……..of War Stories by Elisabeth Doyle
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So thrilled!! A very special day here at CMash Reads. My good friend Lori, from Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book is stopping by today with her amazing friend and author, Kim Tews.! So I ask that you help me in giving them a warm welcome!!
KIM TEWS
Kim Tews was raised in Madison, Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Economics. She and husband, Randy, pursued careers in real estate before beginning mission work together in Ecuador, South America in 2001. In 2005 they established the 501 (c) 3 non-profit Outreach for World Hope to save the lives of starving children in eastern Guatemala. The couple lives in Verona, Wisconsin with their three children, traveling back and forth to Guatemala frequently to facilitate the ongoing programs of Outreach for World Hope.
You can visit the author at her webpage, book page and Facebook.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Tears Water the Seeds of Hope is the inspiring true story of Kim and Randy Tews, a Midwest husband and wife that become disenchanted with the relentless pursuit of the “American Dream” and embark on a journey that spans six countries and redefines their hearts and lives. The story begins in a small town in America’s heartland and weaves its way through South and Central America as the couple gathers an army of supporters, and eventually establishes a 501(c) 3 organization to save the lives of children in the end stages of starvation in eastern Guatemala. The narrative is filled with action-packed adventure and heart-warming victories as the characters face incredible odds and seemingly hopeless situations, while hundreds of volunteers join mission teams to offer help and hope through the programs of the ministry. Readers of all ages will enjoy the roller coaster ride of emotions—from laughter, to tears, to sheer joy—as they realize that it is possible for ordinary people to make a difference, one life at a time.
Read an excerpt:
Chapter 1 – Wrecked for LifeThe setting sun painted a backdrop of cotton candy pink clouds over the roadside bar and grill where we would soon hear our favorite acoustic guitar duo sing Jimmy Buffet songs. It was an idyllic Wisconsin summer night late in June of 2005. Under normal circumstances, I would have enjoyed the warm breeze and the glow of the festive colored tiki lights on the outdoor deck with the sense of carefree recreation that midwestern families enjoy when school is out and the days are longer. Randy shook his head, smiling as our two daughters took turns throwing harmless jabs at one another, each laughing hysterically at her own jokes. I felt as if I were watching the scene from a distance, fighting back tears as my mind returned to the children I had seen two days earlier in a squalid hospital in drought and famine-stricken eastern Guatemala—a scene that would change me forever and wreck me once and for all for the relentless pursuit of the American Dream. I was haunted by the forlorn faces of two children whose hopeless situation had laid the framework for the rest of my life.
The severely starved two-year-old boy was scarcely more than skin and bones. Hair was a luxury his body could not afford, as the nutrients available to him were barely enough to keep his vital organs functioning. His face was sunken and pale, the outline of his ribs and spine clearly visible through his thin layer of skin. He had been carried by his barefooted ten-year-old sister from El Volcancito, their remote mountain village several miles away, into the small town of Jocotan, in hopes that his life could be saved. The mother of the children was bedridden with a debilitating illness for which she could not afford treatment. My heart broke as much for the boy, barely hanging on and suffering miserably, as for the young girl, exhausted and saddled with the crushing responsibility of keeping her baby brother alive.
A frail little girl sat weeping on a tattered bench at the entrance to the facility, her body emaciated and her abdomen severely bloated, revealing the presence of parasites within her weak, trembling frame. She had been brought to the hospital for nutritional rehabilitation, and because she was four years old, and her mother had two smaller children to care for at home, she had been left alone. Lidia could not have understood why she had been left behind by her family in this unfamiliar place. She had been sitting on the bench since early morning waiting for them to return. In her hand she clutched what was probably her only toy, a comfort and reminder of home. The lump in my throat returned each time I recalled opening her tiny hand to find that she held a black plastic vulture.
Randy and I were married in May of 1993. During our early years together, we were blessed with two beautiful daughters and were pursuing careers in real estate, climbing the ranks among our colleagues in terms of sales volume. We purchased an enormous house on four acres, and although it was only four years old, we completely remodeled it to suit our tastes. With luxury vehicles and an ever-increasing income, we were living the American Dream. There was much to be thankful for, but something was missing.
Randy and I had both grown up near Madison, Wisconsin in middle class families, Randy’s Methodist and mine Catholic. We had attended Sunday services and believed in an all-powerful God, but faith and religion were not playing a major role in our adult lives. Having agreed as newlyweds to raise our family in faith, we dutifully attended services at a congregation near our home for seven years. But we eventually felt that we needed a change and in spring of 2000, we set out in search of a new church home. With no predetermined denomination in mind, we experienced a variety of church cultures, some too formal, some too weird, others seemingly insincere. We eventually stumbled across an Evangelical Free church on the west side of Madison, near our home in the suburb of Verona. I was surprised to find that instead of an organ and a choir, this church had a band that played upbeat contemporary Christian music on keyboards, guitars and drums. The young pastor spoke with passion, bringing the Bible to life by applying scripture to issues faced by the generations of the twenty-first century. It was at this church that our faith came alive.
Our new understanding of the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and the resulting sense of love and gratitude we felt toward God, inevitably began to pose problems for us. We were embarrassed to invite our new Christian friends to our supersized home, and conflicts began to surface in our hearts about how our time and money were being spent. One of the many bedrooms in our home had been turned into my personal closet and was loaded with clothing and shoes, most of which I did not need. I had become so busy in my career as a Realtor that I began to feel like a gerbil on a wheel. My twelve-hour workdays did not leave room for the peace and joy I had heard should come with our newly authenticated Christian faith. One frantically busy day I decided to return phone calls while waiting in line for lunch at the McDonald’s drive through. When a voice came over the speaker saying, “Can I help you?”
I was so preoccupied that I mistook it for a phone call and said, “Hello, this is Kim Tews with the Tews Team Realtors”.
During the awkward silence that followed the kid must have been thinking, “Yeah, who cares? What do you want for lunch?”
That night I arrived home from work late in the evening to find our three-year-old daughter asleep on the couch clinging to a shirt I had worn the day before. When I asked Randy about the shirt he explained, “She said it smells like you, and she misses you.”
It was time for a change.
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 or
Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affliate.
I am providing link(s) solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
When author and friend, Melissa Foster, a frequent visitor here at CMash Reads, asks to showcase a fellow author, I always honor that request. So today, we get to meet one of her peers as he stops by and visits. So without further ado, Mr. Russell Blake!!
RUSSELL BLAKE
Russell Blake is the acclaimed author of Fatal Exchange, The Geronimo Breach, Zero Sum,The Delphi Chronicle trilogy, Night of the Assassin, King of Swords, Revenge of the Assassin,Return of the Assassin, The Voynich Cypher, An Angel With Fur, How To Sell A Gazillion eBooks In No Time (even if drunk, high or incarcerated), Silver Justice and JET. He lives on the Pacific coast of Mexico and enjoys his dogs, writing, tequila and battling world domination by clowns. His thoughts, such as they are, can be found at his blog:http://RussellBlake.com Follow Russell on Twitter: @Blakebooks
GUEST POST
JET – A Different Kind of Action Hero
Thanks for having me – it’s a sincere pleasure.
I’m so excited about my new series, JET. I really can’t say enough about it. I am launching two books on Oct. 5 – JET, and JET II – Betrayal. Both are full-length novels, and feature the trials and tribulations of Jet, the twenty-eight year old ex-Mossad operative who faked her own death to get out of that life, but whose life has come back to haunt her in a big and ugly way.
Jet is a different kind of novel for me. It was inspired by a few simple ideas. First, I got to thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool to write a female action lead that was a kind of a cross between James Bond and Jack Bauer, from 24?” From that, I next went to, “And wouldn’t it be even cooler if the books started with lightning action, and then accelerated from there? Like a literary version of a film like Kill Bill?”
That was the idea – a larger-than-life, overblown female heroine who kicked #ss and took no prisoners, but who did so reluctantly – she’d tried to end that existence, but then enemies from her past came after her, forcing her to put everything on the line.
I sort of had a mental image of Kate B in Underworld, but half Japanese, half Dominican – born in Israel, of those two ethnicities, but left a ward of the state early on. I wanted her to have had a painful, horrific past that she triumphed against, emerging stronger. That is sort of a recurring theme in the JET books. She’s like a Phoenix, rising from the ashes, and no matter what gets thrown at her, she comes through it better for the experience.
What’s truly exciting for me about the series is that, for whatever reason, it’s not just a shoot-em-up romp, although there’s enough of that to fill 10 books. No, what happened is that the writing turned out to be almost, and I hesitate to say this, literary fiction. Which was unintentional, but just what happened. So we have this Lamborghini on black ice, out of control roller-coaster of a book, with unexpected characterization, description and prose. I know it sounds odd, but I think it works pretty well. I honestly can’t think of another book like it. And with the number out there, that says something – either that I don’t read much, or that this is truly something different.
I think fans who are a little tired of the genre, and who think they’ve seen everything, should give JET a whirl. I think it will surprise at a number of levels. I know the character is overblown, but she’s overblown in an unapologetic way that is ultimately endearing – at least to me. It’s rare when I get done with a book and can’t wait to write the next one, but JET had that effect on me, so I immediately wrote JET II, which releases the same day. That’s unusual as well, but I don’t want readers to have to wait to find out what happens next, and the words were just waiting, so I figured might as well get em down on paper.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to come on and chat. I think my final thought would be that if you’ve never read anything by me before, just read JET. If you want to know what makes a Russell Blake book different, read JET, and there won’t be any more questions.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Jet. The code name of an ex-Mossad operative who faked her own death to get out of the game – but whose brutal past has come back to haunt her. When her new life on a tranquil island is shattered by an assassination team targeting her for execution, Jet must return to a savage life she’d thought she’d buried forever to save herself and those she loves. A gritty, unflinching roller-coaster of unexpected twists and shocking turns, Jet features a new kind of protagonist that breaks the mold. Fans of Lizbeth Sanders, SALT or the Bourne trilogy will find themselves carried along at Lamborghini speed by a story whose conclusion is as jarring and surprising as its heroine is unconventional.
DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.
..of Blogfest 2012
$10.00 Amazon GC
101 Maria Smith Leave a Blog Post Comment
An email has been sent to the winner and she has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to all that stopped by and entered!
THIS IS A STICKY POST
DAILY POSTS BELOW
HOSTED BY MICHELLE AT THE TRUE BOOK ADDICT
AND SEASONS OF READING
I signed up to participate in this Read-A-Thon during the summer and am hoping it will get me back on track, since I have been in a slump, reading only 1 book during September.
My goal is to set some time aside each day to read and get away from my computer. However, I am also behind in my blog to-dos being extremely busy with Partners In Crime Tours and Providence Book Promotions.
My daily progress will be posted here:
MONDAY:
Pages read: 0
Book:
TUESDAY:
Pages read: 0
Book:
Unfortunately I have not been able to open a book because of work. However, on Tuesday night, I got to meet, face to face an author, that a friendship developed after being a Guest Author on my blog. She flew in to attend a conference and we had dinner. More details to come in Sunday’s Salon. I will tell you that she is absolutely beautiful, inside and out!!!
WEDNESDAY:
Pages read: 0
Book:
THURSDAY:
What better way to end my reading slump, but to read a new novel by a favorite author. And it did the trick!!!
Pages read: 16% (Kindle)
Book: The Disappearance of Grace by Vincent Zandri
FRIDAY:
Pages read: 50% (Kindle)
Book: The Disappearance of Grace by Vincent Zandri
SATURDAY:
Pages read: 24% Kindle
Book: The Disappearance of Grace by Vincent Zandri
SUNDAY:
Pages read:
Book:
WRAP UP: This is exactly what I needed. After being in a reading slump for approximately a month, I feel that this week was successful. Thank you Michelle for hosting!!!
TOTAL PAGES READ 100% Kindle +20 pages
BOOK(S): Finished The Disappearance of Grace by Vincent Zandri and picked up Low Pressure by Sandra Brown
….of Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo
23 Jeffrey Tretin Be a Public Follower of ‘CMASH Loves to Read’
An email has been sent to the winner and he has 48 hours to respond with a mailing address or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to all that entered.
I’ll admit, I am quite thrilled to have today’s guest visiting for a few reasons. First, by now, you know that the ladies from WOW! Women On Writing, always stop by and introduces us to amazing female authors. Today’s author may sound familiar to you since she had visited back in December 2011. At that time, I had read and reviewed her first book, A Whisper To A Scream and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so, that at the time, I had asked Jodi, from WOW, if she would put me on the list for when Ms. Berner’s next novel went on tour. And today’s the day!! So I ask that you help me welcome back, Ms. Karen Berner!!
KAREN WOJCIK BERNER
Karen Wojcik Berner lives a provincial life tucked away with her family in the Chicago suburbs. If it was good enough for Jane Austen, right?
However, dear Miss Austen had the good fortune of being born amid the glorious English countryside, something Karen unabashedly covets, so much so that she majored in English and communications at Dominican University. Like the magnificent Miss Austen, Karen could not help but write about the Society that surrounds her.
However, dear Miss Austen had the good fortune of being born amid the glorious English countryside, something Karen unabashedly covets, so much so that she majored in English and communications at Dominican University. Like the magnificent Miss Austen, Karen could not help but write about the Society that surrounds her.
A booklover since she could hold one in her chubby little toddler hands, Karen wanted to announce to the world just how much she loves the written word. She considered getting a bibliophile tattoo but instead decided to write about the lives of the members of a suburban Classics Book Club. The series is called, of course, The Bibliophiles. When she isn’t reading, writing, or spending her time wishing she was Jane Austen, Karen spends her time can be found sipping tea or wine, whichever is more appropriate that day, and watching Tim Burton movies or “Chopped,” her favorite foodie TV show.
Visit Karen Wojcik Berner at her website here.
Visit Karen Wojcik Berner at her website here.
GUEST POST
Be a Character This Halloween
By Karen Wojcik Berner
Thank you so much for having me here today.
Autumn is my favorite season. Football. The slight chill in the air. Pumpkin spice lattes. Nature’s magnificent splendor on display.
And Halloween, that magical day when you can dress however you want and no one looks at you like you’re crazy. A geisha? Sure! Get in line. You get to lead the school costume parade. An angel? Awww, how sweet. A scarecrow? Very seasonal.
By the time freshman year in college rolled around, Halloween took a more, shall I say interesting, route with great memories of being dressed like a little girl, with pigtails and teddy bear, dancing with a friend who was Dr. Frank N. Furter, the Transylvanian transvestite from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Must have made an interesting tableau. Or the basketball team roaming the halls, tied together as a six pack of beer, oh, I mean soda.
My finest Halloween came after raiding the theater department’s costume room (I was taking a children’s theater class that semester) for my Mozart’s mistress dress, real corset and all. People were still talking about that costume at my 25-year reunion this past June, along with my 18th-century up-do, achieved with an entire can of hairspray and baby powder.
In my latest novel, “Until My Soul Gets It Right (The Bibliophiles: Book Two),” the Bibliophiles classics book club members go on a field trip to All Hallow’s Eve at Naper Settlement, a local living history museum. They see Edgar Allan Poe and the three witches from “MacBeth,” plus Dracula and a Puritan witch trial, all good, frightening, classic literary festivity .
Wouldn’t it be fun to dress as a literary character or author this Halloween? Here are some of my favorite ideas.
William Shakespeare. Donning the Bard’s costume is as easy as wearing a blousy white shirt and tucking slim-cut pants into the top of white knee socks. To create the Elizabethan ruff (collar), simply fold a piece of paper into an accordion pleat, punch a whole in the top and thread string through the holes. Tie it around your neck, and fluff it out as you see fit. Draw a small mustache on with black eye pencil, and carry a quill. Huzzah!
Carrie. Have an old prom or bridesmaids dress you are never going to wear,? Poor red paint on it, part your hair down the center, and pour fake blood all over yourself. You’re Carrie from the Stephen King novel of the same name! Works best with a slinky, 1970s-style dress.
Tom Sawyer. Wear frayed, worn jeans, a plaid shirt and a straw hat. Tie a bandana at the end of a long stick. Bingo! Easy as pie.
Nancy Drew. Assemble a preppy ensemble of a plaid skirt, oxford shirt, blazer and a cloche hat. Carry a magnifying glass. Friends with a clue will know who you are immediately.
Edgar Allan Poe. What’s Halloween without an hommage to the creepiest of all 19th-century writers? With a white dress shirt, black suit (with vest), and a mustache drawn on with black eye pencil, you will be Poe in no time. Don’t forget the raven for your shoulder or to carry.
These are just a few of the many possible options. How about you? What would your favorite literary Halloween costume look like?
ABOUT THE BOOK
The ladies (and man) of the Bibliophiles Book Club are back! This time the spotlight is on Catherine. Catherine Elbert has never been good at making decisions, whether it was choosing an ice cream flavor as a child or figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing Catherine knew for sure was there had to be more to her life than being stuck on her family’s farm.
So Catherine became enamored with the complete opposite of the flat farmlands of Burkesville, Wisconsin – the ocean, lobsters, and rugged coast of Portland, Oregon. Despite her parents’ threat to disown her and her brothers’ bets on how many days until she comes home Catherine heads for Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland.
She is finally free. Or so she thought. What Catherine forgot was that you can’t run away from yourself!
THANKS TO AUTHOR, KAREN WOJCIK BERNER,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF UNTIL MY SOUL GET’S IT RIGHT TO GIVE AWAY.
EITHER A PRINT COPY (U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY)
OR EBOOK EDITION (OPEN TO ALL)
WANT A CHANCE TO WIN A WHISPER TO A SCREAM?
THEN HEAD ON OVER TO KAREN BERNER’S WEBSITE TO ENTER HERE
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.
SEPTEMBER 28th to OCTOBER 12th, 2012
UNTIL MY SOUL GETS IT RIGHT
by KAREN WOJCIK BERNER
SYNOPSIS:
The ladies (and man) of the Bibliophiles Book Club are back! This time the spotlight is on Catherine. Catherine Elbert has never been good at making decisions, whether it was choosing an ice cream flavor as a child or figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing Catherine knew for sure was there had to be more to her life than being stuck on her family’s farm.
So Catherine became enamored with the complete opposite of the flat farmlands of Burkesville, Wisconsin – the ocean, lobsters, and rugged coast of Portland, Oregon. Despite her parents’ threat to disown her and her brothers’ bets on how many days until she comes home Catherine heads for Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland.
She is finally free. Or so she thought. What Catherine forgot was that you can’t run away from yourself!
THANKS TO AUTHOR, KAREN WOJCIK BERNER,
AND THE LADIES AT WOW!
I HAVE ONE ( 1 ) COPY OF THIS
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
*USE THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW
IN ORDER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GIVEAWAY*
BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL
IN ORDER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GIVEAWAY*
BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL
ADDRESS IN THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: ARE YOU
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: ARE YOU
GOOD AT MAKING DECISIONS?*
*U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY-PRINT OR EBOOK*
*EBOOK EDITION-OPEN TO ALL*
*NO P.O. BOXES*
**HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.
*GIVEAWAY ENDS OCTOBER 12th AT 6PM EST*
WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RAFFLECOPTER AND NOTIFIED
VIA EMAIL AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
VIA EMAIL AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
DISCLAIMER / RULES
Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
the giveaway on behalf of the
above. 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.
the giveaway on behalf of the
above. 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.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed
YOUR JAVA SCRIPT MAY NEED TO BE UPDATED
IF YOU AR EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY
USING THE RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY FORM
