Marta's Meanderings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 18:01:00 +0000

Never Surrender To A Scoundrel
by Lily Dalton

One Scandalous Season, Book 3
Grand Central Publishing (January 27, 2015)
ISBN-13: 9781455523993 ♦ ISBN-10: 1455523992

"A Reckless Desire…Lady Clarissa Bevington is in trouble. A reckless indiscretion has left her with two choices: ruin her family with the scandal of the Season, or marry Mr. Kincraig, the notorious scoundrel mistaken as her lover. Desperate and disgraced, Clarissa vows to love and cherish a veritable stranger, a man whose eyes smolder with danger—and undeniable desire…

An Unexpected Arrangement
As an agent for the Crown, Lord Donovan Blackmer has spent the last two years guarding Clarissa’s grandfather from an unknown assassin while disguised as the rakehell Kincraig. His mission may now be over, but his duty has just begun. Salvaging his beautiful, impetuous wife’s virtue will cost him his fortune and his position as an officer—but it might save him from the ghosts that haunt his own past. When their marriage “in name only” leads to exquisite seduction, Donovan must risk the only thing he has left to lose…his heart."

The Review...

I'm a sucker for a good cover and a good romance story. This hit the mark on both counts! I dove into this book and enjoyed every minute of it! Many times I lose interest in these books because the writing isn't all that great, but the story kept me interested and kept me from coming up til it was finished! I can't wait to read more in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Technorati Tags: Martas Meanderings, book blog, reviews, fiction, non fiction, christian, Marta Hoelscher, giveaways Add to Technorati Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Just wanted to share some of the pictures from this journey so far!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I posted about my weight loss journey. I feel like my focus is almost totally on that. I find myself with lots of energy that makes me antsy and unable to sit still. While it's a tad annoying it's also something that keeps me moving. I've recently started doing the Zumba Gold dvd...I can make it through the first song...woohoo!

I'm not the best person at blogging...just like I'm not someone who writes in a diary. I'll try to be better at posting my thoughts.

This isn't the easiest of journeys. Don't ever believe anyone who says this is the easy way out. It's definitely not. There is so much involved. I have to be very cognizant of what is in my food, of making sure every bite that goes into my body is a nutritional powerhouse.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:36:00 +0000

So excited today! It's 5 weeks from my Gastric Bypass surgery and I've reached my first short term goal! I got on the scale this morning and it read 400.0 exactly. When I left the hospital I weighed 468lbs on October 22, 2012. I'm way ahead of where I thought I'd be...I thought it would be closer to Christmas til I got to this point.

I'm not struggling too much with the food I'm eating, except for forgetting to drink enough fluids and to take small enough bites.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:34:00 +0000

Chipmunks Christmas

Audio CD (October 9, 2012)
Recently, I received a bit of a Christmas treat in the mail. I was sent a copy of the new Chipmunks Christmas CD. I don't know about the rest of you, but I grew up listening to the Chipmunks albums and was really excited at the idea of being able to share them with you and also with my granddaughters!

I popped the CD in and got ready to enjoy...and I wasn't disappointed at all! This CD is full of all of your favorite Christmas carols as well as a few new songs. I think it's great that a whole new generation can enjoy the fun. Can any of us forget the Chipmunk song or how we'd giggle hearing Alvin's name hollered in frustration?

Alvin and The Chipmunks, are here to make your yuletide bright with this fun, festive 18-track CD collection of some of their most popular holiday classics. I absolutely loved this CD - it was fun, nostalgic, full of energy and Christmas spirit. I know you'll enjoy this CD! It's the perfect gift for kids and adults alike!

Here's a list of songs you'll find on the cd.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: Chipmunks Christmas [CD, digital]

1. Here Comes Santa Claus

2. The Chipmunk Song

3. Jingle Bells

4. It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas

5. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

6. Up On The House-Top

7. Wonderful Day [digital release debut]

8. Over The River and Through The Woods

9. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)

10. White Christmas

11. The Twelve Days of Christmas

12. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town

13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

14. Deck The Halls

15. Frosty The Snowman

16. Here Comes Christmas [digital release debut]

17. Ho Ho Ho

18. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Listen to samples!

Official Site: www.chipmunks.com

Buy Your Copy Here! http://amzn.to/Sn2yTo

I was sent a copy of this CD to review. All opinions are my own and I was in no way influenced.

Review: Crossing Values by Carrie Daws

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:52:00 +0000

Crossing Values
by Carrie Daws

Perfect Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Ambassador International (January 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935507923
ISBN-13: 978-1935507925

Christian romantic fiction that focuses on emotional and family healing.

For years, Amber traipsed around the northwest avoiding the skeletons in her closet. Job-hopping every few weeks, she refused to let anyone get close to her.

As winter plants itself firmly across the Rockies, she takes a chance on a job at a logging company with a family different from any she’s ever known.

Watching the family interact creates more questions than answers for Amber. Feeling like she’s entered the happily-ever-after written at the end of fairytales, she watches for cracks in the façade.

Surely as the days pass, the play-acting will cease and the real family will emerge.
Or could she be wrong? Could they truly be genuine?

Could Faye understand the trauma from her past or Peter think of her as more than just the winter office help? Could this family really hold the key to what she’s seeking?

About Carrie

Over the years, God rewrote Carrie’s dreams to include being a stay-at-home mom and a writer. Originally writing weekly devotions as a way to share what she learned with women from various military bases, Carrie decided to enroll in the Christian Writer’s Guild. While there, seeds were planted and cultivated.

After almost ten years in the military, Carrie’s husband medically retired and they now live in central North Carolina with their three children. Besides writing fiction novels, she stays busy with homeschooling, working part time, and volunteering within two military ministries.

More than anything, Carrie strives to write clean fiction, happily-ever-after stories that gently advocate Biblical values and truths. She says, “I didn’t want to be embarrassed for my young daughter to pick up any of my books. I also didn’t want to be mortified if her life began to echo the activities of the lead character within my story. I believe the end result is books that not only provide some spiritual insight, but ones that reinforce accountability among unmarried men and women, healing from past hurts and families uniting in difficult circumstances.”

Carrie Daws Main site

Carrie Daws on Twitter

Carrie Daws on Facebook

Purchase Book on Amazon

7 Day Devotional to go with the Book.

A Discussion Guide to go along with Crossing Values, also available freely on Carrie's site.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book! I wasn't sure what to expect when I was sent this wonderful little book. Many times I've found Christian romances can be very simplistic and don't really hold my attention. This book was just the opposite. The characters were well developed and the story kept you turning the page to see what was going to happen next.

The book is a quick read at 160 pages - I was able to read it in an evening. It's unashamedly Christian and is 'preachy' for those people who do not like that type of book. While it's a Christian romance, it does focus on family healing as part of that story. There were many layers to the story, which kept my interest throughout.

The characters in the book come to life as we watch Amber struggle with learning to trust both the Yager family, and also to learn to trust God. It's wonderful to see this family as they draw Amber in and surround her with family and friends. I was left wanting at the end of the book to see more of the romance between Amanda and Peter.

The book contains no foul language and no overt sexual overtones, just a very sweet romance. This book would be appropriate for teenagers as well as adults.

I received a free copy of this book/Ebook/Product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Book Review: Peaceful Passage by Kim West, PhD

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Peaceful Passage

by: Kim West, PhD

New Heart Publishing (September 10, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0984052666

ISBN-13: 978-0984052660

When your loved one is dying at home you need emotional support and guidance, caregiving help and lessons, organization assistance, an expert adviser and a cherished friend. Peaceful Passage is all of this and more.

From first hearing the news to well beyond the funeral you will keep this resource close by you to give you answers at three in the morning, for encouragement every day and for detailed information on what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Here is guide for you to care well for yourself, your dying loved one, your family, marriage, career and in your spiritual life.

This book is a labor of love from a professional counselor who cared for her own mother in her final days. One hospice described the book as, "An exceptional tool and resource for anyone assisting a loved one going through their final journey. A delightful, heartfelt, open discussion of processes, tips and things to ponder when traveling with them. Well done, and I applaud you. Thank you from all of us."

IN THE PAGES WITHIN, YOU'LL FIND PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR:

Determining first steps once you've heard the news
Charting a course with hospice as your partner
Dealing with your loved one's emotional roller-coaster
Navigating demands of marriage, family, children and career
Handling the daily, ongoing physical challenges and demands
Confronting common fears and unresolved emotional issues
Preparing for and experiencing the final days with dignity and purpose
Working through inner conflicts around faith and God
Managing the myriad post-passage details and arrangements
Finding closure, returning to routine and reflecting on the journey

Throughout Peaceful Passage, you'll find checklists and resources to keep you on track, and at each chapter's end, journaling pages invite readers to record their experiences.

Unlike other books that focus on one part of the process, Peaceful Passage is your essential, all-in-one guide to handling every aspect of this often heart-wrenching and heartwarming journey. Use it to help ease the burden of your loved one's final passage, while making it a peaceful - and, yes, even joyous - one.

Link to the Table of Contents

About The Author

Kim West holds a PhD in Clinical Pastoral Counseling and a M.Div. in Counseling and Family, but when her own mother became ill with terminal cancer she found that she had no hands-on knowledge of how to take care of her.

As a counselor she knew to journal her own experience to help her process her grief at losing her mother and she knew how to help her mother finish her life well and be prepared for the life to come. But the day-to-day of taking care of her mother as she died would require learning a whole new set of caring skills. And learn she did.

After completing her own journey with her mother she knew she had to help others who would travel this same path. Peaceful Passage is a merging of her years of counseling experience and the new skills she learned caring for her mother combined with her heart to help and to heal.

Kim's website

Connect with Kim on Facebook

Purchase Peaceful Passage here.

Review:

As a former CNA for Hospice, I was very interested in reading this book. So many times books like this are full of basic information. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of information included in this handy little book - from realizing that there is no cure for the person in question, to their eventual passing. This is a passage that affects not only the patient, but the caregiver and family as well.

Even as someone who has done this over and over with patients, I found it to be extremely educational.

This isn't a 'feel good' type of book, instead it is practical and realistic as to what you and your loved one will be facing. And yet at the same time it's an easy read and easily understandable. The author includes her very personal journey caring for her mother at the end of her life. There are many decisions that you and your loved one will need to make regarding their end of life treatment and care. Kim West discusses these decisions and gives you ideas as to the options that you'll have. She even includes workbook pages at the end, as well as journaling pages to document the choices you make.

This book is for everyone - caregiver and patient alike. It will help anyone have a better understanding of the end of life process , both the physical and emotional aspects of it. Peaceful Passage helps the entire family navigate the ups and downs of this emotional time, including after the loved one's passing.

I heartily recommend that everyone have a copy of this book on their shelves. It's an invaluable resource to navigating this time in life.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book/Ebook/Product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:34:00 +0000

I've decided to be completely up front about what I'm dealing with. I'm morbidly obese, I am HIV+, I have lyphedema, lipoedema, sleep apnea, somewhat high blood pressure and I'm borderline diabetic.

The picture at the left is me at my sons wedding in August of 2009.

A year and a half before this I was at my highest weight which was 585. I checked myself into a nursing home for some extreme physical therapy and nutrition support. By the time I left the nursing home I'd lost almost 185 lbs.

Since the wedding, I've had a breast reduction and have lost about 50 lbs...the picture on the right is me now....please don't look at the goofy expression on my face! lol.

Me weight was 427.1 when I was at the surgeon's office for my pre-surgery appointment the other day. I'm not sure of my measurements, but will get those later.

As you can see I've already come a long way in this journey... now is the next phase. I'm trying to prepare for this surgery, but I'm not sure anyone really can. I can figure out what I can and can't eat afterwards, but I know there are going to be some pretty big emotional hurdles to go through yet. I'm amazed that by the time I turn 51 in March I could be down 100lbs....the is mind blowing to me.

If any of you have had this surgery...please let me know...

The Ongoing Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Wow it has been a while since I posted. So much is happening in my life that I thought it was time to get back to this blog...to use it as a diary of sorts about the journey I've started...

For those that know me, they know that for the last couple of years I've been working on losing weight. This road has been difficult and I've been tempted to throw in the towel more times than I can tell you. During the process I've discovered a lot about myself, I've changed my entire way of eating and I've come to a stronger relationship with God.

At this point I feel I've done what I can on my own...I'm struggling to keep going. It's now time to take the next step - Bariatric surgery. I've always avoided this, but feel like it's the right thing to do at this point. I know a lot of people will think I'm taking the easy way out, but this isn't going to be easy. It's going to be one heck of a fight.

I'm hoping to blog as much as I can about preparing for the journey and the aftermath of surgery, as honestly and as completely as possible for two reasons: as inspiration and information for anyone else setting forth on this path, and also so that I can look back and see how far I've actually come!

You'll also see a book blog or two along the way. I've kind of strayed from this but am looking forward to doing it again.

Love you all!

The Mermaid’s Pendant Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:52:00 +0000

Join LeAnn Neal Reilly, author of the general fiction novel, The Mermaid’s Pendant (Zephon Books), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in October and November ‘10 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About The Mermaid’s Pendant
Paperback: 586 pages
Publisher: Zephon Books (March 8, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982687508
ISBN-13: 978-0982687505

Inspired by the beloved classic The Little Mermaid, THE MERMAID’S PENDANT is a modern fairy tale about growing up and discovering who you are—and what you believe in. At times lyrical, this novel is a fantastic journey filled with magic, myth, romance, and adventure.
Four years after John Wilkerson claims the mermaid Tamarind for his wife, they have an idyllic marriage that depends on a talisman that she crafted on their island paradise. But Tamarind learns a painful truth: it takes more than legs to live on land and more than magic to sustain a bond. When the talisman breaks, she and John are forced to rely on themselves instead of magic.
Three wise women play key roles in the young lovers’ journey to mature love. Ana, Tamarind’s aging mentor, casts spells and performs seductions to keep the lovers apart. Valerie, an expat jewelry maker cum fairy godmother, works her own magic to bring them together. Lucy, their widowed neighbor, grounds the couple in the realities of marriage, parenting, and family.
THE MERMAID’S PENDANT is a story for anyone who has ever believed in the transforming power of love.

Read the Excerpt!

John’s savior sat some minutes, watching him. Then she leaned forward and pressed several fingertips to his neck, feeling for his pulse. It was there, strong and steady. She let her hand slide along the skin of his jaw, brushing the hair away from his cheek. She put a light fingertip on his mouth, now a warm red. Her lips tingled and she leaned her face closer—perhaps she could press her lips there again? He moaned and rolled his head against the stones. The mermaid snatched her hand back and waited, her breath held, but he didn’t move again. She didn’t touch him a second time; instead, she caressed the hard muscles of his calves with her gaze. She looked away from his feet though. One still wore one of those pseudo-flippers that always made her shiver.
She had, of course, seen countless humans before—snorkeling and diving, on shore and on deck. But she’d never touched one before, never felt the dry skin that prickled with fine hairs. This man overwhelmed her. Already the sun had evaporated most of the water on his chest, which was covered with dark hair. Not like a merman, smooth and sleek and slender. His chest, shoulders, and hips were wider and his frame bulkier. His flesh was a different color, too. He was pale but not shark-belly pale like the mer people. His skin held warmth, the warmth of sun-bleached wood. Only his long dark hair resembled a merman’s. Her nostrils flared at his scent. She had no words to describe it other than hot and dry, but she used those words for the shore and he didn’t smell like the shore. He smelled like the wind from distant lands.
A voice, sandy and familiar, abraded her thoughts. “What have you done, young one?”
The mermaid looked up to see an ancient woman as gnarled and twisted as the roots of the trees that grew at the shore’s edge. The woman picked her way across the stones toward the place where the mermaid sat. She stopped a few feet away. Freeing her bag, which the mermaid had always seen at her waist, the old woman rummaged around for a few moments before withdrawing something. Then she came forward and nudged John with her foot. He didn’t stir.
“Pulled him out of the water, did you? Cough up all the water he breathed in?” The mermaid nodded. “And his heart’s beat is still strong?” The mermaid nodded again. “He’ll live then.”
She bent and tugged the flipper from the man’s foot. When it came off, the mermaid let a sharp sound escape her.
The ancient one laughed, a sound like dry stones shifting. “You think he’s strange? No wonder you find him so interesting, girl.” She smiled. It spread like seal oil on water. “I can help him, if you’d like.” She paused and waited. The mermaid stole a glance at the man and nodded. “This herb tincture will rouse him. I’ll see to it that he’s recovered his senses and can walk. You’d best get going. I’ll tell him I found him here.”
The mermaid nodded again. After one more look at the unconscious man, she propelled herself backward with her hands, her tail lifted slightly above the stones. Once she was in the water, she paused, her gaze taking in the wide stance of the ancient woman, who stood over the stranger as though he were her bounty from the waters. Was this all there was to saving a man’s life?
Before she could lower herself underwater and speed away, the old woman called to her.
“Oh, yes, young one, I need some turtle grass, and a sea cucumber. And one of those pink sea urchins, you know the ones.”
There was nothing of the usual promise of a human artifact or any stories about the human world on this island. The mermaid nodded. It was the old woman’s price for keeping her secret.

My Thoughts

This is such a wonderful update of the tale of the Little Mermaid. Reader's will find themselves drawn in and unable to put down this modern fairy tale. But it's not just about a mermaid...it's also about what you do in a marriage when the fairy tale ends and real life sets in. I found this tale very realistic about the difficulties we all find along the way in a marriage - not just those by a mermaid and a human. This is a wonderful read that everyone should read. There are many twists and turns along the way to keep the reader enthralled. This is a fairly long book, but you'll find yourself not being able to put it down!

Read This interview with LeAnn Neal Reilly

About LeAnn Neal Reilly

LeAnn Neal Reilly grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, near the Missouri River, in that fertile land where corn, children, and daydreams take root and thrive. She spent countless hours reading and typing chapters on an old Smith-Corona in her closet, which luckily for her didn’t have doors. Then she put away her daydreams and her stories and headed off, first to graduate magna cum laude from Missouri Western State University, and later to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh for a master’s degree in professional writing. Along the way, she majored briefly in chemistry, served as opinion editor and then editor of her college newspaper, and interned for the international design firm Fitch Richardson Smith in Columbus, Ohio. The highlight of her internship came when she generated the product name renata for a Copco teakettle (although designing the merchandising copy for ceramic tile adhesive and insulation packaging surely runs a close second).
After graduate school, LeAnn worked first for a small multimedia startup and then a research group in the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. At the startup, she spent her time writing user manuals and multimedia scripts for software to train CSX railroad engineers. While working among geeks, LeAnn became enamored and decided to take one home for herself. After getting married and starting a family, she returned to her adolescent daydreams of writing novels. Never one to shirk from lofty goals, she added home schooling her three children as her day job.
After years of working in an office not much better than an unfinished closet, LeAnn has finished The Mermaid’s Pendant and is currently working on her next novel. LeAnn joined GoodReads three years ago where she writes reviews regularly.
LeAnn lives outside Boston with one husband, three children, a dog named Hobbes (after Calvin &), and a cat named Attila.
LeAnn’s Web site is www.nealreilly.com.

Here’s what critics are saying about The Mermaid’s Pendant!

When the magic ends, you need more to make a relationship remain strong. “The Mermaid’s Pendant” draws inspiration from the Little Mermaid to tell a story of the realities of marriage, and what happens when the starting magic ends and the realities of life start to sink in. A beautifully crafted fantasy that shows much symbolism and wisdom, “The Mermaid’s Pendant” is a fine pick that shouldn’t be missed.

– The Midwest Book Review, July 2010 Small Press Bookwatch

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. The characters are so well developed that I often found myself talking to them—generally along the lines of “Ah. Don’t do that you idiot” or “What the hell is wrong with you?” (Some of them have a lot to learn about life). The action/drama scenes—an assault on Tamarind, riding out a hurricane, and a fight between a woman and her doppleganger—were gripping and the transition into them was very smooth. The magic of fairy tales is a major part of the book but it feels natural and its use in the metaphors for how to make relationships strong is excellent. This is a great fairy tale that takes us beyond happily-ever-after to the real world, where love and relationships have to struggle against everyday life and can’t depend on magic to survive.

– Dan Porter, GoodReads Librarian / bookblog.thechaoticbuffalo.com

Watch the Trailer!

The Mermaid’s Pendant Tour Schedule

Friday, October 22
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Book spotlighted at Virginia Beach Publishing Examiner
Monday, October 25
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Tuesday, October 26
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Wednesday, October 27
Guest blogging at The Cajun Book Lady
Thursday, October 28
Book reviewed at The Cajun Book Lady
Friday, October 29
Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks
Monday, November 1
Book reviewed at Books and Things
Tuesday, November 2
Book reviewed at Edgy Inspirational Author
Wednesday, November 3
Book reviewed at Yzhabella’s Bookshelf
Thursday, November 4
Guest blogging at Yzhabella’s Bookshelf
Friday, November 5
Book reviewed at Down Under Views
Monday, November 8
Book reviewed at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Tuesday, November 9
Guest blogging at Diva’s Bookcase
Wednesday, November 10
Book reviewed at Diva’s Bookcase
Thursday, November 11
Book reviewed at Just Another Book Addict
Friday, November 12
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Monday, November 15
Book reviewed at The Fiction Enthusiast
Tuesday, November 16
Book reviewed at Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm
Wednesday, November 17
Book reviewed at The Neverending Shelf
Guest blogging at Acting Balanced
Thursday, November 18
Book reviewed at You Have How Many Kids?
Book reviewed at Acting Balanced
Friday, November 19
Book reviewed at 2 Kids and Tired
Book reviewed at A Room Without Books is Empty
Monday, November 22
Book reviewed by Book Reviews by Molly
Book reviewed by Sherri’s Jubilee

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Join Vincent Zandri, author of the thriller suspense novel, The Remains (Stone House Ink), as he virtually tours the blogosphere in November & December ‘10 on his fourth virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About The Remains
Paperback: 375 pages
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink; 1 edition (November 30, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982770502
ISBN-13: 978-0982770504
Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.
Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.
Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.
But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.
Purchase the Kindle edition of The Remains for $2.99 by clicking here!

Read the Excerpt!

October 2, 2008
Albany, New York In the deep night, a woman sits down at her writing table. Fingering a newly sharpened pencil, she focuses her eyes upon the blank paper, brings the black pencil tip to it.
She begins to write.
Dear Mol,
I’ve been dreaming about you again. I don’t think a night has gone by in the past few weeks when I haven’t seen your face. Our face, I should say. The face is always in my head; implanted in my memories. The dream is nothing new. It’s thirty years ago again. It’s October. I’m walking close behind you through the tall grass towards the woods. Your hair is loose and long. You’re wearing cut-offs, white Keds with the laces untied and a red T-shirt that says ‘Paul McCartney and Wings’ on the front. You’re walking ahead of me while I try to keep up; but afraid to keep up. Soon we come to the tree line, and while my heart beats in my throat, we walk into the trees. But then comes a noise—a snapping of twigs and branches. The gaunt face of a man appears. A man who lives in a house in the woods.
Then, just like that, the dream shifts and I see you kneeling beside me inside the dark empty basement. I hear the sound of your sniffles, smell the wormy raw earth, feel the cold touch of a man’s hand. You turn and you look at me with your solid steel eyes. And then I wake up.
We survived the house in the woods together, Mol, and we never told a soul. We just couldn’t risk it. Whelan would have come back for us. He would have found us. He would have found mom and dad. Even today, I know he surely would have. He would have killed them, Mol. He would have killed us. In just five days, thirty years will have passed. Three entire decades and I’m still convinced we did the right thing by keeping that afternoon in the woods our secret.
When I see you in my dreams it’s like looking in a mirror. The blue eyes, the thick lips, the dirty blond hair forever just touching the shoulders. My hair is finally showing signs of grey, Mol.
I wonder, do you get gray hair in heaven? I wonder if Whelan’s hair burned off in hell? I wonder if he suffers?
All my love,
Your twin sister,
Rebecca Rose Underhill
Exhaling, the woman folds the letter neatly into thirds, slips it into a blank stationary envelope, her initials RRU embossed on the label. Running the bitter sticky glue interior over her tongue, she seals the envelope, sets it back down onto the writing table. Once more she picks up the pencil, brings the now dulled tip to the envelope’s face. Addressing it she writes only a name:
Molly Rose Underhill
The job done, the woman smiles sadly. Opening the table drawer, she sets the letter inside, on top of a stack of nine identical letters-never-sent. One for every year her sister has been gone.
Closing the drawer she hears her cell phone begin to vibrate, then softly chime. Picking it up off the desktop, she opens the phone, sees that a new text has been forwarded to her electronic mailbox. Fingering the in-box, she retrieves the message.
Rebecca is all it says.
Punching the command that reveals the name and number of the sender she finds “Caller Unknown.” The sender’s number has been blocked. Closing the phone back up, she sets it down on the desk. That’s when the wind picks up, blows and whistles through the open window.
“Mol,” she says, staring out into the darkness. “Mol, is that you?”

About Vincent Zandri
Vincent Zandri is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, Moonlight Falls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.

His latest book is the bestselling thriller novel, The Remains. You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com.

My Thoughts
Excellent writing! This book is suspenseful, fun and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I thought this was something really different than the usual suspense novel. It's always nice to read something new and fresh. You'll be caught up in this story from the first page of this book and you won't want to put it down till you've reached the thrilling end. If you're a fan of suspense and thrillers, you MUST pick this book up! I found myself jumping at every little noise for the rest of the evening. Just a word of warning, DON'T read this late at night! You'll find yourself thoroughly involved in a story that will send you on a rollercoaster ride of suspense and horror. This is one of those books that would be great for curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and diving in.

While it's written for an adult audience it would also be appropriate for older teens who like this type of book. Probably the over 16 audience would be best.

Read what critics are saying about THE REMAINS!

“I enjoyed this book very much, stayed up late to finish it and then had to make sure all the doors were locked. A story of how a woman survives the worst sort of attack from a truly evil person. An edge of your seat suspenseful and scary story.”

– CelticLady’s Reviews

“I can sum up my thoughts on this book in three very simple words. Masterful. Suspenseful. Amazing. I know that I will be buying a bound copy of this book as well so that I can share it around my bibliophile group of friends. If you are a reader of mysteries, a lover of suspense, this is definitely a book for you! Go ahead, give it a read.”

– A Fanatic’s Book Blog

Watch the Trailer!

The Remains Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, November 1
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, November 2
Guest blogging at Martha’s Bookshelf
Interviewed at Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours
Wednesday, November 3
Book trailer spotlighted at Pump Up Your Book
Thursday, November 4
Guest blogging at The Book Faery Reviews
Friday, November 5
Interviewed at Examiner
Monday, November 8
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, November 9
Book reviewed at From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, November 10
Book reviewed at Ashley’s Bookshelf
Thursday, November 11
Guest blogging at Donna’s Blog Home
Friday, November 12
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Monday, November 15
Guest blogging at Books R Us
Tuesday, November 16
Book reviewed at Books R Us
Wednesday, November 17
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach
Thursday, November 18
Guest blogging at Reading, Reading and Life
Monday, November 22
Book reviewed at WV Stitcher
Tuesday, November 23
Book reviewed at A Bookish Mom
Wednesday, November 24
Book reviewed at Book and Movies Reviews
Thursday, November 25
CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING
Friday, November 26
Book reviewed at Lucky Rosie’s
Book reviewed at Cuzinlogic
Monday, December 6
Book reviewed at Rundpinne
Book reviewed at Knowlton Nest
Tuesday, December 7
Book reviewed at Just One More Paragraph
Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks
Wednesday, December 8
Book reviewed at In the Next Room
Book reviewed at DK’s Everything Books
Thursday, December 9
Book reviewed at Book Sanctuary
Friday, December 10
Book reviewed at Musings of an All-Purpose Monkey
Book reviewed at Life in Review
Book reviewed at Ashley’s Bookshelf
Monday, December 13
Book reviewed at Reading, Reading and Life
Tuesday, December 14
Guest blogging at Night Owl Reviews
Book reviewed at Psychotic State Book Reviews
Wednesday, December 15
Book reviewed at The Book Faery Reviews
Book reviewed at Donna’s Blog Home
Thursday, December 16
Book reviewed & interviewed at As I Turn the Pages
Book reviewed at Proud Book Nerd
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Friday, December 17
Book reviewed by Book Reviews by Molly

Disclaimer: I received this book from Pump Up Your Book Promotion for review purposes only. All opinions are 100% my own.

Is Your Life Worthwhile?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 04:06:00 +0000

We hear so much in the media about living a 'life worthwhile'. What is that exactly? I have tended to stress about whether my life had meaning or not, fearing that it didn't. But God has really spoken to me about that meaningful life. We have to trust in him that each of our lives hold meaning- whether it's anything we can define by human standards or not. God takes the smallest interactions and turns them towards his good. Imagine the small conversations we have daily that we count as inconsequential, but not God. We have to trust that He alone can make our life meaningful in the way that truly matters. We may not understand right now, and we may never understand how our life has touched others. God alone knows that. We just have to have faith and trust that every life has a purpose and a meaning in Gods plan. We have to quit being so influence by media and Oprah-ites that push us to find some great meaning in our lives. All it really does is make us unhappy and wanting something intangible. It's wonderful that there are people who are out doing great things. But greatness also comes in the life led according to God's plan, even if we don't understand it. We just need to keep following him and trusting.

So I guess we have to determine whether we'll trust God to make our lives meaningful in ways that forward his Kingdom, or whether we'll struggle to live up to some unknown quality that society deems worthwhile.

I'm going to relax and trust God...how about you?

Review: Lady In Waiting by Susan Meissner

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:57:00 +0000

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Susan Meissner

and the book:

Lady In Waiting

WaterBrook Press; Original edition (September 7, 2010)

***Special thanks to Cindy Brovsky of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc., for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Meissner has spent her lifetime as a writer, starting with her first poem at the age of four. She is the award-winning author of The Shape of Mercy, White Picket Fences, and many other novels. When she’s not writing, she directs the small groups and connection ministries at her San Diego church. She and her pastor husband are the parents of four young adults.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; Original edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307458830
ISBN-13: 978-0307458834

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Jane

Upper West Side, Manhattan

ONE

The mantle clock was exquisite even though its hands rested in silence at twenty minutes past two.

Carved—near as I could tell—from a single piece of mahogany, its glimmering patina looked warm to the touch. Rosebuds etched into the swirls of wood grain flanked the sides like two bronzed bridal bouquets. The clock’s top was rounded and smooth like the draped head of a Madonna. I ran my palm across the polished surface and it was like touching warm water.

Legend was this clock originally belonged to the young wife of a Southampton doctor and that it stopped keeping time in 1912, the very moment the Titanic sank and its owner became a widow. The grieving woman’s only consolation was the clock’s apparent prescience of her husband’s horrible fate and its kinship with the pain that left her inert in sorrow. She never remarried and she never had the clock fixed.

I bought it sight unseen for my great aunt’s antique store, like so many of the items I’d found for the display cases. In the year and half I’d been in charge of the inventory, the best pieces had come from the obscure estate sales that my British friend Emma Downing came upon while tooling around the southeast of England looking for oddities for her costume shop. She found the clock at an estate sale in Felixstowe and the auctioneer, so she told me, had been unimpressed with the clock’s sad history. Emma said he’d read the accompanying note about the clock as if reading the rules for rugby.

My mother watched now as I positioned the clock on the lacquered black mantle that rose above a marble fireplace. She held a lead crystal vase of silk daffodils in her hands.

“It should be ticking.” She frowned. “People will wonder why it’s not ticking.” She set the vase down on the hearth and stepped back. Her heels made a clicking sound on the parquet floor beneath our feet. “You know, you probably would’ve sold it by now if it was working. Did Wilson even look at it? You told me he could fix anything.”

I flicked a wisp of fuzz off the clock’s face. I hadn’t asked the shop’s resident and unofficial repairman to fix it. “It wouldn’t be the same clock if it was fixed.”

“It would be a clock that did what it was supposed to do.” My mother leaned in and straightened one of the daffodil blooms.

“This isn’t just any clock, Mom.” I took a step back too.

My mother folded her arms across the front of her Ann Taylor suit. Pale blue, the color of baby blankets and robins’ eggs. Her signature color. “Look, I get all that about the Titanic and the young widow, but you can’t prove any of it, Jane,” she said. “You could never sell it on that story.”

A flicker of sadness wobbled inside me at the thought of parting with the clock. This happens when you work in retail. Sometimes you have a hard time selling what you bought to sell.

“I’m thinking maybe I’ll keep it.”

“You don’t make a profit by hanging onto the inventory.” My mother whispered this, but I heard her. She intended for me to hear her. This was her way of saying what she wanted to about her aunt’s shop—which she’d inherit when Great Aunt Thea passed—without coming across as interfering.

My mother thinks she tries very hard not to interfere. But it is one of her talents. Interfering when she thinks she’s not. It drives my younger sister Leslie nuts.

“Do you want me to take it back to the store?” I asked.

“No! It’s perfect for this place. I just wish it were ticking.” She nearly pouted.

I reached for the box at my feet that I brought the clock in along with a set of Shakespeare’s works, a pair of pewter candlesticks, and a Wedgwood vase. “You could always get a CD of sound effects and run a loop of a ticking clock,” I joked.

She turned to me, childlike determination in her eyes. “I wonder how hard it would be to find a CD like that!”

“I was kidding, Mom! Look what you have to work with.” I pointed to the simulated stereo system she’d placed into a polished entertainment center behind us. My mother never used real electronics in the houses she staged, although with the clientele she usually worked with—affluent real estate brokers and equally well-off buyers and sellers—she certainly could.

“So I’ll bring in a portable player and hide it in the hearth pillows.” She shrugged and then turned to the adjoining dining room. A gleaming black dining table had been set with white bone china, pale yellow linen napkins, and mounds of fake chicken salad, mauvey rubber grapes, and plastic croissants and petit fours. An arrangement of pussy willows graced the center of the table. “Do you think the pussy willows are too rustic?” she asked.

She wanted me to say yes so I did.

“I think so, too,” she said. “I think we should swap these out for that vase of Gerbera daisies you have on that escritoire in the shop’s front window. I don’t know what I was thinking when I brought these.” She reached for the unlucky pussy willows. “We can put these on the entry table with our business cards.”

She turned to me. “You did bring yours this time, didn’t you? It’s silly for you to go to all this work and then not get any customers out of it.” My mother made her way to the entryway with the pussy willows in her hands and intention in her step. I followed her.

This was only the second house I’d helped her stage, and I didn’t bring business cards the first time because she hadn’t invited me to until we were about to leave. She’d promptly told me then to never go anywhere without business cards. Not even to the ladies room. She’d said it and then waited, like she expected me to take out my BlackBerry and make a note of it.

“I have them right here.” I reached into the front pocket of my capris and pulled out a handful of glossy business cards emblazoned with Amsterdam Avenue Antiques and its logo—three As entwined like a Celtic eternity knot. I handed them to her and she placed them in a silver dish next to her own. Sophia Keller Interior Design and Home Staging. The pussy willows actually looked wonderful against the tall jute-colored wall.

“There. That looks better!” she exclaimed as if reading my thoughts. She turned to survey the main floor of the townhouse. The owners had relocated to the Hamptons and were selling off their Manhattan properties to fund a cushy retirement. Half the décor—the books, the vases, the prints—were on loan from Aunt Thea’s shop. My mother, who’d been staging real estate for two years, brought me in a few months earlier when she discovered a stately home filled with charming and authentic antiques sold faster than the same home filled with reproductions.

“You and Brad should get out of that teensy apartment on the West Side and buy this place. The owners are practically giving it away.”

Her tone suggested she didn’t expect me to respond. I easily let the comment evaporate into the sunbeams caressing us. It was a comment for which I had had no response.

My mother’s gaze swept across the two large rooms she’d furnished and she frowned when her eyes reached the mantle and the silent clock.

“Well, I’ll just have to come back later today,” she spoke into the silence. “It’s being shown first thing in the morning.” She swung back around. “Come on. I’ll take you back.”

We stepped out into the April sunshine and to her Lexus parked across the street along a line of townhouses just like the one we’d left. As we began to drive away, the stillness in the car thickened, and I fished my cell phone out of my purse to see if I’d missed any calls while we were finishing the house. On the drive over I had a purposeful conversation with Emma about a box of old books she found at a jumble sale in Oxfordshire. That lengthy conversation filled the entire commute from the store on the seven-hundred block of Amsterdam to the townhouse on East Ninth, and I found myself wishing I could somehow repeat that providential circumstance. My mother would ask about Brad if the silence continued. There was no missed call, and I started to probe my brain for something to talk about. I suddenly remembered I hadn’t told my mother I’d found a new assistant. I opened my mouth to tell her about Stacy but I was too late.

“So what do you hear from Brad?” she asked cheerfully.

“He’s doing fine.” The answer flew out of my mouth as if I’d rehearsed it. She looked away from the traffic ahead, blinked at me, and then turned her attention back to the road. A taxi pulled in front of her, and she laid on the horn, pronouncing a curse on all taxi drivers.

“Idiot.” She turned to me. “How much longer do you think he will stay in New Hampshire?” Her brow was creased. “You aren’t going to try to keep two households going forever, are you?”

I exhaled heavily. “It’s a really good job, Mom. And he likes the change of pace and the new responsibilities. It’s only been two months.”

“Yes, but the inconvenience has to be wearing on you both. It must be quite a hassle maintaining two residences, not to mention the expense, and then all that time away from each other.” She paused but only for a moment. “I just don’t see why he couldn’t have found something similar right here in New York. I mean, don’t all big hospitals have the same jobs in radiology? That’s what your father told me. And he should know.”

“Just because there are similar jobs doesn’t mean there are similar vacancies, Mom.”

She tapped the steering wheel. “Yes, but your father said . . .”

“I know Dad thinks he might’ve been able to help Brad find something on Long Island but Brad wanted this job. And no offense, Mom, but the head of environmental services doesn’t hire radiologists.”

She bristled. I shouldn’t have said it. She would repeat that comment to my dad, not to hurt him but to vent her frustration at not having been able to convince me she was right and I was wrong. But it would hurt him anyway.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I added. “Don’t tell him I said that, okay? I just really don’t want to rehash this again.”

But she wasn’t done. “Your father has been at that hospital for twenty-seven years. He knows a lot of people.” She emphasized the last four words with a pointed stare in my direction.

“I know he does. That’s really not what I meant. It’s just Brad has always wanted this kind of job. He’s working with cancer patients. This really matters to him.”

“But the job’s in New Hampshire!”

“Well, Connor is in New Hampshire!” It sounded irrelevant even to me to mention the current location of Brad’s and my college-age son. Connor had nothing to do with any of this. And he was an hour away from where Brad was anyway.

“And you are here,” my mother said evenly. “If Brad wanted out of the city, there are plenty of quieter hospitals right around here. And plenty of sick people for that matter.”

There was an undercurrent in her tone, subtle and yet obvious, that assured me we really weren’t talking about sick people and hospitals and the miles between Manhattan and Manchester. It was as if she’d guessed what I’d tried to keep from my parents the last eight weeks.

My husband didn’t want out of the city.

He just wanted out.

Review: Eat This and Live! For Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Today's Wild Card author is:

Don Colbert

and the book:

Eat This and Live! For Kids

Siloam; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)

***Special thanks to Anna Coelho Silva | Publicity Coordinator, Book Group | Strang Communications for sending me a review copy.***

My Thoughts
What a great resource for parents! I just wish this book would have been around when my kids were little. Nutrition for your children is always difficult. What foods are essential and what to do when they are picky and don't want to eat their vegetables? Feeding your family in a way that will let them grow into healthy adults is more important today than it ever has been. This book gives you the information you need to navigate this critical topic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Don Colbert, MD, is board-certified in family practice and anti-aging medicine and has received extensive training in nutritional and preventative medicine. He is the author of numerous books, including two New York Times best sellers, Dr. Colbert’s “I Can Do This” Diet and The Seven Pillars of Health.

Joseph A. Cannizzaro, MD, has practiced pediatric medicine for thirty years with specialties in developmental pediatrics, nutrition, and preventive medicine. He is the founder and managing pediatrician for the Pediatricians Care Unit in Longwood, Florida.

Visit the author's website.

Here's a video about the adult version, Eat This and Live!:

Product Details:

List Price: $17.99
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Siloam; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616381388
ISBN-13: 978-1616381387

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

EATING HABITS OF

THE NEXT GENERATION

Eating Habits and Our Future

How Has an entire generation of hefty eaters changed the face of the world? By starting young. And once again, this unflattering trend originated in America. In the United States, 17.1 percent of our children and adolescents―that's 2.5 million youth―are now reported to be either overweight or obese.

As a result of childhood obesity, we are seeing a dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes throughout the country. And because of the connection obesity has with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), and heart disease, experts are predicting a dramatic rise in heart disease as our children become adults. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reports that overweight teens stand a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adults, and that is increased to 80 percent

if at least one parent is overweight or obese. Because of that, heart disease and type 2 diabetes are expected to begin at a much earlier age in those who fail to beat the odds.2 Overall, this is the first generation of children that is not expected to live as long as their parents, and they will be more likely to suffer from disease and illness.

If you do not take charge of your food choices for yourself, at least do it for your children. Children follow by example, by mirroring the behavior of their parents. Don't tell them to make healthy eating choices without doing it yourself. I'm sure most of you love your children and are good parents. But ask yourself: Do you love your children enough to make the necessary lifestyle changes? Do you love them enough to educate them on what foods to eat and what foods to avoid? Do you love them enough to keep junk food out of your house and instead make healthy food more available? Do you love them enough to exercise regularly and lead by example?

If you answered yes to those questions, it is important that you not only take action right now but also that you make changes for them that last a lifetime.

But let me be honest; this is not an easy fight when it involves your children's lives. As the little boxes of information on this page illustrate, the culture in which your children are growing up is saturated with junk food that is void of nutrition but high in toxic fats, sugars, highly processed carbohydrates, and food additives. Consuming these foods has become part of childhood.

You can do it, but you must be prepared to stand strong! That's why I am ecstatic that you have picked up this book. I believe you now hold a key to truly changing your life and your children's lives.

Stand Strong!

If you're planning on taking a stand against this garbage-in, garbage-out culture, expect some opposition from every front. During the course of a year, the typical American child will watch more than thirty thousand television commercials, with many of these advertisements pitching fast-food or junk food as delicious “must-eats.” For years, fast food franchises have enticed children into their restaurants with kids' meal toys, promotional giveaways, and elaborate playgrounds. It has obviously worked for McDonald's: about 90 percent of American children between the ages of three and nine set foot in one each month.

It's All Part of the Plan

Fast-food establishments spend billions of dollars on research and marketing. They know exactly what they are doing and how to push your child's hot button. They understand the powerful impact certain foods can have. That is why comfort foods often do more than just fill the stomach; they bring about memories of the fair, playgrounds, toys, backyard birthday bashes, Fourth of July When your kids can't visit the Golden parties, childhood friends . . . the list goes on. Advertisers have keyed into this and products―most of which are brought learned to use the sight of food to stimulate the same fond childhood memories.

School Cafeteria or Fast Food Franchise?

When your kids can't visit the Golden Arches, it comes to them. Fast-food products―most of which are brought in by franchises―are sold in about 30 percent of public high school cafeterias and many elementary cafeterias.

An Alarming Trend in Children's Health

By teaching your children healthy eating habits, you can keep them at a healthy weight. Also, the eating habits your children pick up when they are young will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle when they are adults. The challenges we face are imposing. The state of children's health today is, according to recent measures, at its most dire. The rise in rates of complex, chronic childhood disorders has been well profiled. Here are some concrete examples of the current state of children's health:

Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children.5

Obesity is epidemic.

Fifty percent of children are overweight.6

Diabetes now affects 1 in every 500 children. Of those children newly diagnosed with diabetes, the percentage with type 2 (“adult-onset”) has risen from less than 5 percent to nearly 50 percent in a ten-year period.

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease affecting American children, leading to 15 million missed days of school per year. Since 1980, the percentage of children with asthma has almost tripled.

Approximately 1 in 25 American children now suffer from food allergies.

From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18 percent among children under the age of eighteen years.

One in 6 children is diagnosed with a significant neurodevelopmental disability, including 1 in 12 with ADHD. Autism affects 1 in 150 U.S. children, an extraordinary rise in prevalence.

Babies in one study were noted, at birth, to have an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants present in their umbilical cord blood.

These statistics are sobering indeed, and perhaps the most sobering is the rise in childhood obesity. Why? Obesity plays a part in several other chronic illnesses that are also on the rise among children. And there's an unwelcome side effect―more kids are being put on prescription medications for obesity-related chronic diseases. Across the board, we are witnessing increases in prescriptions for children with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and asthma. There must be a better way.

Top Three Tips for Parents

1. Lead by example. Your child will have an extremely difficult time making healthy eating choices and exercising

regularly if you don't consistently show him or her how.

2. Take baby steps that lead to lasting changes. If your child is overweight, avoid diets that promise instant

3. Take your time as you replace your child's old habits with healthy ones. This goes hand in hand with tip #2.

You're in this for the long haul. It takes time to adapt to a new lifestyle. Be patient as he or she adjusts to the new eating habits and activities that you will be introducing.

What we need now is an absolute paradigm shift. No longer are the “one drug, one disease” solutions of the past appropriate. These are times that demand out-of-the-box thinking. That's where this book can help. If your child is overweight or you want to lower his or her risk of becoming overweight down the road, there are many positive, natural ways you can address the situation. In this book, Dr. Cannizzaro and I provide you with information and ideas to help you help your child.

Understanding Childhood Obesity

Now that we've shared the bad news about the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States, let's make sure you really understand the terms overweight and obese. Many people have a general sense as to how these words are different, yet in recent years the delineation has become clearer. Various health organizations, including the CDC and the National Institutes

of Health (NIH), now officially define these terms using the body mass index (BMI), which factors in a person's weight relative to height. Most of these organizations define an overweight adult (twenty years of age and older) as having a BMI between 25 and 29.9, while an obese adult is anyone who has a BMI of 30 or higher.12 For children and teens, BMI is measured differently, allowing for the normal variations in body composition between boys and girls and at various ages.

For ages two to nineteen, the BMI (or BMI-for-age) is pinpointed on a growth chart to determine the corresponding age- and sex-specific percentile.

· Overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile.

· Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.

BMI is the most widely accepted method used to determine body fat in children and adults because it's easy to measure a person's height and weight. However, while BMI is an acceptable screening tool for initial assessment of body composition, please remember that it is not a direct measure of body fatness. There are other factors that can affect body composition, and your child's doctor can discuss these with you.

If you think your child may be overweight, start by talking to his or her pediatrician. (See the box on the next page for some suggested questions to ask your child's doctor.) After determining your child's BMI and targeting a healthy weight range for your child, make a plan together as a family. It's a good idea to include any regular caregivers in this plan as well. Set a goal for the whole family to get lots of exercise and eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Keep reading for more ways to help your

family!

Wondering About Your Child's Weight?

Five Questions to Ask Your Pediatrician

I understand that you probably don't want to talk about the possibility that your child may not be at a healthy weight. To help make this as painless as possible, I recommend asking your doctor the following questions to get the conversation started.

1. What is a healthy weight for my child's height?

Your doctor will use a growth chart to show you how your child is growing and give you a healthy weight range for your child. The doctor may also tell you your child's body mass index (BMI). The BMI uses a person's height and weight to determine the amount of body fat.

2. Is my child's weight putting him or her at risk for any illnesses?

Based on your family history and other factors, your doctor can help you to determine what health risks your child may be facing. Overweight, inactive children with a family history of type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of being diagnosed with the disease. High blood pressure can also occur in overweight children.

3. How much exercise does my child need?

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends at least one hour of exercise a day. Your doctor will be able to suggest specific ways to help your child, such as walking the dog, playing catch instead of video games, and other forms of activity.

4. Does my child need to go on a diet?

Although an overweight child's eating habits will probably need to change, I don't advise using the word diet because it focuses on short-term eating habits that are rarely sustainable for long-term health. Children (and adults) who become chronic dieters are setting themselves up for problems with their metabolism later in life. A healthier approach is to put your whole family on the path to a healthy lifestyle with gradual but permanent changes. The recommendations in this book are a great place to start.

5. How do I talk about weight without hurting my child's feelings?

Your child might be sensitive about his or her weight, especially if he or she is getting teased. Above all, the message must never be, “You're fat,” or “You need to lose weight.” Instead, it should be, “Our family needs to make better choices about eating and being more active so that we all can be healthy.”

Why Food Choices Matter

All men are created equal, but all foods are not! In fact, some food should not be labeled “food” but rather “consumable product” or “edible, but void of nourishment.” Living foods―fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts―exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels. Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive. They have not been bleached, refined or chemically enhanced and preserved. Living foods are plucked, harvested squeezed―not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf.

Dead foods are the opposite. They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible. That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and man-made fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.

Life breeds life. Death breeds death. When your child eats living foods the enzymes in their pristine state interact with his or her digestive enzymes. The other natural ingredients God put in them―vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants and more―flow into your child's system in their natural state. These living foods were created to cause your child's digestive system, bloodstream, and organs to function at optimum capacity.

Dead food hit your child's body like a foreign intruder. Chemicals, including preservatives, food additives, and bleach agents place a strain on the liver. Toxic man-made fats begin to form in your child's cell-membranes; they become stored as fat in your child's body and form plaque in his or her arteries. Your child's body does its best to harvest the tiny traces of good from these deadly foods, but in the end he or she is undernourished and overweight.

If you want your child to be a healthy, energetic person rather than someone bouncing between all-you-can-eat buffets and fast-food restaurants, take his or her eating habits seriously. Now is the time to help your son or daughter make the change to living foods.

Isn't it Really Just Genetics?

For every obese person, there is a story behind the excessive weight gain. Growing up, I would often hear it said of an obese person that she was just born fat, or he takes after his daddy. There s some truth in both of those. Genetics count when it comes to obesity. In 1988, the New England Journal of Medicine published a Danish study that observed five hundred forty

people who had been adopted during infancy. The research found that adopted individuals had a much greater tendency to end up in the weight class of their biological parents rather than their adopted parents. Separate studies have proven that twins who were raised apart also reveal that genes have a strong influence on gaining weight or becoming overweight. There is a significant genetic predisposition to gaining weight. Still, that does not fully explain the epidemic of obesity seen in the United States over the past thirty years. Although an individual may have a genetic predisposition to become obese, environment plays a major role as well. I like the way author, speaker, and noted women s physician Pamela Peeke said it: Genetics may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. Many patients I see come into my office thinking they have inherited their fat genes, and therefore there is nothing they can do about it. After investigating a little, I usually find that they simply inherited their parents propensity for bad choices of foods, large portion sizes, and poor eating habits. If your child is over weight, he or she may have an increased number of fat cells, which means your child will have a tendency to gain weight if you choose to provide the wrong types of foods, large portion sizes, and allow him or her to be inactive. But you should also realize that most people can over ride their genetic makeup for obesity by making the correct dietary and

lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, many parents forget that to make these healthy choices, it helps to surround a child with a

healthy environment.

Blue Bells of Scotland Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:22:00 +0000

Join Laura Vosika, author of the historical fiction novel, Blue Bells of Scotland: The Trilogy (Gabriel’s Horn Publishing), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in September and October ‘10 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: Gabriel's Horn Publishing (September 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0984215107
ISBN-13: 978-0984215102

About Blue Bells of Scotland: The Trilogy
Shawn Kleiner has it all: money, fame, a skyrocketing career as an international musical phenomenon, his beautiful girlfriend Amy, and all the women he wants—until the night Amy has enough and leaves him stranded in a Scottish castle tower.
He wakes up to find himself mistaken for Niall Campbell, medieval Highland warrior. Soon after, he is sent shimmying down a wind-torn castle wall into a dangerous cross country trek with Niall’s tempting, but knife-wielding fiancee. They are pursued by English soldiers and a Scottish traitor who want Niall dead.
Thrown forward in time, Niall learns history’s horrifying account of his own death, and of the Scots’ slaughter at Bannockburn. Undaunted, he navigates the roiled waters of Shawn’s life—pregnant girlfriend, amorous fans, enemies, and gambling debts—seeking a way to leap back across time to save his people, especially his beloved Allene. His growing fondness for Shawn’s life brings him face to face with his own weakness and teaches him the true meaning of faith.
Blue Bells of Scotland is both a historical adventure and a tale of redemption that will be remembered long after the last page has been turned.

Read the Excerpt!

“Give me the car keys.” Amy thrust her hand out.
“You didn’t get your international license. You can’t drive.”
“Watch me.”
Shawn laughed, digging in the pocket of his baggy, medieval trews. “I know you, Amy. You won’t jaywalk on a deserted street. I paid good money for this meal. I’ll be out when I’m done.” He flipped the keys at her, much harder than necessary.
She caught them in a neat overhand. “I will expect my grandmother’s ring back as promised,” she said in clipped tones, “or I will cause so much trouble in every possible corner of your life, you’ll wish you’d never thought up that idiotic story about tinagle connectors.” She threw the tartan down at him.
“I didn’t make….”
“Stuff it, Shawn. I saw Jim while I was waiting in the lobby. He almost died laughing, said there’s no such thing on a trombone. Thanks for humiliating me, on top of it. Maybe some day you’ll come clean about what you needed—make that wanted—the money for.”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” He jumped to his feet. “I needed that money! There was this big Scot. He was coming with his friends to beat the living daylights out of me!”
“Did you sleep with his wife? You probably deserved to be beaten to a pulp.” She shoved past him, glaring back from the arched doorway at the top of the stairwell. “I cannot believe I’ve stayed with you this long!” She spun on her heel. Her voice floated back up from the dark staircase. “I cannot believe I kept thinking there was something better in you!” He ran to the western wall to see her emerge from the tower into the courtyard. Mist swirled around her ankles. “Everybody told me there was nothing better there!” she shouted up at him.
“Bull!” he shouted back, leaning over the tower. “They love me!”
“You have no idea what they say behind your back,” Amy yelled. “Selfish, self-centered, obnoxious, loud! They’re just afraid of your temper. Arrogant!” She turned and stormed across the courtyard, tearing through tendrils of mist grabbing at her legs.
“I am not loud!” he bellowed.Here’s what critics are saying about Blue Bells of Scotland:

My Thoughts
Wow! The title and cover of this book might lead one to believe that it will be a sweet, bland story, but will find that it is anything but that. This book is fun, exciting and will keep you enthralled with this very original story. If you are like me, you will have a hard time putting it down to get anything else done. I was completely caught up in the story and absolutely loved it! It takes a talented writer to keep switching from medieval to modern times without it being an awkward transition, but Vosika manages to make that switch effortlessly. She takes two characters who are complete opposites, but happen to look identical, inserts them into the cultures of the other, separated by centuries, and makes it all work. This book is a treat to say the least. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!

Here’s what critics are saying about Blue Bells of Scotland:

“Blue Bells of Scotland is the first in the Blue Bells Trilogy and when asked if I would review this book I immediately accepted. The story line sounded promising and Laura Vosika does not disappoint.
Blue Bells of Scotland is a delightfully intricate tale of time travel, life lessons, challenges of faith, and redemption, alternating between present day Scotland and 1314 Scotland, where the lives of Shawn Kleiner and Niall Campbell become intertwined. In a superb twist, Vosika has Shawn, an arrogant, self-centered, brilliant trombone player travel back in time to 1314 Scotland where the MacDonald clan is preparing for the Battle of the Pools. Meanwhile Niall, the next Laird in the MacDonald clan travels forward in time to take the place of Shawn. The results of this fantastically seamless time travel bring about a rather exciting first novel in Vosika’s Blue Bell Trilogy. Shawn must learn to live as a warrior, while Niall must learn to live 700 years in the future, both determined to find a way back to their own time….This was indeed a page-turner and I look forward to finishing the trilogy. I highly recommend this novel to anyone. It makes for a fantastic read and would make an excellent gift.”

– Rundpinne

Watch the trailer!

About Laura Vosika

Laura Vosika grew up in the military, visiting castles in England, pig fests in Germany, and the historic sites of America’s east coast.
She earned a degree in music, and worked for many years as a freelance musician, music teacher, band director, and instructor in private music lessons on harp, piano, winds, and brass.
Laura is the mother of 7 boys and 2 girls, and lives in Minnesota.
Her latest book is Blue Bells of Scotland: The Trilogy.
You can visit her website at www.bluebellstrilogy.com.

Blue Bells of Scotland Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Book spotlighted at Examiner
Wednesday, September 8
Guest blogging at The Book Boost
Thursday, September 9
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Monday, September 13
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Tuesday, September 14
Interviewed at Working Writers
Wednesday, September 15
Guest blogging at Fictionary
Thursday, September 16
Interviewed LIVE on A Book and a Chat Radio Show
Friday, September 17
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Monday, September 20
Guest blogging and book giveaway at The Burton Review
Tuesday, September 21
Interviewed at Beyond the Books
Wednesday, September 22
Book reviewed at Must Read Faster
Friday, September 24
Book reviewed at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Tuesday, September 28
Guest blogging at Blog O’ the Irish
Wednesday, September 29
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Thursday, September 30
Guest blogging at Blogging Authors
Monday, October 4
Book reviewed at DK’s Everything Romance Blog
Tuesday, October 5
Guest blogging at Beyond the Books
Wednesday, October 6
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Thursday, October 7
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Friday, October 8
Book reviewed at Blog O’ the Irish
Monday, October 11
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn
Tuesday, October 12
Guest blogging at Night Owl Reviews
Wednesday, October 13
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Thursday, October 14
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz
Friday, October 15
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn
Monday, October 18
Book reviewed by Rundpinne
Tuesday, October 19
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, October 20
Guest blogging and book giveaway at Acting Balanced
Thursday, October 21
Book reviewed and book giveaway at Acting Balanced
Friday, October 22
Book reviewed and book giveaway at Mandy’s Escape
Monday, October 25
Book reviewed at Books and Movies Reviews
Tuesday, October 26
Book reviewed at Crazy Cat Lady’s Library
Wednesday, October 27
Interviewed at Review From Here
Book reviewed at Teresa’s Reading Corner
Thursday, October 28
Book reviewed at My Favorite Things
Friday, October 29
Interviewed at Broowaha

As the Sycamore Grows Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:23:00 +0000

Join Jennie Helderman, author of the nonfiction narrative, As the Sycamore Grows (Summers Bridgewater Press), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in October on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

Perfect Paperback: 360 pages
Publisher: Summers Bridgewater Press (October 11, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098277320X
ISBN-13: 978-0982773208

About As the Sycamore Grows
As the Sycamore Grows is a true story about abuse, loss, redemption and hope.
Think about Sleeping with the Enemy out in the woods when the enemy totes a Bible and packs a .38. Mike slapped and shoved, but his primary tools were isolation and economic abuse. Until he discovered the power of the Lord as another means of control. Ginger was brought up to pray and obey, but she escaped the isolation and poverty of the cabin hidden behind a padlocked gate.
Both Ginger and Mike speak, as do family, friends, in-laws and exes. Thus Ginger is revealed as a flawed heroine, a rebellious teenager who abandoned her baby. Mike ran away to escape his father’s fists and yet, years later, he glimpsed himself in his father’s casket.
From south Texas to a Foxfire lifestyle in Tennessee, they spiraled downward into poverty by Mike’s choice, and abuse enforced by religion and a gun.
Undergirding the abuse is loss: the alienation of families, the spiritual void from betrayal of church, and the death of the son Ginger abandoned. This boy’s suicide as a teenager, symbolized by the sycamore tree, became the wedge that allowed Ginger to break free and ultimately to work toward ending the legacy of abuse.

Read the Excerpt!

A noise. Ginger awoke, listened. The hum of a motor, the scrunch of tires creeping along the road outside the cabin. She reached over to her husband’s side of the bed. Empty. Where he was heading in the thin light of dawn, she didn’t know. Mike McNeil didn’t offer explanations for his comings and goings. She knew better than to ask.
She rolled back onto her pillow, wide awake now. She could see the black handle of Mike’s .38 at the edge of the closet shelf. Mike seldom strapped the gun to his belt anymore. He had made his point. She wouldn’t take it again and he knew it.
The light was still too dim to see the photos fastened with thumb tacks to the rough-sawn boards next to the closet. It didn’t matter. She pictured them in her mind. She and Mike had squeezed into the metal kiosk at a truck stop that day and posed fast, before their quarter ran out. Mike had just trimmed his beard. A good memory.
Birds chirped outside.
Time to rise. She rolled out of bed.
In the boys’ room, she stood over her sons and smiled. Casey’s feet hung off the foot of his bed. He’d hit a growing spell the day he turned thirteen. She kissed his forehead, then his brother’s.
“Wake up, both of you. Casey, I’m going to put a brick on your head or you’ll outgrow everything you own.” She laughed and gave twelve-year-old Jody a nudge.
In the next room, she built a fire in the woodstove to chase off the morning chill. Atop the stove, water for coffee heated in a blue enamel pot while the last of the oatmeal cooked in a dented stewer. The boys would have the oatmeal. She wasn’t hungry.
She laced up her boots and trudged up the hill to milk the cow while they ate breakfast.
An ordinary morning at the cabin in the woods where she lived with Mike and their two sons.
Nothing different or ominous, nothing to suggest that before noon on September 29, 2000, Ginger would make her escape. She forced a needle through pigskin for a rifle pad while each boy pulled on his one pair of jeans. Better pick beans today before the sun gets up in the sky. Summer didn’t like to let go here at the bottom of Tennessee, and this day would be hot by noon. She twisted her hair through her fingers, wishing she could pull it up off her neck. Or cut it.
Casey crossed the kitchen in two steps, gathered his homework under one arm, and dashed out the door. Knees, elbows and perpetual motion, he disappeared up the hill. Jody lumbered in from the bedroom and fumbled with his papers, a scowl on his face.
Still my little freckle-faced boy.
Jody and Casey had entered school for the first time this year, a small church school just across the state line in Alabama. She’d hoped they would like a regular school but so far it was a split decision. It was early, just three weeks into the school year. Plenty of time yet to adjust.
She gave Jody a quick squeeze before hurrying both boys toward her old Honda. They had ten miles to drive to school.
Mike spotted the blue of Ginger’s car in the distance as he returned home. He checked his watch and calculated when she would be back. At the cabin, he opened his Bible to Revelations and read until time to go. He tromped down their dirt road to the blacktop where he ducked into the trees to watch for her car. Leaning against a pine, he lit a Winston Gold, then another as soon as it burned to the filter.
The last time she left, he had watched her. He could see to the bottom of the hill where, that time, she’d stopped for a few minutes, backed up the road, then stopped again. She was trying to pick up a signal on that car phone, way out here.
He was on to her.
Ginger slowed to turn between two scrub oaks onto their road when she returned from the school. The galvanized metal gate stood open. Mike didn’t always padlock it now like he once did. He’d made that point, too.
This time her tires crunched against the road as she headed the quarter mile toward the honeysuckle vines and briars that hid the cabin. Mike didn’t want anybody in his business. If somehow anybody slipped past the padlock and wandered up the road, they could pass within thirty yards of the cabin and never know it was there.
They’d built the cabin back in 1996, when they had to vacate the rental house in a hurry. She and Mike sawed and hammered while the boys, young as they were, toted and hauled. Five hundred square feet divided into two rooms, board and batten sides, a tin roof. No electricity, no phone, by design.
Mike’s car sat in tall grass just off the road. She parked beside him and called his name when she got out of the car. No answer.
Backtracking down the road, Ginger walked to Trent’s tree, a young sycamore she had named in memory of her oldest son. She had first planted an apple tree for Trent, but ants made a bed at its base. When she poisoned the ants, she killed the tree. The sycamore was a sapling that came up in the compost pile. A smile spread across her face. The sycamore was thriving. She’d kept a close watch on it.
She hurried to the garden. Time to pick beans.

Watch the Trailer!

My thoughts
This is a haunting, compelling portrait of abuse. I found that during most of this read I found myself unable to put it down. As someone who has been through an abusive situation, I recognized so many things. I know that many times people don't understand how this type of situation happens. Read this book! It's a systematic wearing down, it's head games, it's verbal and physical abuse. This book paints a very realistic picture, and should be read by everyone. While I found this book so very compelling, I was also disturbed by it. It really pulled a lot of emotions out of me. This is not a book that you'll forget after you're done. It will stay with you for a long, long time.

About Jennie Helderman

Jennie Helderman broke the glass ceiling at age ten by becoming the first girl page in the Alabama State Legislature. That surge of girl power wouldn’t be the last time she saw a need to put women’s issues at the forefront. Years later, after she helped set up a crisis-call center in an old house, a cry for help at the other end of the phone line resounded in her head. That call was the catalyst; eventually, the empty bedrooms upstairs served as the community’s first shelter for victims of domestic abuse.
From there, Helderman began work with women’s issues and leadership, community development, public relations and communications, beginning in Gadsden, Alabama, and reaching to national levels. She has championed women’s and children’s issues and worked with child abuse victims. From 2000 until her term expired in 2006, she presided over the six-member board of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which serves 520,000 clients each month and oversees all family abuse issues in the state.
A 2007 Pushcart Prize nominee, Helderman coauthored two nonfiction books, Christmas Trivia and Hanukkah Trivia and writes profiles for magazines. Previously she chaired the editorial board of the 120,000 circulation alumnae magazine of Kappa Kappa Gamma, The Key.
Her latest book is As the Sycamore Grows.

Helderman is married to a retired newspaper publisher; is the mother of two and grandmother of three; and has recently moved from Alabama to Atlanta. Her website address is www.jenniehelderman.com.

Here’s what critics are saying about As the Sycamore Grows

“Jennie Helderman has taken a heart-breaking issue and boiled it down to human beings, of flesh and blood and lost days and fearful nights. It opens the door on a too-common human story, and closes you in with it.”

– Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Most They Ever Had, All Over But the Shouting, Ava’s Man, and The Prince of Frogtown.

“Rarely has a story of a woman’s courageous fight for freedom been told in such an eloquent and moving way. And, even more unusual, we get an open view into the twisted mentality of a man who was able, like so many abusers, to convince the outside world that he was normal. A hard book to put down.”

– Lundy Bancroft, author of “Why Does He Do That?” and co-author of “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”

“This is a page turner! A powerful portrayal of mind control!

—Patricia Evans, author of Controlling People

“This story grabs hold of your heart and squeezes it dry. It is a tale so touching, so emotionally overwhelming, women will cringe and thank God they never had to walk in Ginger’s shoes, and men will wish they could have met Ginger’s husband in a dark alley. I applaud author Jennie Helderman’s gift for writing, I marvel at Ginger’s courage for sharing it.”

– Jedwin Smith, two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of Our Brother’s Keepers and Fatal Treasure

As The Sycamore Grows Tour Schedule

Monday, October 4
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Tuesday, October 5
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Wednesday, October 6
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Thursday, October 7
Book reviewed at A Bookish Mom
Friday, October 8
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Monday, October 11
Book reviewed at My Writing Mentor
Tuesday, October 12
Book review & book giveaway at Let’s Just Give It Away
Wednesday, October 13
Book spotlighted at Examiner
Thursday, October 14
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Friday, October 15
Interviewed at Divine Caroline
Tuesday, October 19
Book reviewed at Review From Here
Wednesday, October 20
Guest blogging at The Book Boost
Thursday, October 21
Book reviewed at In the Next Room
Friday, October 22
Interviewed at Working Writers
Monday, October 25
Book reviewed at Rundpinne
Tuesday, October 26
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, October 27
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Thursday, October 28
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach
Friday, October 29
Interviewed at Beyond the Books

Shedrow Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Join Dean DeLuke, author of the thriller novel, Shedrow (Grey Swan Press), as he virtually tours the blogosphere September 7 – October 29 ‘10 on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Shedrow

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Grey Swan Press (August 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098003776X
ISBN-13: 978-0980037760

From rolling pastures in Lexington, KY to darkened alleyways in Newark, NJ, from Manhattan’s posh ‘21’ Club to a peculiar and mysterious landfill in Eastern Kentucky, and from Saratoga Springs, NY to the tiny island of St. Lucia, Shedrow portrays a collision of characters from many divergent worlds. High society and the racing elite, medical and veterinary specialists, mob figures, and Kentucky hill folk become entangled in this unique twist on the medical thriller.
Dr. Anthony Gianni, a prominent Manhattan surgeon, becomes involved in a racing partnership as a diversion from a thriving surgical practice and an ailing marriage. The excitement builds when the partnership acquires Chiefly Endeavor, a two-year-old colt with the breeding, the spirit, and enough early racing success to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
When a new partner with an unsavory background appears and a breeder’s nightmare becomes real, Dr. Gianni and a dedicated veterinarian must confront organized crime and solve a complex mystery that threatens to destroy both of their careers, and possibly a great deal more.

Read the Excerpt!

Gianni was seated at a metal table, his hands bound behind his back. At one end of the table stood Sal Catroni. Unlike the other man, he wore no disguise. His longish hair was slicked back neatly, white at the sides, darker on top. His brow was furrowed in a scowl, amplifying the deep frown lines between his black-looking eyes. Catroni spoke first. “You know who I am?” he said.
Gianni shook his head.
“I’m Sal Catroni, of the Catroni family, and this here is Hector. Hector was a medic in the marines. He’s here to help you with some medical treatment.”
Hector stood at least six-two, all of it solid muscle. He wore a tight white dress shirt, its silk sleeves rolled neatly to the middle of his massive forearms. A ski mask, open at the forehead, concealed his face, and his closely cropped black hair stood mostly on end. It reminded Gianni of a 1960s style flat-top cut, only not as stiff.
“Hector has some tools for you, Doc,” Catroni said.
Hector opened a clean white linen cloth, the texture of a dishrag but with a starched white appearance. Inside were surgical instruments. Dr. Gianni instantly recognized them—there was a blade handle and several large #10 blades, the kind a surgeon would use to make a long incision. It was not a delicate blade, but one meant to cut hard and fast through a lot of tissue with a single swipe. Next to the blades was a bone cutting forceps, which Gianni knew to be a Rongeurs forceps. Then there was a large pile of neatly folded gauze pads.
“Recognize those tools?” Catroni asked.
Gianni nodded
.“Well, Hector here is prepared to do a little surgery today.”

Watch the Book Trailer!

About Dean DeLuke

Dr. Dean DeLuke is a graduate of St. Michael’s College, Columbia University (DMD) and Union Graduate College (MBA). He completed residency training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and also participated in a fellowship in maxillofacial surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England.
He currently divides his time between the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery and a variety of business consulting activities with Millennium Business Communications, LLC, a boutique marketing, communications and business consulting firm. An active volunteer, he has served on the Boards of the St. Clare’s Hospital Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of Northeast New York, and the Albany Academy for Girls. He has also performed medical missionary work with Health Volunteers Overseas.
He has a long history of involvement with thoroughbred horses—from farm hand on the Assunta Louis Farm in the 1970s to partner with Dogwood Stable at present.
His latest book is Shedrow, a medical thriller with a unique twist.
You can visit his website at www.shedrow1.com or connect with him at Facebook at www.facebook.com/deandeluke.

My Thoughts
I'm not sure what I expected with this book, but I'm delighted to say that it was a joy to read. It was exciting and well written, with characters that were believable. I also found that they were characters you wanted to follow - you kept turning pages because you wanted to find out what was next. This is a great medical thriller - and just a plain good book! For anyone who likes a good thriller book that will have you on the edge of your seat, then rush out and pick this one up. I know you'll love it as much as I did!

Here’s what critics are saying about Shedrow!

“I know nothing about thoroughbred racing, but Shedrow held me from beginning to end and made me want to learn more. Dean DeLuke is a wonderful talent, with a physician’s sensitivity and knowledge, and a writer’s deft touch with story and language. I am pleased and proud to welcome Dean DeLuke to the family of doctor-writers, and Shedrow to the ranks of razor sharp, fast-paced new novels. Shedrow is a great read–intriguing and exciting…this book moves!”

—Michael Palmer, NY Times best-selling author of The Last Surgeon and 14 other medical thrillers

“A strong debut. DeLuke paints a vivid cast of heroes and villains that leaves you guessing about the outcome and wanting more. Shedrow is one to read and DeLuke is a new writer to watch.”

—Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of Bodily Harm, Wrongful Death, The Jury Master, Damage Control and Cyanide Canary.

“DeLuke’s out-of-the gate, spare-no-prisoners portrayal of horse racing, vets, racing elite and slimy underworld mafia types leaps beyond anything being published in the genre today. From its opening pages you’ll be shivering on the edge of your seat while this thrill-ride of a debut has you chomping at the bit for more. I’m willing to bet the mortgage on a trifecta that DeLuke’s next two efforts will be just a masterful as the first. Not a win, place and show. But a win, win, win!”

—Vincent Zandri, author of Moonlight Falls and As Catch Can

International Thriller Awards panel judge for 2010

“A terrific whodunit, with characters wrapped in the singular culture that is thoroughbred racing.”

—Michael Veitch, senior turf writer for The Saratogian

“…A galloping series of twists and turns oozing with page-turning danger…this horseracing thriller is a heart pounding read.”

—Amy Wallen, bestselling author of Moon Pies and Movie Stars

“Tense from the first page, Shedrow is first-rate thriller. Dean DeLuke is a master storyteller, and the reader is happily taken on a pedal-to-the-metal thrill ride.”

—James Thayer, bestselling author of The Boxer & the Poet and eleven other critically acclaimed novels

“Dick Francis meets Robin Cook in the pages of this thriller.”

—Mary Jane Howell, Director of Public Relations for Dogwood Stable, campaigner of more than seventy stakes winners and winner of two Eclipse Awards

“Right out of the gate, Shedrow draws you into a fascinating world of thoroughbred owners with shockingly different goals. DeLuke weaves a nifty tale of ambition, deception and revenge.”

—Richard Rosenblatt, Associated Press Racing Writer

Shedrow Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Book reviewed at Gelati’s Scoop
Wednesday, September 8
Book spotlighted at Virginia Beach Publishing Examiner
Thursday, September 9
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Friday, September 10
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Interviewed at Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours
Monday, September 13
Interviewed on A Book and a Chat Radio Show
Tuesday, September 14
Guest blogging at The Book Boost
Wednesday, September 15
Guest blogging at Gelati’s Scoop
Thursday, September 16
Interviewed at Working Writers
Friday, September 17
Interviewed at Beyond the Books
Monday, September 20
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, September 21
Interviewed at Blogcritics
Thursday, September 23
Book trailer spotlighted at Down Under Views
Monday, September 27
Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life
Tuesday, September 28
Book reviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Wednesday, September 29
Book reviewed at Bags, Books & Bon Jovi
Thursday, September 30
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Monday, October 4
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, October 5
Interviewed at Examiner
Wednesday, October 6
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Thursday, October 7
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn
Friday, October 8
Book reviewed at Arms of a Sister
Monday, October 11
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Tuesday, October 12
Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress
Wednesday, October 13
Book reviewed at Thoughts in Progress
Thursday, October 14
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach
Friday, October 15
Book reviewed at Books R Us
Monday, October 18
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, October 19
Book reviewed at Books and Movies Reviews
Wednesday, October 20
Guest blogging at The Book Connection
Thursday, October 21
Interviewed at My Reading Room
Friday, October 22
Book reviewed at My Reading Room
Monday, October 25
Interviewed at A Moment With Mystee
Tuesday, October 26
Book reviewed at A Moment With Mystee
Wednesday, October 27
Interviewed at Broowaha
Thursday, October 28
Book reviewed at Sherri’s Jubilee
Friday, October 29
Interviewed at Review From Here

Love Means Zero Virtual Blog Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:36:00 +0000

Join Daisy Jordan, author of the sports/women’s novel, Love Means Zero (Llumina Press), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in September and October ‘10 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Love Means Zero

Paperback: 514 pages

Publisher: Llumina Press (August 14, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1605945293
ISBN-13: 978-1605945293

A chance encounter in a Rome hotel, two tremendously damaging photographs, and Hilton Joliet’s life is instantly altered. Previously working a dead-end job as an assistant in a portrait studio, she is now a freelance photographer for Game Set Match magazine, “the Us Weekly of tennis,” as she calls it.
Thrown rapidly into a jet-setting life of world-class tennis, the best seats at the best matches, and trailing the hottest young tennis stars and their model and actress girlfriends, Hilton, a former tennis player herself, can’t imagine a more fun job or a better way to jump-start her career while her boyfriend Luke finishes law school.
As Hilton spends more and more time away from home, grows closer and closer to Tanner Bruin—the world-ranked No. 3 player on whom she’s always had a huge crush—and becomes more and more hated by Aubrey Gage—the actress girlfriend of world-ranked No. 6 player Haidin Bayliss—Luke keeps a secret from her that could drastically change their six-year relationship.
It is through Hilton’s discovery of that secret, her love for the tennis tour, and her front-row glimpse into its most high-profile relationships that she starts to see how love doesn’t always mean near as much as she thought it did.

Read an Excerpt

“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” Tanner called into the mic, “the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the culmination of the first annual Best Friends with Benefits Gala….We have, for your bidding pleasure, eight men to auction off for dates. And those men all happen to be—well, we hope at least—some of your favorite ATP tennis players!” The room went wild. All the guests were on their feet applauding and screaming and throwing wide-eyed looks of anticipation at each other.
“But,” Tanner continued, “the hard part is, you won’t know who each one is till he comes out. So, you have to decide, do I want Nate Young, who is pretty damn good-looking? Or should I wait to see if somebody even more strapping and charming, say, Tanner Bruin?, comes along?”
Tanner laughed at himself while all the women in the room giggled wildly like teenagers and shouted their agreement. Hilton laughed. Tanner cracked her up.
“And if you should win one of our fine young men, you get not only dinner for two at one of New York City’s finest restaurants of your choice, you’ll also get to sit in this player’s courtside box for one match at the US Open next August!”

The noise was deafening. Hilton couldn’t even hear herself as she yelled and clapped enthusiastically along with everyone else. This was going to be awesome, even though she knew there was no way she’d have enough money to win one of the players. She wondered who they all were, and how much they would go for.
“All right, so let’s get started!”
Noah, who was now standing in the front row, tossed Tanner a bottle of champagne. Tanner opened it, spraying it into the crowd and the reverberating cheers.
As people started to quiet, Hilton and Luke took their seats.
“You gonna do this one?” Luke asked with a playful grin.
Hilton elbowed him and grinned back. “Shut up. I wish. If I had endless thousands of dollars. But hmmmm.” She frowned. “I wouldn’t know who to pick. They’re all so hot…” She grinned at Luke again and ducked out of the way as he tried to rub his knuckles across the top of her head.
The first three players to be auctioned off were James Blake, Mardy Fish, and Mike Bryan. Hilarious old-school songs like “Dancing Queen” were blasting as each player strutted around the stage and Noah, resuming his role as MC/auctioneer, shouted the player’s bio into the mic. Hilton was having a blast. She loved the crazy atmosphere in here. This was definitely the way to do a charity benefit.
After Mike Bryan came Andy Roddick, then Bob Bryan. He went for a thousand more dollars than Mike, his twin brother, and Noah made a big deal out of it. The whole crowd yelled, “Oooooohhhh!” and Hilton burst out laughing halfway through yelling it.
Then, to Hilton’s complete shock, came Haidin. She quickly looked back to Haidin’s table, checking for Aubrey. Aubrey was probably pissed he was doing this, even though it was for charity. Ohhhh…Aubrey wasn’t there…the empty chair that had been next to Haidin earlier was now occupied by his agent/manager or whatever he was. Hilton cracked a smile and turned back to the front. Haidin, of course, didn’t dance like everyone else, he simply walked to the center of the stage and stood there looking like a totally hot, pissed-off bad boy. She wondered how much he would get. Probably just as much as everybody else, if not more. She rolled her eyes as Noah finished Haidin’s bio, which hadn’t been near as detailed or funny as everyone else’s.
“Bidding starts at one thousand dollars! Do we have one thousand?”
“A hundred thousand!” a woman shouted from the back of the room.
Hilton’s mouth dropped open in shock. She and everyone else in the room turned to stare. Even Noah and Haidin were staring in surprise.
The woman was petite and had her blonde hair piled on top of her head. She was probably about forty, and she was wearing a long white sequined evening gown.
“Okay!” Noah said somewhat dubiously. “A hundred thousand dollars! Going once…going twice…sold! To the woman in the back!”
Haidin turned and left the stage, still looking shocked.
Nate Young was next, and when he went for only fifty-one thousand, Noah and all the other players yelled, “Oooooohhhh!” again.
“And next, the one all you ladies have probably really been waiting for, we have our—to use his own words—strapping and charming host, Tanner Bruin!”
Tanner burst onto stage and started break dancing to “Billie Jean.”
Hilton jumped to her feet, grinning and screaming for him along with all the other women in the room. She couldn’t believe how good of a break dancer he was. And he looked so freaking hot in his suit with that mint green shirt…
“Tanner hails from Vero Beach, Florida, but he was actually born right here in Aspen, Colorado, where he grew up skiing, snowboarding, and, of course, playyying tennis!” Noah rolled his eyes sarcastically at the crowd, and everybody laughed again. “He is currently twenty-five years old and ranked number three in the world! Tanner enjoys gardening, ice ballet, and Jell-O wrestling. He is also president of the Vero Beach chapter of the Richard Simmons Fan Club.”
Hilton burst out laughing. “Ice ballet?!” she gasped to Luke. “What the hell is that?!”
“Bidding starts at one thousand dollars! Do I hear a thousand?”
A few women went back and forth until the bidding was up to fifty thousand, which was about what the other players before Haidin had gone for. Hilton expected Tanner to get a little more since he was the host. A lot of women had probably been waiting, expecting him to be last.
“Seventy-five thousand,” said a cool and confident new voice from behind Hilton. She turned to see Rory, the girl Tanner had won earlier in the women’s auction, standing just three tables behind hers.
Tanner heard her voice too and turned to look at her. When he saw who it was he grinned right at her. Hilton had to look away, because he was looking right in her direction too…but he didn’t even see her. He was grinning over her head at Rory. Hilton took a quick drink of her champagne.
“Seventy-five thousand! Going once…going twice…sold, to Rory from Aspen!” Noah laughed, obviously remembering Rory too.
Hilton turned to look at Rory again. She was smiling at Tanner and holding up her glass of champagne in a silent toast. Hilton turned back to the stage. Tanner gave Rory a chin-up nod and pointed at her for a split second, still grinning.
Even though it was in front of hundreds of people, it was somehow an intimate moment between the two of them, like they already knew each other and there was something going on between them.
***
“Hey, you should follow them,” Luke said half an hour or so later. He and Hilton were dancing and she was trying not to feel weirdly uneasy about how this weekend was turning out.
“What?” Hilton looked where Luke had nodded. Tanner and Rory had left Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Mike Bryan, to whom they’d been talking for several minutes, and were heading toward the exit.
“It’s where the good pics are gonna be,” Luke said with a grin. “Deidre will love you.”
Hilton hesitated. She knew six months ago she would’ve jumped all over it; she would’ve run after Tanner and any girl, hoping to get some hot pictures. But now…it just kind of sucked. But…it would seem weird to Luke if she didn’t want to, plus she hadn’t really gotten any of the crazy pictures so far this weekend that she knew Deidre wanted. “Thanks!” she said, rushing over to their table to grab her camera. “Come with me!”
Luke hurried to the hallway, and when Hilton joined him a moment later, he pointed in the direction of the Vail Room. “They went around the corner down there,” he said quietly.
The hallway was empty and chilly, and Hilton rubbed her arms as they rushed down it and then stopped to peek around the corner. Luckily the carpet was thick and they didn’t really have to worry about being quiet.
This hall was empty too. Hilton and Luke exchanged a quick glance, then hurried to the glass door at the end. A sign above it read EXIT in bold red letters.
“It’s gonna be noisy,” Hilton whispered. She could just hear the door clicking loudly as they eased it open, and then Tanner and Rory would know they’d been followed. Even though Tanner would know she was just trying to get pictures, she didn’t want him to see her right now for some reason.
“I can’t see them,” Luke whispered back. “They probably won’t hear. Come on.” He pushed on the door handle. The door swung open, making a clicking sound just like Hilton had imagined. They glanced at each other, then stepped out into the three or so inches of snow covering the ground.
Hilton looked around, rubbing her hands rapidly up and down her bare arms. Her feet and strappy stilettos were buried in the snow, and the bottom of her dress was already soaked. They appeared to be in some kind of small courtyard. Suddenly delighted laughter pierced the air.
“Hey, look.” Luke pointed, already heading across the small courtyard area. There was a slightly open gate on the far side. Hilton kicked off her shoes and rushed after him, holding her dress up.
They stopped at the gate and peered through. They were looking right at the lodge’s heated outdoor pool. Two pairs of shoes lay haphazardly on the deck, and Tanner and Rory were both in the pool, laughing giddily. Hilton raised her camera and started taking pictures. She didn’t want to turn the flash on and give herself and Luke away, but there were only two deck lights framing the pool, and the pictures weren’t coming out great.
“This is clutch!” Luke laughed excitedly under his breath, holding up his hand for a high five.
Even though part of Hilton was totally bummed, part of her was caught up in the excitement too. Even with the lack of lighting, these pictures were going to be awesome. Deidre would be thrilled. Hilton just wanted to wait till Tanner and Rory got a little closer to each other in the pool, and then she was going to turn on the flash and get one really good one, then run.
“Hey, get on my shoulders and let me flip you,” Tanner said breathlessly. Even in the dim lighting Hilton could see his irresistible grin.
“Ooohh, you always have the crazy ideas. Just don’t flip me into the wall and make me break a bone!” Rory laughed. Tanner laughed too and splashed at her as she swam closer to him, then he went underwater and Rory positioned herself over him, only her head visible.
A second later they rose out of the water together, Rory on his shoulders, her silvery-blue gown clinging to her in a totally misshapen fashion and Tanner still in his suit jacket. Rory was laughing. Tanner pushed upward, Rory flipped backward, the camera flashed, and Hilton and Luke took off running, both of them laughing hysterically.
“Oh my gosh, that was freakin’ awesome!” Hilton screamed when they were back inside the lodge. She and Luke slapped a high five so hard it left Hilton’s palm stinging. “Woooooo!”

My Thoughts
I loved this book for a couple of reasons. First I've always loved tennis. The second reason is that it gives us a look inside the world of professional tennis that I don't think I've really seen in a novel before. I love that it was a completely original setting that was a wonderful, fun backdrop for the romance. On top of those reasons I loved this book because it was really good. The romance was fresh and the characters believable. It also wasn't all hearts and flowers and there were some real issues involved that caused problems. All in all this book is definitely worth your time to grab for a great fall read!

About Daisy Jordan

Daisy Jordan is an obsessive tennis fan and wrote this book so she could live out her dream-job fantasy through Hilton. Before deciding to write a book about the tennis tour, she wrote six other books, including Everything Happens for a Reason…, the Spin the Bottle series, and All That Sparkles Isn’t Real Sapphire. Even before that, she grew up in Indiana watching tennis all summer every summer on TV, and even attended a few pro tournaments. She now lives in Denver and religiously fills out brackets for every Grand Slam with her brother Josh.
You can visit her website at DaisyJordan.com

Love Means Zero Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Spotlight on Book Tours and More
Wednesday, September 8
Guest Post at As the Pages Turn
Thursday, September 9
Guest Post at The Book Connection
Spotlight at The Plot
Friday, September 10
Character Interview at The Plot
Monday, September 13
Guest Post at You Have How Many Kids???
Tuesday, September 14
Review at You Have How Many Kids???
Wednesday, September 15
Guest Post at ElizabethAWhile.com
Thursday, September 16
Guest Post at Life in the First Draft
Friday, September 17
Guest Post at Life in the First Draft
Monday, September 20
Guest Post at Rex Robot Reviews
Spotlight at The Hot Author Report
Tuesday, September 21
Interview at The Hot Author Report
Wednesday, September 22
Guest Post at The Hot Author Report
Thursday, September 23
Guest Post at The Hot Author Report
Friday, September 24
Review at Mom’s Not All
Tuesday, September 28
Review at Marta’s Meanderings
Wednesday, September 29
Guest Post at My Reading Room
Thursday, September 30
Review at My Reading Room

Loving God with All Your Heart Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:04:00 +0000

Join Susie Hobson, author of the Christian Living book, Loving God with All Your Heart: Keeping the Greatest Commandment in Everyday Life (Nordskog Publishing), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in September on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book.

Hardcover: 120 pages
Publisher: Nordskog Publishing, Inc. (June 18, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982492960
ISBN-13: 978-0982492963

About Loving God with All My Heart
Are you satisfied with your daily life? Do you run more on empty than full? Do you always feel like there is more out there for you? This book will take you deeper into your heart’s desire for a real relationship with God, a powerful relationship that will transform your whole life! Susie Hobson reminds us that the love we all long for begins and ends with a life that is surrendered to Jesus. From her real experience she offers practical application of communing with God through His Word to inspire and encourage a closer walk, resulting in empowerment for faithful living. Susie gives a clear path to the fulfillment of the greatest desire of man’s heart—God’s unfailing love as the foundation for wisdom and serving God in our homes and community. This book should fill a real need among families who long for a Biblical order in the home. Susie’s testimony is absorbing.

My Thoughts
This is a wonderful little book that would be a great addition to your inspirational library. This a wonderful source of encouragement on your daily walk. Susie's words will encourage you to a closer walk with God and a stronger faith. This book is great read as a whole or in small bits as daily encouragement. It would also make a great gift for friends!

About Susie Hobson

Susie Hobson has a B.A. in Special Education, M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Alabama, and carried a deaf / hearing-impaired and blind / vision-impaired caseload for 16 years. She retired for more time with family and to write as God has called her. She and her husband Rich have two daughters, Whitney and Amelia, live in Montgomery, and attend Lakeview Baptist Church.
Find out more about Susie and Loving God with All Your Heart at http://www.nordskogpublishing.com/book-loving-god-with-all-your-heart.shtml

Read the Excerpt!

Are you one of those who want more? Increasingly, I hear the same statement over and over again: “Susie, I want more!” There is a desire in all of us for something that people, places, possessions, fame and fortune cannot fill. What is that elusive need, that heart’s desire we all seem to crave? I am convinced that it is a real relationship with God – a powerful relationship!

Loving God with All Your Heart Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Wednesday, September 8
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Thursday, September 9
Interviewed at Examiner
Friday, September 10
Guest blogging at The Book Connection
Monday, September 13
Interviewed at Paperback Writer
Tuesday, September 14
Book reviewed at What You Reading Now?
Wednesday, September 15
Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner
Thursday, September 16
Book reviewed at 4 the Love of Books
Friday, September 17
Book spotlighted at Book Tours and More
Monday, September 20
Guest blogging at Writing Daze
Tuesday, September 21
Book reviewed at RBC Library
Wednesday, September 22
Book reviewed and giveaway at The Knowlton Nest
Thursday, September 23
Guest blogging at Review from Here
Friday, September 24
Book reviewed at Ellis
Monday, September 27
Guest blogging at Lynn’s Corner
Tuesday, September 28
Book reviewed at Lynn’s Corner
Wednesday, September 29
Book reviewed at My Favorite Things
Book reviewed at A Mom After God’s Own Heart
Thursday, September 30
Interviewed at American Chronicle
TBD: Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings

Terminal Care Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:05:00 +0000

Join Chris Stookey, author of the medical mystery thriller, Terminal Care (Silver Leaf Books), as he virtually tours the blogosphere September 7 – October 29 ‘10 on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

Paperback: 342 pages
Publisher: Silver Leaf Books (June 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1609750292
ISBN-13: 978-1609750299

About Terminal Care

Phil Pescoe, the 37-year-old emergency physician at Deaconess Hospital in San Francisco, becomes alarmed by a dramatic increase in the number of deaths on the East Annex (the Alzheimer’s Ward). The deaths coincide with the initiation of a new drug study on the annex where a team of neurologists have been administering “NAF”—an experimental and highly promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease—to half of the patients on the ward.
Mysteriously, the hospital pushes forward with the study even though six patients have died since the start of the trial. Pescoe teams up with Clara Wong—a brilliant internist with a troubled past—to investigate the situation. Their inquiries lead them unwittingly into the cutthroat world of big-business pharmaceuticals, where they are threatened to be swept up and lost before they have the opportunity to discover the truth behind an elaborate cover-up.
With the death count mounting, Pescoe and Wong race against time to save the patients on the ward and to stop the drug manufacturer from unleashing a dangerous new drug on the general populace.

Interview With Chris Stookey

Talking Virtual Book Tours With Chris Stookey

Read the Excerpt!

CHAPTER 1
The death itself wasn’t the unusual thing. The unusual thing was we tried to stop it. That first dying heart came on a Thursday night, a little after midnight on May 5th. I remember the date because it was Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday. There’d been celebrations all day long in San Francisco, including in the Presidio where I was working that night.
I was one of two physicians on duty in the ER at Deaconess Hospital, doing the overnight shift, 6 PM to 6 AM. The early part of the shift had been busy. When I arrived at six o’clock, the waiting room was bursting with patients: drunken revelers with lacerations and sprained ankles, tourists with sunburns, picnickers vomiting from food poisoning, six members of a mariachi band with heat stroke and dehydration. We worked fast, moving from one stretcher to the next, seeing the most critical patients first and moving on.
Then, around ten o’clock, the flow of new patients stopped—abruptly, like water from a faucet turned from on to off. By 11:00 PM, there were only four patients in the waiting room. By 11:45, I finished sewing up my last laceration: a three-inch gash on the forehead of an intoxicated coed from San Francisco State.

Then, there was no one. The emergency department had gone from chaos to serenity.
With nothing to do, Hansen, the other physician on duty, went to catch a nap in the staff lounge. I washed up and went over to join Bill—the night nurse—at the nursing station. We sat with our feet up, drinking black coffee from Styrofoam cups, looking across the empty row of stretcher beds. Bill launched nostalgically into a pornographic tale about a buxom nurse he’d known while serving as a medic during the Gulf War. He’d just reached the climax—so to speak—of his story when, suddenly, the calm of the night was interrupted by an announcement over the intercom:
“Code Blue, East Annex, back station! Code Blue, East Annex, back station! ”
“Christ,” Bill said stopping short in his story. “East Annex? That’s the Alzheimer’s unit.”
“Yeah,” I said. Bill and I exchanged puzzled looks.
“Since when do they call Code Blues on the Alzheimer’s unit?” Bill asked.
The announcement came again, sounding now more urgent. “Code Blue, East Annex! Code Blue!” It was an urgent call for help, hospital jargon for, “Come quick, someone’s trying to die.” And, at that hour of the night, it was the duty of the ER doctor to come and stop the dying. Or at least to try.
I jumped up and grabbed the “Code bag,” the big black duffel bag filled with the equipment we’d need to run the Code: defibrillator unit, intubation tubes, cardiac meds.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“But I was just getting to the good part of my story,” Bill said.
“Save it for later.”
We ran out of the emergency department down the long connector tunnel leading to the East Annex. Why were they calling a Code Blue on the East Annex? I wondered as we ran. In my three years of working at Deaconess, this was the first time I’d been called to a Code on the annex. Normally, they didn’t run Code Blues on the Alzheimer’s ward. The patients there were “DNR”—“Do Not Resuscitate.” In other words, when a patient on the annex stopped breathing or went into cardiac arrest, nothing was to be done. No medical heroics. No breathing machines, no cardiac stimulants, no shocking the heart. This was considered the humane thing to do. All the patients on the annex had at least moderately advanced Alzheimer’s disease; all were near the end of life. To prolong the lives of these poor souls at all costs was not the aim of medical care on the East Annex. The aim of medical care on the East Annex was comfort, a safe environment, and, when the time came, death with dignity.
I heard Bill huffing and puffing, falling behind as we ran down the hall. I turned back and saw him slow to a walk.
“I’ll have to…meet…you…” he said breathlessly.
“Maybe if you give up those damn cigarettes,” I called back as I went around the bend in the tunnel.
“Maybe if…I was…a damn jogger like you,” Bill called out.
At the end of the connector, I came to the door leading to the second floor of the annex. Normally, the door was shut and locked. The East Annex was a locked ward because the patients there—at least the ones who were ambulatory—had a habit of wandering off the ward and getting lost when the doors weren’t locked. Now, as I reached the end of the connector, a rotund, uniformed security guard stood at the door holding it open for me. “Straight ahead, past the back station, on the left,” the guard said.
I went through the door and immediately someone shouted out. “Over here!”
I ran to where six or seven people were gathered outside one of the rooms. There’s always a crowd at any Code Blue. Death, either actual or imminent, is always something that fascinates people. Several of the people in the crowd had no business being there: for example, the ward secretary standing on her tiptoes peering in at the door and the two members of the janitorial staff looking over her shoulder.
Elbowing my way into the room, I got my first look at the patient: an elderly, gray-skinned woman wearing pink pajamas. She lay lifelessly on her back on the bed, the covers tossed back. Four people were gathered closely around the bed working on her. The ward tech, a muscular, crew-cut fellow, was performing chest compressions, pumping away on the old woman’s sternum with the heel of his hand. At the head of the bed stood the respiratory therapist, a skinny African-American fellow named Lamont—I had worked with him in the emergency department. Lamont was holding a mask over the patient’s face and squeezing breaths of oxygen from an oxygen bag. At the foot of the bed stood the Code Blue pharmacist, a young Hispanic woman I’d never seen before; she attentively held her tray of Code Blue medicines, ready to dispense whatever might be called for. The fourth person at the bed was Juanita Obregón, one of the East Annex night nurses. Juanita was also a familiar face. She’d been a good friend of mine since my early days at Deaconess. She stood opposite the ward tech, pressing her fingers into the patient’s groin, feeling for a pulse at the femoral artery.
“Pescoe!” Juanita said as I entered the room. Juanita always called me by my last name—not “Philip” or “Phil” or “Dr. Pescoe,” just “Pescoe”. “Thank God. I was in to see her twenty minutes ago, and she was absolutely fine, watching TV. Then, I came in to turn off the television, and she’s unresponsive. Not breathing, no pulse—out.”
Juanita stepped back as I came over on her side of the bed.
“Who called the Code?” I asked.
“I did,” Juanita said.
“Why? She’s an Alzheimer’s patient, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Juanita said. “All the patients on the annex are Full Code now, while they’re running the study.”
“Study? What study?”
“Neussbaum and his team. They’re running a drug study, some new experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s.”
I looked at Juanita. I hadn’t heard anything about a drug study on the East Annex. Neussbaum, whom Juanita had referred to, was Tucker Neussbaum, the doctor in charge of the Alzheimer’s unit. He’d never said anything to me about a change in resuscitation status on the unit. Of course, now was not the time to start questioning DNR orders—if the little old lady in the pink pajamas had been declared a Full Code, then so be it. My job was to do everything I could to bring her back to life. Now.
I turned toward the ward tech. “Hold compressions,” I said.
The tech stopped pumping on the patient’s chest and stood back. I pressed my fingers into the old lady’s neck and felt for a pulse. Nothing. I unzipped the Code bag, turned on the defibrillator machine, and took out the defibrillator paddles. Tearing open the woman’s pajama top, I pressed the paddles against her bony chest. The paddles acted like heart monitor electrodes, and we all looked at the TV screen on the defibrillator machine. The neon light showed the woman’s heart tracing, a wiggly pattern running across the screen. The wiggly tracing meant there was still some “life” left in the old woman’s heart, still some electrical activity. The heart rhythm was not normal, however, far from it: the woman’s heart was quivering out of control in a rhythm called “ventricular fibrillation.” In order to save her life, something had to be done to stop the quivering. Otherwise, the woman would die.
“V-fib,” I called out. “I’m going to shock.”
I turned the knobs to charge the defibrillator just as Bill came into the room, wheezing like a steam engine.
“V-fib,” I said. “They’re running some sort of drug study, and all the patients are Full Code.” I pressed the paddles firmly down on the woman’s chest. “Stand clear!” I shouted.
Lamont and the ward tech stepped away from the bed, and I activated the defibrillator. A pulse of electricity shot through the woman’s chest causing her back to arch up. We all looked down at the monitor for the second it takes to re-establish the heart rhythm after the jolt of electricity. The neon tracing appeared on the screen, squiggly and still fibrillating out of control. The shock had failed to convert the old woman’s heartbeat to a normal rhythm.
“Okay,” I said, “epinephrine. We need an IV.”
“She already has one,” Juanita said. “Left forearm.”
I looked at the patient’s left forearm, and, just as Juanita said, there was an IV already in place. A rubber-tipped intravenous catheter had been secured with a gauze wrap and tape. The IV was further held in place by a fishnet stocking covering the entire forearm.
I looked at the pharmacist. “Epinephrine, one milligram,” I said. As the pharmacist reached into her box of medicines, I said to the ward tech, “Continue chest compressions. I’m going to intubate her.”
As in a choreographed dance, everyone went into action. The pharmacist took a syringe of epinephrine—adrenaline—from her tray and handed it to Juanita. Juanita injected the heart stimulant into the IV. The tech resumed his chest compressions, and Lamont resumed bagging oxygen to the patient. Meanwhile, I went to the head of the bed and prepared to put a plastic tube down the old woman’s throat so we could breathe for her more effectively.
They say much of emergency medicine is “cookbook medicine,” and a well-trained monkey can perform much of what emergency physicians do. There’s no better example of this than the Code Blue cardiac arrest. Every step in the Code is based on a precisely defined algorithm, and everyone knows the drill. We’d already performed the first step of the algorithm: shock the patient’s heart with 360 Joules of electricity. This had failed to stop the quivering, so we moved to the next steps of the protocol: a shot of intravenous epinephrine and intubation.
“7.5 tube,” I said.
Bill took the throat tube out of the Code bag and handed it to me. Lamont pulled off the oxygen face mask and stepped aside, and I checked the woman’s mouth to see if there was anything inside that might make it difficult to put the tube down—blood, loose dentures, chunks of food. Her mouth and throat were clear.
“Does this patient have any history of heart problems?” I asked Juanita as I put the laryngoscope blade into the mouth and pried open the jaw.
“No, that’s just it,” Juanita said. “Her only medical history is Alzheimer’s disease. Otherwise, she’s the healthiest patient on the ward. Then again, that’s what I said about the last patient who died. This is the second Code we’ve had in three days.”
“Oh?” I said slipping the throat tube into the trachea.
“Yes. Mrs. Messing, she died on Tuesday.”
Lamont attached the oxygen bag to the end of the tube and began pumping 100% oxygen directly into the woman’s lungs.
“Is Neussbaum here tonight?” I asked.
“No. He just left, half an hour ago,” Juanita said. “His resident is on call tonight, Dr. Chester Mott. He’s here.” Juanita motioned with her head toward a young man standing on the other side of the room.
I looked over at the man. I hadn’t noticed him before; he was slumped down in the shadows of the far corner of the room. He was a short, overweight fellow wearing a black tee shirt and surgical scrub pants; he had carrot orange hair that stood out in all directions. He looked like a resident, all right: young, disheveled, sleep-deprived. I figured he must have been sleeping in the call room when the Code was called.
“Okay, hold compressions,” I said. I looked at the heart monitor: the rhythm was still v-fib. Our efforts were getting us nowhere. “Let’s shock again, 360 Joules.”
Bill charged the machine to 360, and I delivered the shock. Again, no change. What’s more, the amplitude of the heart waves on the screen was getting smaller, flatter. It was a bad sign.
I looked over at the resident. “Want to help, do some chest compressions?” I asked.
The resident looked at me with wide, frightened eyes and shook his head, no. I felt my head cock sideways as I looked at him in surprise. No? That’s odd, I thought. Residents were supposed to be keen to jump in and get involved in a Code Blue. Even if they’re nervous and not really eager to do so, at least they’re supposed to pretend. That’s what they’re there for, to learn. However, I decided to cut Dr. Mott some slack. No doubt he was feeling overwhelmed and anxious, the way most residents feel during the heat of a cardiac arrest. If this had been his rotation through the emergency department, I would have insisted. However, this was the Alzheimer’s ward. The young Dr. Mott was supposed to be learning about dementia and urinary incontinence and bed sores, not fibrillating hearts. No need to press him into service if he didn’t feel comfortable with it.
“Continue compressions,” I said turning back to the tech. I looked at pharmacist. “Amiodarone, 300 milligrams, IV,” I said regurgitating the next step of the protocol.
We continued to work down the algorithm, delivering further shocks and further medications. The room became pungent with the smell of the patient’s singed flesh owing to the repeated shocks. Another bad sign. Between shocks and injections, I watched and supervised the Code team. The ward tech had worked up a heavy sweat pumping away at the chest compressions.
“Need a break?” I asked.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Bill can relieve you. Or,” I said raising my voice a little, “maybe the resident.” Mott didn’t move. He just stood there looking down at the floor, his hands folded diffidently over his protuberant belly.
“No, I’m fine,” the tech said; “I’m good.”
I looked at the patient lying lifelessly on the bed. I wondered what it was that had caused her heart to go suddenly haywire. Heart attack? Juanita had said there was no history of heart problems. I looked at the old woman’s face: she had to be at least eighty-five-years-old. Her hair was white and thinned to near baldness at the crown, her forehead covered with age spots. Her cheeks stood out prominently on the bony face, and her eyes were sunk deep into the sockets. I asked myself again: why in the world were we Coding this bent-up old lady with Alzheimer’s disease?
I asked the tech to hold compressions and looked once again at the heart monitor. The tracing was almost flat now. The woman was going to die. I knew it, everyone knew it—we were just going through the motions now.
“Okay,” I said. I could hear the resigned tone in my own voice. “Let’s try another shock—360 Joules.”
We continued our efforts for another ten minutes until the woman’s heartbeat was truly flat-line on the monitor. I delivered one final, ineffective shock then decided to call it quits.
“I’m going to stop,” I said. “Any objections?”
Not surprisingly, no one objected.
“Okay…,” I said looking up at the clock on the wall. “12:57.”
The tech stopped the chest compressions; Lamont stopped squeezing the oxygen bag; the pharmacist closed her box of medicines. Somewhere in the shadows I saw the young Dr. Mott slip silently out of the room. I looked down at the patient. Her face was now a blue-purple color, and the endotracheal tube stuck out of her mouth like the end of a large fish hook.
“Okay,” Juanita said. “12:57. I’ll mark it down as the time of death.”

About Christopher Stookey
Christopher Stookey, MD, is a practicing emergency physician, and he is passionate about medicine and health care. However, his other great interests are literature and writing, and he has steadily published a number of short stories and essays over the past ten years. His most recent essay, “First in My Class,” appears in the book BECOMING A DOCTOR (published by W. W. Norton & Co, March 2010); the essay describes Dr. Stookey’s wrenching involvement in a malpractice lawsuit when he was a new resident, fresh out of medical school. TERMINAL CARE, a medical mystery thriller, is his first novel. The book, set in San Francisco, explores the unsavory world of big-business pharmaceuticals as well as the sad and tragic world of the Alzheimer’s ward at a medical research hospital. Stookey’s other interests include jogging in the greenbelts near his home and surfing (he promises his next novel will feature a surfer as a main character). He lives in Laguna Beach, California with his wife and three dogs.
To find out more about Chris, visit his Amazon’s author page at http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Stookey/e/B003UVLDI4/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.

My Thoughts
For someone who loves medical dramas on tv, this book was like literary candy. It was suspenseful and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep you turning the pages.This is a first novel by Stookey, and I'm sure that we'll see more from him. I can't wait to see what he writes next. This is an excellent read - fun, exciting and sure to keep you guessing!

Here’s what critics have to say about Terminal Care:

“It’s very well written and it hooks you from the start and keeps you hooked until the end. I think it’s a great first novel for this talented author.” – LIFE IN REVIEW

“Terminal Care is part medical procedural, part thriller, and part mystery and all three are expertly woven together to create a fast paced medical thriller. Stookey’s debut novel was an absolute delight to read and I look forward to more novels from this fine author. I would recommend Terminal Care to anyone looking for a good mystery/thriller.”– RUNDPINNE

“This 4 star novel of suspense is awesome medicine for the medical suspense loving soul. Blended with that bit of romance, it’s the perfect read for almost any genre lover. I definitely recommend this debut novel and will hoping for more from this awesome author turned author!”– Book Reviews by Buuklvr81

Terminal Care Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn
Wednesday, September 8
Book reviewed at Life in Review
Thursday, September 9
Guest blogging at Blogging Authors
Friday, September 10
Book reviewed at Rundpinne
Monday, September 13
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, September 14
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Wednesday, September 15
Book reviewed by Book Reviews by Buuklvr81
Thursday, September 16
Guest blogging at The Book Boost
Friday, September 17
Book Reviewed by My Reading Room
Monday, September 20
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Interviewed at Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours
Tuesday, September 21
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, September 22
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Thursday, September 23
Interviewed LIVE on A Book and a Chat Radio Show (click link for details)
Friday, September 24
Book reviewed at You Have How Many Kids?
Monday, September 27
Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks
Tuesday, September 28
Book reviewed at Celtic Lady’s Reviews
Wednesday, September 29
Book reviewed at From the TBR Pile
Thursday, September 30
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach

The Book of Unholy Mischief Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Join Elle Newmark, author of the Renaissance mystery novel, The Book of Unholy Mischief (Atria, December 2008), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in September and October on her fourth virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press (November 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416590579
ISBN-13: 978-1416590576

About The Book of Unholy Mischief

It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that hold the secrets of unimaginable power. Rich and poor alike speculate abouthe the long buried secred tht might be scrawled in its pages and where the book might be hidden in the labyrinthine city. While those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.

As a storm of intrigue percolates in Her Most Serene Republic, Luciano, a penniless orphan, is plucked off the street by the doge’s chef and taken in as the chef’s apprentice. In the palace kitchen Luciano is initiated into the chef’s rich and mysterious world where recipes are more than they seem.

It is not long before Luciano is caught up in the madness. Torn between loyalty to his street friends and his passion for Francesca, a convent girl, Lucianco’s worthiness is tested. Armed with a precicious mind and insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing opent he shutters of his mind, inflalme his deepest esires, and leaven an indelible mark on his soul.

Read the Excerpt

My name is Luciano - just Luciano. I’m Venetian by birth, old now and chained to my memories, compelled to return, link by link, seeking clarity.
There’s a matter about which I am sworn to secrecy, but times have changed since I took my oath. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed man’s emergence from centuries of darkness. Great thinkers have unlocked our minds, and great artists have opened our eyes and our hearts. Some are calling it a renaissance - a rebirth - and it will reverberate far into the future because of a miraculous new invention called the printing press. Perhaps, now, it would be a disservice to the advancement of knowledge to remain silent. Perhaps the pendulum has swung a full arc, and the time has come for me to speak. If I proceed with caution … well, those who have ears let them hear.

The intrigue took place in my youth, when I served as an apprentice to the doge’s chef in Venice. I first suspected some unholy mischief when the doge invited an uncouth peasant to dine with him in the palace. In the time-honored tradition of servants everywhere, I assumed my post behind the slightly open service door to the dining room in order to spy, and I marveled at the sight of them together: the doge, chief magistrate of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, gracious and bejeweled, sat with his guest, a bewildered paesano with calloused hands, dirt under his fingernails, and unwashed hair that had been hastily wetted and pushed off his face to show respect.

Watch The Trailer

See Elle in Venice talking about the book

My Thoughts
For anyone who loves historical fiction, you can't get much better than this book! It's rich and lush in details, and you will feel as if you've been transported to Renaissance Venice. For those of you foodies out there, you'll love all the descriptions of food. I just really enjoyed sinking into this wonderful tale and found that it's a story that sticks with you long after you put it down!

About Elle Newmark

Elle Newmark is an award winning writer whose books are inspired by her travels. She prowled the back streets of Venice to cook up The Book of Unholy Mischief and explored India by car and elephant to conjure The Devil’s Wind. She calls California home.

For more information on Elle or her work visit http://www.ellenewmark.com/

READ THE REVIEWS:

“Elle Newmark immerses us in 16th century Venice with lush and vivid detail. We live history through the eyes of an urchin named Luciano who, seemingly by pure chance, is plucked from the streets by the head chef of the lavish Doges Palace. But just as we are about to lose ourselves in a particularly exquisite entrée, we are caught up in a vicious search for a book of alchemy, said to contain the secrets of wealth, power, and life itself. Tension builds as we find that this coveted book has a curious connection to the palace kitchen. Beautifully and cleverly descriptive, the story twists, turns, and finally emerges as a lasting testament to wisdom and truth.” -Mary Fagan

“This is a well written story and it held me captive for two nights running. At times I wanted to speed read through, but I fought the urge as it’s so beautifully written, I simply wanted to make it last. That’s how good this story is.” -Ken Douglas

THE BOOK OF UNHOLY MISCHIEF’S VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ‘10 TOUR SCHEDULE

Tuesday, September 7
Guest Blogging at My Reading Room

Wednesday, September 8
Book Reviewed at My Reading Room

Thursday, September 9
Book Reviewed at Andilit

Friday, September 10
Book Reviewed at Must Read Faster

Monday, September 13
Book Reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Interviewed at Diva’s Bookcase

Tuesday, September 14
Guest Blogging at Marta’s Meanderings
Book Reviewed at Diva’s Bookcase

Wednesday, September 15
Book Reviewed at Girls Just Reading

Thursday, September 16
Book Reviewed at Rundpinne

Friday, September 17
Guest Blogging at A Book Blogger’s Diary

Monday, September 20
Book Reviewed at The Book Tree

Tuesday, September 21
Book Reviewed at My Reading Table

Wednesday, September 22
Guest Blogging at My Reading Table

Thursday, September 23
Book Reviewed at ‘Til We Read Again

Monday, September 27
Book Reviewed at To Read or Not to Read

Tuesday, September 28
Book Reviewed at 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews

Wednesday, September 29
Book Reviewed at Book Reviews by Buuklvr81

Add to Technorati Favorites

The Unexpected Son Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Join Shobhan Bantwal, author of the women’s fiction book, The Unexpected Son (Kensington Publishing Corp.), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in September ‘10 on her fourth virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington; 1 edition (August 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758232039
ISBN-13: 978-0758232038

About The Unexpected Son
What happens when a woman who’s realized her dreams wakes up to a shocking truth? A mysterious letter turns Vinita Patil’s contented American life upside down. It tells an impossible story: she has a grown son in India, a child she was told was stillborn 30 years ago. Now his life may depend on her.
Revealing her secret past to her arranged-marriage husband could mean losing him forever. Nonetheless Vinita is compelled to return to her battle-scarred town in India to meet her hitherto unknown son—perhaps even save his life—and pray for the faith of the family she leaves behind.

Read an Excerpt

Prologue There was something odd about it, despite its plain and inconsequential appearance. Vinita gazed at the mystery envelope for a long moment, weighed it in the palm of her hand. Her instincts were prickling. It went beyond mere feminine intuition.
She didn’t receive any letters from her family in India anymore. Cheap long-distance telephone rates and email had put an end to that somewhat antiquated form of communication.
The smudged postal seal on the envelope read Mumbai—one of India’s largest and most populous cities—a place Vinita was very familiar with. The envelope had that typical “India” look—multiple postage stamps in various colors and sizes; thin brown paper; and the sealing flap placed over the vertical edge, unlike the American style horizontal edge. But it didn’t look like the occasional wedding invitation or the quarterly statements from the bank where she and husband maintained a small account in rupees.
There was no return address, but it was sent to her attention—neatly hand-printed. She slit it open with her finger and eased out the contents—a single sheet of white ruled paper. Her hands shook a little. She wasn’t sure if it was anticipation or anxiety. Or both.
The message was brief—a few lines penned in blue ink. She scanned it quickly, trying to ignore the tingle crawling up her spine like the cautious progress of a venomous spider. The subject matter was bizarre. The writer’s name was missing. The trembling in her hands edged up a notch.
Only minutes ago, it had looked like any ordinary Saturday morning—a day to recoup after five hectic days of poring over spreadsheets, memos, and databases till her eyeballs ached and her back turned stiff as cardboard.
This morning, lying in bed, through drowsy eyes she’d watched the first shimmering rays of sunlight poke their fingers through the window blinds. The sound of the wind whistling through the pale green spring foliage was a sign of a brisk but sunny April day.
May, her favorite month, was right around the corner. The dogwoods and azaleas in the neighborhood, weighed down by fat, succulent buds, attested to that. Spring was always such a buoyant season, so full of promise. It had brought a contented smile to her lips.
Reminding herself that it was time to emerge from the warm cocoon of the down comforter, she’d sat up in bed, stretched like a slothful kitten, and leaned back against the headboard. She’d managed to grab more than two extra hours of sleep. Her reward for waking early on weekdays.
Her husband was on a business trip to Detroit, and wasn’t due to return until the following week, so she had the weekend to herself. She’d planned to indulge herself by brewing a cup of scalding masala chai—strong tea delicately laced with her own blend of five spices instead of the usual coffee-on-the-run on weekdays at the office. Then she was going to eat lunch at the taco place and do some shopping at the mall.
Working late the previous evening had prevented her from looking at the mail right away. Exhausted, she’d tossed the stack of correspondence on the nightstand, eaten a quick meal of leftovers, and gone straight to bed.
Now, as she sat on the bed in her aqua print pajamas and checked the mail before getting dressed, she wondered if the weekend of self-indulgence she’d been looking forward to was already beginning to wilt and curl at the edges. The tacos and the shopping spree no longer appealed.
Who could have sent her the odd message? An old friend? An acquaintance? She blew her disheveled bangs out of her eyes to read it again, more carefully this time. Perhaps there were clues she had missed the first time.
My dear Mrs. Patil,
I am writing to tell you about your son. He is suffering from myeloid leukemia. Many years ago, I had made a promise that I will never reveal anything about him, but this is a serious matter. A bone marrow transplant is his last hope. My conscience will not allow me to let a young man die without having a chance to try every possible treatment. Your brother may be able to give you all the details.
I leave the matter in your hands.
Best Regards & Blessings,
A well-wisher
Who was this nameless letter-writer? And why had he or she chosen to remain anonymous? Something about the message was disturbing.
How could someone spring something like this on a total stranger? Whose son were they talking about, anyway? Was it possible the letter was erroneously mailed to her? But what if it wasn’t a mistake and she was indeed the intended recipient?
Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke? But then, why would they spend over forty rupees to mail something all the way to the U.S. as a mere prank? Everything about the letter spelled serious intent. This was no hoax …

Read an interview with Shobhan Bantwal about the book!

Watch the Trailer

My Thoughts

This story is absolutely terrific. Bantwal weaves a wonderful tale of a mother's love amidst Indian-American life. It's a wonderful insight into the culture and is a story that is rich and wonderful and a delight to dive into. While the story is set amidst the Indian-American culture, this is a story that will have you hooked from the first page!

About Shobhan Bantwal

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book,” romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of Indian culture. Born and raised in India and now an American citizen, Shobhan had an arranged marriage and writes about that topic and other controversial social topics unique to India. THE UNEXPECTED SON is her fourth book.

Shobhan’s articles and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications including The Writer magazine, Romantic Times, India Abroad, Little India, U.S. 1, India Currents, and New Woman. Her short stories have won honors and awards in fiction contests sponsored by Writer’s Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines. To read her stories, articles, favorite recipes, and more, go to her website: www.shobhanbantwal.com

What Reviewers are Saying

“Bantwal is a magical storyteller. The characters are so tangible that you miss them when you finish reading The Unexpected Son.” — BookPleasures

The Unexpected Son Tour Schedule

Tuesday, September 7
Reviewed at Rundpinne
Wednesday, September 8
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Thursday, September 9
Guest Post at Fodder for Fiction
Friday, September 10
Reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Monday, September 13
Reviewed at Book Reviews by Buuklvr81
Tuesday, September 14
Podcast at Across the Pond
Tuesday, September 14
Reviewed at Seize the Book Blog
Wednesday, September 15
Interview at Roses of Prose
Thursday, September 16
Guest Post at Chick with Books
Friday, September 17
Reviewed at Chick with Books
Friday, September 17
Reviewed at Review From Here
Monday, September 20
Reviewed at Proud Book Nerd
Tuesday, September 21
Guest Post at Life in the First Draft
Wednesday, September 22
Guest Post at Life in the First Draft
Thursday, September 23
Spotlight at The Plot
Friday, September 24
Character Interview at The Plot
Friday, September 24
Guest Post at The Book Boost
Monday, September 27
Interviewed at BlogCritics
Tuesday, September 28
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, September 29
Guest Post at Literarily Speaking
Thursday, September 30
Guest Post at Literarily Speaking
Thursday, September 30
Reviewed at You Have How Many Kids???

Review and Tour for Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Paperback: 222 pages
Publisher: Lipstick Ninja Press (December 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0986484903
ISBN-13: 978-0986484902

Join Maya Jax, author of the chick lit novel, Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me (Lipstick Ninja Press), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in August ‘10 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me
The Scene: Aspiring screenwriter Lelaina Zane finally lands a Hollywood break, but it’s cut short when her dad has a heart attack and she has to return to her hometown. Now that she’s back, her parents want her to stay, show some responsibility and join the family law firm.
Her Ex: Her first love, first kiss, first… you know, and first guy she caught with another woman. Full of apologies and a proposition, he wants her to stay and be with him.
Her Dilemma: With one embarrassing disaster after another, a devastating blow from Hollywood and four weeks until the Bar Exam, Lainey has to decide if she’ll stay and have it all — career, love, money — or return to LA to pursue her impossible dream.

Read the Excerpt!

There’s a chance that while refraining from singing, I may have slept with Conner. It’s a little fuzzy, but consciousness just crept in and we are laying on the basement couch tangled up almost naked with each other.
“I’m going to the bathroom. Do you want anything while I’m up?” he asks, kissing my forehead.
“A glass of water, please.”
I watch him shuffle out of the room, then I drift back to sleep.
The heat from the sun causes me to roll over and open my eyes. I sit up and survey the basement. I’m alone. Groping around on the floor, I find my purse and cell phone. It’s six thirty in the morning. He went to the bathroom three hours ago. Where is he? I gather my clothes and throw them on. My underwear is no where to be seen, which worries me a little, but I think the most important part right now is finding Conner before his parents find me.
I call his cell phone. It rings from under the couch. I start to panic. I’m in his parents’ house. His very Catholic mother is upstairs. She’s bound to come down here eventually. And I don’t imagine she’ll be thrilled to see a hungover, partially dressed, black-eyed me in her

basement.
I pad to the door and open it slowly. The bathroom is right outside the door and it’s empty. There doesn’t seem to be any movement in the house. Did he leave without me? My best option is probably to sneak through the house and bolt out the front door.
I’m about to sprint up the stairs when I remember that my underwear is still missing in action. I hate to abandon it because it’s my favorite red Hanky Panky thong, but I don’t have much time before Mrs. Adair rises from her bed or crypt, or wherever it is she rests. Of course, I don’t want her to find it either. Fuck. I inspect under the couch, tear the cushions off and dig around the frame. Nothing. It isn’t hanging from the lights or ceiling fan. I search behind the drink bar where there’s a refrigerator and a giant stand-alone freezer. Oh God. I’ll have to leave it behind. I can only hope she doesn’t find out it’s mine.
The stairway to the first floor opens up into the kitchen and living room, which leads to the front door and the exposed staircase up to his parents’ room. The kitchen floor creaks as I creep through. I hope Conner is in here so I can bitch slap his face before I run like hell.
No such luck.
When I get into the living room, I hear someone moving around upstairs. Dear God. I scurry across the living room to the front door. The deadbolt clicks as I unlock it. My fingers curl around the doorknob. Just when I think I’ve found freedom, I notice the alarm system blinking beside the door. It’s on. If I go out the door, it will set off the system.
A toilet flushes upstairs. Oh my God. I debate running out the door anyway and booking it down the block. The house is on a ravine that leads to my parents’ house, so by the time the police show up I could be safe in my own bed. Of course, the embarrassment would be much worse if the police trace the break-and-enter to my house and come knocking on my parents’ door.
Where the hell is he?
Then the door to his parents’ room opens upstairs. Blinded by fear, I hurtle through the living room and kitchen, back into the basement. I don’t stop to catch my breath until I’m safely behind the couch.
Someone starts making breakfast in the kitchen above me. This is bad. Really, really, bad. Mrs. Adair is a lethal mixture of Catholic Italian and Greek, and here I am in her basement almost naked on a Sunday.
I call the one person I can think of that may be able to get me out of here without Mrs. Adair noticing.
“I need help,” I whisper.
“What time is it?” Joe yawns.
“I’m stuck in the Adairs’ basement. I have no idea where he is and now Mrs. Adair is upstairs moving around and I can’t get out of the house!”
“Why are you at the Adairs’?”
“Bob the cop drove me here. I had no choice.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“With Bob?”
“With Conner, Zane. Did you sleep with Conner?”
“Can we focus on the bigger issue here?”
I can almost hear his eyes roll. “Why are you calling me?”
“Wait in your car outside. I’m going to make a run for it and there’s no way I can book it home in these heels.”
“Don’t you have to go through the kitchen to get to the door?”
“I’ll put something over my head.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“How about you ring the doorbell and distract her while I run out. She loves you.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Joe, do you have any idea what Mrs. Adair will do to me if she sees me here?”
He sighs. “Is there a window?”
I madly look around, remembering a window when I woke up. There it is. It’s a tiny window over the deep freeze on the other side of the room, but big enough that I think I can fit my body through.
“Yes! Yes! There’s a window!”
I rush over and inspect it. There’s a little wire attached to a blinking white box on the pane. “It’s attached to the alarm system.”
“Wait till she turns the alarm off to get the paper and then climb out the window. I’ll wait down the block.”
Then I hear someone on the stairs.
“Someone’s coming,” I hiss and slap the phone shut.
I dive behind the couch and hold my breath. The door opens. A shadow appears on the wall beside me. Oh God. I don’t think I’ve been a horrible person. I cheated on a social studies test in sixth grade. The girl across from me was a history mastermind, so I copied all her answers. I got one hundred percent. But I don’t think I’ve ever done anything bad enough that would put me in the kind of position that would lead Mrs. Adair to find me hiding in her basement on a holy day.
The person opens the freezer and digs around. I try to focus on the reflection in the glass cabinets. It’s her. It’s Mrs. Adair. This is it. This is how I’m going to die. Here lies Lelaina Zane, aspiring writer, died at twenty-six while still living with her parents and dressed like a whore in her ex-boyfriend’s basement. Cause of death is unknown, possible heart attack or strangulation by crazed mother-in-law to be. Did I say mother-in-law to be? I didn’t mean it.
After an eternity rummaging around, Mrs. Adair grabs some frozen waffles, closes the freezer door and vacates the room. I lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. I could stay here until I die. They would eventually find my body and explain to my parents what happened. Mr. and Mrs. Zane, did your daughter moonlight as a whore?
I sit up and peek over the couch. As I do, the door opens again. I hit the ground. Don’t let it be Mrs. Adair. I will do anything. I will never have sex again. Please don’t let it be her.
A shadow appears over my head. I glance upward and come eye to eye with Mrs. Adair’s angry face. Her dark eyes are almost as black as her hair, a huge contrast to her heavily creased porcelain skin. The devil himself would shun this woman from hell for fear she’d take over.
She flinches when she sees my eyes. “Would you like to explain yourself?”
I really wouldn’t.
My heart thunders in my chest. I may have to yell so she can hear me over the noise.
“Mrs. Adair. Hi,” I say, as though I’m casually surprised to run into her here. I stay on the ground, not wanting her to see how I’m dressed.
“What happened to your face?”
I hope she means the black eyes. It could also be last night’s make up that is smeared across my face.
“I fell off a table at work.” I don’t have time to add that I work at a preschool and not a strip club.
“Where’s my son?” She asks me like I’ve gagged him and stuffed his body in a trunk somewhere.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” She crosses her arms. “How is it that you’re in my basement then?”
“He went to the bathroom four hours ago and didn’t come back. He’s probably upstairs.”
Let him be upstairs.
“Do your parents know where you are?”
Yes, I made sure to tell them I was getting hammered and coming back here to get laid.

Here’s what critics are saying about Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me!

My Thoughts
I found this book to be utterly charming! Talk about silly and fun and absurd and at the same time very touching. I absolutely loved this book and I'd highly recommend that you pick it up and dive right in. My only problem with the book was that it wasn't long enough. This book was downright fun to read, and I caught myself laughing out loud on any number of occasions. You'll love it as much as I did, I'm sure. This book is most definitely a big hit!

Here's What The Critics Are Saying!

After 8 months of reading textbooks with a highlighter, when it comes time for summer I want something light. Something fun. Something that I can devour quickly on the beach or when lying in bed on a rainy day. And Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me totally delivered. Well, almost delivered. The book never did make it to the beach or to a rainy day because I read the whole thing the night I bought it.

–CollegeCandy.com

Ok, the first thing wrong with this book is the title – it’s just not indicative of the humourous romp within. The second thing is that we just want more! It may be an easy read, but this book touches on themes in many of our lives – staying true to your dreams, not living your life for other people, knowing when enough is enough in a bad relationship. We loved the fact that Lelaina is no doormat, which is a trap that so many Chicklit novels seem to fall into nowadays. We thoroughly enjoyed it and are hoping a sequel is on the way.

–ChickLit.co.uk.

Watch The Trailer

About Maya Jax

Loving spy and mystery novels, Maya Jax entertained the idea of being a secret agent and started working at an embassy overseas while doing her master’s in international relations. During this time, she finished her first screenplay, an action/thriller about spies and nuclear weapons. She pitched it to a friend in Hollywood, who told her she had talent, but to never – ever – show anyone the script again. Realizing her love for writing was stronger than her desire to spy and fight crime, she attempted a second screenplay focusing on what she knew best — trying to make it as a writer. The screenplay turned into a manuscript and the result was chick lit novel Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me. You can read more about Maya at www.mayajax.com.

Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me Tour Schedule

Monday, August 2
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, August 3
Guest blogging & book giveaway at Night Owl Reviews
Wednesday, August 4
Interviewed at Beyond the Books
Thursday, August 5
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Friday, August 6
Interviewed at Review From Here
Monday, August 9
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, August 10
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Interviewed at Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours
Wednesday, August 11
Guest blogging at The Book Connection
Thursday, August 12
Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks
Guest blogging at Writing Daze
Friday, August 13
Interviewed at Personovelty
Monday, August 16
Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life
Tuesday, August 17
Book reviewed at Acting Balanced
Wednesday, August 18
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach
Thursday, August 19
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz
Book reviewed at Mommy Reads Too Much
Friday, August 20
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn
Book reviewed at Hott Books
Monday, August 23
Book reviewed at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Interviewed at Examiner
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Tuesday, August 24
Guest blogging at Write for a Reader
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz
Guest blogging at The Book Boost
Wednesday, August 25
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Book reviewed at Books and Thoughts and Adventures
Thursday, August 26
Book reviewed at A Book Lovers Review
Book reviewed at Teresa’s Reading Corner
Friday, August 27
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking

Add to Technorati Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:51:00 +0000

Today's Wild Card author is:

Bill Wiese

and the book:

23 Questions About Hell (with DVD)

Charisma House; Har/DVD edition (July 6, 2010)

***Special thanks to Anna Coelho Silva | Publicity Coordinator, Book Group | Strang Communications for sending me a review copy.***

About The Book

23 Questions About Hell contains to-the-point answers to the questions that Bill Wiese has most been asked about hell since his best-selling 23 Minutes in Hell first released. Each answer is based on the Word of God, and the combined answers provide a fresh understanding about some of life s Whys as they relate to hell and eternity. This book will clear up misconceptions and presuppositions about God s character, and about who goes to heaven, and who doesn t. It clearly demonstrates that we are held accountable for our decisions in life.

The book includes a DVD -- with Bill's amazing story and the lessons he's learned from his visit to HELL.

My Thoughts
This was a really interesting book! I was not familiar with this author prior to this blog tour, so I didn't know what to expect. I have to tell you that I was kind of expecting a 'fluff' book, but boy was I surprised. This book is anything but fluff! For a small book it really packs a punch. Mr. Wiese lays the foundation to understanding the whole concept of hell and what it is and what it represents to Christians. Everything is Biblically based and there's no glossing over the truth which I appreciated. For anyone with questions, this is an excellent place to start!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bill Wiese is the New York Times best-selling author of 23 Minutes in Hell. A dedicated Christian since 1970, he has served in various capacities, including teaching and leading worship. He is an accomplished speaker and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. He lives with his wife, Annette, in Southern California.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $15.99
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Charisma House; Har/DVD edition (July 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616380276
ISBN-13: 978-1616380274

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8

Would you say that the leaders of our country are mean for constructing prisons? No, it’s your choice; you don’t have to go there. (See Deuteronomy 30:19; Psalms 9:17; 86:5; 145:8–9; Proverbs 11:19, 21; John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:13–15.)

Besides, hell was not prepared for man but for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). God never intended for man to go there. Even now, He is preparing a place for us in heaven (John 14:2). It is only by man’s stubborn will that he rejects the provision God has made

for our access into heaven. It is arrogant of man to desire to go to heaven yet demand his own terms of access. If you want to live in God’s house, you come by His way and not your own (Luke 13:3; John 3:36; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:9–10; 1 Tim. 2:4–6).

Why is hell so horrific? Because God’s attributes are not present there. Many do not realize that the good we all enjoy is from God. Good doesn’t exist apart from Him. James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

The same word, hetoimazo, is used in Matthew 25:41, where God prepared hell for the devil, as is used in John 14:2, where Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you” (emphasis added). God prepared heaven as His eternal home, filled with all the attributes of His holiness and glory. But in God’s preparation of hell, He removed all of His attributes, or goodness, from that place of torment. Spiritual death means to be separated from God, and to be separated from Him is to be separated from all good. As a consequence, this is the result:

• Hell is dark because God is light (1 John 1:5).

• Hell is only death because God is life (John 1:4).

• Hell is hatred because God is love (1 John 4:16).

• Hell has no mercy because the mercy of the Lord is in the heavens (Ps. 36:5).

• Hell is only weakness because the Lord is the giver of strength (Ps. 18:32).

• Hell is loud because “My people will dwell in . . . quiet resting places” (Isa. 32:18).

• Hell has no water because water is the rain of heaven (Deut. 11:11).

• Hell has no peace because Christ is the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

The good we experience is because God allows us to enjoy it while we are here on the earth. Psalm 33:5 states, “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

However, if you want nothing to do with God, then there is a place prepared that has nothing to do with His goodness. His presence is there (Job 26:6; Ps. 139:8; Prov. 15:11; Rev. 14:10–11), in that it is before His face. However, His goodness and influence are removed.

He looks down upon it from heaven (1 Kings 8:30; Job 22:12; Ps. 11:4; 33:13; 102:19; 123:1; Prov. 15:3; Eccles. 5:2). Of course, God is in all places and sees all. I am simply saying that He has withdrawn His goodness from hell.

Proverbs 15:29 says, “The Lord is far from the wicked.” In 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9 we read, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

Cast out from the presence of the Lord is the idea at the root of eternal death, the law of evil left to its unrestricted working, without one counteracting influence of the presence of God, who is the source of all light and holiness.1 —Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Essentially, hell is the place where all aspects of the presence of God will be completely withdrawn forever.2 —Henry M. Morris and Martin E. Clark

Dr. Robert Peterson said in his book Hell on Trial, “God is not present in hell in grace and blessing . . . He is present in hell, not in blessing, but in wrath.”3

However, there is one additional thing in hell. God’s wrath is present in the form of fire. The fires of hell are representative of His wrath (Deut. 32:22; Ps. 11:6; 21:8–9; Isa. 30:33; 33:14; 34:9; 66:24; Jer. 4:4; Mal. 4:1; Matt. 13:49–50; 18:8; Mark 9:43; John 15:6; Jude 7; Rev. 14:10–11; 20:10–15). The reason for this wrath is because sin must be punished (Rom. 6:23). God took out His anger on sin at the cross, as He poured out His wrath on Jesus (Ps. 22; Isa. 53; Matt. 17:12; Mark 9:12; Luke 9:22; 17:25; 24:26, 46; Heb. 9:26; 1 Pet. 2:24). However, if we don’t acknowledge Him and receive Him as our Lord, then we will take the punishment (2 Thess. 1:9–10; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 14:10–11; 20:13–15). It is our choice.

Most of the other terrible things in hell are not experienced because of His wrath but because of His absence—the absence of His attributes and goodness (Prov. 15:29; 2 Thess. 1:9). We need to understand that good things are not just here by a series of coincidental random events but because they emanate from the presence of God (Ps. 90:2; Matt. 5:45; Luke 6:35; Col. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:17). When some say that hell is only “separation from God,” as if that is no big deal, we can now grasp what that really means.

Many will look at the trees, the sky, the ocean, and so forth and comment, “Isn’t Mother Nature wonderful?” Well, it is not “Mother Nature,” but rather, “Father God” who provided all of the beauty we enjoy.

Just as prisons have been constructed to protect the innocent from those who are breakers of the law here on Earth, hell has been prepared for the offenders of God’s law. The simple solution is, don’t break God’s law. “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3; see also John 3:36; Rom. 10:9–10). Proverbs 27:12 says:

A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished.

Remember this point: Just as prisons were not the first thing in mind when men came to this country, so too hell wasn’t God’s first intent when He made the earth and man. Nevertheless, hell exists— and it will be your own fault if you go there.

Salvation is a free gift, but we must receive it in order to be saved. God loves you and is a good Father. He is trying to keep you out of hell and to divert you from your misguided course.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

—Isaiah 61:1

Add to Technorati Favorites

Secrets on Lake Drive Virtual Book Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:49:00 +0000

Secrets on Lake Drive
by Tina Martin

Paperback: 302 pages
Publisher: Xpress Yourself Publishing, LLC (July 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0984527303
ISBN-13: 978-0984527304

Join Tina Martin, author of the romance/contemporary fiction, Secrets on Lake Drive (Xpress Yourself Publishing), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in August and Sept. ‘10 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Secrets on Lake Drive
Monica and Sean clash at a parent-teacher conference when Monica accuses Sean of being too occupied with making money and chasing women to take a real interest in his son’s life. But Sean is no pushover. He knows how to hold his own and deal with Monica, but after the incident at school, he’s also come to realize that he can use Monica’s devotion to his advantage. He propositions her to move into his home to babysit five-year old Roman for the three months of summer break, offering her a substantial amount of money, hoping that she’ll accept. But is babysitting the only reason he’s so anxious to get her into his mansion?
Monica accepts his offer against her better judgment, knowing the rumors of Sean and his womanizing ways. She tells herself that she’s doing this for Roman – that she can avoid her new, sexy, summer boss – his chiseled chest, pretty green eyes and charm that just won’t quit. But after only a few weeks, Monica finds it a struggle to keep her eyes off of Sean. Can she handle staying focused on her babysitting gig for three months without being swept off of her feet by Milwaukee’s finest? Or is Sean’s game too much for the young, conservative teacher to handle?
Having been heartbroken in the past, Monica is reluctant to play this dangerous game with a confirmed heartbreaker. But it’s what she doesn’t know about Sean that she should be concerned about. Sean knows her well – too well, and it’s those secrets that have the potential to make her love him or hate him.

Read the Excerpt!

April 2004
Milwaukee, Wisconsin “Girrrl, look who just walked up in here,” Keisha ran over and whispered in my ear after her eyes caught sight of Sean Beauvais. Never mind the fact I was busy talking to one of my student’s parents. I mean, after all, it was parent-teacher conference night for Milwaukee Public Schools. Sheesh! I guess that’s what I get for having a best friend as a coworker.
Obeying her order, I looked up at him, but I wasn’t as excited as she was. Don’t get me wrong, the brother was flyy; dressed a little too over-the-top for a parent-teacher conference, but still, he was flyy. Had Keisha not told me that he had just graced my classroom with his presence, I would’ve seen him eventually. He had swagger, and his presence didn’t go unnoticed wherever he was. When he entered a room, people gave him stares like he had his own star on the Walk of Fame, and by his proud attitude, he seemed to enjoy all of the attention.
He stepped in rocking a navy blue Sean Jean pinstriped suit with a crisp white shirt, complete with circular crystal cufflinks, a frost pink necktie, and some transparent,
smoke-lens shades with white frames, probably made by Gucci or Versace. Usually I don’t call men pretty, but this man was the exception. Sean put the F, I, N and three E’s in fine.
“Mo-ni-caaa.” Keisha nudged me again, slowly enunciating my name as if I didn’t hear her the first time she called me.
I heard her, but I was busy trying to concentrate. I didn’t like distractions when dealing one-on-one with my kids’ parents. I wouldn’t care if P. Diddy stepped in the room. I took my job very seriously and Keisha knew that.
“Monica,” Keisha whispered again, this time quickly.
I looked up at her, rocking a frown in my forehead. We’ve been friends long enough for her to know what I’m saying by the look I give her. And by the look that I gave her, she knew she was bugging me, but she didn’t care. She was steering her head in the direction she wanted me to look: Sean’s direction. By her movements, it looked like the girl had snapped her neck or something…like she was working out some kinks or doing some sort of jacked-up techno dance.
I glanced up at him again as he got a little closer. Truth be told, the brother was all that and then some. The closer he got, the more his good looks became prevalent. Sean was a light-skinned black man with green eyes. I was told his mother was white and his father was Haitian. From what I could see, he stood a few inches over six feet tall with a muscular build that would make Boris Kodjoe jealous. He must have been one of those guys that couldn’t survive without going to the gym at least once a day. I would guess that he was also the type of dude to get manicures and pedicures every two weeks and use those expensive body scrubs to keep his skin radiant. Speaking of his skin, it was smooth – no blemishes or razor bumps. His hair was dark black and curly like he had some sort of a texturizer or an S curl, but it was probably his genetics that resulted in him having a good healthy head of hair. With all that good hair, I’m sure he made it a point to see the barber weekly, probably at times when he didn’t even need a haircut.
I think to call him a metrosexual would be a little drastic, but that’s the title society usually pins on men who obsess about their appearance more so than women. But in today’s world what woman wouldn’t want a man who loved to look good? Personally speaking, I sure wouldn’t want to deal with some scruffy looking man who hasn’t had his toenails clipped in ten years.
Anyway, I could clearly see he was all man. He had a strong presence in my classroom, speaking to people whom he didn’t know while walking with confidence through the crowd of curious parents with one hand in his pocket. Yep, he was definitely the pretty boy type.
I heard he was also a cocky son of a gun who didn’t bite his tongue for anyone. If he had something to tell you, he would tell you point-blank. If you didn’t like it, that was your problem. There was no beating around the bush to try and find out his disposition on matters.
I HAD ALREADY dismissed the Caucasian couple I was chatting with. Might as well had since Keisha wasn’t about to leave me alone. I should’ve slapped some sense into her, but I couldn’t do that, being a kindergarten teacher and all. What kind of example will I be to my students? I hadn’t been teaching long, only for about ten months or so, and being only twenty-four years of age, the older teachers would sometimes look at me and turn up their noses like I was too young to be a teacher. I mean, is there a rule that teachers have to be old as dirt? I didn’t think so.
“Girrrl, he’s coming over here!” Keisha patted my shoulder in a few rapid motions with the backside of her hand, while panting at the same time.
She just couldn’t let it go. It wasn’t that she was astounded by Mr. Beauvais’ good looks. Unlike me, she had a man. Keisha was the proud girlfriend of a tall, sexy, mocha brother. I was actually jealous the first time she introduced me to him. He looked like a much younger Brian McKnight, same build and everything. She just so happened to meet him down on the east side where all the college students hang out nonstop until the early morning hours. I always thought it was funny how the one night I didn’t go out with her, she winds up with Mr. Perfect, and I’m still single. I haven’t had a man since Cornelius, but whatever. Keisha and Daryl were good together; she loved him and he loved her. That’s how I know she wasn’t tapping me because she was digging on Sean.
Keisha was excited and shocked to see Sean in my class for one reason and one reason only: Sean Beauvais never showed up for any of his son’s school activities. He didn’t even bother to show up for our kindergarten rendition of ‘Goldilocks and The Three Bears’ back in January. No one was there to watch Roman while he played the teeny tiny bear, and when the play was over, Roman sat in my car for thirty minutes waiting for his father’s chauffer to pick him up.
Getting back to Keisha, I had to say something to the crazy woman. She was putting a hurting on my shoulder.
“Keisha, if you pat my shoulder one…more…freakin’ time…,” I said as discreetly as I could, ready to backslap her.
“Girl, whatever,” she replied, completely ignoring my prelude to a threat. “Looks like Roman is pulling Sean over here. I’m out.” After all that nagging to get my attention, Keisha ran like a coward and dipped in her classroom, which just so happened to be next to mine.
I watched Roman steer his father the rest of the way to my desk. Roman was my best student, and though it was rumored that Mr. Beauvais and his now ex-wife had adopted him, I swear the boy looks just like his father. When Sean finally gets over here, I’ll really get to see if there are similarities between the two. One thing was for sure. They both had those same green eyes.

My Thoughts
This was a fantastic story. It's part romance and part mystery and will keep you guessing all the way through it. I read this book in a couple of hours, so it's not a really long one, but the writing is good and so is the story. For me, I found my interest maintained throughout the story, and the suspense as well. This book will definitely keep you entertained and surprise you in the end!

About Tina Martin

Tina Martin is a fiction novelist and poet. She holds an Associates Degree in Computer Technology and a certification in Accounting and is currently working as a project administrator.

Her latest book is Secrets on Lake Drive.

You can visit Tina’s website at www.tinamartinbooks.com.

Read an interview with Tina Martin!

Secrets on Lake Drive Tour Schedule

Monday, August 2
Book spotlighted at Examiner
Tuesday, August 3
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book
Thursday, August 5
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life
Friday, August 6
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz
Monday, August 9
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, August 10
Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress
Wednesday, August 11
Guest blogging at Acting Balanced
Friday, August 20
Guest blogging at Fictionary
Interviewed at Beyond the Books
Tuesday, August 24
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking
Wednesday, August 25
Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life
Thursday, August 26
Interviewed at Review From Here
Friday, August 27
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report
Tuesday, September 7
Book reviewed at Acting Balanced
Friday, September 10
Book reviewed at Tribute Books
Wednesday, September 15
Book reviewed at Colloquium
Friday, September 17
Book reviewed at Reading at the Beach
Monday, September 20
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Friday, September 24
Book reviewed by Book Reviews by Buuklvr81

Add to Technorati Favorites

Marta's Meanderings

Never Surrender To A Scoundrelby Lily Dalton

Review: Crossing Values by Carrie Daws

Book Review: Peaceful Passage by Kim West, PhD

The Ongoing Journey

The Mermaid’s Pendant Virtual Book Tour

Watch the Trailer!

The Mermaid’s Pendant Tour Schedule

Read the Excerpt!

Read what critics are saying about THE REMAINS!

Watch the Trailer!

The Remains Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Is Your Life Worthwhile?

Review: Lady In Waiting by Susan Meissner

Review: Eat This and Live! For Kids

Blue Bells of Scotland Virtual Book Tour

Watch the trailer!

Blue Bells of Scotland Tour Schedule

As the Sycamore Grows Virtual Book Tour

Read the Excerpt!

As The Sycamore Grows Tour Schedule

Shedrow Virtual Book Tour

Read the Excerpt!

Watch the Book Trailer!

Shedrow Tour Schedule

Love Means Zero Virtual Blog Tour

Read an Excerpt

Love Means Zero Tour Schedule

Loving God with All Your Heart Virtual Book Tour

Read the Excerpt!

Loving God with All Your Heart Tour Schedule

Terminal Care Virtual Book Tour

The Book of Unholy Mischief Virtual Book Tour

READ THE REVIEWS:

The Unexpected Son Virtual Book Tour

Read an Excerpt

Read an interview with Shobhan Bantwal about the book!

Watch the Trailer

What Reviewers are Saying

The Unexpected Son Tour Schedule

Review and Tour for Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me

Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me Tour Schedule

Secrets on Lake Drive Virtual Book Tour

Secrets on Lake Drive Tour Schedule

Never Surrender To A Scoundrel
by Lily Dalton