Sunday, September 24, 2017

Guest Blogger: Marilyn Meredith, Author of A Cold Death

Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her husband answer the call for help with unruly guests visiting a closed summer camp during a huge snow storm are trapped there along with the others. One is a murderer—another a ghost.

How Tempe Has Changed
by Marilyn Meredith

When the series began Tempe Crabtree knew little about her Indian heritage. She didn’t grow up on the reservation and all she knew about being a Native American came from stories her grandmother told her. These stories play an important part in a couple of the mysteries.

When she went to high school she was made fun of for being an Indian by some of the other students, and shunned by the Indian kids who lived on the reservation.

Her friend, Nick Two John, is the one who gradually teaches her about what it means to be an Indian and some of the Bear Creek Indian legends. Many of these legends are also a basis for plots. Her feelings about her heritage and all it means change throughout the series.

As time goes on, she has reached out more and more to Indian mysticism and spirituality to help her solve the mysteries that confront her, despite her pastor husband’s objections.

What hasn’t changed is her willingness to risk her life to help others. Her strength has remained consistent throughout.

While writing this, I realize that I probably should have had her appearance change a bit—but hopefully the reader will use his or her own imagination to see Tempe with natural changes as she’s aged. To be honest, I see her in my mind’s eyes as the more mature woman that she is today.

What is your opinion about how much a series character should change?

Marilyn

Anyone who orders any of my books from the publisher‘s website: http://mundania.com
can get 10% off by entering MP20 coupon code in the shopping cart. This is good all the time for all my books, E-books and print books.

On Kindle:




Marilyn Meredith’s published book count is nearing 40. She is one of the founding members of the San Joaquin chapter of Sister in Crime. She taught writing for Writers Digest Schools for 10 years, and was an instructor at the prestigious Maui Writers Retreat, and has taught at many writers’ conferences. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra, a place with many similarities to Tempe Crabtree’s patrol area. Webpage:  http://fictionforyou.com Blog:  http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/ and you can follow her on Facebook.

Contest: Once again I’m going to use the name of the person who comments on the most blogs on my tour for the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery—which may be the last in the series.

Tomorrow I’ll be here:

My Journey as an Author


Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Guest Blogger: Greg Messel, Author of San Francisco Nights (Giveaway)

The wife of a wealthy San Francisco shipping magnate leads a secret life but someone is threatening to expose her.  Private eye Sam Slater and his wife and partner, Amelia, meet a mysterious woman in a large red hat during a train trip. The woman approaches him pleading for help because she‘s receiving anonymous notes quoting Bible verses which are becoming more and more ominous with each passing day. Her secrets have been discovered but by whom? What really happens behind closed doors in Room 505 in a swanky downtown hotel?

Sam is willing to take the case but Amelia warns that this woman is nothing but trouble. What does the woman really want? She’s been watching Sam for months and has a scheme to pull him into her world. 

Find out in the latest Sam Slater Mystery “San Francisco Nights” set in the fall of 1959. It’s the seventh book in the series but is a heart pounding stand alone whodunit. 

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.


ORDER YOUR COPY AT AMAZON


THE GLAMOR GIRLS OF THE SKY

There are no more stewardesses. 

The stewardesses on airlines morphed into flight attendants who are both males and females.  In the 21st Century flight attendants are the generally congenial people who walk down the aisle of the cramped plane offering you a small cup of soda, an even smaller bag of peanuts and tell you to stow your bags before take-off. 

The glamor of air travel has gradually disappeared and most passengers who navigate the extensive security at the airport and then squeeze into the seat on the plane, hardly consider it a glamorous experience. 

There is nothing wrong with flight attendants but they are a far cry from the glamor girls of the 1950s and 1960s who were called stewardesses. In Life magazine in 1957, there was a cover picture and featured article called “The Glamor Girls of the Sky.” 

The article details the rigorous training and selection process a woman must endure in the hopes of being chosen by the airline to be a stewardess.

The stewardesses of the 1950s and 1960s were something very close to movie stars and were widely admired by men as sex symbols and also were envied by women of the era.

Since she was a small girl Amelia Ryan Slater wanted to be a stewardess. As 1959 comes to a close in my new book San Francisco Nights, Amelia is no longer a stewardess and is a full time partner to her husband Sam in the private eye business. Why? Simple because she got married. The airlines want their “glamor girls” to be young and single.

I found an old job application for stewardesses from the 1950s. The requirements show how far we have come as a society and specifically how far women have come in their quest for equality in the work place.

Here is a laundry list of the requirements for stewardesses. They are:

Appearance: Height and weight proportionate
Attractive ("just below Hollywood") Standards
Gender: Female
Martial Status: Single, not divorced, separated or widowed.
Race: White
Age: 21 to 26 years old
Education: Registered nurse or two years of college
Height: Between 5 feet, 2 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches
Weight: 135 pounds maximum

I'm not sure how a woman is supposed to react to the qualification--"attractive, just below Hollywood standards." Is it a compliment or an insult to be told that you are "just below Hollywood standards?" It's astounding to think of a job application which would list the "qualifications" as "white, single, female, a range for height and of course, a weight restriction." The weight restriction was a sliding scale. For instance, the fictional character, Amelia Ryan is 5 feet four inches which means she could only weigh 125 pounds. If a stewardess shows up for a flight above weight, she is grounded.

The airlines wanted pretty young, single women to provide eye candy for their well-heeled passengers who flew--mostly affluent businessmen. Once a woman was over 26 or was married she was asked to resign.

That of course changed.

On February 11, 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor was hired by Mohawk Airlines and became the first African-American flight attendant in the United States. Ironically, despite her historic breaking of the racial restriction, Ruth's career ended just six months later due to another discriminatory barrier: she married and was dismissed by the airline. Incidentally, only stewardesses had the age restriction and the marriage ban. No other airline employees and especially pilots, were under the same type of requirements.

In my novel, stewardess Amelia Ryan falls in love with Sam Slater. They want to get married. But Amelia also loves her job. She has to choose between marriage and continuing as a stewardess. It was a great dilemma for her.

The glamorous world of stewardesses was one of the only avenues open to women in the 1950s to "see the world" and have a career. But it came at a great price. Sam and Amelia are secretly married in Fog City Strangler. They keep their union a secret so she can continue to work for the airline. 

In an earlier book in the mystery series--San Francisco Secrets--another challenge rears its head for Amelia--sexual harassment.  

A womanizing pilot, Mark Silver, is essentially Amelia’s boss and aggressively pursues her with unwanted sexual advances. There was no such term as “sexual harassment” in the 1950s.  As she tried to fight off  Capt. Silver, Amelia ponders the avenues she has to protect herself. There are basically none. 

Amelia wonders if she goes to the airline to complain about Silver if it will cause her problems, not the pilot. She fears that when she complains about the “sexual harassment,” the airline will just say that “boys will be boys.”  Stewardesses routinely had to evade grabby male passengers and the unwanted advances of pilots. 

Sam is upset by the groping of Amelia and complains about her work environment saying that if anyone is attracted to my girlfriend they can “take a sample.”

It would be several years before the stewardesses unionized and stood up to the airline. There was a series of lawsuits that knocked down the discriminatory barriers for women. 



Greg Messel has spent most of his adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and has contributed articles to various magazines. Greg lives in Edmonds, Washington on Puget Sound with his wife Jean DeFond.

Greg has written ten novels. His latest is "San Francisco Nights" which is the seventh in a series of mysteries set in 1959 San Francisco. "Shadows In The Fog," "Fog City Strangler," "San Francisco Secrets," "Deadly Plunge" are sequels to the first book in the series "Last of the Seals." His other three novels are "Sunbreaks," "Expiation" and "The Illusion of Certainty." For a more detailed summary of Greg's novels go to www.gregmessel.com 


Greg is currently working on his eleventh novel "Dreams That Never Were" which is not part of the mystery series.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

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Greg Messel is giving away three of his books!!

Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter.
  • This giveaway ends midnight September 29.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on September 30.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Tuesday, September 19, 2017

First Chapter Review: A Wanted Man by Robert Parker



I'm hosting a First Chapter Review of the crime thriller A Wanted Man by Robert Parker during his VBT with Pump Up Your Book.

BLURB: It’s down to fathers and fatherhood.

Ben Bracken, ex-soldier, has just got out of Strangeways.

Not by the front door.

With him, he has his ‘insurance policy’ – a bag of evidence that will guarantee his freedom, provided he can keep it safe – and he has money, carefully looked after by a friend, Jack Brooker.

Rejected by the army, disowned by his father, and any hopes of parenthood long since shattered, Ben has no anchors in his life.

No one to keep him steady. 

No one to stop his cause…

The plan: to wreak justice on the man who had put him in prison in the first place. 

Terry ‘The Turn-Up’ Masters, a nasty piece of work, whose crime organisation is based in London.

But before Ben can get started on his mission, another matter is brought to his attention: Jack’s father has been murdered and he will not rest until the killers are found.

Suddenly, Ben finds himself drawn in to helping Jack in his quest for revenge.

In the process, he descends into the fold of Manchester’s most notorious crime organisation – the Berg – the very people he wants to bring down…

This action-packed and fast-paced story will keep you turning the pages. Manchester is vividly portrayed as Ben races around the city seeking vengeance.

COVER: Perfect for the genre and gives the reader a sense of place. 

FIRST CHAPTER: After an intense prologue, the reader finds Ben Bracken out of prison and carrying around his "insurance policy" before he reconnects with people from his past. 

KEEP READING: My interest is definitely piqued. As I already said, the prologue is intense and sets a great stage for what is to come. Since Ben is alone throughout most of the first chapter its a lot of narration, but Parker keeps the reader's attention with his keen eye for details and the sprinkling of backstory that flows through the present day happenings. I want to read more of this one.


File Size: 2136 KB
Print Length: 245 pages
Publisher: Endeavour Press (May 14, 2017)
Publication Date: May 14, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B072333TYM

I received a free copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.


Friday, September 8, 2017

Book Trailer Blast: Don't Call Me Crazy! I'm Just in Love with God by Swiyyah Nadirah Woodard





Title:
DON’T CALL ME CRAZY! I’M JUST IN LOVE WITH GOD

Author: Swiyyah Woodard

Publisher: Swiyyah Productions, Inc.

Pages: 229

Genre: Inspirational / Motivational / Romance / Christian







BOOK
BLURB:


Because of God, nothing will stop Anika from marrying the love of her life, not even paranoid schizophrenia. You don’t want to miss this spiritual journey filled with inspiration and
power.
This book is insightful and perceptive. Inspired by a true story. Few people consider the God factor in mental health. Join Anika and journey with her as she receives revelations from God while on her  walk to overcome mental illness and naiveness towards religion. Required reading for high schools and colleges.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon
| Barnes
& Noble






     Anika begins to lose her mind. While continuing to stare at the television set, Anika sees a vision of Jesus. He appears to her in just as perfect form and image as the paintings on Mary’s wall. She then hears Jesus speak, “I am the son of God.” Then just as fast as he appears, he leaves her vision.
     “Did you see him? Did you see Jesus?” Anika turns and looks at her friends. Words
are stuck within their throats. "
Did you see him? Did you see Jesus?” Anika repeats once more.
     “Anika, you’re really scaring us. I thought you were Muslim?” Mary says.

Anika then feels as if someone was controlling her thoughts. “Forgive yourself.”  

She then begins to ramble, “Atoms are neither created nor destroyed. There was always an existence. You have to take baby steps to understand how this existence works, where we came from, how it started. Don’t jump from A to Z. No, you must go from A to C. Take a break. It has been
painted. First there was nothing; it was blackness, pitch blackness. There was first the black hole. A plumber can understand the black hole. There was a white light. The creator is positive energy. We all have a little bit of positive energy. A person of positivity can change your life without saying a
word. We try to increase positive energy which is the same as increasing spiritually. Once we are of that same positivity as the creator, we become one with him. Only a few souls have reached this level of existence. The rest of us are growing spiritually so we can reach that level.“

 
It appears to Anika that she is making sense as she began to explain
herself, justifying her words.


“Positive times positive equals positive. Negative times positive equals negative. Therefore, if you have any negativity in you, you cannot become one with positivity.”


“The creator is all positive energy. Negative times negative equals positive. If you learn from loads of negativity you will learn from your mistakes and become all positive. It’s mathematics. Everything stems from mathematics. Less than a cup of wine is what I need to rest. Don’t want to scare away this beautiful spirit controlling my thoughts.” While holding the sides of her head trying to rid her racing thoughts, she runs into the kitchen and pours herself a cup of wine. She then thinks, “no one will ever have to go through what I went through again!”

Anika takes a look at her past to see how in the world she got to this point in her life.





Swiyyah Nadirah Woodard was selected as a Bay News 9 Everyday Hero, which was seen by two million viewers, for publishing a book and teaching the community about her own battle with mental
illness. She was hospitalized six times and misdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Her first book, Don't Call Me Crazy! I'm Just in Love, became required and suggested reading in Reading, Writing, Abnormal Psychology, and General Psychology classes at a four year Institution. 

She was born in the housing projects of
Saint Petersburg, FL. Her father left when she was three so
she was raised in a single parent home. At the age of five she was 
molested by her eight year old brother. She later started school, she had slurred speech and didn't care to make friends so she was bullied by her peers. At the age of eight, she wanted to kill herself because a girl wanted to fight her. She looked into the medicine cabinet for medication. Thank God, she couldn't find any.

As a teenager she was physically abused by her stepdad. The abuse was so severe, God blocked it from her memory. At the age of 20, the brother that molested her committed suicide, which was devastating to her and the entire family. Swiyyah has always viewed herself as normal. She never received any disciplinary problems in school, made good grades, and received her BA degree in Psychology from the
University of South Florida.


When the doctors misdiagnosed her with the most debilitating mental disorder known in mental health, paranoid schizophrenia, she denied it. She questioned their expertise. She refused to take medication. She was then hospitalized six times. Her family took a picture of her at her worst and that's when she knew she needed help. She has been taking medication now for ten years without a relapse.

She is now a published author and a National Inspirational Speaker. Her first book is entitled, “Don't Call Me Crazy! I'm just in Love,” and is inspired by her true story. 

She was raised Muslim and the revelations she received from God and placed in her books, didn't make any since until she meet her Christian husband 14 years after her first relapse. 

Please contact Swiyyah to book speaking engagements, life coaching, author and speaker coaching, radio and TV interviews, or to purchase her books at 727-495-3217, Swiyyah@swiyyah.com.


WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK




Thursday, September 7, 2017

Interview with Owen Sypher, Author of The Song of Solomon Revealed


Owen L. Sypher is a devoted servant of the Lord. At eleven years old, he started a spiritual journey to discover and understand God and his word. In 1979, he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Since then, he has had fellowships with the same group. Song of Solomon is his first book.
You can visit his website at http://www.sypherbooks.com.   

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the wonderful city of Nampa Idaho.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing seriously about 3 years ago, before that it was just notes and things like that.

What is this book about?

This book is about the Love relationship between Jesus and his bride. The bride is the 144,000 people found in Revelations 14:1-5.

What inspired you to write it?

I felt inspired of God to do some lessons on the subject of the Song of Solomon for our local church services. One person told me they wanted to only hear things that was preached from a former pastor who had passed on so I wasn’t going to teach it anymore but I felt like God had given me so much understanding on this book that I wanted to record this information for myself in case I wanted to use it in the future.

There was so much information that I started to joke about how it was becoming a small book and after a couple of months I decide why not make a book with this information.

How is it similar to other books in its genre? How is it different?

I am not sure how it is similar to other books except that it is based on the Bible.

How is it different?

For one thing I wrote it like I would like to read a book. I put the whole chapter in first and then I used whole verses to explain what I was talking about. I hate it when I read a book and they used just a piece of the scripture and then you have to find a Bible to get the context of what is being said.
The second thing is I approached this more from a spiritual aspect instead of a natural aspect.
The third thing is that I explain the meaning of this book by using the scriptures to explain types and shadows and spiritual applications.

What is the most important thing readers can learn from your book?

This is a very good question. I think the most important thing a person can take away from my book is that not only is Jesus going to have a bride but we can learn some of the things we need to know in order to qualify to be a part of that bride, and that God will also help us with the supplying of those things that we need to qualify.

Where can readers purchase a copy?

What is up next for you?

Next I am thinking about writing a book about the wisdom of Solomon which will be dealing with the books of Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and some of the Song of Solomon. I have also thought about writing a book on explaining what the bride is and what scriptures we use to show the bride.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I believe this is a very good book and will inspire the reader to seek more of God and his word and hopefully would cause them to have a desire to be a part of Jesus bride.




Monday, September 4, 2017

Book Review: The Competition by Donna Russo Morin

Da Vinci's Disciples are back in this thrilling sequel to Portrait of a Conspiracy. In The Competition, six female artists under the tutelage of Leonardo da Vinci decide to bid for a commission to paint a fresco in Santo Spirito and win. Soon these artists find themselves in physical danger from the people of Florence and other artists who believe women should not be holding such positions of power. But they might find allies in the unlikeliest of places.

While The Competition is a stand-alone novel, I would highly suggest reading the first book in the series so you have a solid background of who these women are and how Da Vinci's Disciples was formed. With this second book in the series, Morin has certainly hit her stride. Now that the foundation has been laid, her talented pen can dig deeper into the lives of Viviana, Isabetta, Fiammetta, Mattea and the other members. The reader watches their roles within the group become more defined and the risk of what they are undertaking increase. This is a novel of strong women before their time seeking to change the perception of an entire city. 

If you enjoy historical fiction, romance, superb character development, and stories where characters seek to make a difference in their world, you need to read the Da Vinci's Disciples series by Donna Russo Morin. I personally can't wait for the conclusion to this thrilling trilogy.

See my review of the first book here.

Series: Da Vinci's Disciples (Book 2)
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Diversion Publishing (April 25, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1682308065
ISBN-13: 978-1682308066

I received a paperback copy of this book from the author. This reviews contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.


Sunday, September 3, 2017

Book Review: Poetry and Ponderings by Diamante Lavendar

Poetry and Ponderings by Diamante Lavendar might just be the most powerful collection you'll ever read. Journaling her way through abuse and eventual healing, Lavendar holds back nothing: pain, anger, hate, sadness, acceptance, revelation, peace, healing...

Meant to encourage and inspire other victims of abuse, this captivating collection of Christian poetry and prose will make you cry, will make you think, and will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. You will want to hold onto this one and read it again.


Paperback: 138 pages
Publisher: Written Dreams Publishing (April 26, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0998167398
ISBN-13: 978-0998167398

Purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM, Indiebound

Diamante Lavendar has been in love with reading since she was a child. Diamante believes that everyone should try to leave their own positive mark on the world, and to make it a better place for all. Writing is her way of leaving her mark—one story at a time. She began writing in college and has published poetry in anthologies over the years. Most of her writing is very personal and stems from her own experiences, and those of her family and friends. She writes to encourage hope and possibility to those who read her stories. To learn more about Diamante Lavendar and her books, please visit her website at: www.diamantelavendar.com.

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.