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

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!)

• 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:

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

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.

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 Kondazian’s life dream was to be a CIA spy…until she turned eight and she was invited to appear on Art Linkletter’s “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 she’s played and also teaches at the Lee Strasberg School of Theatre and Film in Hollywood. Karen’s first foray into writing also stayed in the acting realm: The Actor’s Encyclopedia of Casting Directors. But now she’s 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.

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.

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

I have been waiting a month for today.   Robyn from WOW contacted me and asked if I would read and review a book.  After reading the synopsis, not only did I want to read it but I wanted to share it with all of you.  So today, I am hosting a visit from an amazing person and fantastic author.  Please welcome Ms. Chynna Laird.

ABOUT CHYNNA LAIRD

CHYNNA LAIRD – is a psychology major, freelance writer and multi award-winning author living in Edmonton, Alberta with her partner, Steve, and their three daughters [Jaimie (almost nine), Jordhan (six), and baby Sophie (three)] and baby boy, Xander (five). Her passion is helping children and families living with Sensory Processing Disorder and other special needs.

You’ll find her work in many online and in-print parenting, inspirational, Christian and writing publications in Canada, United States, Australia, and Britain. In addition, she’s authored an award-winning children’s book (I’m Not Weird, I Have SPD), two memoirs (the multi award-winning, Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With SPD and White Elephants), a Young Adult novel (Blackbird Flies), an adult Suspense/Thriller (Out Of Sync to be released March 2012), and a Young Adult Suspense/Mystery/Paranormal/Sweet Romance (Undertow, to be released 2012). She’s also working on a sequel to Not Just Spirited called Not Just Spirited: The Journey Continues and a few other projects in the works for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers.

Please visit Chynna’s website at www.chynna-laird-author.com, as well as her blogs at www.the-gift-blog.com and www.seethewhiteelephants.com, to get a feel for her work and what inspires her.

Just thought you should know:
April is… Alcohol Awareness Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

**GUEST POST**

From Abuse to Ability

 The only things children should ever have to worry about growing up is learning, discovering the wonder and beauty in our world and having fun. It is the job of the adults around them to guide them on their journey with patience, wisdom and unconditional love. Sadly, for many children this isn’t a reality.

When a person is abused at a very young age, it changes her at the very core of her existence. It’s sort of like re-wiring something that was working perfectly fine. After you mess with it, it might still work but it will never run as well as it had before. And that’s so unfair.

You see, once a child has been changed in this way, it can be extremely difficult to build him back up again. Self-esteem and self-worth are two things we aren’t born with; they are learned and nurtured by trusted adults. And abuse—any kind of abuse—crushes those things. So these kids need steel-level support to relearn these basic traits. And I know a group of amazing people doing just that.

A few years ago while doing research for a school paper I was writing, I came across a link to a charity called Zebra Center. Not only was I drawn to the name but their purpose also captured my heart immediately.

Zebra Center is a Child Protection Center that helps children who have been abused or otherwise victimized. They help give these kids a new path to follow and give them the strength and courage to keep moving forward. The Center’s mandate is child-focused, which means the children brought there are put under the protective wing of the center, social services and the legal system. That doesn’t mean they don’t acknowledge the accused. They simply feel there is enough support for that person, and not enough for the victim.

I immediately emailed the CEO, Barbara, asking her if she and I could connect for an interview. For some reason, my gut told me that that this was a place I needed to connect with, but I didn’t know why at the time. The next day Barbara emailed me back and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Now, I went through a lot in my younger years. My brother and I could have really benefited from a place like Zebra Center, but there was no such place for us back then. So hearing some of these kids’ stories, I related. As she shared with me how this place came to be and why, and told me edited version of some of the kids’ stories, I felt it in the deepest part of my soul. I understood how it felt to have my privacy and my rights invaded. I knew that daily fear of not knowing what horrific things were in store for them. My heart broke picturing strangers coming to their home, giving them five to ten minutes to pack up whatever they could into a green garbage bag, to take them to a safer place.

But she also told me the amazing things they did at the Center to help repair whatever damage had been done in these kids’ lives. You can’t fix these problems, you can only find a new path for them to follow. And this starts with teaching these kids to define themselves rather than being defined by what they’ve gone through. That is essential. And Barbara taught me that too.

When I was finally able to tour the Center after more than a year of emails and phone calls with Barbara, it was an overwhelming experience. There is a feeling of wholeness there. There are stuffies and kid-sized chairs in every room. The waiting rooms for the children have complete sets of puzzles, games and play sets (and for those of us who are abuse survivors, the message in that is incredible). There is even a room called “Hope’s Closet” that is filled to the brim with brand new toys, games, costume jewelry and other items. Every child gets to choose one new item from the closet to take with him after his visit.

I think the part that touched me the most was when Barbara told me that they work closely with a local business that provides new backpacks filled with basic personal items such as pajamas, toothbrushes, a change of clothes, a pillow and other items that the child may not have or thought to have packed when removed from their home. Think about the significance of that for a moment. Before that, they had to stuff their belongings into a garbage bag. How could that not solidify the feeling they already have of their situation and themselves? Zebra Center recognized that.

Standing there in ‘Hope’s Closest’ with Barbara, looking around at all of the hope and future they are giving to back these kids was incredibly emotional. It was in that moment I realized my life had come full circle.

Years ago, I swore if I made it out of my childhood, I would do everything in my power to ensure that no other child had to endure what I had to. I made a pact that if I had the chance to help one child…like Zebra Center does every single day…I would be there in some way.

Barbara gave me the strength to tell my story and share it with the world. And hearing about how these kids came from so much pain and turmoil but have never allowed what’s happened to them to determine where they’ll go inspired me to do the same.

One thing that Barbara said to me during our very first telephone chat has resonated with me until this day: “I am so sorry the system failed you and your brother back then, Chynna. And I am sorry we couldn’t be there for you.”

My response to her is theme of this post: “It’s okay because you’re here for me now. And I’m comforted in the knowledge that kids have you here for them.”

Even the name of this place signifies the importance of what the people running it do. You see, zebras in the wild surround their young when danger is near. All of the in the adults in the zebra family encircle the younger ones so that no matter what happens, they will be protected. And we should all be doing the same thing for children.

We can’t erase what’s happened to these kids. I know my experiences will be engrained in my memory forever. But what we can do is help these kids be all they are meant to be from this day forward, taking them from abuse to ability. Just like Barbara and Zebra House did for me.

For more information on Zebra Center and the campaign Barbara and I created together, check out this page on my website: http://www.chynna-laird-author.com/p/chynnas-bookshelf.html

ABOUT THE BOOK

Elephant in the middle of the living room–that is one way of explaining how a family walks around the invisible presence of huge problems. Hindsight is what brings the elephant into focus.

Somehow at the innocent age of five Tami began to see the bulky creature crowding her family and took on a sense of responsibility far beyond expectation for her age. Her mother was different than other mothers. Family life in their household was not pretty. No one seemed to notice. No one did anything about it, and Tami wanted someone to do just that. As an adult Tami took on her first name, Chynna, and took up the challenge to find out what might have helped her mother fight her battle of self-destruction. She couldn’t help her mother, but she would consider it worth everything if her family’s story helped another.

This candid memoir is a story of one girl’s struggle to deal with her mother’s alcoholic/bipolar condition–the white elephant no one else would see. With a conversational tone, Laird shares her remarkable story of abuse, survival, and her triumphant recovery into becoming a healthy, well adjusted wife and mother. Tastefully written, this book will touch your heart. It offers hope that, no matter where you come from, life is what you make it.
See my review here.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, CHYNNA LAIRD, I HAVE
ONE (1) SIGNED COPY OF HER BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

Today we have a very adventurous and talented author, stopping by to tell us about his debut book, as he tours with Partners In Crime Tours.  So please help me welcome Jeremy to the CMash blog.

ABOUT JEREMY BURNS

An avid reader since the age of three, Jeremy Burns was devouring novels by the time other children his age were still learning their ABCs. Blessed (and, at times, cursed) with a decidedly active imagination and an insatiable curiosity for nearly everything, Jeremy made learning and storytelling two of his chief passions. After earning his degree in History from Florida State University, Jeremy accepted a position teaching literature, creative writing, political science, and philosophy at an international school in Dubai. Like the characters in his books, Jeremy is an intrepid explorer whose own adventures have taken him from Mayan ruins in the Yucatan to the pyramids of Egypt, from medieval castles across Europe to the jungles of Bangladesh, and beyond. To date, Jeremy has traveled to more than twenty countries across four continents, seeking adventure, discovery, and ideas for future novels. When not exploring a new corner of the globe, Jeremy lives in Florida, where he is working on his next thrilling novel.

Connect with Jeremy:  Website~Facebook

GUEST POST

Happy Birthday, Hitler
By Jeremy Burns

Adolf Hitler was a very bad man. Today marks the 123rd anniversary of his birth, and, excepting staunch neo-Nazis and vehement anti-Semites, there really is very little debate on this point. Few individuals in recent history (or indeed, in any period of history) are viewed as universally negatively as Adolf Hitler. What historians do debate, however, is whether Hitler was himself the architect of his own evil rise to power or whether he was a product of a certain volatile climate in which the rise of a man such as Hitler was inevitable.

An oft-asked question by people today is how on earth a country as traditionally logical and grounded as Germany would go along with what, to our retrospective minds, seems to be a series of insane and wholly immoral ventures. The answer is twofold: pride and fear.

In the period between the First World War and Hitler’s assuming control of what would become the Third Reich, Germany was consumed with a strong nationalistic pride, with popular myths hearkening back to a gilded age in which she was the dominant force in Europe in both cultural prowess and military might. These myths stood in stark contrast to the very real problems that ravaged the people on a regular basis: national humiliation on a global stage following the end of World War I, a revolving door of incompetent and corrupt leaders, and mass poverty spurred, among other factors, by hyperinflation. The Germany the people lived in was nothing like the Germany they were sure had once been.

One of the main groups blamed for this dysfunctional version of Germany was the Jewish people. Occupying many positions of cultural, academic, and financial influence, the Jews made a viable scapegoat as they had in Europe many times before. It was said that foreign influence, particularly that of the Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and other groups of eastern European descent, were the cause of this rift between the Germany that should have been and the Germany that actually was. It was because of the Jews and foreigners living among them that the unstoppable German war machine had ground to a halt. It was because of the Jews that the proud German nation was humbled at Versailles. It was because of the Jews that the ideals of German culture, innovation, and industry were corrupted and cast asunder. German leaders were viewed as weak-minded puppets for foreign powers that sought to destroy all that the German people held dear. Fear of these treasonous conspirators and their plots to bring the German nation down from within was another of the key elements that fostered the atmosphere of the day.

Into this volatile climate was born the National Socialist German Worker’s Party – later shortened to National Socialists and then simply to the Nazis. Originally a small and insignificant group of political upstarts in Bavaria, they got their boost from a frustrated Austrian painter and decorated military veteran named Adolf Hitler. Hitler would soon use his powerful oratory skills and personal presence to give life to a twisted and grandiose vision welcomed and shared, in many regards, by much of the German populace of the time.

In Germany as in America, there was a clash of extreme ideas at the time. The Great Depression cast both nations, as with most of the western world, into turmoil, proving to the minds of most that the old ways simply didn’t work. Change was needed. Radical change, many believed, because the failure of the old systems was so radical. Extreme right-wing and left-wing movements sprang up across western world, each offering their answers to the problems that plagued their modern world. Communism and Fascism were at war long before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Their battlegrounds were the streets of Berlin and Washington, New York and Munich. The prize: the preservation or destruction of all that one way of life or another held sacred.

The year is 1932. You are not a time traveler. You do not have the hindsight that the passage of time gives us. You do not know what will transpire in this war between extreme left and extreme right. Both appear to be hulking behemoths that would smash the old order and usher in something new and terrifying. You have the means and opportunity to do something to influence the outcome of this war of ideals. What would you do? How would you choose which side to take?

What if one man did have that opportunity? What if John D. Rockefeller, Jr., scion of the vast Rockefeller empire and one of the richest and most influential men of the last few centuries, had been presented with this choice? And what if he chose very, very wrongly?

This dilemma and its aftermath provide the historical backdrop for my hit thriller FROM THE ASHES, an action-packed novel that poses the above question and answers it in a chillingly plausible manner. In my study of history, the official version of events rarely conveys all the underlying conflicts and tensions, the shadow wars and the buried secrets… in short, the sordid controversies and dark conspiracies that grease the wheels of progress. The rise of an obscure washed-up artist to the commander of the greatest military machine the world had ever seen may well have been the product of his time. He may have been simply an evil genius who seized upon the zeitgeist of the day to fulfill his deranged fantasies. Or, perhaps, there’s still more of the story to be told.

Today, on a date that’s become associated with the Columbine massacre and college kids getting high, Adolf Hitler would have been 123 years old. Despite all the horrors Hitler unleashed upon the world, he did leave us some good things: a universal enemy that even today remains the quintessential embodiment of evil, an opportunity for American industry to get its economic footing back and establish itself as a world power (and counterbalance to the Soviet Union), and more than a few shocking and mysterious secrets buried in the closets of the Third Reich. So, happy birthday, Hitler. May you rot in Hell.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Graduate students Jonathan and Michael Rickner, sons of eminent archeologist Sir William Rickner, are no strangers to historical secrets and archeological adventures. But when Michael is discovered dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment, Jon refuses to believe the official ruling of suicide. Digging deeper into his brother’s work, he discovers evidence that Michael was murdered to keep his dissertation research buried. Joined by Michael’s fiancée Mara Ellison, Jon travels to New York where he uncovers the threads of a deadly Depression-era conspiracy – one entangling the Hoover Administration, the Rockefellers, and the rise of Nazi Germany – and the elite cadre of assassins that still guard its unspeakable secret. Finding themselves in the crosshairs of the same men who killed Michael, Jon and Mara must navigate a complex web of historical cover-ups and modern-day subterfuge, outwitting and outrunning their all-powerful pursuers as they race through a labyrinthine treasure hunt through the monuments and museums of Manhattan to discover the last secret of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., before their enemies can bury the truth – and them – forever.

Book Details:
Purchase Links: Amazon ; Barnes And Noble
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books
Pub Date: January 17,2012
Pages: 394
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Today we have a special guest, Amazon #1 bestselling author, stopping by to talk about his newest book while he tours with Partners In Crime Tours.  Please welcome Joshua Graham!!!

ABOUT JOSHUA GRAHAM

THE DESCENT INTO HELL IS NOT ALWAYS VERTICAL…

 Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney, learns this when the authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter, and sends him to death row. There he awaits execution by lethal injection.

If he survives that long.

In prison, Sam fights for his life while his attorney works frantically on his appeal. It is then that he embraces the faith of his departed wife and begins to manifest supernatural abilities. Abilities which help him save lives– his own, those of his unlikely allies–and uncover the true killer’s identity, unlocking the door to his exoneration.

Now a free man, Sam’s newfound faith confronts him with the most insurmountable challenge yet. A challenge beyond vengeance, beyond rage, beyond anything Sam believes himself capable of: to forgive the very man who murdered his family, according to his faith. But this endeavor reveals darker secrets than either Sam or the killer could ever have imagined. Secrets that hurtle them into a fateful collision course.

BEYOND JUSTICE, a tale of loss, redemption, and the power of faith.

“…A riveting legal thriller…. breaking new ground with a vengeance… demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“…hits the ground running…handled by a deft hand.”

Adrian Phoenix, BENEATH THE SKIN (Pocket Books)

“This tense, fast-paced story of outrageous injustice, insidious evil, and looming disaster has everything the savvy reader should expect, and more. [Graham] belongs to a new, emerging wave of writers who dare to color outside conventional lines. And he does so with style!”

Glen Scorgie, THE JOURNEY BACK TO EDEN (Zondervan)

Book Details:

Genre:Adult, Suspense,Mystery,Thriller

Publisher: Dawn Treader Press

Publication Date: July 5, 2010

Pages: 448

Purchase:Amazon~Barnes&Noble—

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