist called a “need to re-engage with the real world”. My Harley’s Dad friends were my real world, I told her. Nobody realer than the people who understood exactly how it felt to lose a child.

I was still a little afraid that I’d screw up at work the way I did the first time I tried to go back, when I’d given a customer the wrong medication. My head was clearer now and I wasn’t totally numb like I’d been in the beginning, but I was still overwhelmed by sadness and the thought of “re-engaging with the real world” tired me out.

Right, I answered Gene. See you then.

I was reading a post written by Harley’s Dad himself when, from the corner of my eye, I noticed a man and little girl come out of the men’s room and head for the counter. I sat up straight. Carolyn? Of course not. She didn’t even look like Carolyn, but in the irrational and sometimes scary part of my mind, I could manage to see my daughter in any little girl. Carolyn had been blond, though, while this child had brown hair. She held the man’s hand as they walked toward the counter. He was in his early twenties, I thought, barely. He was dressed in old jeans and a gray t-shirt with a dirty, once-white canvas bag slung over one shoulder. It seemed strange to see a man and child together in the coffee shop, especially on a weekday morning, and especially coming out of the men’s room together, although my husband, Michael, had taken Carolyn into the men’s room any number of times. Still, could this guy have kidnapped her? Was he abusing her? Maybe she needed me to rescue her?

Stop it, I told myself. The girl seemed perfectly at ease with him, holding his hand, leaning against his leg as he ordered something I couldn’t hear. Her hair was a little straggly and her bangs hung low over her eyes. She wore pale blue shorts, red sneakers, and a blue and white striped shirt. I could see a couple of stains on the front of it even from where I sat. A small pink purse hung from her arm, the same arm that clutched a stuffed animal to her chest. She was so darling. I didn’t want to look at her. The way I felt scared me. Seeing a little girl whole and alive filled me with such longing it was almost unbearable, and this one, with her straggly hair and dirty shirt, needed a little more TLC than she was getting. She looked like she needed a mommy.

I forced my gaze back to my iPad and started a new post on the support group.

I’m in a coffee shop, I typed, and a little girl just walked in with a man (her father?) and even though she doesn’t look like Carolyn, I thought it might be her. Guess I’m in crazy grieving mom mode right now! I hit send. I knew I’d get responses within a few minutes, and I could even predict what they would be. Other parents would relate similar experiences. Similar feelings. And I would feel less crazy. Less alone.

I looked up. The man and little girl were walking toward my small circle of furniture. The man sat down on the sofa and the girl climbed up next to him. He smiled at me and she tipped her head back a little to look at me from beneath her long bangs. Her eyes were huge and gray. The same gray as his, only his were fringed with thick black lashes. He was handsome, though tired looking, and the little girl was equally pretty beneath her messy hair. Father and daughter, most definitely.

“How’re you doin’?” He slid the canvas bag from his shoulder and rested it on the sofa next to him. “Is it always this quiet in here?”

I could barely breathe. I felt the way I had when I first saw a horse as a child. I’d been both fascinated and afraid, longing to move closer but fearful it might hurt me. If I looked at this little girl too long, I was afraid of how I’d feel, so I only brushed my gaze over her as I responded.

“It’s busy earlier in the morning,” I said, “and it’ll pick up again around lunchtime.”

I looked down at my iPad. No response yet to my post to the Harley’s Dad group.

“We’re new in town,” the man said. “I’m Travis and this is Bella.”

“I’m Erin.” I should have just said I was working. Tuned him out the way I tuned out the other people in the shop. Even the barista rarely tried to talk to me now beyond a “good morning,” and I guessed he thought I was pretty cold. But the little girl–Bella–felt like a magnet to me and try as I might not to look at her, my gaze kept drifting in her direction. She had me mesmerized by those big gray eyes. “She’s your daughter?” I asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” He broke the muffin he’d bought into two parts, rested each half on a napkin, and handed one of them to Bella. She was almost dainty as she lifted the muffin to her mouth and took a bite from the corner.

I waited until she swallowed, then leaned forward in my chair. “How old are you, Bella?” I smiled at her and the smile felt anemic and shaky.

She didn’t answer. Shyly, she leaned closer to her father’s arm. The skin beneath her nose was a little red, the way Carolyn’s would get during allergy season.

“Answer Miss Erin,” the man said to her. “Tell her how old you are.”

Bella held up four fingers, a fat crumb from the muffin stuck to one of them. “Four,” she said. She noticed the crumb and nibbled it from her hand. Carolyn would have been four now, if she’d lived. Bella was a little small for four. Thin and waif-like.

“She just turned four a couple of weeks ago,” Travis said. Except for dark circles around his eyes, he was a very good-looking guy. If I’d been ten years younger, single and not completely miserable, he would have captivated me. Instead I was captivated by his daughter. “We didn’t have much of a party,” Travis added. “Things were a little rocky. So we’re going to celebrate when she turns four and a half, aren’t we Bella?”

Bella looked up at him and gave a nod. I wished she would smile. She didn’t look like a very happy child.

“She’s sleepy,” Travis said. We had a long drive yesterday and didn’t sleep too well last night.”

“Where did you move from?” I asked.

“Carolina Beach,” he said. “No work there, so we had no choice but to come to Raleigh.” He screwed up his face and I knew he wasn’t happy about the move. “I have a job lined up here, though. I interview with the guy tomorrow.”

“I hope you get it,” I said.

“Oh, it’s sewn up. The interview’s just a formality. A mutual friend hooked me up with him.” He handed Bella the cup of water he’d set on the coffee table. “Do you have kids?” he asked.

I shook my head. I felt Carolyn in the air around me, hurt and betrayed.

“Then you probably don’t know where I can find childcare for when I start working, huh?”

I shook my head again. It was the truth. I didn’t know the child care options in this new-to-me neighborhood. “Your wife’s not with you?” I asked.

“No wife,” he said. He pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and blotted Bella’s nose in a way that told me he’d done it hundreds of times before. “It’s just me and Bella,” he said.

Had there been a wife? I wondered. Were they divorced? Did she die?

“So, is it nice around here?” he asked. “Bella and I are used to the beach, aren’t we, Bell? We’re not used to all the trees and the big buildings.”

“It’s nice,” I said. I was thinking of the fun places we used to take Carolyn. Monkey Joe’s and the kids’ museum and Pullen Park, but I couldn’t talk about them. I couldn’t let the image of Carolyn riding the train at Pullen Park into my head right then. “I hope the job’s a good one.”

“Me too,” he said. “We need a break.”

Yes, that’s how he looked. How both of them looked–like they’d been to hell and back and needed a break.

“Excuse me, Miss Erin,” Travis said, “but it’s story time.” He pulled a picture book from the canvas bag. Cat in the Hat. Michael and I had read every Dr. Seuss book to Carolyn too many times to count. I had the feeling Travis had read it to Bella many times, too, because the book jacket was ragged looking and slipping off the book itself. I watched Bella climb onto his lap as he opened the book. I remembered how it felt to hold a little girl in my arms that way. How it felt to have her lean back against me while I read. I felt the injustice of it all over again. I wanted my baby back.

I lowered my eyes to my iPad, glad Travis’s attention was now on the book and not me, because whatever was in my face wasn’t meant for anyone to see. The screen of my iPad blurred in front of me and I had to blink a few times before I could read the first response to my post.

Carolyn’s always with you, Harley’s Dad had written. She’s in that little girl and in the little girl’s father and in the air that you breathe. Remember that.

Yes, I thought. I looked over at Bella and Travis where they sat together, absorbed in the book, and I felt Carolyn slip over all three of us like a veil of warm air.

MY REVIEW WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 02/23/12

THE GOOD FATHER by Diane Chamberlain
Published by Mira Books
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
ISBN-10: 0778313468
ISBN-13: 978-0778313465
At the generosity of the publisher, Mira Books, an ARC Digital Version was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (borrowed from Amazon): A beloved daughter. A devastating choice. And now there’s no going back.
Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and worrying about keeping food on the table. But he’s never regretted his decision. Bella is the light of his life. The reason behind every move he makes.And so far, she is fed. Cared for. Safe.
But when Travis loses his construction job and his home, the security he’s worked so hard to create for Bella begins to crumble….
Then a miracle. A job in Raleigh has the power to turn their fortunes around. It has to. But when Travis arrives in Raleigh, there is no job, only an offer to participate in a onetime criminal act that promises quick money and no repercussions.
With nowhere else to turn, Travis must make another choice for his daughter’s sake.

My Thoughts and Opinion: I feel I need to start this review off with a caveat and a huge THANK YOU to author, Ms. Diane Chamberlain. A few weeks ago, we became “friends” on GoodReads. And it started me thinking. Last year when my husband and I went on vacation, one of the books that came along with us was The Midwife’s Confession, which I reviewed for Meryl L. Moss Media and gave it a 5/5. I had become a fan of her’s when I read The Lies We Told, which I also rated a 5/5. Since we are going away again, same time, same place, I have already started a mental priority packing list, which is, what books will be packed this year. So I garnered up the courage, emailed her, and asked if she had a new book coming out and would it be on an ARC tour? She responded saying she would check with her publisher, but in the meantime, much to my surprise, honor, and delight, her publisher sent me a copy. Unfortunately, knowing it was in my possession, I could not wait until our vacation to read it.

The prologue steals your heart with the introduction of a 4 year old little girl, Bella, in which the other main characters are brought into the story line and come to life. There is so much to this book, and I apologize for being vague at times, but I do not want to include spoilers. There was suspense, relationship dynamics, betrayals, grief, guilt, desperation, good, evil, secrets, lies, friendships, innocence, terror, blame, and above all a parent’s unconditional love. The author writes in such a way that is so brilliant, detailed and descriptive, what I call a “transport” read, where I was so engrossed that I actually felt that I was part of the story and could create such realistic imagery of the entire book. Each chapter alternates and is told through the perspective of 3 main characters, which made this reader want to read ahead to find out the outcome of the previous chapter’s situation the author leaves you with. It was a page turning read. I could not put this book down and read it in 2 days. This is a book that will stay with you long after reading the last word. A powerful, compelling, heartfelt, and passionate read. Highly recommend, matter of fact, preorder it!!

THANKS TO ERIN AND THE GENEROUS FOLKS AT
THE BOOK TRIB/MEDIA MUSCLE, I HAVE ONE (1)
COPY OF THIS PHENOMENAL BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

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.

(2012 Challenges:Romantic Suspense, EBooks, ARC, Off The Shelf, Free Reads, Where Are You?, A-Z, 52 in 52, Outdo Yourself, 100+)

Guest Author, Showcase, The Story Plant

Guest Author Lou Aronica

CMash May 5, 2012 1 Comment

How is everyone today? I know I am thrilled because of who my guest is today. Grab your coffee and get comfortable because it is truly a special day for me and I want to share with all of you!! If you follow my blog and know me, you know I get very excited about certain things and it usually comes through in my posts whereas I get very chatty and animated (you should see me in person, being Italian, I also talk with my hands lol). OK……enough about me but please indulge me with my fervent introduction.

Today’s guest is a very busy, multi talented, brilliant, a true gentleman, a person that I highly respect and have the honor to call him “friend”. Mr. Lou Aronica, publisher of The Story Plant, contacted me when I first came on the scene of this neighborhood of book blogging and reviewing, asking if I would read and review a book he was publishing by author Michael Baron, Crossing The Bridge. That was in December 2009. Since that time, I have read and reviewed many titles by the same author and other writers he publishes through The Story Plant- Spread The Word Initiative . And every single one of those authors have been added and gone on my “favorite authors TBR” list, except one that I haven’t read yet, and that is Lou Aronica himself. But I plan to rectify that problem. I plan on reading the book he is going to talk about today. So along with you, I now get to meet author, Lou Aronica. Please help me give him a warm welcome to the CMash blog!!

ABOUT LOU ARONICA

Lou Aronica is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Element(written with Ken Robinson), as well as the national bestsellers The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille) and Blue along with several other works of fiction and nonfiction. Prior to focusing on writing, Aronica spent twenty years as a book publishing executive, serving as Deputy Publisher of Bantam Books, and Publisher of Berkley and Avon Books, as well as founding the Bantam Spectra imprint. He is currently President and Publisher of The Fiction Studio and Publisher of The Story Plant.

Lou Aronica lives with his wife and four children in Southern Connecticut.

You can visit Lou at The Story Plant, Fiction Studio Books and Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

I’d like to thank everyone who read, responded to, and recommended my novel Blue. The success of Blue has been a rewarding and encouraging experience for me and has spurred me to move in even more ambitious directions with my fiction in the future.

That future begins with Differential Equations, a novel I collaborated on with Julian Iragorri. Julian is a true Renaissance man. He’s a financial wizard, a film producer, and a visionary, among other things. He also has remarkable storytelling gifts, and those gifts are on strong display in this novel.

Differential Equations is the story of Alex Soberano, a contemporary man in crisis. A tremendously successful New York businessman, Alex finds it difficult to embrace joy and accept love. When his life threatens to boil over, he escapes for a brief respite on the West Coast. What waits for him there is something he never could have imagined.

Intertwined with Alex’s story are the stories of three people from different times and places whose lives affect him in surprising ways:

• A woman from the South American city of Anhelo in 1928 that everyone knows as “Vidente.” For decades, Vidente, has been one of Anhelo’s most celebrated citizens because she has the ability to read colors that speak of a person’s fate. However, during one such reading, she sees her own future – a future that includes her imminent death.

• A man named Khaled who left his home in Bethlehem in 1920 to seek fortune in the South American town of Joya de la Costa. He has barely begun to gain a foothold when he learns that the wife and three children he left behind have been murdered. When a magical woman enters his life, he believes that destiny has smiled on him. However, destiny has only just begun to deal with Khaled.

• A nineteen-year-old student named Dro who flies from the South American country of Legado to Boston in 1985 and immediately walks onto the campus of MIT expecting instant admission. Dro’s skills at mastering complex, ever-changing differential equations intrigues the associate admissions director. However, the person he intrigues the most is the celebrated US ambassador from his country, and his relationship with her will define his life.

How the stories of these four people merge is the central mystery of Differential Equations.

If you’ve read Blue, I think you’ll find many similar motifs here, including the intersection of reality and imagination, and the transformative power of the spirit. You’ll also find a strong concentration on characters and their relationships (frankly, I don’t think I could ever be involved with a novel that didn’t concentrate on these). One note: while Blue was a novel for readers of all ages, Differential Equations is definitely an adult novel. Some of the situations in it are decidely not for teens.

You can find out more about Differential Equations here. I hope you get a chance to read it, and I’m looking forward to your thoughts.

Purchase links:
Order from Amazon here; Barnes and Noble here; Apple here; and Chapters here.

Books by Lou Aronica:

Fiction:
The Forever Year (as Ronald Anthony)
Flash and Dazzle (as Ronald Anthony)
Blue
Until Again

Nonfiction:
A Million Thanks (as L.A. Stamford; with Shauna Fleming)
The Discipline Miracle (as L.A. Stamford; with Linda Pearson)
The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille)
Riding the Blue Train (with Bart Sayle and Surinder Kumar)
The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love (as L.A. Stamford; with Paul Dobransky)
Miraculous Health (with Rick Levy)
The Power of Female Friendship (as L.A. Stamford; with Paul Dobransky)
The Element (with Ken Robinson)
Conscientious Equity (with Neal Asbury)

DISCLAIMER
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,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

Guest Author

Guest Post from Author, Graham Parke

CMash May 3, 2012 Leave a Comment

Unspent Time Launch Party

Get free books and win a Kindle Fire or a Kindle Touch

Warning: reading this novel may make you more attractive and elevate your random luck by about 9.332%*
(* These statements have not been evaluated by any person of consequence!)

From the award winning author of ‘No Hope for Gomez!’ comes a collection of impossible tales. Permeating the cracks between the past and the present is the realm of Unspent Time; time that was allotted but never spent. This is where we find the stories that could have been true.
Read how to enter below. Excerpt Sunday brunch; the table overflowing with food and drink, the fine china and silverware laid out, the clock ticking away painfully slow minutes before father finally speaks. “Well son,” he says, “isn’t it about time you got yourself a job?”John looks up from his plate. “Dad,” he says, “I havea job.”Father nods thoughtfully, chewing his medium rare steak. “I guess it’s about time you moved out then. Found a place of your own. Planted some roots.”John is baffled. “But dad, I moved out five years ago. In fact, this is the first time I’ve been back.” He looks over at mother, who shrugs and says, “You know dear, your brother has his own business. He set up an accountancy firm.”John rolls his eyes. “That’s me, mom. I set up an accountancy firm. John Williams and Associates.””That’s good to hear,” father says. “Always said you should run your own business. You have a keen business sense. You always had.”

“I just wish he’d find himself a girlfriend,” mother complains.

“What do you mean?” John smiles apologetically at Annabel. “I have a girlfriend, mother, she’s sitting next to you. She gave you flowers at the door, remember?” He points at the vase. “You put them in water.”

Mother waves it away with a warm smile. “Sorry dear, I meant a proper girlfriend.” She squeezes Annabel’s hand. “You know what I mean, don’t you dear?”

Annabel opens her mouth, but can’t think of anything to say.

“Didn’t you used to have dark hair,” father says suddenly, “and not quite so many arms?” He looks John over carefully. “Yes, yes,” he says, “you definitely look different. Did you get shorter?”

“That’s enough!” John gets up. He gestures at Annabel to do the same. “If you cannot behave like civilized human beings, then we’re going! I can’t believe you’d treat Annabel and myself this way. It’s appalling!”

Father throws down his napkin and stands as well. “Serves you right, young man,” he says. “Serves you right for not going home for five years and then ending up in the wrong house!”

… continued in Unspent Time

How to enter:
For the launch of the new novel I decided to discount it to $0.99 for today (PC and eBook), give away some exclusive content, and raffle off two Kindles. All entrants will get:

An exclusive spin-off novelette (not available for purchase anywhere!)
Making of Gomez: behind the scenes eBook
Signature for their paperback or kindle edition
Chance to win a Kindle Fire or a Kindle Touch

(Prizes can be traded for Amazon gift certificates if you already own them.)
Just email your receipt to nohopeforgomez@gmail.com to enter.
Each purchase counts, so stock up on birthday presents (for people you don’t like that much, for instance) The discount ends today, but be sure to send the receipts no later than June 1st.

(Or order the books from any bookstore.)
Coupon code for today: ZB77D

And then get by tweeting about your purchase:Tweet

Sound bites from Unspent Time:

“I’m looking into my past lives. I’m convinced some of them still owe me money.”

“I’m very polite by nature, even the voices in my head let each other finish their sentences.”

“I didn’t actually want to do it,” Kiala told the boy. “The universe just kind of conspired to force me to make a fool of myself. It does that quite a lot, actually.”

“Sadly, my socks are like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.”

Here’s what reviewers had to say:

“A veritable page turner of nonstop laughs!” — Reader Views
“An unputdownable read. a Coens Brothers’ film in book form.” — BookReview.com
“Extremely witty and clever writing.” — California Chronicle
“A Party for your Brain!” — Warren Baxter

Bio:

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.

www.grahamparke.com
www.grahamparke.blogspot.com
GoodReads
Facebook

DISCLAIMER
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,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

Guest Author

Guest Author Tom Avitabile

CMash April 27, 2012 1 Comment

I am honored to introduce you to today’s guest. I have said in the past that I have reviewed many books at the request of The Story Plant and have added each new author to my “author’s TBR list”. Well today, I will be adding another author, having his book published by Fiction Studio, a division of The Story Plant. So please help me give a warm welcome to Mr. Tom Avitabile as he talks about the 2nd book in his ‘Wild Bill’ Hiccock thriology.

ABOUT TOM AVITABILE

Author Tom Avitabile, a senior creative director at a New York City advertising firm, is a writer, director and producer with numerous film and television credits. He has an extensive background in engineering and computers.

Avitabile’s work on projects for the House Committee on Science and Technology helped lay the foundation for “The Eighth Day,” his first novel. In his spare time, Avitabile is a professional musician and an amateur woodworker. He is currently at work on his next novel featuring William “Wild Bill” Hiccock.
You can connect with Tom at his website here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

With Americain the crosshairs of terrorists who don’t have to play by the rules, President Mitchell needed an edge. That’s where Bill Hiccock’s Quarterback Ops Group, (QuOG) a top-secret operations cluster run out of the White House, comes in. They are the Commander-in-Chief’s personal ‘pointy end of the stick’. Given unprecedented power, these dedicated men and women cut through the cells and terror networks at home and abroad, unleashing the full force and determination of Americaacross the world. QuOG’s goal: To find the loose suitcase nuke before it finds its way to a city near you.

From psych-ops, where we terrorize the terrorist, to the pure brute force of going in hot, wet and wild, QuOG uses innovative technology and on-the-spot improvisation to beat the bad guys before they know the game is on!

Hiccock fields his handpicked team of the ‘best of the best’ in abilities and prowess. From Brooke Burrell who distinguished herself as an FBI agent, going toe-to-toe with a terrorist mastermind, to Bridgestone and Ross who cut through countries, culture, and bull-crap like a laser through butter. To the former hacker for the mob, Kronos, an offbeat ‘techno-sapien,’ who practically mind-melds with any computer, network or Internet backbone and manipulates it to do his bidding. With Janice Hiccock, Bill’s wife and insight into the human behavioral matrix. And Bill himself, whose brilliant analytical mind and propensity to somehow find himself in the line-of-fire, belies his overachieving academic persona, albeit one who also majored in throwing a pass 60-yards into the end zone as well.

America’s and Hiccock’s greatest challenge is saving millions of American lives in a high stakes game of deception, terror and heart-stopping acts of aggression which could bring America to its knees.

Look for my review in the coming weeks.

Watch the trailer here.

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.

Guest Author, WOW Tours

Guest Author Karen Kondazian

CMash April 26, 2012 Leave a Comment

You know that Jodi from WOW visits often and always has a new and amazing author to introduce us to and today is no exception. And what’s exciting for me, her book is based on a true story of a Rhode Island woman, which is where I live. So please help me welcome Ms. Karen Kondazian!

*ABOUT KAREN KONDAZIAN*

Karen Kondazians life dream was to be a CIA spyuntil she turned eight and she was invited to appear on Art Linkletters Kids Say the Darndest Things. After several days of missing school to tape the show Karen realized that acting was indeed her true calling. Karen has an extensive list of both theatre and television roles shes played and also teaches at the Lee Strasberg School of Theatre and Film in Hollywood. Karens first foray into writing also stayed in the acting realm: The Actors Encyclopedia of Casting Directors. But now shes branched out into historical fiction with a main character that any actress would love to play!
You can visit Karen at Facebook, website, and her blog.

*ABOUT THE BOOK*

Life can be tough! Imagine falling in love with a runaway slave and having his child. Or tracking a killer who destroyed your family. Living your life as a man, making your living as a stagecoach driver, or killing a famous outlaw. Any one of those things would qualify as a tough life but what if they ALL happened to you? They did to Charley Parkhurst and The Whip is the story of her incredible life in the Wild West of the 1860s.

Just Thought You Should Know:
The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte Charley Parkhurst, a Rhode Island woman who lived her life in the West as a man.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, KAREN KONDAZIAN, I
HAVE ONE (1) BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

Guest Author, The Cadence Group

Guest Author Andrea Kayne Kaufman

CMash April 25, 2012 1 Comment

Oh….so many good books….so little time. That’s why when Rebecca from The Cadence Group contacted me about this author, I had to share it with all of you. So please help me welcome today’s guest, Ms. Andrea Kayne Kaufman!!

ABOUT ANDREA KAYNE KAUFMAN

Andrea Kayne Kaufman has guided and mentored hundreds of students as a professor at the DePaul University College of Education, where she serves as Chair of the Department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum. A professor and attorney who earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, a master’s degree in Education from Harvard University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Andrea has students who are primarily teachers, seeking masters and doctoral degrees in Educational Leadership to serve as principals and superintendents.

Andrea is an award-winning expert in the area of school law, and has published and spoken widely about special education law, education civil rights, the No Child Left Behind Act, cyber bullying, and other legal and political issues having an impact on students and schools.

In her personal and professional life, Andrea has been involved with issues relating to special needs, in particular Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Her debut novel, Oxford Messed Up, is a literary love story that transports readers on a redemptive and emotional journey, where the academic world of Oxford University serves as a backdrop for true learning, self-discovery, and transcendent love. Andrea’s professional expertise and personal experience have given her the vision to create a novel hailed by experts as one of the first to present the inner workings and treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder accurately, from the inside out.

Andrea is currently working on her next novel, Parent Over Shoulder. In this poignant love story, Andrea brings her education background, sensitivity, insight and articulate writing style to another “hell” found in many school communities – cyber-bullying. You can preview the first sample pages of Parent Over Shoulder here.

Andrea draws inspiration for her writing and life from poetry, Van Morrison’s music and other classic vinyl, her daily walks along Lake Michigan, and her time spent with her husband and two children in their equanimity-filled Chicago home.
You can visit Andrea at her website here.

GUEST POST

Oxford is NOT Gloria and Henry’s Kind Of Town
But That’s The Point

My main character, Gloria, is from Chicago. Chicago is a great city (and my home). But the love story for my novel, Oxford Messed Up, unfolds across the pond at Oxford. I’ve had readers ask how I chose that setting. The university, the oldest in the English-speaking world, is steeped in history, culture, and beauty with an impressive and profoundly rich intellectual tradition. I’ve traveled there with my family and as soon as Gloria began developing in my mind, I knew she belonged at Oxford. And I knew Henry belonged there too, even if he didn’t believe me (or Gloria) at first!

Gloria heads to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Being a Rhodes Scholar means you were singled out for your achievement in a particular area. It is considered by many to be the single most prestigious academic award available and Rhodes scholars go on to become leaders in their field. Rachel Maddow? Rhodes Scholar. Bill Clinton, Nick Kristof, and Naomi Wolf, too. She’s in some pretty good company. When we meet “Our Superstar” as Gloria’s father calls her, she is being reminded over and over again on her way to the airport that this is a natural next step for her. Of course she would be receiving the most prestigious award after graduating from Yale and discovering a missing manuscript. It’s only natural that this superstar shines on many continents, even if she can’t use the bathroom on her way there.

But for Gloria, Oxford is many things besides an academic notch on her belt. It is way, way, way outside of her safe, sealed world. Gloria built a controlled and disciplined life, thanks to Oliver, allowing her to navigate relationships and obligations while still being ruled by her OCD. Oxford is, well, going to mess that up. The hallowed halls of learning are also full of risks and dangers for someone like Gloria. Even getting on the plane to go is a huge gamble once her impressive supply of hand sanitizer is confiscated by TSA. She’s attempted to work around it by creating schedules and living a disciplined life in her private quarters, not knowing that private doesn’t mean there won’t be a dashing English boy sitting on her toilet when she arrives.

The world of academics grounds Gloria. The Bodleian Library, for example, is just the kind of place Gloria likes. The Bod, as Oxford students call it, is the second largest library in all of England and one of the oldest in Europe. I liked the idea of Gloria immersing herself in all the old books and documents wearing white gloves to protect the pages and to protect her hands from prying eyes. It makes sense that she would gravitate to places like a silent, hermetically sealed archival library to lose herself in her feminist poetry. She can trust that, there, even the air is clean enough for her tastes.

Gloria thinks she’ll be able to disappear into her work at Oxford. The location is almost irrelevant to her as is blurs by during her car ride to campus. She’s not thinking about all that Oxford is besides a place to study and to achieve. She comes to find that it is a place that offers her escape as much as it offers risks. The music stores, restaurants and pubs, even her favorite bench outside her room are places she can begin to define herself as more than the superstar and as more than her OCD. And for Henry, dear Henry, Oxford’s traditions of excellence are a constant reminder of just how much he’s messed up. Every turned corner presents the possibility of bumping into his legendary father, a professor at Oxford and a pain in his butt. He is convinced that, with his father’s unrelenting help, he doesn’t belong there. Gloria thinks she can escape to Oxford to prove herself worthy. Henry feels like he’ll never escape Oxford and never prove himself worthy of anything.

And so this centuries-old university is a place that two young people discover themselves anew. Henry thrives as a guide to Gloria, taking her to places connected to their musical hero, Van Morrison. He’s able to tap into Gloria’s human side just as she’s able to tap into his scholarly side. Gloria tests out just having some fun now and then while also guiding Henry towards his first tastes of academic success. Oxford is their distant land, their Achilles’ heel, and ultimately their love nest.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Who knew that life in one Oxford dorm, with a shared bathroom, would become the catalyst for self-examination and exploration not only of one’s soul, but ultimately of one’s soulmate? The lyrics of Van Morrison‘s music, the poetry of Sylvia Plath, and an old clawfoot bathtub provoke this unexpected journey where the exotic locale of Oxford University is an engaging backdrop for true learning as Gloria Zimmerman and Henry Young discover the loveliness in their own germs and each other.

Rhodes Scholar Gloria Zimmerman is an academic superstar, who has come to Oxford to study feminist poetry. Yet the rigors of the academy pale in comparison with the untreated Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that she suffers, fueled by her overachieving Chicago parents, and manifested in a deathly aversion to germs and human contact. Her OCD has left her hands rubbed as raw as a burn victim’s and her psyche shattered and in thrall to a possessive and codependent externalized inner voice.

Her dormitory room neighbor (who is also, to her mortification, her loomate) is Henry Young, the appealing but underachieving musician son of an overbearing and disapproving Oxford don. Still mourning the death of his supportive mother while enduring the mockery of his disapproving and merciless father, Henry is haunted by the unexpectedly serious ramifications of a reckless and tragic youth.

Their relationship evolves from a shared obsession with Van Morrison’s music into a desire on the part of each to fill in the gaps in the life of the other. Henry seeks to enable Gloria to conquer her OCD and enter the world of intimacy, while Gloria will help Henry achieve academic success and earn the respect of his implacable father. Yet the constraints of a debilitating illness and the looming revelation of a catastrophic secret conspire to throw their worlds into upheaval, and threaten the possibilities of their unlikely, yet redemptive love.

THANKS TO REBECCA FROM THE CADENCE GROUP,
I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.