It has been a while since today’s guest has visited.   So I am thrilled that he could stop by and tell us about his latest novel because he is one very active and busy gentleman.  So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and let’s catch up with Dr. Robert Greer!!!

ABOUT DR. ROBERT GREER

Robert Greer is a native of Columbus, Ohio, who spent his formative years in the steel mill town of Gary, Indiana. He graduated from Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and subsequently earned degrees in dentistry, medicine and pathology from Howard University and Boston University. He is a professor of pathology, medicine, surgery, and dentistry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center where he specializes in head and neck pathology and cancer research. He also holds a masters degree in Creative Writing from Boston University and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Miami University, his alma mater. Greer has lived in Denver for thirty years. In 1986 he founded The High Plains Literary Review and continues to serve as its editor-in-chief. He is the author or co-author of three medical textbooks and over 125 scientific articles. His short stories have appeared in dozens of national literary magazines and his short story collection, ISOLATION AND OTHER STORIES, published in 2000 by the Davies Group Publishers, is also wonderfully illustrated.

Greer has been involved in cancer research at the University of Colorado Health Science Center for more than thirty years. In 1983 his research group was the first in the world to report a synergistic link between smokeless tobacco use and human papillomaviruses in certain cancers of the mouth. That research foundation is the basis for the plot of THE DEVIL’S HATBAND.

In addition to writing, medicine, and research, Greer reviews books for a Denver National Public Radio affiliate, KUVO, and raises cattle on a ranch in Wyoming.
You can visit Dr. Greer at his website here.

GUEST POST

History fascinates me. Western history especially. I own a working cattle ranch that sits in the Laramie River valley of southeastern Wyoming. The ranch abuts the Laramie mountain range and the headquarters sit exactly seven miles from one of the hundreds of missile silo sites that were dug into the Wyoming heartland during the height of the Cold War. That missile site, Tango 11, always intrigued me, and one day after exploring its perimeter, something I suspect the U.S. Government would have frowned upon, I decided to write a novel with Tango-11 as the story’s springboard.

I have also wanted to write about people who have had something significant, even catastrophic, happen to them that has altered their lives. With that in mind, I chose two protagonists for the story, Elgin “Cozy” Coseia, a one-time college baseball star who had his professional baseball dreams shattered because of an injury he suffered on a lark; and Bernadette Cameron, who had her Air Force fighter pilot dreams come to an end when she was grounded from flying A-10 Wart Hogs, due to something as simple as hay fever.

In ASTRIDE A PINK HORSE, these two protagonists come up against a bevy of antagonists who have also had their dreams shattered, including an aging rancher with a long time distrust of, and hatred of, the U.S. Government; a Japanese internment camp survivor, who’s never been able to come to grips with her imprisonment on Wyoming soil during World War II, and a mentally unbalanced mathematician and college professor with an ax to grind.

The novel is triggered when the body of a heavily decorated Air Force sergeant is found hanging upside down by his ankles in the Tango-11 missile silo access tube. The story unfolds from there.

ASTRIDE A PINK HORSE is the first book in a new series for me. I am currently working on the second book in the series that will also feature Cozy Coseia and Bernadette Cameron.

ABOUT THE BOOK

SYNOPSIS (borrowed from Amazon):

The Cold War ended years ago, or did it? For Thurmond Giles, a decorated African American Air Force veteran found naked, dead, and dangling by his ankles inside a deactivated minuteman missile silo in desolate southeastern Wyoming, the answer is no. The labyrinthine investigation that follows his death—led by former fighter pilot Major Bernadette Cameron and ex-college baseball phenom-turned-reporter Elgin “Cozy” Coseia—reveals how the atomic era’s legacy has continued to destroy both minds and lives.

Astride a Pink Horse follows Bernadette, Cozy, and Cozy’s boss Freddie Dames match wits with a gallery of unforgettable murder suspects: a powerful, right-wing-leaning cattle rancher; a declining seventy-six-year-old WWII-era Japanese internment camp victim and her unstable math professor cousin; an idealistic lifelong nuclear arms protestor; and a civilian Air Force contractor with a twenty-year grudge against the murder victim. Do three amateur detectives stand a chance against these characters and the conspiracy that may be behind it all? Robert Greer’s trademark mix of vivid eccentrics, surprising plot twists, and political edge makes this one of his most memorable thrillers.

THANKS TO CAITLIN AT CAITLIN HAMILTON MARKETING,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS THRILLER TO GIVEAWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

Does the name sound familiar?  It should.  Joel visited not too long ago and today he is stopping by today to talk about his latest short stories.  So please help me welcome back Mr. Joel Andre.

ABOUT JOEL ANDRE

Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.

Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection,Pray the Rain Never Ends.

Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, A Death at the North Pole, created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.

October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.

Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.

Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.

Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.

Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.

You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.info.

ABOUT BRUTAL

SYNOPSIS:

One dark and warm October night in the heart of Arizona, a group of friends are out for an evening of fun. It was a night for celebration, and to draw them away from the world.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, JOEL ANDRE, I HAVE ONE (1)
EBOOK EDITION OF HIS NOVELLA, KILL 4 ME.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

Jodi and Robyn, those fabulous ladies from WOW, are stopping by again today to introduce us to a very versatile and busy author.  Welcome Ms. Lisa de Nikolits!!

ABOUT LISA de NIKOLITS

Originally from South Africa, Lisa has been a Canadian citizen since 2003–although she still retains a lilting voice that causes fellow Canadians to ask, “You aren’t from Canada, eh?” With a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy, Lisa has also lived and worked in the United States, Australia, and Great Britain.

Lisa thought she was on her way to fame and fortune when the South African edition of Cosmopolitan bought two of her poems in 1986. Sadly, the road to being a published writer was not as easy as she had hoped! Throughout her writing career, Lisa has tried her hand at everything from children’s picture books to short stories to novellas to feature magazine articles. Her first novel, The Hungry Mirror, which won an IPPY Gold Medal for Women’s Fiction 2011, was inspired by her work as art director for magazines including Vogue and Marie Claire. Lisa is now working on her next novel, Between the Cracks She Fell.
Find out more about Lisa by visiting her online:
Author website and Art design website.

GUEST POST

Creating Three-Dimensional Characters

A few of nights ago over dinner, a couple of author friends and I were discussing a workshop we’re thinking of hosting. We were bouncing ideas back and forth about what we each of us could contribute and one of my friends turned to me and said, “you should talk about character development. Your characters are wonderfully idiosyncratic and yet they’re absolutely believable. They have depth to them and their dialogue is great.”

Talk about pleased! I nearly fell off my chair with delight. So, when the opportunity for this post came up, I thought it was timeous for me to give some thought to my characters and how I go about creating them. Of course, I immediately panicked, worrying that, faced with dissection, they would vanish on me, never to return. We writers can be such panic-stricken, phobic folk!

But then I realised that I’m as likely to lose my characters as I am to lose my friends – because my characters aremy friends. I love hanging out with them, I love watching them evolve – it’s as if they exist out there in the ether and I draw them closer by experimentation and endless questioning; does this one love computer games or prefer long walks in the park? What does he or she wear? What are their teeth like? Noses? How many earrings adorn their lobes, eyebrows or other body parts? I consider tattoos, height, hair color, the shape of their eyes, what their voices sound like, how they laugh… Do they have an accent and if so, how does this tie into the story? Did they like school, and were they bullied or maybe they were bullies themselves? Are they peaceful, angry, restless, hungry, lazy or perhaps they’re apathetic, waiting for that jolt of action, that catalyst that I’ll throw their way, the one that will spur them to action?

Familial relationships, geneology, childhood vacations, most-hated foods, most loved foods, favourite bedtime story, the sound of a sneeze, changing body language in different situations – the list of things to ponder and imagine is endless.

I wouldn’t be surprised if readers of this blog stop at this point and say, “oh really, that’s just NOT realistic – what is she doing, writing a backstory that’s as long as War and Peace?” and the answer is yes and no – yes, in that I think about all of that – but no in terms of how much of it actually makes it into the book – that might well just end up being a couple of lines. However, if you’ve mapped out all of the above (and then some!), the authenticity of the backstory will shine through so strongly that your character will be utterly believable even when the only thing you mention is the curve of her cheekbone.

And your in-depth backstory will help you with the dialogue too – you’ll know what kind of expressions your character will use, or the tone and inflection with which she’ll say things.

 The most helpful tip I’ve learnt for achieving effective dialogue is this: read your copy out loud. You may think you sound as foolish as all heck, but give it a try, it really works.

Once you have all these elements, you can go even further by adding a sprinkle of idiosyncrasy and this is where you can have all kinds of fun. And because of all your hard work in understanding your protagonist and fleshing out her backstory, her idiosyncrasies will be believable and then, because of the idiosyncrasies, she’ll be unforgettable which is just about the best thing one can achieve with a character.

And don’t forget, you also have to name your protagonist and my goodness, is this ever a challenge! A name immediately reveals so much and is critically important, because this is your reader’s first introduction to your key player (or any player in fact. Even minor bit part players add weight to the richness of a book and their names are equally as important).

I always hope that even if my characters aren’t immediately likeable, that they will be intriguing. A reader doesn’t particularly have to like a character but they do need to care about them and while that may sound odd or contradictory, think about all the great villains in literature – nice guys are tossed aside in favour the bad boy for good reason – they’re far more entertaining!

So there you have it, three key points to 3D character development: backstory, dialogue and idiosyncrasies – plus a few other bits and pieces that I hope you’ll find helpful.

ABOUT THE BOOK

THANKS TO AUTHOR, LISA de NIKOLITS, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY OF HER BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

Are you like me?  Is your passion for books so strong that it can sometimes cause anxiety?  It happens to me.  There I said it.  There are so many great books I want to read but time and obligations do not want to compromise.    For instance like today.  When Eliza, from PlannedTVArts, contacted me to read and review today’s guest’s book, I knew when I read the synopsis, that it was a book I would enjoy.  And I thought of all of you and wanted to share.  So I invited her to visit and she accepted.  So please help me welcome USA Today Best Selling Author Ms. RaeAnne Thayne!!

ABOUT RAEANNE THAYNE

I’m not one of those people who knew from birth she was destined to become a writer. I always loved to read and throughout my childhood I could usually be found with a book in my hands. To the disgust of my friends, I even enjoyed creative writing assignments that made them all groan. But I had other dreams besides writing. I wanted to be an actress or a teacher or a lawyer.

Life took a different turn for me, though, when my mother made me take a journalism elective in high school (thanks, Mom!). I knew the first day that this was where I belonged.

After I graduated from college in journalism, I took a job at the local daily newspaper and I reveled in the challenge and the diversity of it. One day I could be interviewing the latest country music star, the next day I was writing about local motorcycle gangs or interviewing an award-winning scientist.

Through it all — through the natural progression of my career from reporter to editor — I wrote stories in my head. Not just any stories, either, but romances, the kind of books I have devoured since junior high school, with tales about real people going through the trials and tribulations of life until they find deep and lasting love.

I had no idea how to put these people on paper, but knew I had to try — their stories were too compelling for me to ignore. I sold my first book in 1995 and now, more than 30 books later, I’ve come to love everything about writing, from the click of the computer keys under my fingers to the “that’s-it!” feeling I get when a story is flowing.

I write full-time now (well, as full-time as I can manage juggling my kids!) amid the raw beauty of the northern Utah mountains.

Even though I might not have dreamed of being a writer when I was younger, now I simply can’t imagine my life any other way.
You can visit with Ms. Thayne at her website.

GUEST POST

Topic: Do you draw on personal experiences?

In all my books, it seems like some element of my life experience trickles in. I think it’s impossible for writers not to use those flashes of serendipity in their work. Like magpies, we collect them and tuck them away in our little nest of ideas to be extracted later.

You hear a funny snippet of dialogue between a mother and child in the grocery store and think that would be perfect for your latest book. Or you see a man walking down the street and want to recapture just that take-no-prisoners gait for your hero. Or you find yourself trying to reconstitute in a book exactly that pure, soul-soothing moment when you stood alone on a beach, just you, surrounded and embraced by the murmuring sea.

Of all my forty books, however, I think I drew most on my personal experience while writing WOODROSE MOUNTAIN, my latest release for HQN. In it, my heroine Evie Blanchard is a former pediatric rehab therapist who has come to my town of Hope’s Crossing, Colorado seeking peace and serenity once more after a tough emotional year. When Brodie Thorne pleads with her to help in his daughter Taryn’s recovery from a serious brain injury, Evie doesn’t believe she has the strength to be dragged into their lives. Of course she is, against her will, and in the process all three of them find healing and joy.

Writing about Taryn’s struggle to regain a normal life and about those who care about her and want the best for her was a very personal journey for me in many ways. I have a son with cerebral palsy and I am his primary caregiver. I know plenty about wheelchair lifts and transfer systems and the dedicated people who help children with special needs work to expand their abilities. I also know what it is to be a parent of a child with challenges and the hope and fear and sometimes sheer helplessness that comes from trying to give your child his or her best chance at success.

I loved writing this book. I found it wonderful and even somewhat cathartic to be able to give Taryn and those who love her a happy ending.

There’s something else I drew out of my tangled magpie-nest of experiences to use in Woodrose Mountain – the simple but true message that when tough things happen to shake a person’s world, it can be dark and scary. But I know – and I want to remind my readers, through my characters – that it is possible to move through them, to grow and stretch and change, and once more find joy again.

ABOUT THE BOOK

USA TODAY bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne returns with WOODROSE MOUNTAIN (HQN Books, April 2012, $7.99 U.S./$9.99 CAN.), the enchanting second book in the Hope’s Crossing series that explores the ways shared challenges can bind a community together.

Evie Blanchard was at the top of her field in the city of angels. But when an emotional year forces her to walk away from her job as an occupational therapist, she moves from Los Angeles to Hope’s Crossing, seeking a quieter life. So the last thing she needs is to get involved with the handsome, arrogant Brodie Thorne and his injured daughter, Taryn.

A self-made man and single dad, Brodie will do anything to get Taryn the rehabilitation she needs…even if it means convincing Evie to move in with them. And despite her vow to keep an emotional distance, Evie can’t help but be moved by Taryn’s spirit, or Brodie’s determination to win Evie’s help—and her heart. With laughter, courage and more than a little help from the kindhearted people of Hope’s Crossing, Taryn may get the healing she deserves—and Evie and Brodie might just find a love they never knew could exist.

THANKS TO ELIZA FROM PLANNEDTVARTS, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

When I first found this community of book bloggers I was thrilled because now I could discuss with others, who had the same passion for books as I did, since I am not surrounded by readers.  What I didn’t know was that quite a few of them would become friends.  Another thing I didn’t know back then, was not only other bloggers would become friends, but authors too.   So when Melissa Foster, author of Megan’s Way and Come Back To Me and who has been a frequent visitor here, emailed me about today’s guest along with the synopsis of her book, I invited her to be a guest.

Please help me welcome Ms. Barbara Taylor Sissel to our group!!!

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

At the heart of every crime, there’s a family….

I have always been interested in crime, not the police end of it, nor the courtroom drama, although they can be riveting. No, what I always wonder about are the families, the friends and co-workers of the individuals who committed the crime, or the families and others who’ve had someone close be hurt by a crime. How do these people, the ones who suffer collateral damage so to speak, sit down at the dinner table after such a calamity? How do they get out of bed, go to work? Shop, survive. How do they talk about it, think or feel? Do they/can they forgive? Suppose they believe the one they love who stands convicted is innocent? Suppose they think the victim deserved what they got? In each of my novels … The Last Innocent Hour, The Ninth Step, The Volunteer … these are the questions that dominate the stories I write.

At one time I lived with my family on the grounds of a first-offender prison facility where my husband was a warden. It was located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest, which is basically the middle of nowhere but breathtakingly beautiful. The nearest town, Frenchburg, had a population of 300 people. Mount Sterling, the closest place to grocery shop, was 35 miles down a winding mountain road. In winter, our small prison community was often isolated for days due to heavy snowfall and icy road conditions. We relied on the inmates for many things, help with frozen water pipes, upkeep on our property, maintenance on our vehicles, even food supplies from the prison’s pantry if our individual stores ran low. Once I skidded off the road and my car turned on its side in a ditch. I was lucky. Had the car skidded the other way, I would have tumbled thousands of feet into a gorge. The inmates pulled the car out and got it fixed up and running again.

Most of the prison’s employees and their families lived on a rise above the actual prison grounds. We called our small enclave “the hill”. The prison grounds themselves were below us but in such close proximity that we got to know the inmates and their families quite well. Because the facility was for first offenders, most of the inmates were young, 17 to 25 or so. They were kids and the surprising thing was seeing how closely these boys were still bound to their families. A lot of them grieved the heartbreak they had brought on their parents and the victims of their crimes. Many of them wanted nothing more than to somehow atone for what they’d done. They wanted to serve their time and be given a second chance to prove they could live a productive life. Because the prison was isolated and the care of these guys was so personal and individual, because their parents were brought into the equation and encouraged to participate in the rehabilitation effort, a good number of these kids never showed up in the Kentucky court system again.

People have asked me since if I wasn’t afraid living there. After all I had two small children and much of the time I was on my own. But I was never afraid, have actually never felt more safe than when I lived there. I felt privileged to be exposed to this experience, to be part of the circle of influence that surrounded these young men. They would come to do work around the house, or to entertain my children–one guy would bring his guitar and sing with the whole group of children who lived on the hill. He recited nursery rhymes with them and told them stories. We got a number of Christmas cards from him after he got out. As far as I know, he never saw the inside of a prison again. Over the handful of years I lived there, I talked on a regular basis with many of the inmates and when they thanked me for listening, for offering support, it was rewarding. I met many of their parents. Certainly, these families were damaged; they were ashamed and hated the crimes their sons had committed; yet many of them found ways to love, to cope, to move past what had happened. They found a way to reclaim their family connection. And sometimes they didn’t. There were hundreds of stories, almost anything you can imagine. Small snippets from these experiences are always finding a home in my fiction. I think the single thing I brought away from that time in my life is an admiration for the resiliency of the human spirit, even when the ending isn’t what we expected or wanted, somehow we manage to pick up, to carry on and to survive. And sometimes, incredibly, we’re able to forgive.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Synopsis –

Livie Saunders is fluent in the language of flowers; she taught the meanings to her fiancé, Cotton O’Dell, but then Cotton vanishes without explanation on their wedding day forcing Livie to learn the language of desolation. Heartbroken, she buries her wedding gown beneath a garden pond and resolves to move on, but there are nights when she slips . . . into a sequined red dress and a pair of stiletto heels, a stranger’s bed, a little anonymous oblivion that is not without consequence. Still, she recovers a semblance of ordinary life and imagines she is content. But then, six years later, Cotton returns and her carefully constructed world shatters. The old questions bite like flies. Questions that Cotton O’Dell prays he can answer. He prays that Livie, whom he has never stopped loving, will be moved to forgive him. But there is more than Livie to be concerned about. There is Cotton’s act of cowardice that caused him to become a fugitive in the first place . . . that crime he committed for which the legal clock is still ticking. That thing he did that will shock Livie to her core once she learns of it. Livie is desperate to trust Cotton, but then he goes missing again. Time telescopes, avenues of escape close, and as lives hang in the balance, choice dithers between mercy and revenge. And a decision that will take only a moment will carry the consequences of a lifetime.

THE NINTH STEP is a story of redemption, of being brought to your knees in the sober light of day to face a monstrous error and yet somehow finding the strength to stand up, to try and make it right. Even if that decision breaks your heart, endangers your freedom and ultimately threatens your life.
Watch for my review next week.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL,
I HAVE TWO  (2) EBOOKS TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

You know, even after 2+ years of being part of this wonderful neighborhood of book blogging and reviewing, I still wake up every morning and look forward to turning on my computer to see what awaits me.    And it still amazes me that me, a (I was going to say how old but let’s skip that part lol) little ole blogger from the smallest state receives emails from publishers asking if I would like to review a book.   Well, that happened again a few weeks ago.   Kristin from Simon & Schuster sent me such an email.

Since I am slowly getting back into my reading routine, I have once again started accepting reviews that I feel I will 99% truly enjoy.  And after reading the synopsis of today’s guest debut novel, not only did I agree to read it, I asked if she would stop by and visit.  She accepted.  Please help me welcome Ka Hancock to the CMash blog!

ABOUT KA HANCOCK

KA HANCOCK makes her fiction debut with Dancing on Broken Glass. She has two nursing degrees and has specialized in working with psychiatric and substance abuse patients. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and has four children. Visit her at www.kahancock.com

GUEST POST

I think I was nine when I crafted a story about my mean teacher who was found dead in his stinky house, which explained why he wasn’t at school. I have to admit that as a child, I was a bit overwhelmed by my absolute power to write someone dead. So much so, that I brought Mr. Meany back to life—albeit with an intractable ear infection. I was pretty much hooked on writing—the power of writing—from then on. But I had to learn how to do it because these were not natural bones for me and I knew interest, obsession, and irrational self-confidence were never going to be enough. It got a little tricky because I had to learn this craft while I wasn’t busy doing other things like getting a couple of nursing degrees and raising a few kids. But spare moments yielded pages and, despite my busy life, I soon learned that, for the writer in me, nothing was ever going to be wasted. Every good, bad, bizarre, heartbreaking, or embarrassing experience was somehow destined for the compost heap of my brain. There, it all simply ferments until it surfaces as an idea or the perfect detail in a story.

Dancing on Broken Glass started out as a very sparse idea. Two sisters, cancer, an unplanned pregnancy, and a little town were all I had to go on. Those four elements woke me up one night like a whisper from God. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was enough to keep me very preoccupied with the possibilities. My hero came later when I needed a good reason for his ill wife to give their child up as opposed to trusting him to raise her. So Mickey showed up as a man afflicted with bipolar disorder, which seemed like excellent reasoning on my part. Silly me! I don’t outline, so Mickey’s story was not immediately clear to me, but I wasn’t worried because I’m a psych nurse and the compost heap was teeming with material. It wasn’t until a major revision brought Mickey’s mental illness to the forefront of the story that it became a driving force—when I knew him, the story blossomed. My process is flawed, to be sure, but it works for me. I should probably outline (it would undoubtedly save me some time), but I kind of like stumbling around in the dark; I like the discovery. I should also write every day, but I don’t do that either. What I shoot for is the completion of two chapters a month, minimum. I meet with my highly intuitive writer’s group—two other novelists and a mega-reader—every other Wednesday. My goal is to come prepared to read a polished chapter, about 20 pages. If I can do that, I’m a happy writer.

Next up for me: The story of a heroine who was a piano virtuoso before she suffered a traumatic brain injury. I have no piano experience I can pluck from the compost heap, not a single note. So, I’m taking lessons. LOL! How’s that for process?

ABOUT THE BOOK

An unvarnished portrait of a marriage that is both ordinary and extraordinary,  DANCING ON BROKEN GLASS  (Gallery Books; on-sale March 13^th , 2012; Trade Paperback; $15.00) takes readers on an unforgettable journey of the heart.

Lucy Houston and Mickey Chandler probably shouldn’t have fallen in love, let along gotten married. They’re both plagued with faulty genes – he has bipolar disorder; she, a ravaging family history of breast cancer. But when their paths cross on the night of Lucy’s twenty-first birthday, sparks fly, and there’s no denying their chemistry.

Cautious every step of the way, Mickey and Lucy are determined to make their relationship work – and they put their commitment in writing. Mickey will take his medication. Lucy won’t blame him for what is beyond his control. He promises honesty. She promise patience. Like any marriage, there are good days and bad days – and some very bad days. In dealing with their unique challenges, they make the heartbreaking decision not to have children. But when Lucy shows up for a routine physical just shy of their eleventh anniversary, she gets an impossible surprise that changes everything. Everything. Suddenly, all their rules are thrown out the window, and the two of them must redefine what love really is.

Inspired by her years as a psychiatric nurse, Hancock’s debut novel showcases her deep understanding and empathy and brings to life a story of imperfect love, loss, and bipolar disorder. Her underlying faith in the resiliency of the human spirit, despite the challenges of mental illness, shines through in this powerful first novel.
Watch for my review in the coming weeks.

THANKS TO KRISTIN FROM SIMON & SCHUSTER,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.

We all need laughter and humor in our lives and Nicole, from Tribute Books, is stopping by today with just that type of author.  So please welcome Mark Saunders to the CMash blog!!

ABOUT MARK SAUNDERS

An award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and cartoonist, Mark Saunders tried standup comedy to get over shyness and failed spectacularly at it — the standup part, not the shyness. He once owned a Yugo and still can’t remember why. Nearly 30 of his plays have been staged, from California to New York – with several stops in-between – and two plays have been published.

With three scripts optioned, his screenplays, all comedies, have attracted awards but seem to be allergic to money. Back in his drawing days, more than 500 of his cartoons appeared nationally in publications as diverse as Writer’s Digest, The Twilight Zone Magazine, and The Saturday Evening Post.

As a freelancer, he also wrote gags for the popular comic strip “Frank and Ernest,” as well as jokes for professional comedians, including Jay Leno. Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak is his first book.
Mark Saunders’ web site
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook
Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak blog tour site

GUEST POST

Some cultures record their history by cataclysmic events: the year of the big fire or flood, the day the great earthquake or tornado struck. My history is recorded by my stomach. In conversations with my wife and friends, it’s not unusual for me to interject a comment such as, “Oh, I remember now, dear, that was the time we were in San Francisco and I took my first bite of monkfish in lobster sauce.”

With such habits, it should come as no surprise that what I miss most about no longer living in Portland, Oregon, is Dungeness crab. I currently reside in the middle of Mexico, six thousand feet up in the mountains and three thousand miles from the nearest Oregon crab pot.

These days, when December rolls around, generally considered the official start of the Dungeness crab season, I am depressed. For me, there’s nothing quite as simple or as bountiful as a meal of fresh, sweet, and meaty Oregon Dungeness crab, a loaf of sourdough French bread, and a green salad, all complemented by an inexpensive bottle of wine from Trader Joe’s. Now that is a meal.

Unfortunately, for me, those days and meals are gone. I’m not complaining, mind you, I’m just describing.

It goes without saying, of course—which is why I’m going to say it—I also miss the friends we left back in Portland, even though we find no shortage of new friends here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a convivial tourist town known for its fiestas.

I miss certain urban conveniences. Portland, for example, believes so thoroughly in public transportation that they let you ride for free in certain areas. It has, perhaps, the best used bookstore in all of America, along with well-stacked and oft-frequented libraries. I like and miss the fact that Portland is almost equidistant, slightly over an hour each way by car, from either the ocean or the mountains.  I miss the clean air that floats through Portland because it is, at times, so fresh it could serve as a role model for retail air fresheners. I certainly miss the variety of lush parks full of gorgeous trees and vibrant shrubs, as well as the breathtaking sweep of the Cascades, with at least two volcanoes in easy view.

However, I do not miss the damp weather or gloomy skies or traffic or pace or the high cost of living of Portland. I’ve replaced all of those things with what I consider to be a kinder-gentler way. My new life in old Mexico is full of dry-blue skies and a sun at my back. I walk everywhere and everywhere I walk I see brightly-colored houses, like field color paintings, that make me smile.

Oregon, it’s been said, is like Ireland: All green and no gold. But if you ask me, there’s plenty of gold in Oregon, and it’s usually panned in crabbing nets during winter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ay, chihuahua! Ay, caramba! Oy vey!

In early December 2005, Mark Saunders and his wife, along with their dog and cat, packed up their 21st century jalopy, a black Audi Quattro with a luggage carrier on top, and left Portland, Oregon, for San Miguel de Allende, three thousand miles away in the middle of Mexico, where they knew no one and could barely speak the language.

Things fell apart almost from the beginning. The house they rented was as cold as a restaurant’s freezer. Their furniture took longer than expected to arrive. They couldn’t even get copies of their house keys made. They unintentionally filled their house with smoke and just as unintentionally knocked out the power to their entire neighborhood. In other words, they were clueless. This is their story.

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

Today, Melissa from Simon & Schuster, has given me the distinct honor to host as my guests today New York Times Best Selling Authors, W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear.   Please help me give them a warm welcome to the CMash blog.

ABOUT W. MICHAEL GEAR and KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR

W. MICHAEL GEAR and KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR are the New York Times bestselling authors of Coming of the Stormand Fire the Sky, the previous books in the Contact series, and more than thirty international bestsellers that have been translated into twenty-eight languages. Their novel People of the Raven won the Golden Spur Award. In addition to writing both fiction and nonfiction together and separately, the Gears operate an anthropological research company, Wind River Archeological Consultants, and raise buffalo on their ranch in Wyoming.

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear welcomevisitors to their website. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

New York Times bestselling authors W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear richly portray a clash of cultures and a native peoples’ struggle to protect their world in the eagerly awaited third installment of the Contact: Battle for America series, A SEARING WIND (Gallery Books; March 6, 2012; $26.00).  Set against the tragic war sparked by Hernando de Soto’s brutal invasion of the American South, A SEARING WIND heightens the historical action in this series hailed as “magnificent” (Douglas Preston) and “exciting, skillfully crafted, and fast-paced” (Publishers Weekly).

Black Shell is an exile, banished by his people for his cowardice in battle. To his fearsome patron spirit, Horned Serpent, however, he is imbued with the courage and keenness to stop the Kristiano onslaught. He and his beautiful wife, Pearl Hand, have fought them from the Florida Peninsula through the very heart of native America. A trader by profession, Black Shell now dedicates his soul to destroying the invaders, with their impenetrable armor, their swift cabayos, and their flashing, razorsharp swords.

Black Shell and Pearl Hand have seen the shackled, naked, starving slaves, heard the broken promises—and learned de Soto’s plans. While the battle of Mabila cost many Kristianos life and limb, the marauder does not retreat. Now he heads for Chicaza and the people from which Black Shell was once exiled.

Wounded and pursued by memories and visions, Black Shell is obsessed with setting the perfect trap. To do so, he must use the Chicaza and their stockpiles of food and supplies. And he must gamble everything on his people’s pride, traditions, and failings. As winter sets in, new dangers abound—that of a family’s shame, a woman’s anger, and a betrayal that may force Black Shell to forfeit his last chance to save their world from utter destruction. But, worst of all, he and Pearl Hand must walk boldly into de Soto’s camp and engage the cunning monster in a desperate game of wits that will decide the fate of a continent.  Powerful and pulsing with authenticity, A SEARING WIND is an unforgettable tale of humanity and cruelty, passion and ignorance—and of historical events burned into America’s history and soul.

THANKS TO MELISSA FROM SIMON & SCHUSTER,
I HAVE 2 SETS OF THIS TRILOGY TO GIVE AWAY.

CLICK HERE TO BRING YOU TO
THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE.