Review of Speechless by Hannah Harrington

October is National Bully Prevention Month which started in 2006 and grows by leaps and bounds each year. It should, bullying is something that begins when we're young and if not stamped out festers and grows to malignancy in adults.
Speechless YA author Hannah Harrington newest novel deals with just that and it's a fitting novel to celebrate our differences and stop bullying.
Enjoy the review, but live the lesson.

Speechless
Hannah Harrington
Harlequin Teen
ISBN13:9780373210527
272 pages

Chelsea Knot loved her life, loved gossiping, loved telling secrets and enjoyed her status as second string to her best bud Kristen which made her the second most popular girl in the sophomore class at Grand Lake High, but most of all she loved spilling secrets and watching the results. Until the secret she spilled at a New Year’s Eve party changed her life, the lives of those around her and almost cost a life. As a result of a decision she makes and acts on she goes from popular to pariah, her friends abandon and wrong her and she takes a vow of silence since it seems when she opens her mouth people get hurt. She also looks in a new social direction that would have seemed as alien as the Martian landscape to the old Chelsea but seems to fit the new one. The lessons life are teaching her are not painless, seeking redemption does not always get the result you wish for and asking for forgiveness sometimes starts by asking it of yourself.

This is the perfect choice to start Bully Prevention Month and Hannah’s storytelling made this lesson easy to read even if the actions of a few were shameful. Her storyline of learning social conscience is expertly told and enriched this very adult palate as well as it would a much younger one. Her characters are realistically likeable and disgraceful where appropriate and her protagonist Chelsea could be any girl/boy USA and in fact in one way or anther probably mirrors each of us at one time in our life or another. The message is clear, get along, know, live and teach tolerance. There is a quote from the book that really said it all page 245 “Hate is…it’s too easy,” he says. His face is calm, calmer than it has any right to be, his eyes not wavering from mine, like he’s so completely sure of what he’s saying. “Love. Love takes courage.”

The right thing is not always the easier path but it’s always the right one.
Thank you for this beautiful voice against violence and hate, I can’t wait to see where you take us next.

Buy the book here visit the author's website here

Hannah's other novel

New Release Feature 10-2 Better Than Chocolate + Q&A w/ author Sheila Roberts

Q&A w/Sheila Roberts author of
Better Than Chocolate

Debbie - Hi Sheila, welcome to the General Fiction book club forum
Shelia - Thanks, and thanks hugely for allowing me to come visit you.

Can you tell us a little about your newest released novel?
I’m very excited about this book. It’s a fun read (at least I hope it is!) about a woman who’s trying to save the family chocolate factory. She and her mother and sisters come up with the idea of hosting a chocolate festival. This sounds great to the rest of the town movers and shakers since the town is in an economic slump. But thiings don’t go as smoothly as our heroine hopes they will. When the bank’s about to foreclose, when you don’t have a lot of time to pull together something so big, when Mother Nature isn’t cooperating, and when you’re attracted to your arch enemy, well, it’s not so easy. (And of course, it shouldn’t be. All good heroines need to struggle!)

Is it part of a series?
Yes, this is the first book in a series of books set in the fictional town of Icicle Falls, which is based on one of my favorite towns: Leavenworth, Washington. By 1960 Leavenworth was on the verge of becoming a ghost town. The town literally reinvented itself and today it’s a charming alpine village and a tourist destination spot. I love that kind of success story.

Sheila, I was looking on your website at your biography, it says you once owned a singing telegraph company. Could you tell us a bit about your background and how it all led to your becoming an author.
Well, I’ve always loved to write so my writing and my music have run on parallel tracks all my life. The singing telegram company was great fun. I also sang in a band and that was fun, too. And I still dabble in music, especially songwriting. My songwriting buddy and I wrote a country song and made a music video based on one of the story lines in my November release, MERRY EX-MAS and I can hardly wait for my readers to get to see that.

I also saw on your website a link to your blog.
Do you think blogging is a good way to connect with your readers?
I do. It gives readers a chance to find out what’s going on in my life and what I’m thinking. (Well, if they’re interested.)
How else do you connect with your readers?

I have a Like page on Facebook and I tweet. (I’ve met some wonderful people doing that. I have the best readers in the world.) And, of course, I do lots of book signing parties in my area. For this book the theme is chocolate madness and I’m bringing ... you guessed it, lots of chocolate.

Do you write full time?
Yes, I do.

Did this release day give you as many butterflies as your very first one did?
Release day is always fun and exciting. With my first book I didn’t know enough about the business to have butterflies. Later in my career I did, though. Now, I’m just plain happy on release day. Of course, I want people to buy my book and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, but that sort of thing is out of my control.

Walk us through a normal day in the life of Sheila Roberts.
Oh, my. Well, a typical day will always include writing and a smidge of housework. After that, it varies. There are usually errands to run, friends to hang out with, fun things to do. And, like all good moms, I harass my kids on a regular basis. My hubby and I go dancing once a week. I love to play tennis and do that as often as I can. And I’ve just taken up golf so today I was at the driving range practicing. Come evening, after all my adventures, I’m usually crashed on the couch watching a movie on TV. Now that the new season of DANCING WITH THE STARS has begun I’ll be glued to the set watching that. (They need an author – me!- on there.) Then it’s off to bed to read. And weekends, well that’s for partying with friends, having company for dinner, doing something with the family.

Tell us something that would surprise us about you
I’m a hypochondriac. (This, my friends, is the dark side of imagination.)

Sheila I see you have many events coming up, including many at Barnes & Noble locations on the sightings part of your website.
Is this the best way to find out where you’ll be?
Thanks for asking. Yes, we always post my appearances on the website.

Sheila thank you for taking the time to let us know you a little better.
Good luck with the novel.
Thank you so much and, again, thanks for having me!

Buy the book here visit the author's website here

Here are Shelia’s Barnes & Noble events:

Thursday, October 25th, 8 p.m., Chocolate Madness book signing, Olympia Barnes and Noble, Olympia, WA

Saturday, November 3rd, 3 p.m., Merry Ex-mas book launch party, Silverdale Barnes & Noble, Silverdale, WA

Saturday, November 10th, 11 a.m., Chocolate Madness book signing, Federal Way Barnes & Noble, Federal Way, WA

Guest author Duffy Brown talks about her new novel Iced Chiffon

New Release Feature Iced Chiffon by Duffy Brown
10-2-2012

Please welcome Duffy Brown to the General Fiction forum

Debbie - Duffy, this is the first in your brand new mystery series.
Can you tell us a bit about the novel and the new series?
Duffy - Hi, Debbie, wonderful being here.  You might wonder why in the world a consignment shop? Well, I’ve worked in one for fifteen years and have gotten such really great deals. We don’t have any dead bodies in our dressing rooms but wouldn’t it be something if we did!

See, that’s now my brain works. LOL

The series is Consignment Shop mysteries. The first book, Iced Chiffon, is out Oct 2, the second, Killer in Crinolines is out May, 2013. The setting is Savannah and in Iced Chiffon Reagan Summerside’s  ex has kicked her to the curb for a new Cupcake. She’s dead, the ex accused of the murder and Reagan has to find the real killer or the ex will sell her house to pay his legal fees. Such a nice guy.

In Killer in Crinolines, Reagan helps a BFF accused of killing her fiancée.

The consignment shop part comes in where Reagan opens one in her old Victorian to help pay the bills. Victorian’s are money-pits of the first order.

You also write as Dianne Castell.
Why the pseudonym?
Dianne Castell is my romance name. When I switched to mystery I had to change so readers wouldn’t pick up Iced Chiffon thinking romance. Wow, would that be a shock! J I chose Duffy because Kate Duffy was my editor at Kensington. I loved her dearly and she died much too young. Brown came from Roberta Brown, the best agent on planet.

How long have you been a published author?
Over twenty years now. Started with Harlequin American then went to Kensington.  Great memories!

How is this release different from your first novel, how is it the same?
Mystery is way different than romance. Like starting all over again and that’s fine.  I’ve met many new friends and keep up with my romance buddies and readers.  I always had mystery in my romance stories and decided I liked writing the mystery part better than the romance so took the plunge. Now I kill people for fun and profit. LOL

Do you belong to a writer’s group?
I belong to Sisters in Crime but I write alone. I’m not a big believer in critique groups. I had some bad experiences. Your voice sells your work. Besides, no one knows what sells but the editor. That’s who you listen to. Other writes are just that…writers. They aren’t editors.

What are you working on now?
The third book in the series is Pearls and Poison. Also, I working on a new series. Wish me luck!

In both your pen names you set your novels in the South.
Why is that?
My daughter went to Savannah for school and I fell in love with the city. Gorgeous! Perfect place to set a book. Small enough to walk across, large enough to be diverse…rich, poor, projects, belles, gangs, politicians. All the elements that makes for a good read. And then there’s the food! Lordy, I love Southern cooking. In Iced Chiffon we eat our way across the city. Yummmm.

If you could vacation anywhere, where would you go?
I did Glacier National Park two years ago. As close as one gets to heaven on this planet. Did whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon…spiritual! Next stop is Yosemite. I love to hike!

I’m sure your fans here at B&N.com would love to meet you in person.
Do you have any B&N events or signings?
Yes! In Columbus, Ohio Sept 29-30.  If anyone wants to meet at B&N for lunch here in Cincy, just email me.

Thanks so much for having me, Debbie. Nothing more fun than talking books at B&N.

Hugs, Duffy

Buy the book here
For all of you reading this, Duffy is offering a special thank you to fans here at B&N.com. Simply email her through her website, mention that you saw this post for more details.
And she’ll be stopping by for a day or two to say hi to any and all who’d like to chat with her. If you miss her here be sure and visit her on Becke’s Mystery forum later in the month.

Guest Blog post by Patricia Harman author of The Midwife of Hope River

Today's special feature is by a debut fiction author who is not new to writing, although all the "before" products have been non-fiction. 

It's always intrigued me about the difference between fact and fiction and Patricia's guest blog post is about just that. So sit back sip your coffee or tea and enjoy a story.

Midwife 

Memoirist to Novelist

       Book touring for my new novel, The Midwife of Hope River, (William Morrow) across the South and in the Midwest, I’m often asked what it was like to change from writing memoirs to writing my first novel.

       There are some unique challenges in writing a memoir, especially when you are a nurse-midwife or other health care provider.  You have to be so very careful to protect patient privacy.  In both my memoirs, The Blue Cotton Gown and Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey (Beacon Press), all my patients were deeply disguised.  They were also asked to read their own chapters to be sure they were ok. 
        “You are more important to me than my book,” I told them as we sat in the exam room.  “If you want me to change anything I wrote about you or if you don’t want to be in the book at all, I’ll take you out.”  Fortunately, not one patient said no.
       “If my story will help someone to not feel alone, I want it to be in there,” is what one woman said and I was touched.
        In writing the memoirs, I also had to weigh concerns that friends, family members or colleagues might disagree with my account of our mutual experiences.  This was a challenge at first, until my husband gave me encouragement to speak the truth as I saw it.  “It’s your story,” he told me.  “If they want to tell their story, they can write their own memoir.” 
         Writing a historical novel is quite different.  For one thing, you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone’s feelings!  You don’t have to carefully disguise every character.  You are making them up!   For another, there is meticulous research to do, but that was fun and could mainly be done online or by reading books at home.  I also used photographs to get the feel of the period. 
       They say, “Write what you know,” and I began my book, The Midwife of Hope River, by thinking about that.  As a midwife, I knew about delivering babies.  I have performed home and hospital births for over 30 years.  I lived off the land much like a pioneer on rural communes for over a decade.  I was a political radical back in the 1970s when we protested the war in Vietnam.  I’ve even been in jail for peace protests. 
       Thus Patience Murphy was born, 36-year-old midwife living during the Great Depression on a broken down farm, not by choice, but necessity.  She’s a widow twice over, an ex-radical from Pittsburgh and also wanted by the law in two states!  (Now, for sure, you have to read the book!) 

       The story, told in the first person, opens on the day Wall Street crashed.  The midwife is sitting at the bedside of Katherine MacIntosh, the wife of a wealthy mine owner, writing in her new leather bound journal.  Maybe that’s why writing a novel about a midwife, as if it was her account, wasn’t that hard.  The Midwife of Hope River is a memoir, Patience Murphy’s memoir.   
      Once I started writing, Patience and the others of the Hope River Valley, Bitsy, her young black assistant, Mrs. Kelly, her benefactor and Daniel Hester, the local vet, took on a life of their own and the story unfolded like a movie behind my eyes. 
      The characters have now all become real to me and apparently to readers too.  More than once I’ve received the comment, “While reading The Midwife of Hope River, I forgot I was reading fiction, I began to feel that the people of the Hope River were real.”  In my mind they are.

Here is a trailer for the book  

Here are Patricia's other works

 

Buy the book here visit the author's website here

Review of new release Immortal Surrender & Interview w/author Claire Ashgrove

Here's the blurb from the book:

(Farran de Clare, loyal member of the cursed Knights Templar, wants nothing to do with predestined mates. Even the Almighty won’t turn him into a fool again—he’d rather sacrifice his soul. Yet in the scientist Noelle Keane, a devout atheist, Farran meets the seraph designed for him.

Ordered by the archangel Gabriel to protect Noelle, the possessor of a sacred relic that could give Azazel incredible power, Farran swears to do his duty—but in name only. Fighting an attraction that grows with each day, he’s determined that he’ll never pledge himself to her.

As they war over her future, their mutual passion ignites a conflict far more damning. But before Noelle will agree to eternity with him, she demands the ultimate sacrifice – his heart.)

 Interview with Claire Ashgrove

Immortal Surrender

It’s my pleasure to bring to the forum another favorite Claire Ashgrove, I first became aware of Claire’s work when I reviewed for Long & Short Reviews and only read her contemporary romance and believe me they were excellent novels.
Now she’s entered into a vastly popular genre of paranormal romance with her new The Curse of the Templars series and the novel coming out today is the second in this series.

Debbie - Claire welcome to the B&N forum, tell us a bit about the new series and the novel Immortal Surrender too.

Claire - Thanks for inviting me over, Debbie!  I’m really excited to be here.

Okay… where to start.  The Curse of the Templars is a dark paranormal romance series, based on the premise that the Templar Knights discovered a document written by Azazel.  For their forbidden digging they were cursed to spend eternity battling Azazel’s demons.  But with each death they claim, their souls absorb a portion of evil.  Eventually, they’ll turn into the nightmares that they fight.

Now, as the Templar struggle to survive, Azazel’s might grows, and if he obtains eight holy relics, he will have the power to overthrow the Almighty.  An ancient Templar prophecy declares the seraphs will return, female descendents of the Nephilim who will turn the tides of war.  But the power they possess to heal the knights’ dying souls makes them more than tools to victory, they are salvation.

Immortal Surrender continues the struggle over the relics and tells the story of Farran and his intended seraph, a devout atheist, Dr. Noelle Keane.  It’s really an emotional struggle, with both of them needing to grow and move beyond obstacles from their past.  Of course, the longer they delay, there’s the ever-present threat of Azazel looming over their heads. If they can’t find a common ground, the Templar will lose yet another relic, and Azazel’s power intensifies.

On your blog info page it says in your spare time you like studying ancient civilizations does that have anything to do with this series and where did this interest come from.

Oh, absolutely!  I am a huge Medieval fanatic.  And the Templar are simply fascinating.  I can’t really begin to pinpoint where my interest started, other than to point to a Western Civ class in college.  But long before I discovered European history, I was an American history buff.  Now that love has been replaced with older, more imposing civilizations.

Are there a certain number of novels planned in this series?

I have a target I’m striving for.  But I’m not committing to a precise number – you never know how things go!  I can say this concretely, whatever number we end up with, there will be an end to the series.  It is not designed to continue perpetually.

You write in several genres Claire do you have a favorite?

Gosh… no… not really.  The more I can plot and subplot, the happier I am as a general rule.  I really have to hold myself back sometimes or I’ll get way too epic.  So in that vein, right now the Templars and my other pen name, Tori St. Claire fulfill that passion.

Do you have a favorite work?

A Broken Christmas is probably one of my most favorite stories.  And Immortal Surrender runs a very close second – I’m not just saying that cause it came out today, either!  The heroes in both have a lot to overcome and both of them really get me in the gut.

Tell us how you felt when you sold your very first book, and how does the excitement of that release day compare to this one.

Laugh!  Truth?  I had mixed feelings about selling my first book.  It was still back before small press was readily embraced, and I did some serious ruminating on whether I wanted to go that route or not.  I wasn’t caught up in that release day – I don’t think my family and I even really celebrated. 

Conversely, about a month ago, when I started planning the blog tour and all the giveaways I’m doing on my blog for Immortal Surrender, I really, really, got excited.  I’m thrilled to be here, to be talking about the book, and to be celebrating with everyone for the next few weeks.  It’s really almost like the first book should have been!

Now writing isn’t your only passion, you also train Thoroughbred and Arabian Horses.
Tell us a little how that came to be.

Well, first – that’s presently on hold.  I still have the herd, but two children pre-empted a lot of that.  However, when I was a junior in high school I started taking riding lessons in exchange for chores at a local stable.  A couple months later, I had a horse of my own – who still lives in my front yard! – and from there I went nuts with jumping over everything that was solid.  Eventually, I discovered it was young horses I enjoyed the most, not finishing out a seasoned competitor.  And while I simply don’t teach people how to ride, I love teaching an uneducated horse.  It’s challenging and rewarding and… just exhilarating. 

Are you a reader, who are some of your favorite authors/genres?

 I read.  Lately not as much as I’d like to.   I used to be able to finish a book in a day.  Now?  I’ve been working on finishing a book I adore for the last two weeks.  I’m a fantasy reader foremost, though I actually prefer non-fiction to fiction.  R.A. Salvatore has been a long-time favorite, and more recently, Kevin J. Anderson.  Romance wise, I’ll always be a Johanna Lindsey fan; I drool over anything Meredith Duran.  Karin Tabke and Shayla Black are hugely inspiration to me – and I cried when Karin cover blurbed for me J  And on that note, Maggie Shayne also really inspires me.

If you could vacation anywhere in the world or out of it what would your dream vacation be?

Ireland.  Take me there and I’ll never come back.  Laugh!  Seriously… I don’t think about vacationing to Ireland.  I think about going to live there for extended periods of time.

I’m sure that your fans here would love to meet you in person, do you have any B&N events or signings planned

I’ve been trying to work that out.  It seems to hiccup every time.  But, I do announce my signings on my blog, and on my website.  And coming up relatively immediately, on the 29^th and 30^th of September, I’ll be at the Kansas City Ren Fest.  I’d love to see people there!

Claire thank you so much for taking the time from your schedule to chat with us and good luck with Immortal Surrender.

Thank you, again, Debbie!  This was fun!  And readers—do keep in touch! I love to hear from all of you.

My review of Immortal Surrender

Immortal Surrender
Claire Ashgrove
Tor Publishing
ISBN13:9780765367594
448 pages

The curse came when Farran de Clare and his brother knights of the Templar went against orders and discovered a forbidden scroll. For their act of disobedience they were given immortality to fight the evil demon Azazel and his minions. And with every kill of evil they made they would absorb some of that evil. But all is not lost; there is a prophecy that tells of the return of the seraphs that will redeem them.

Farran is not looking for redemption; he doesn’t believe he deserves it so when it knocks on his door in the form of an unbeliever he does everything in his power to deny it and her. But she’s in grave danger from the demon Azazel who wants the artifact she’s responsible for and it’s he who must protect her. But at what cost, his life, his immortality or his heart.
Dr. Noelle Keane is a firm unbeliever in a higher power; she’s relied on the science of fact for all of her life. When she and her bodyguard Farran are attacked she suddenly finds the black and white of her beliefs in question. When Farran tells of prophecies, demons and immortal knights she’s convinced he’s crazy until fiction becomes fact and she has a choice to make and the choice becomes more difficult the more she learns about this knight, his past and their future.
Farran and Noelle are one of the fated pairs of seraph and immortal knight and are stronger together but they each have their own reason to fight against divine promise and must make their own path and live with their choices. Will those choices save them or lead to their demise.

Claire Ashgrove has given me many hours of happy reading starting with her contemporary romance novels and now with her newest and fantastic series about the Templar Knights and the women who save them. It’s inventive, imaginative, epic and a fantastic mix of medieval fact and fiction encompassed by a beautiful romance complete with all the obstacles I’d expect from this doubting Thomas fated pair. Her hero and heroine fill the pages with their personalities and keep the pages turning with their antics and their deeds. The dialogue flows with a hint of the old amongst the common language of today and the narrative is fast paced, action filled and at times nail-biting terror along with the very tempestuous and sensual love scenes.
If you’ve never read Claire it’s time you did, if you’re looking for a new look in urban fantasy/paranormal or the Templar legend give this series a try. Even though this is novel two of a series it stands well on it’s own.
Claire thank you for this journey into myth and lore, I can’t wait to see where you take me on our next trip.

Buy the book here visit the author's website here

here are some of Claire's other novels

New Release Feature 9-18 Low Pressure plus Q&A with #1 NY Times bestselling author Sandra Brown

New Release Feature 9-18-2012 Low Pressure
Plus Q&A with #1NY Times bestselling author
Sandra Brown

Debbie - Sandra welcome to the B&N.com General Fiction forum, excuse me while I pinch myself as you are one of my most beloved authors.

Sandra - Thank you!  My pleasure.  Thank you for inviting me to participate.

Please tell us about your new release Low Pressure

In a nutshell, an F5 tornado ravages Austin, TX, wreaking havoc, taking lives. . .and destroying a murder scene.   The victim was a sixteen-year-old girl.  Now, eighteen years later, her younger sister, Bellamy Price, has written a novel based on the crime and subsequent investigation.  The instant bestseller earns her thousands of fans.  But those who were involved in the case aren’t so happy with the book’s success and the hoopla surrounding it. . .especially not the murderer, who, thus far, has gotten away with it.

You started your writing career in 1981 after leaving a career in TV, had you thought about writing fiction before then.

I had thought about writing, but not too seriously.  I mean, at what point do you hang out your shingle and announce to the world that you’re a novelist?  It seemed unthinkably presumptuous.  But, in essence, that’s what I did.  On a challenge from my husband – “Are you going to keep talking about it, or are you going to do it? – I set up a typewriter (That’s how long ago it’s been!) and began writing down the daydreams I’d been entertaining for years.

I saw your episode of Court TV Murder by The Book where they featured the murder of Betty Gore in Wylie Texas, I can see why you were a successful anchor as you looked great and very comfortable in front of the camera. Why did you deicide to do this program and will there be another guest appearance on it.

I loved doing that!  I did another for “Hardcover Mysteries.”  Same producer, same crew, and it was an equally enjoyable experience.  They do a great job of visualizing the story.  Be it known that I’m available any time to do another show of that kind.  They continue to be re-run, so I believe there’s definitely a television audience there.

Your novel French Silk was made into a made for TV movie, how was the overall experience, were you pleased by the end result, did you play a role in the production.

The adaption of FRENCH SILK was a long time ago!  There have been two since then, SMOKE SCREEN on Lifetime, and RICOCHET on TNT.  When I optioned those books, I had to reconcile that a novel and a movie are two different things entirely.  Each book is mine, mine alone, pure Sandra Brown.  A movie is a collaborative effort.  Everyone involved brings to the project his/her own creative impulses and vision.  So it’s never going to be 100% as I imagined it.

You have received many awards in your career as an author is there one that means more than the others

I’ve treasured them all.  RWA honored me with their top award.  So did ThrillerWriters.  And my university gave me an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.   All left me feeling slightly lightheaded !  I still can’t get used to Dr. Brown, in reference to myself! 

Your novels are all so unique in characters, style and content I have to ask where do your ideas come from.

From anywhere,  everywhere, and nowhere.  That’s the most truthful way in which to answer that question.   With most books, I don’t know where the idea came from.  I don’t know the origin of the character who walks out of my subconscious and says, “Write about me.”  I think if I knew the answer to that, that’s what I’d sell.

Speaking of the difference in your novels I have to say that Rainwater is a perfect example and has remained one of my favorites even though it’s not your usual type of novel, will there be more novels set more historically, did Rainwater have a special reason behind it.

RAINWATER was a special book for me because it was loosely based on an event that occurred on my grandfather’s dairy farm in 1934, at the height of the Depression.  My daddy was six years old and witnessed an armed standoff between my grandfather and federal agents who had come to his dairy farm with an order that he pour his surplus milk into the ditch rather than distribute it among starving families.  (Destroying the surplus of commodities was part of the government’s economic program to create a demand.)  Grandpa refused to comply and stood his ground until the agents gave up and withdrew.  Naturally this made a lasting impression on my daddy. 

And the characters of Ella and Rainwater are examples of those who came out of my subconscious and insisted that I tell their story.  They didn’t leave me alone until I did.  

Sandra thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to give us a small glimpse into your life, I’m sure that the fans here at B&N would love to meet you in person, do you have any Barnes & Noble events or signings planned.

None are planned at this time, but fans should regularly check my website for scheduled appearances, articles, interviews, etc.  sandrabrown.net  or sandrabrown.com

Thank You again Sandra and good luck with the new novel.

My Review of Low Pressure

Low Pressure
Sandra Brown
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN13:9781455501557
480 pages

Sandra Brown once again gives an award winning storytelling performance in her latest thriller Low Pressure. She took me on twists and nail biting turns as she weaves her tale, leaves puzzle pieces unaccounted for until the very last minute and gave me characters who were unforgettable, enigmatic and who’s villain is the stuff of nightmares. She uses dialogue that flows throughout the entire read and kept me eagerly turning pages. Her protagonist Bellamy is a complex woman who I had no choice but to feel for, while her slightly noir-ish Dent was stud worthy yet still of questionable character to keep me wondering of his guilt. The romance is as imperfect as her couple and worth every heart-stopping page.

Bellamy Price has never gotten over the murder of her sister eighteen years ago, the body was discovered in the rubble of a rare F5 Tornado that slammed into Austin Texas on that fateful Memorial Day, a day that Bellamy would love to forget if she could only remember. Hoping to help her memory lapses she’s written a crime novel under a pseudonym but thanks to the digging of a tabloid reporter her secret is out, the novel is a bestseller and Bellamy soon discovers she’s opened a lethal can of worms when she herself is the target of an unknown assailant. With her father on his deathbed she feels she must act now and her only recourse is to dig deeper into the case and the original people of interest in the murder, one being her sister Susan’s bad-boy boyfriend Dent Carter. She and Dent form an uncomfortable partnership as it becomes even more apparent that she is in real danger and her stalker is becoming violent. While they’re racing against a ticking clock they’re also discovering feelings for each other. Will they discover the truth, will they survive to find where those feelings will lead, will fact once again be stranger than fiction.

Buy the book here visit the author's website here

Review of Dakota Blues and guest blog post by author Lynne Spreen

 A few weeks ago I hosted a guest blog post by debut author Lynne Spreen and after reading and really enjoying her novel I wanted to share not only my review but revisit the blog post too.
Enjoy

Deb, thanks so much for asking me to write for the General Fiction Forum. I’m honored. I’d like to talk about the writing life, and also about my just-published novel.

Dakota Blues is about a middle-aged woman who thinks she's got the world figured out, and then it explodes and she has to discover not only what to do now, but who she IS now, at age fifty. Since all her carefully-constructed lifetime strategies didn't work, what now? Where might she go, what might she do, now that she's free to recreate her life? 

I love this theme of coming alive in midlife, but it wasn’t until I reached my own middle age that I discovered it.

Ever since I was an adolescent, I wanted to be a writer, but life interfered with that dream. Like most of you I had to work. In my twenties and thirties, I raised my son, climbed the career ladder and endured several divorces. All of this really interfered with writing!

When I reached my late forties, I was able to cut back to part time and start my novel, but I didn’t realize how much a person had to know to write a whole flippin’ book! It took me about ten years to write Dakota Blues because I learned while writing. Now that the book is published and people are saying nice things about it, I feel like I've graduated. 

About the time I started to write, the publishing industry began to change. New writers were told not to query an agent until we had a platform. By platform they meant thousands of ready customers for when your book was finally finished. We were told that we had to do all of our own selling and marketing because unless you were John Grisham no publisher would spend any money to publicize your book.

Most of us writers panicked. I was very discouraged. But I vowed to do what was necessary to launch my writing career, so I started platforming. I built my own website using Dreamweaver. I get a headache just remembering that! It wasn’t very good. Then somebody invented WordPress and things got easier. I started a couple of practice blogs but eventually figured out my niche.

I could be mad at the traditional publishing industry for kicking us new writers to the curb, but it’s not their fault. Everything is changing. Because I worked so hard to develop a platform, I discovered my passion: the idea that we are more powerful in the second half of our lives than we ever knew. I began to write about the strengths of old age, like not getting swept away by drama (because you've seen it all before), and having more resilience in the face of adversity.

            I began to write about this and other benefits of maturity in my blog, AnyShinyThing.com, and the response has been tremendous. It seems I'm not the only one celebrating the glory of being older. Of course that means you have to shout back at the commercials featuring 17-year-olds demonstrating the latest anti-aging products! Or magazines that run articles about how not to look old, because old is bad and young is good, right?

            Well, old is good in some ways. If I were a lamp, I'd be a priceless antique!

            But back to platforming. In her book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz proposed we figure out what we love and then write, speak, blog, and tweet about it. She said a book is only one form of media, but the idea is the big deal. What is your passion, the thing about which you must speak? It was a moment of awakening for me, because like most writers, I thought it was all about the book. It isn't about the book. It's about what you believe in.

            I wrote Dakota Blues because I'm obsessed by the idea that we create our own prisons. Some men, but particularly women do this. We sleepwalk through our lives, not realizing that were basically throwing away a great gift. We have more freedom than we can imagine. Roll the world off your shoulders. Create a new life for yourself. Walk away feeling light. This is the message of my writing – the good news about the second half of life.

            My next book is a collection of short stories about that very thing. It’ll be called, “The New Country – Stories of Midlife and Beyond.” I hope to have it out just before Christmas. After that, a novel about a smug CEO who retires to an affluent, age-restricted community, thinking she’s going to enjoy her leisure time, only to receive a surprise package – an infant to raise, courtesy of her estranged and newly imprisoned daughter. The working title is, Golden Years, My Ass. But I’ll probably have to change that.

            Deb, thanks again for inviting me to blog for the General Fiction forum. I hope we’ll get lots of questions and comments.

My Review of Dakota Blues

Dakota Blues
Lynne Spreen
Self-Published/CreateSpace
ISBN13:9781475191332
306 pages

While attending her mother’s funeral in her North Dakota childhood hometown 50 year old Karen Grace is facing some interminable changes in her otherwise carefully mapped out life, her marriage is falling apart and her highly stressful job of many years is in question, when she misses her flight home she decides to take a small break and get to know the family that remains and the friends she left behind. This impromptu visit causes a domino effect of actions and reactions in Karen’s life so when the opportunity for an adventure arises Karen decides to go for it. Thus begins a journey that will have ups and downs, joys and danger and one that under normal circumstances Karen would never have taken. But at the end of this endeavor will she have learned anything or will she continue on the same safe path as before.

I would have not thought it possible for a 50 year old woman to star in a coming of age novel, but thanks to debut author Lynne Spreen that’s exactly what Dakota Blues is. And among re-learning attitudes and readjusting approaches she gave me a delightful look into what one woman does to re-invent herself at the age where most of us “of a certain age” are just settling into the more comfortable second half of our existences. She tells her story with uncomplicated, straightforward dialogue that flows effortlessly with characters who are enigmatic, eclectic and interesting and from one 50 something to another I saw much of myself in her protagonist Karen and I wonder if given the same situation I would be as courageous as she was, but then they say that fact is stranger than fiction so maybe I would.
Thank you Lynne for the gift of the novel, the gift of your time on my B&N forum and this very precious gift of your story.

Buy the book here visit the author's website here