Book Spotlight: Joan Bird, Author of Tumbleweed Heights

I was supposed to interview Joan Bird today, but she's been very busy. Hopefully we'll get the interview together soon. For now, let me tell you about her contemporary romance novel, Tumbleweed Heights.

Moving to Briarwood, Colorado had not been in Gilly Casey’s original life plan. Sure, she’d dreamed of owning a horse ranch, but as kind of a part-time gig, in Topanga Canyon maybe. But the best laid plans of this high-powered L.A. attorney turn to dust when more than her bar card is threatened. Fleeing to a life she had never imagined quickly becomes a cat and mouse game just to stay alive.

Luke Hudson’s road to Briarwood was no less bumpy. Hiding from his own demons, he’s no longer able to float below the radar when he recognizes the feisty Miz Casey is in more trouble than she’ll admit. Donning the hero mantle years after he’d shed that skin, Luke realizes that rescuing Gilly might just save him, too.

With so many secrets between them, does love stand a chance? When the past trains its loaded gun on them, truth may not be enough to safeguard Gilly and Luke.

Joan Bird has been telling stories for years. In her first incarnation she was a singer/song writer with a rock band (yes, her Fender guitars are awesome), then she started writing books, mostly for herself.

Joan’s storytelling is legendary amongst her family and friends. For years she’s been including short stories with her holiday greetings each December and for years her friends and family have been encouraging her to write a book. Little did they know she had a storehouse of novels just waiting to be read by more than just her mailing list.
A couple of years ago she began working on polishing the stories she had already written, which sparked new ideas that led to writing more novels. Tumbleweed Heights is her first published book, but there are more on the way and she can’t wait for you to read them.
Her latest book is the contemporary romance, Tumbleweed Heights.

Amazon Kindle Store
Smashwords
Burroughs Publishing Group

Book Review: Summer of Secrets by Charlotte Hubbard

A beautifully told story awaits you in Summer of Secrets by Charlotte Hubbard.

Rachel Lantz is looking forward to her upcoming marriage to her childhood sweetheart, handsome carpenter Micah Brenneman. When a strange Englischer arrives at the cafe, Rachel's plans are turned upside down. No longer sure of anything, even Micah's steadfast love, she finds herself wishing the Englischer had never come. Will long kept secrets tear Rachel and Micah's love apart or can they learn to depend that God's plan will always lead them back to each other?

This is a fabulous book to start off Hubbard's new series that introduces readers to the Amish community of Willow Ridge. The author knows how to pull on the heartstrings with this moving story of a young woman's life suddenly turned upside down by the revelation of a family secret. Everything she holds dear is called into question, but perhaps nothing is challenged more than her relationship with Micah. As Rachel, her twin sister, Rhoda, and their mother deal with the secret that seems destined to change all their lives, other difficulties arise that cast into chaos the order in which they have come to depend upon since the death of the girls' father.

I thoroughly enjoyed Summer of Secrets. Captivated by Rachel's story, I almost forgot I was reviewing the book. Eager to turn page after page, I couldn't put it down. It's such a touching story, you can't do anything other than hope everything will turn out right in the end.

Hubbard has also kindly included recipes for foods found within the book's pages. This is a pleasant addition, and I look forward to trying many of them.

I eagerly anticipate the next book in this series, Autumn Winds, slated for a September release.

Title:  Summer of Secrets
Author:  Charlotte Hubbard
Publisher: Zebra Books; Original edition (February 1, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1420121693
ISBN-13: 978-1420121698
SRP:  $6.99

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions. This review is part of the author's virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

This is the eleventh book I've read for the following challenge:

This is the sixth book I've read for the following challenge:

First Chapter Review: 30 Pieces of Silver by Carolyn McCray

I picked up a Kindle copy of this book for two reasons: it was free and its subtitle is, "An Extremely Controversial Historical Thriller." Who doesn't enjoy a bit of controversy? Historicals and thrillers are two of my favorites, so picking up a book that combines them seems the right thing for me. In addition, the Amazon description says you shouldn't read the book if you're disturbed by The DaVinci Code or The Passion of Christ's revelations. I remember the broowaha that surrounded the former, so I had to take a peek into McCray's book.

TITLE:  30 Pieces of Silver

AUTHOR:  Carolyn McCray

BLURB:  Frustratingly enough, I couldn't find an official blurb for this book, even at the author's website. Pretty much, it looks like review blurbs are what is being used to compel readers to buy the book. I did, however, find this overview on Amazon -

A Christian suicide bomber.

John the Baptist's bones inscribed in ancient Greek.

A dark secret carried from the foot of the crucifixion.

Can science solve the world's greatest mystery?

COVER:  Love it. The deep red cover with a slice through it that reveals coins definitely makes one think thriller and maybe some sort of mystery. The font used definitely gives the inkling that this is an historical novel. I don't believe this is the original cover, though. The one at the right is posted at Goodreads and also used in blog interviews, so I'm thinking the cover was redesigned at some point. Good thing. This other cover never would have attracted my attention, and for the most part, when I am scanning for free e-Books, I go by the cover and then read the blurb if the cover caught my eye.

FIRST CHAPTER:  I can't reveal too much about this opening chapter because it would ruin some of what transpires. What I can say is the reader meets Dr. Rebecca Monroe, who has been captured by maniacal warriors in Ecuador. She is currently staked to a pole, bleeding, and eagerly awaiting her end.

KEEP READING: I really don't know, but I'm leaning toward no. Writers are told that readers don't bother with prologues. I've always read them, but when they are overdone, I get irritated. This one spans a few pages. In order to fully grasp some of what this book is about, however, you need to read this prologue. And before you read the prologue, you have to read the short piece that precedes it, where the reader meets Judas Iscariot, who is considering the role he played in the arrest and Crucifixion of Jesus. So, before you even get to the first chapter, you have a bunch of reading to do, and what happens in the two parts that precede the first chapter have different characters and situations than it does.

Any author worth her salt will connect these pieces. Toward the end of the first chapter we see it already happening, but having so many characters tossed at you quickly and not immediately connected, leaves the reader with a disjointed feeling. In addition, the reader is told that Dr. Monroe's vision is blurry from a blow to the head, yet, the reader gets detailed descriptions of everything and everyone around her. It seems as if this is being told from her point of view, so either she can clearly see what's happening or she can't. A tiny nitpick, but it aggravated me as I read the descriptions. That said, McCray definitely knows how to paint a picture for the reader. You feel like you're right there.

After reading the three sections, I am intrigued by where this is going; how the dots are going to be connected; and what controversy might lie ahead, but I don't know that I am intrigued enough if the story is going to remain disjointed. I might be willing to give the next chapter a read before fully deciding to continue or not.

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 940 KB
Publisher: Off Our Meds Multimedia (December 22, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B004HB1W82
SRP:  $3.99

I downloaded a free copy of this book to my Kindle. I received no monetary compensation for my review.

Guest Blogger Mark Saunders, Author of Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak

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.

Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty by Mark Saunders

Making a road trip with pets is much like making the same trip with kids, except pets never complain about your choice of music or pinch each other when you’re not looking. Furthermore, you can’t leave your kids behind in the car with a window cracked while you go inside to get something to eat.

In my case, we were making a six-day drive with a dog who had a bladder the size of a caper, a Standard poodle named Cassie, as well as a cat named Sadie, who believed a cat’s reach should never exceed its claws. We were traveling from Portland, Oregon, to San Miguel de Allende, in the middle of Mexico. By the end of the trip, we were all tired of the road and of each other.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

In an amazing feat of both endurance and stubbornness, our poodle stood the entire way, in the backseat just behind the driver. Not only that, she had to have the window rolled down, at least halfway, so she could stick her head out. We suspect Cassie was prone to motion sickness and required deep breaths of whatever was passing for fresh air at the time. By the end of a typical 10-hour day of standing in the car, our black poodle had usually turned green.
Sadie was a different story. Once she was inside the car, you barely knew she was there.

The catch was getting her in the car, a cross between a Herculean task and a Three Stooges routine.

The morning after our first day on the road, Sadie hid under the bed, hanging tough on a carpet that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Y2K. When my efforts to grab her failed, we tried Plan B and began sweet-talking her with soft chants of “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.” When that inevitably failed, it was back to Plan A, only this time I used a long piece of wood, sweeping it under the bed like a broom, which worked.

The second morning gave Sadie new hope, since the night before we had upgraded to two beds. She scurried back and forth, from bed to bed, until I tipped one of the mattresses on end. She hit the mattress, scaled it like a rock climber on amphetamines and reached the top, just as I grabbed her.

The third morning, we checked everywhere, from under the bed to behind the armoire, as well as all points in between. I turned on the closet light to find Sadie crouching inside a trough of transparent plastic that served as a tacky storage unit above the closet rod. Cat nabbed, case closed.

Three weeks after we arrived in Mexico, Sadie disappeared. We searched every corner of our house, inside and out. We walked up and down the street, calling her name as if a cat would ever deign to respond.

We found her, of course. Sadie had burrowed her way inside our bed’s mattress batting. Even with six days of cat retrieval experience, it took me twenty minutes to extract her.
But now, with the mystery solved, we knew Sadie’s hiding spot and the next time she crawled in there, we let her stay.

Paperback
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 9780984141289
Pages: 298
Release: November 2011
Amazon buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984141286?tag=tributebooks-20

Fuze Publishing buy link
http://fuzepublishing.com/nobody-knows-the-spanish-i-speak

eBook
Price: $9.99

Kindle buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060OIO8A?tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&offerid=239662.2940013250970&type=2&subid=0


The blog tour's official site is:
http://nobodyknowsthespanishispeak.blogspot.com/



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.

Visit Mark online at:

Mark Saunders' web site:
http://www.msaunderswriter.com/

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak blog tour site:
http://nobodyknowsthespanishispeak.blogspot.com/

Interview: Utopian Frontiers

UTOPIAN FRONTIERS FOUNDATION is a non profit organization dedicated to developing multi-media works intended to educate and provoke meaningful discourse on global environmental concerns – including the relationship between humankind and technology.


To educate and increase the public’s understanding of the environment and its importance by offering courses, seminars, conferences and meetings and by collecting and disseminating information on that topic.

When did you begin writing?

When I became aware there was something, an aspect of the unknown inside that could/would surface in a seemingly effortless, subconscious way.

It was only later in life deadlines loomed, professional deadlines that got in the way of effortless output…

With the passing of time and experience, I consider it safe to say I’m now a competent communicator, capable of responding to the moment, even more so as time allows a delay based on time needed to cogitate.

Initially, I was in high school, grade 12, back in the late 60’s. My Creative English teacher gave us an assignment to write a short poem and I came up with a stream of conscience ditty that impressed him and the class. For the first time I realized there was something coming out of me that was foreign yet part of me, though not really connected to any real, personal life experience other than as an observer for the most part.

What is this book about?

Utopian Frontiers is a story about the relationship between humankind and technology. The message is one of hope and well being for the future. For details, please visit http://www.utopianfrontiersfoundation.com/ .

What was the inspiration to write the book?

Back in the 70’s, I was working as an Employee Relations Supervisor for a mining company located up North near the Alaskan panhandle. It was a hard rock mine operation located in the Coastal Mountain Range system of mountains. The mine site was located up in the mountains, near a huge field of glaciers. A tunnel led from the mill and habitation area, going under 3 mountains and 2 glaciers just to get to the ore body.

How does 1000 inches of snow a year sound?

Newmont Asarco (an American based transnational mining conglomerate, although the mine was actually located in the province of British Columbia, Canada) had controlling interest of the property, and they had an architect draw up a conceptual design for a dome that would cover the mill and living quarters, making the community an enclosed environment, sort of a city out in the wilderness.

Yet even though the rising price of gold and copper residuals made the running of the mine profitable in the late 60’s and early 70’s, expense related to the dome made that investment a no go. We still drank water from glacial fed springs, breathed some of the cleanest air on the planet, witnessed the Northern Lights, and viewed mountains at night that seemed surreal, so clear and stark they were, as if supported by two by fours, a card board cut out of the original we were so blessed to stand in awe of.

When I moved back down South I immediately had eye problems related to air pollution but that’s another story.

I reconnected with my soon to be writing associate, Mike Parsons, and we picked up on mutual concerns, such as social/political/economic realities of the times. We discussed my experiences in a semi isolated corporate environment, lamented the condition of existing cities and related problems, and began to play “WHAT IF”.

See the book tab on the UFF website for the blurb on “WHAT IF”…

Over time, Mike and I envisioned a research culture that promoted actualization through creative, constructive endeavors. The initial concept and entertainment vehicle (a screenplay at the time) was but a myth through which we would encourage and motivate, inspire/provoke others to consider options that would contribute to a better world. The futuristic research city we envisioned was conceived as a prototype for humane urban environments yet such lofty ideas need development...

See the film tab at the UFF website for a short version of that story.

With the passing of Mike, I inherited the task of advancing the cause, and in keeping with the myth (any and all who become involved are encouraged to be themselves and make a creative contribution).

I have worked a day job ever since and only now have the opportunity of stepping up to the plate and letting the show take life.

So, with the encouragement and suggestions of friends and associates, eventually I contracted with BurmanBooks to publish a book. Sanjay Burman helped bring on a creative writer (Drew Tapley) tasked to convert the screenplay Mike and I had written into an updated version of the story in book form, with myself as Editor of the book.

The book Utopian Frontiers will hopefully, in turn, garner interest in making the film that Mike and I thought would best represent a full, dramatic, public exposition of the project, bringing us full circle.

Who is your favorite character from the book?

Elizabeth (Beth) Sharp: Mother Earth as an educator with attitude.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

It was a smooth/bumpy/long ride.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

I certainly would’ve started earlier.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

It is available at a wide variety of online book retailers, including Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Utopian-Frontiers-Story-Drew-Tapley/dp/1927005124/

The digital and audio versions will be available soon.

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

Getting and maintaining a corporate position for the Utopian Frontiers Foundation which allows me to afford all of these efforts as a personal investment in this project.

What is up next for you?

“SuperLate”!

It’s a creative project I have had on the back burner for a few decades.

Intended as a graphic novel, it’s about a character who is born late, and is always late for everything.

Is there anything you would like to add?

The puzzle I see as the “human condition” lies scattered in pieces, in need of assembly into a cogent vision, a big picture that makes sense and holds together. Are we too late or are we just in time to save the world for future generations to come? (agree/reject/laugh/frown/whatever/here/please).

And if we are truly a responsible species, one that should know better when it comes to common sense, why are we wasting time stalling while so many suffer needlessly?

We have the human capital yet our existing systems do not allow us to “invest” wisely, so it seems, and as a consequence, so many lives needlessly go to waste.

For information about Utopian Frontiers, the book, the organization or the music, visit http://www.utopianfrontiers.com/. To learn more about the book and to get your copy, visit http://www.amazon.com/Utopian-Frontiers-Story-Drew-Tapley/dp/1927005124/.

First Chapter Review: Chop, Chop by L.N. Cronk

Chop, Chop, which seems to be geared toward older teens, has been free for the month of February. I downloaded it to my Kindle based upon comments I found. Everyone seemed to love it, and the reviews on Amazon are also positive.

TITLE: Chop, Chop

AUTHOR: L.N. Cronk

BLURB: Greg and Laci make it a regular practice to grow their hair long so that they can chop it off and send it to Locks of Love. It's only one of the things that reserved, young David must tolerate as their friendship grows throughout the years. As they near adulthood the three become closer not only to each other, but to God as well. David finds himself content in every way, but when tragedy strikes, David must struggle to find his way back to God.

COVER:  Perfect based upon Greg's and Laci's practice of growing their hair and then cutting it to send to Locks of Love. I like that it's black and white. Not all the covers for the sequels are, but this first book in the Chop, Chop series and the sixth book, Gone, are designed that way. It's odd, though, that the author's name isn't on the cover.

FIRST CHAPTER:  I can't share the opening because it would ruin the impact of reading it, but David is the narrator who is telling the story of the summer Greg moved to town. David and Laci have known each other since preschool, and this is the summer before they start seventh grade. David and Laci, along with some of their other friends, end up joining the youth group at church where Greg's father is the youth pastor (I'm guessing, because it doesn't flat out say that). When David tells Greg about Laci's practice of growing her hair and then cutting it and donating it, Greg decides it's a great idea. David, however, who has never been a fan of Laci looking like a boy, is certain he doesn't want to grow his hair.

KEEP READING:  Yes, but mainly based upon comments about how wonderful this story is and how it garnered an Honorable Mention at the 2008 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.

I loved the opening. It's shocking and it's powerful. David quickly moves us from the present, back to the summer he and his friends met Greg. Laci is very much a part of David's life by the time Greg comes along, and David admits if he's to tell the story he has to start with Laci because it starts and ends with Laci and him.

David is an excellent narrator. You get the feeling that he's a good deal older when he tells the story than when the events occurred. There are funny spots, even though he is called grumpy by his friends. And you get the sense that teenage David believes things should be a certain way: girls shouldn't have short hair and look like boys and boys don't grow their hair long either.

David is one reason I want to continue reading, but the opening plays a big role too, because you know something bad happened somewhere along the line. I can't say I was totally drawn in by this first chapter, but I'm interested enough to keep going. My only criticism is that there aren't clear chapter markings. There are breaks marked by "~ ~ ~" but if there wasn't so much white space left on the last page of what I would call the first chapter, you wouldn't know. Call me silly, I just like to be sure when a chapter ends.

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 396 KB
Publisher: Rivulet Publishing (July 12, 2008)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B001CK7YV0
Currently Free

I downloaded a free copy of this book to my Kindle. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

Guest Blogger: Jennifer Zane, Author of Gnome on the Range

Once you get the zing you can’t go back.

Jane West has everything a woman could want. A job in a small Montana town’s only adult store, two busy young boys and one dead husband. Everything except a little excitement–a little zing. But that changes one summer morning at a garage sale when her kids buy some garden gnomes.

Now someone wants those gnomes and will let nothing get in their way. Including Jane. This new excitement for Jane spells trouble for a relationship with new neighbor–and hot fireman–Ty Strickland. Can Jane and Ty handle a relationship meddling mother-in-law, crazy kids, and stay alive while trying to solve the mystery of the garden gnomes?

Mountains vs. Beach by Jennifer Zane

I recently spent a week at the beach in California. It wasn't remotely warm, the water downright frigid. But my kids spent hours digging imaginary castles and moats in the sand. I roamed the surf's edge finding sand dollars to collect. The constant rolling of the ocean was such a difference from where we live.

Colorado. The tall mountains, rugged snow capped peaks. No salt water in the entire time zone. I love mountain life. The cold, sharp edges in winter, the soft lushness of summer.

Are you a beach or mountain person?

These two completely different settings can change a story entirely. My new book, Gnome On The Range, takes place in a small town in Montana. Mountains. If I had it set in Miami instead (beach), the book would be completely different--and so would the title! Is it sunny, cloudy, foggy, rainy, hot or cold? Is it day, night, crowded, quiet, peaceful, hectic?

I made setting in the book even more specific. Summer vs. winter. In Montana, winter is long, summer unbelievably short. Every summer I lived there it snowed June 12th. And it got cold the day after Labor Day. That gave me about eight weeks of guaranteed summer play time. I squeezed every drop of summer fun into that small window.

I did the same with my book. My main character, Jane, and her two boys, buy two ceramic garden gnomes at a garage sale. Besides that, they swim, bike, camp, go to the county fair, watch a demolition derby and all the other offerings the Big Sky can provide in July.

But someone wants the garden gnomes and will stop at nothing to get them. Including trying to kill Jane. At the county fair. And other summer-y (and surprisingly dangerous) places!

Could I have chosen a beach setting? Of course. But Jane, Goldie, Ty and all of the other characters in the story are who they are because of where they live. Rugged, enduring, independent. Just like the mountains that surround their town.

I've decided my next book will take place in the dead of winter. It'll be below zero, snowy and dark, and months until any kind of spring thaw. Typical Montana weather--for December. I look forward to writing about the quirks of not only my characters, but the frigid Montana setting as well.

And continue to vacation at the beach.

Jennifer Zane writes contemporary fiction with lots of humor, some mystery and a dab of romance. Gnome On The Range is her debut novel.


Visit her online at:


Website: http://jenniferzane.com


Twitter: @JenniferZane


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003263318295