Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Book Blast and Giveaway! God Loves You, - Chester Blue by Suzanne Anderson

God Loves You. - Chester Blue by Suzanne Anderson

What if when you most needed help, a blue bear appeared with a note from God? One night, Miss Millie of Blossom, Ohio turns her face to the stars and asks God for help. The next day, a package arrives on her doorstep containing a blue teddy bear and a special note. Over the course of a year, this remarkable blue bear travels across the country, showing up just when he’s needed most. During his journey, Chester Blue helps a young girl trying to impress her big sisters; saves a sailor caught in a terrible storm; reunites two constantly fighting brothers; helps a cowboy become a rodeo clown; and aids a father and daughter in bonding after divorce. If you ever needed a message from God, it's here...





Meet Author Suzanne Anderson

I was born in Fort Lauderdale, attended the University of Michigan on an athletic scholarship for swimming and then worked on Wall Street. I left the bright lights of the big city fifteen years ago and traveled the world. I now live in the mountains of Colorado, where I pursue my dream of writing novels.



LINKS:
Website: http://www.suzanneanderson.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-Anderson-Author-Page/201662786512944
Twitter: https://twitter.com/seakiev








http://bookblastpromotions.blogspot.com/
Giveaway Details:

$50 Amazon Gift Card

Ends 9/11/12



a Rafflecopter giveaway



Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent's permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.



Monday, September 3, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Sept 3, 3012)



What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too! 

Started to get my reviews done, but wouldn't you know it - now I am behind on my reading!  lol

Current Giveaways:
Amazon $100 GC - sponsored by Bewitching Blog Tours and Jennifer Malone Wright - ends Sept 15
Desert Rice by Angela Scott (please enter and leave a comment - blog with most comments can win a prize!) - ends Sept 17

Upcoming giveaways - this week:
Pushing the Limits
What the Heart Remembers


Currently reading this week: 

Reading for Various read-a-longs in August: I got behind on my review reading, so while I still want to read the books I started for the readalongs, they have been shelved for now.

Upcoming books:
Freak by Jennifer Hillier
What the Heart Remembers by Debra Ginsberg
The Good Woman by Jane Porter
The Fine Color of Rust by P.A. O'Reilly
by Shelley Shepard Gray


Bathroom Book:

Books read and needing to be reviewed:
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter
The Witch is Back by H.P. Mallory
The Search by Shelley Shepard Gray




Until next week ----  Ready - Set - Read!


Mailbox Monday (Sept 3, 2012)



Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books.  This is where I share the titles I have received for review or purchased during the past week.  Mailbox Monday will be hosted in September by Kristen at BookNAround.

I am most excited about the win I received this week from Entangled Publishing!  It is a bright new shiny Simple Nook!  I have been tucking it in my purse and taking it with me everywhere!  Thanks Engtangled Publishing!  They are giving away another Nook eReader to celebrate the launch of Bliss Books so go check them out!


Isn't it cute!






Yes, Chef
by Marcus Samuelsson

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.    
 
Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus’s new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.
 
Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of  “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home. 
 
With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures—the price of ambition, in human terms—and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew.Yes, Chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors—one man’s struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world.




The Time in Between
by Maria Duenas

Between Youth and Adulthood . . .

At age twelve, Sira Quiroga sweeps the atelier floors where her single mother works as a seamstress.  By her early twenties she has learned the ropes of the business and is engaged to a modest government clerk.  But then everything changes.

Between War and Peace . . .

With the Spanish Civil War brewing in Madrid, Sira impetuously follows her handsome new lover to Morocco, but soon finds herself abandoned, penniless, and heartbroken.  She reinvents herself by turning to theone skill that can save her: creating beautiful clothes.

Between Love and Duty. . .

As World War II begins, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she is the preeminent couturiere for an eager clientele of Nazi officers' wives.  She becomes embroiled in a half-lit world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.
A massive bestseller across Europe, The Time In Between is one of those rare richly textured novels that enthrall down to the last page.  Maria Duenas reminds us how it feels to be swept away by a masterful storyteller. 


I won My Brilliant Friend from Bookreporter.com's Fall Preview Contest!

My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila. Ferrante is the author of three previous works of critically acclaimed fiction: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. With this novel, the first in a trilogy, she proves herself to be one of Italy’s great storytellers. She has given her readers a masterfully plotted page-turner, abundant and generous in its narrative details and characterizations, that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight her many fans and win new readers to her fiction.

What books came home to you this week?

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Mad World: Epidemic by Samaire Provost - Blog Tour and Giveaway!




Title: Mad World: Epidemic
Author: Samaire Provost
Publisher: CreateSpace

About the Book: The Black Plague is ancient history. It killed 100 million people nearly seven centuries ago, halfway around the world from the technologically advanced research center at Stanford University. Scientists there have recently begun examining samples of bone marrow from plague-infected corpses unearthed in Europe. All the necessary safeguards are in place. What could go wrong?

Alyssa and Jake are away with their class on a highly anticipated year-end trip to Broadway with their senior acting class when all hell breaks loose at home. Traveling back, and trying to find their families, they encounter deadly results. Riots are breaking out. People are being evacuated. And they have no idea what's happening to their families.

Horrific ordeals, heart-pounding tragedy, and chance encounters harden them for what lies ahead. Faced with tormenting decisions, they're forced to follow their instinct for survival at any cost - even when the cost is a heart-wrenching decision of life or death.

A harrowing adventure of frightening discoveries, horrifying confrontations and narrow escapes in Epidemic, the first installment of the Mad World series.
Find out what's got everyone so terrified.

My thoughts: This is Samaire Provost's debut novel, and while predictable, it was entertaining.  There were a few things that I had some trouble with, like an iPad that seemed to keep its charge for a week before needing to be plugged in, and the trip from New York to California by van seemed impossibly short but the book - or really a novella (160 pages) was a very fast moving read.  

I liked the camaraderie among the students and how, regardless of their situation and who joined them on the 'adventure', they watched either other's backs and tried to never leave a friend behind.  I especially liked Risa, a seven year old neighbor girl of one of the students that they picked up along the way.  She was resilient, optimistic and brought out the mothering instinct in Alyssa, who stepped forward as one of the leaders of the group. 

The author leaves you wanting to know more at the end of the book, and book 2 just came out about a week ago.  It is called Mad World: Sanctuary.  I will most likely read it as I want to know what happens to the group.  

~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Publisher/Publication Date: CreateSpace, July 2012
ISBN:  978-1478317371
ASIN:  B008PO969O
160 pages



About the author: Samaire Provost lives in California with her husband and son.


Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as the works of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing. 

You can connect with her on twitter, facebook, tumblr, and amazon





s
Samaire was nice enough to take some type out and answer some interview questions for me, so please welcome her to Books and Needlepoint. 

1. How do you typically write? Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out?

I think about it and get a rough outlined drafted in my head. Then I write out the outline, and add to it as I flesh the story out, which happens as I write it. So it’s a bit of both. I am very happy when the idea for a big chunk of story just pops into my brain. Sometimes it happens as I sleep, and I wake up in the morning having dreamt about the scene and story all night and I say, “EUREKA!” or something like that.

2. Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing?

My husband and I are both writers, and we have a large table where we both have our computers set up. I call it “The Hub.” I have several lights set up, and I have to have my glass there. My glass is always full of ice. I am an ice eater. High five! If you know one.   

3. Do you have much say in the title or covers of you books?

My husband is a professional editor, and an amateur photographer and he is my greatest helper. I tell him what I have in mind for my cover and he designs it. It’s all a very indie family affair.
With regard to the titles, I have come up with all of those, although for Mad World book three, he suggested the title and I loved it!

4. Is there anything that has surprised you about writing, publishing or touring with your books?

Nothing really surprised me too much, because I’ve always wanted to do this, and when I first learned of Indie publishing I did thorough research and learned all about every aspect. I really did my homework.

5. Do you have a favorite author/book or one that you always recommend?

Neil Gaiman, I love everything he’s done. Rowling, I’m a huge Potterhead. Susan Cooper, Madeleine L’Engle, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett. They’ve all had a huge impact on me.

6. Was there anything (or anyone) while growing up which helped you decide you wanted to be a writer?

The books. Reading all the books I did growing up, and into adulthood: that’s what had the biggest influence on me. Books are everything!

7. Do you have a job outside of being an author?

I write full time. I treat it as a job, so I am at my desk at least eight hours every day, writing.


8. What would you tell a beginning writer?

Read voraciously, it’s how a writer learns to write. Ignore your fears and write. Write. Write some more. Finish.


9. What were your favorite books growing up?

“The Dark Is Rising” series
“A Wrinkle in Time” series
“The Black Stallion” series
The Star Trek episode books


10. Do you have any books on your nightstand right now?

The nightstand had about 25 books waiting to be read. The shelf beside it has another 100. Then there are the three bookshelves downstairs…

11. If you could meet one person who has died, who would that be?

Ray Bradbury. I have met him once, chatted ever so briefly with him, but I’d love a long afternoon with Ray. Just talking about books, stories he had yet to write, anything, really…

12. If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would it be?

Neil Gaiman

13. Do you have a favorite quote?

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
― Madeleine L'Engle

14. In one sentence, why should we read your book?

It’s the most exciting YA thriller you’ll have read in a long, long time!

15. What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

I was a star member of my Varsity Archery team in College.

16. What do you come up with first when creating your character- the back story, the plot, the characteristics?

The personality. The attitude. I have the different needs of the story in mind, first comes attitude, then personality, then the person of the character shapes around that. The main character in EPIDEMIC is Alyssa. She, to me, is like Ripley, from the Alien movies. Their personalities are very similar.

I can absolutely see Alyssa as Ripley and Risa would be Newt!

17. What do you do in your spare time?

I like to garden, and read. I read a lot. Also, I enjoy singing, and making art. I love to cross stitch and do drawn- and pulled-thread work on linen.
When I can I love to travel. I’ve been to Ireland and Israel. Next year we hope to visit Britain, Scotland and Wales.

Yay!  Someone else who likes cross stitch and pulled-thread work!

18. What does a day in your life look like?

I wake up quite late, usually around 11am. This is because the night before I’ve stayed up until 4 in the morning.
I spend the first hour trying to wake up. This involves Diet Pepsi and something easy for breakfast. Then I get down to work. First thing is promoting my books, wherever I can. Facebook, Twitter, email, you name it, I’ve done it, usually daily. Then I get down to writing. If I have something to edit, I do that first, to get into the swing of things, but otherwise, I write. I spend between six to eight hours writing every day. In between writing I walk the dog, and spend time with my husband. We usually talk book ideas or plot summaries or if I’ve written myself into a corner, we discuss it until I find a way around it.
Dinner, bed, and then reading in bed for at least 3 hours. Then sleep. Then it starts all over again.
I’m hoping to intersperse all this with book signing tour someday.

19. How does your family feel about having a writer in the family? Do they read your books?

They are extremely supportive! And believe me, it make a huge difference. And yes they do read my books. Especially my husband, he is my editor so he gets to read them first.

20. Is there anything else that you would like my readers to know?

That I appreciate each and every one of them. That I am on Twitter (@samairep) and Facebook (facebook.com/samairep) and that I blog (samaireprovost.tumblr.com)


Silly questions –
1. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I’d like to fly.

2. Do you have any hidden talents?

I can wiggle my ears.
I’m also a master class cross stitcher. 

3. Night owl or early bird?

Oh, night owl, definitely.

4. Favorite season?

Autumn

5. If someone wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?

Survivor


6. Favorite sport?

To play: Archery
To watch: Football


7. Favorite music?

A little bit of everything

8. Talk or text?

Text.

9. Cat or dog?

Both!

10. Favorite tv show?

Don’t watch TV too much.
I’m watching reruns of Farscape right now, and it’s pretty cool.

11. Favorite holiday destination?

Abroad: Ireland
In the US: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

12. Do you have a literary crush?

I just adore Stifyn Emrys!

13. If you could live in a literary world - what world would that be and why?

I would live in the world of Harry Potter. For obvious reasons

14. Most embarrassing moment?

I once went bowling and as I drew my arm back, holding the bowling ball, to swing it forward, the ball dropped with a resounding CRASH! behind me. The entire bowling alley stopped and looked.

My most embarrassing moment happened at a bowling alley as well - I was bowling in a league and was taking some warm ups, when my foot 'stuck' on something on the lane and I reflexively stepped forward - only to hit the oiled lane and land flat on my back - with my head in one gutter and my feet in the other!  On the up-side - I did bowl my best game ever!

15. If you could travel forward or backward in time, where would you go and why?

I’d go forward in time, to a time when man has reached the stars and lives there in harmony with aliens. I am a huge Star Trek and Sci Fi fan 

Please enjoy this excerpt:
From Chapter Three:


I hadn’t nodded off for five minutes when a scream pierced the air in the Emergency Room. I opened my eyes to chaos. From the corridor where Coach Turner had disappeared came several frantic screams. I jumped up and grabbed Risa’s hand and, without thinking, I sprinted down that corridor. The others ran after me, they had jumped at the sounds too.
Our tennis shoes squeaked in the polished hallway as I led the small group of us down the hall at a run. This was no longer the safe haven I had first taken it for. I wanted to get Coach and get the heck out of there fast. Something was happening, and I had felt it for a while. I hadn’t realized what the feeling was until now, but for the last half-hour I had felt a strange, unsettled lump in the pit of my stomach.
We ran down the curving corridor, and I nearly ran head on into Coach Turner. He was crouched in the middle of the hallway, screaming, with Debby in a hospital gown bent over him. As I came to a sudden stop, trying not to fall over them, I saw that she was biting down on his neck and shoulder. She heard me and looked up. Her dark brown face was beginning to turn a strange opaque black and her mouth was full of dripping blood, a piece of Turner’s neck hung from her teeth. Turner seemed woozy from pain and stumbled to the side. Debby grabbed him again even as she began to chew and swallow the flesh in her mouth.
“Mom!” cried Conner.
“Ahhh!” I screamed, and without thinking, I kicked her away from him and grabbed his arm. He was dazed and bleeding profusely from his head, but he got up and ran with me. We all started back the way we had come.
“Run! Go, now! Come on!” I yelled, barely pausing as I ran back the way we had come. I glanced down the hallway as I ran. Debby and five others people were walking down the corridor toward us. When I say walking, it was more like a stumbled lurching. Blood coated their mouths and the bottom halves of their faces. The skin on all them had a greyish black tinge to it. Their legs didn’t seem to work as well as they should. Their arms swung in a funny way, too. But their eyes: there wasn’t a darned thing funny about their eyes. Although their eyes seemed to be turning somewhat opaque, they were fixed on us. Our pursuers emitted low groaning sounds as they stumbled forward, and their eyes never wavered from their prey. That was what freaked me out: they looked at us with hungry looks. Their eyes never blinked. Their grey faces were blank except for those eyes. So much expression in those eyes.
I made a strangled sound and turned again to run in the direction I had just come from. Risa had seen those people too, and she almost outpaced me. But then the unthinkable happened. As we ran all out, Risa stumbled after me, trying to keep up. I hung on to her hand, but my I was going too fast for her, and she fell. She hit the corridor floor hard and hit her head. I grabbed her and tried to get her up, but her eyes were closed and her head bled at the crown. She was nearly unconscious and there was no time to stop, so I grabbed her and flung her over my shoulder and kept running. Conner and Emily helped Coach Turner run and we began again to make our way down the corridor. Those people were right behind us, but we ran hard and drew away from them.
The lot of us ran down the hall, stopping only to grab our stuff before running out of the doors we had entered not an hour previously.
“Come on, guys!” I screamed, handing Risa to DeAndre and fumbling in Coach’s pockets for the van keys. We heard new screams coming from the waiting room. Those grey lurching people had come into the room and as I looked through the glass doors I saw one grey man with a bloody face grab a woman who had been sitting near us. He held her and bit down on her face. She screamed as blood poured from the bite. He continued gnawing on her and, paralyzed with fear, she seemed incapable of anything but screaming as he destroyed the left side of her face. I turned and helped get Risa and Turner into the van, then scrambled into the driver’s seat.
“Are we all in?” I yelled as I started the van.
“Jacob was in the bathroom! He’s still in there! Oh My God!” screamed Emily. As she said this, Jacob sprinted out the doors at top speed. He was on the track team as well as the theatre club, and he flew like the wind.
It’s a good thing Jacob ran so fast, because Conner’s mom was in hot pursuit. Conner opened the door and waved to Jacob, who sprinted toward us. When he reached the van, he jumped in, slamming the doors with about 10 seconds to spare. Debby was right behind him, and as I threw the van into reverse, she lurched up to the vehicle, slapping the driver’s-side window with a bloody hand.
“MOM!!!” sobbed Conner.
“OH SHIT!” I exclaimed as I squealed the tires and drove in reverse away from the nightmare that had been Conner’s mother only an hour ago. In a move that would make any NASCAR driver proud, I sped backwards and then wrenched the wheel and flipped the van forward, slamming the gearshift into drive and gunning the engine, so that as we peeled out of the parking lot on two wheels. We must have been doing 50 mph. There was a minute there when we almost tipped to the left, but I got the van under control and sped down the road, leaving the nightmare behind us (we hoped).


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Angry Woman Suite by Lee Fulbright


Title: The Angry Woman Suite
Author: Lee Fulbright
Publisher: Telemachus Press, LLC

About the Book: When overbearing former big band star Francis Grayson mentions the “murdering bitches” who supposedly ruined his life, his resentful stepdaughter Elyse—always on the lookout for simple dirt on Francis—takes note. Intertwining narrative with Francis, Elyse stumbles across glimmers of big murder instead of simple dirt, while Francis moves perspective of his “bitches” back to the 1930s, to his childhood in Pennsylvania. His coming-of-age story centers on a mysterious painting and search for the artist who he believes can fix his feuding family. Aiding him in his quest is his mother’s lover, Aidan Madsen, who not only mentors Francis’ big band music career, but knows everything about two murders implicating the women in Francis’ family. The three narrators of The Angry Woman Suite—Elyse, Francis, and Aidan—weave together a picture of two disturbed families who meet their match in the young, determined to survive Elyse Grayson, and human to a fault hero, Aidan Madsen.

My thoughts: Let me start by saying, I missed my scheduled review yesterday due to some uncontrollable events this week that didn't allow me to finish this book.  I wanted to give some preliminary thoughts about the book though and try not to screw up the blog tour!  

I am really enjoying this book.  It is a rich and complicated storyline told through the eyes of Elyse, Francis, and Aidan - all from different generations, but with a story that intertwines through time.  Each of the characters are fascinating alone, but when you begin to piece together their lives and how one affected the other, you get to see how dysfunction can really impact lives. 

I hope that you will take a look at some of the other reviews scheduled for this tour - you can see the complete list here. 

Meanwhile - please enjoy this excerpt: 

The Angry Woman Suite: An Excerpt (ELYSE)
It is said that love is comfort, and that comfort comes from recognition of the beloved. Papa was the first to tell me this, and if it’s even a little bit true, then I took my comfort for granted, not realizing that one can’t truly appreciate the beloved until one yearns for the comfort to be returned. Even now, when I can’t sleep at night, when I can’t slow the speeding of my heart, when I can’t stop the replaying of what-if’s in my head, I take myself back to that place where cabbage roses dance on walls and my beloved reigns supreme; where I am queen of his heart and he is my comfort, and then and only then do I feel safe.
You’d think it would be enough, being able to conjure up at least a measure of my old, first love. Yet for a long while it wasn’t. Because I was incapable of stanching the nagging questions about my second, almost greater love. Questioning why Francis hadn’t seen the truth of it like Papa had; that the streak I’d struggled with hadn’t been born of badness; that badness wasn’t an intrinsic part of me like my eyes being blue.
But Francis, unfortunately, hadn’t been able to see through things the way Papa had, and that was because Francis had rarely felt safe. You could see it in the way Francis’s eyes got doubtful taking in a room, and the way he was always biting down on his lower lip. The way it looked as if he was always trying to keep himself from crying.

My mother worked days at the PX at Mather, the Air Force base outside Sacramento, and my grandmother and Aunt Rose worked night shifts and slept during the day. That meant it was my grandfather—everybody called him Papa—many years older than my grandmother, and retired, who took care of me. And Bean, too. But my sister Bean, who’d been christened Beatrice Nadine, and called Bea for about two seconds after she was born and then Bean forever after, was still a baby back in the early 1950's, two years old to my five, and not of much use yet, so it was Papa who was everything: he was my first love. My comfort. He was my playmate and teacher, quick with stories about the little people, quicker to laugh, and even quicker at games, particularly chess and pinochle. He was logical and strategic, and played from the center, something he believed made all the difference in the world, and he was also extremely patient and good-natured. A gentle man, an industrious man, the hardest-working man I’d ever know, he was the one who kept our house going, doing all the cooking and cleaning, and lining every inch of dead space—walls, ceilings, cabinets, shelves, trash cans, lampshades, even jars—with pale green paper stamped with those lovely yellow cabbage roses.
Almost better than anything else, though, Papa had known what made people tick. Figuring people out, especially the “dense and complicated” ones was Papa’s favorite game, ranking even higher than chess and pinochle. And that was because Papa liked stretching a natural talent he had for seeing right through people’s skins, straight onto their pretensions and delusions. For instance, he’d always known me better than I’d known myself, and he’d always been able to see right through Francis. Papa had always known what made Francis tick.
I was proud of my grandfather—and not just because Papa had x-ray vision, looking through people right and left. But also because Papa didn’t look like the grandfathers in my picture books: he wasn’t short, fat, or bald. My grandfather was tall and slim, with muscular arms and shoulders, and lots of blond hair like mine. He told me it was because he’d grown up on a farm that he was so strong, and that after coming to America he’d been in the U. S. cavalry, which helped keep him strong; stationed in San Diego, where he’d hunted down a terribly wicked person called Pancho Villa, outside Arizona. This was during the time of the Great War, and Papa’s heavily accented voice always went solemn when talking about this war in Europe. That’s because it was a huge sorrow he hadn’t been able to go on account of having been born in Germany, where his better-marksmen cousins still lived. Meaning it would’ve been stupider than shit for him to go all the way back to Europe just to get his ass shot off by family, when, Papa said, “I’ve got Familie here willing to shoot my ass off.”
And that’s what I mean. Anyone with a half a brain could see the logic to Papa’s thinking.
My mother and Aunt Rose had many friends, and on the nights that Aunt Rose didn’t have to work, and she and my mother didn’t go out nightclubbing, our little house was filled with strangers and cigarette smoke and jokes I didn’t get, and although I liked it best when it was just family home together, I took Mother and Aunt Rose’s guests in grudging stride, tagging them as dense and complicated subjects for Papa to practice looking straight through. For example, Mother’s friend Ron Leroy was full of shit, talking like he had the world on a string, when anyone with the smarts of a hat rack could see he didn’t know his butt hole from a gopher hole. I giggled nervously when Papa whispered that one in my ear, afraid Mother might overhear. Mother didn’t like nasty talk, and saying “shit,” not to mention “butt hole,” was nasty talk in her book. That nervous laughter, Papa said, smiling. Always watch for that nervous laughter and shifty eyes, checking to see if anyone else is believing their shit. Shifty eyes are a sure, dead giveaway, check.
Betty Harris, Papa whispered next, was dating a wino, and even though she tried kidding herself, she knew, deep down, he was a drunk, but she certainly didn’t want anyone else knowing what she knew. What she wanted was everyone to see her date as a good-time Charlie, meaning no harm. Besides, everyone knew nothing disgusted Betty more than an insensitive scene-stealer. She said so often enough. And Betty was a good judge of character. She said that almost as often as she said Charlie was a man from the right side of the tracks.
Never believe anything anyone says about him or herself was what Papa had to say about Betty Harris. Because when people are talking about themselves they’re generally telling you who and what they wish they were, or what they think you want to hear, not diddly about themselves at all. And, really, they can’t tell you diddly, Papa said, because most people really do not know squat about themselves. People like Betty were ostriches, in for a lifetime of hiding things from themselves, check.
Merv Allen, though, was a prince of a fellow, a real listener, a good game player. He didn’t tell you diddly, which was just fine, because Merv Allen knew diddly squat didn’t count much for winning at games. Merv Allen wanted to beat the game and he would, Papa predicted, because Merv knew that defining the adversary, keeping things to yourself, and letting go of pre-conceived ideas always revealed the weak link, the upper hand, the checkmate.
“Tell everyone you can see right through them,” I’d beg Papa. “It’ll be such a hoot!”
“Ah, Elyse, mein Liebling,” my grandfather would always answer the same way, “you are again not paying attention. I will tell you one more time: I am right only with myself. You must understand I win only in my own mind. Siehst du? When you are right with yourself, it is not necessary to tell the whole world what you think you know.”
Which was the hardest part of playing games, the part I didn’t particularly cotton to, this having to keep one’s brilliance all to one’s self. Not that I would’ve wanted in a million years to be like Betty Harris, yakking people up and boring them silly, and being so dense as to not even know I was doing it. No, what I really wanted was to beat everybody at their own games, but I wanted to do it nicely, like Papa always did. And then I wanted to tell my opponents I’d been on to them since their opening moves. Not to be snotty.
Just because I could.

My mother’s most prized possession was an upright piano she’d bought secondhand. She played beautifully, self-taught, and on those real hot Sacramento nights when we threw the whole house open and let in the smell of jasmine, I sat on Papa’s lap, on our old mohair couch, head against his chest, watching my pretty mother smile and laugh; listening to her music, to Aunt Rose leading our company in singing off-key, and to my grandfather’s heartbeat, taking in deep gulps of his smell, content as if I had good sense.
Looking back, I can’t help wondering if any part of me had sensed that contentment is fickle, coming and going at whim.
I don’t remember the exact night my second daddy joined in on the music, blowing his trumpet, accompanying Mother on piano. I called him Uncle Francis back then. I called all Mother and Aunt Rose’s friends Uncle or Aunt Something-or-other. I still have snapshots from that time, the kind that look as if they’ve been edged with pinking shears, and there’s one of me with Francis, taken after he stopped being my uncle and became my daddy. I know it was taken before Francis became my daddy, because we’re both smiling.
Which meant Francis’s nerves were not yet shot.


~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Novel Publicity in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Lee Fullbright is a fourth-generation Californian, raised and educated in San Diego. She is a medical practice consultant and lives on San Diego’s beautiful peninsula with her twelve-year-old Australian cattle dog, Baby Rae. The Angry Woman Suite, a Kirkus Critics’ Pick and Discovery Award winner, is her debut novel. Connect with Lee on her websiteFacebookTwitter, or GoodReads.

The Angry Woman Suite
Publisher/Publication Date: Telemachus Press, LLC/March 2012
ISBN: 978-1937698539
378 pages

Friday, August 31, 2012

Back to the Books Giveaway Hop - Sept 1 - Sept 7 (INTERNATIONAL)


2nd Annual Back to the Books Giveaway Hop
Hosts: I am a Reader Not a Writer and Buried in Books

This hop is from Sept 1 - Sept 7.  I am giving away a book of your choice from Amazon - up to a $15.00 value (for U.S. winner only)  or a $15 GC from Amazon (for U.S. or International winner).  Good luck!




a Rafflecopter giveaway






The Vampire Hunter's Daughter by Jennifer Malone Wright (Review, Giveaway, Interview)

Title: The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: The Complete Collection
Author: Jennifer Malone Wright
Publisher: Jennichad Books

About the book: This special edition of The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter contains parts I-VI, the complete collection. Fourteen-year-old Chloe witnesses her mother’s murder at the hands of a vampire. Before the vampire can kidnap her, there is an unexpected rescue by a group of vampire hunters.

Overwhelmed by the feeling of safety, Chloe passes out and they whisk her away to their small community. When Chloe wakes, she comes face to face with the only other living relative, besides her mother, whom she has ever met: her grandfather. Chloe’s mother kept her hidden from the family; now, Chloe tries to unveil the family secrets.

Through her grandfather, she learns her mother was a vampire hunter. In fact, her entire family is descended from the powerful bloodlines of vampire hunters. Chloe agrees to join the family she has never known for one reason only: Chloe vows to kill the vampire responsible for her mother’s murder. With vengeance in her soul, Chloe is even more determined to follow through on her vow when she discovers the true identity of her enemy and how he is connected to her.

Experience the world of vampires hunter’s, vampires and mythology with Chloe in this exciting series.

My thoughts: I liked this book.  I am not quite sure who it is marketed towards, but I am guessing YA. The six novellas combined make a total of 217 pages, so it is a pretty quick read.  The book moves along very quickly, starting when Chloe is 14 and knows nothing of her heritage.  It ends about a year and a half later.  Chloe seems very mature for her age and handles the death of her mother very well.  As she begins to learn more about her vampire hunter bloodline that she got from her mother, she also discovers that she descends from others that are powerful in other ways as well.

As she matures, she starts to get some of her powers in - they are pretty cool powers too, and her mixed bloodlines does have some benefits.  Since her mother was murdered, she is living with her grandfather, Luke, who seems like a tough old guy - (for some reason I kept picturing the old guy from the original Karate Kid) and Drew, an 18 yo who helps her grandpa out as he is getting older.  Drew is responsible for helping to train Chloe and teach her about being a vampire hunter. 


This was a pretty typical vampire story, with them not being able to go out in the sunlight and silver being able to hold vampires, but it did have some interesting additions to the weapons and the myths. There were also some cool people who decided from some cool gods and goddesses, so that gave the characters some nice history.

If you are into vampire stories, you would probably like this one.  It is going to continue in The Arcadia Falls Chronicles series.  The volume contained all 6 novellas.  You can get the first part free right now at Amazon and BN

~I received a complimentary ePub from Bewitching Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~


About the author: Jennifer Malone Wright resides in the beautiful mountains of northern Idaho with her husband and five children. Between the craziness of taking care of her children, whose ages range from fourteen all the way down to six months, and being a homemaker, Jennifer has little time left for herself. The time she does have left, usually leading far into the night, is spent working on freelance work or her beloved fiction.

When she grew up, Jennifer always had her nose in a book. She has been writing stories and poems since grade school. This love of the written word and her strong interest in the paranormal is what has led to her first novel “The Birth of Jaiden.”

In addition to being a mother and homemaker, Jennifer is also a very proud military wife. Moving around the country for the last ten years has made her a bit of a nomad and she finds it difficult to be in one place for too long.

Jennifer is also the author of The Birth of Jaiden, a paranormal novel filled with action, suspense, and even a love story.  

I had the opportunity to ask Jennifer a few questions - please continue reading to learn more about her and have an opportunity to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card!


1.      How do you typically write?  Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out?
Normally, I just let it all pour out. But lately, I’ve really had to start planning and organizing before I write. Although, most of the time it ends up being quite different than how the plan intended it was going to be.

2.      Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing?
I don’t have a special place because I have five kids, so I have to write wherever I can. Lol, but I do have some must haves. Must have a clean area (or the appearance of clean) Must have coffee and must have hair up in a pony tail or bun so that it’s out of my face.

3.      Do you have much say in the title or covers of you books?
I always try to make sure that my titles and my covers speak volumes about what the book is actually about.

4.      Is there anything that has surprised you about writing, publishing or touring with your books?
Not really, I’m a pretty go with the flow kind of person. I guess, if there was one thing has maybe surprised me, it’s the amount of people out there trying to do the same thing now that self publishing is so easy. I knew there were a lot of people who wanted to be authors, but there is an ocean of other authors out there trying to make it big. I just had no idea.

5.      Do you have a favorite author/book or one that you always recommend?
I truly cannot pick a favorite book or author, not any that you don’t know of already. But here are a few authors you should always check out, Willow Cross, KB. Miller, JH Glaze, and LA Freed.

6.      Was there anything (or anyone) while growing up which helped you decide you wanted to be a writer?
Mostly books are the only thing that helped me decide that I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to give people the same thing that these books I was reading were giving me. 

7.      Do you have a job outside of being an author? 
 Well, yes and no. Normally I say no I don’t have a “real” job, but I have five kids and being a mom comes first so, I do have a full time job aside from writing.

8.      What were your favorite books growing up?
 I had so many! My favorites were the Christopher Pike books, VC Andrews, Anne Rice, and Stephen King. I know these aren’t books, they are authors, but I loved all of their books!


Thank you Jennifer for taking the time to answer my questions!  I hear you about the "real" job.  I never appreciated stay-at-home moms until I become one 8 years ago after being a working mom for 12 years.  You hit three of my favorite authors too - Stephen King, Anne Rice and VC Andrews!  

You can contact Jennifer at any of the following places:


Website: www.jenniferwrightauthor.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thevampirehuntersdaughter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennichad217

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4824985.Jennifer_Malone_Wright

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Malone-Wright/e/B00508KU4I/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

a Rafflecopter giveaway





The Vampire Hunter's Daughter
Publisher/Publication Date: Jennichad Books, June 2012
ISBN: 978-0615650081
ASIN: B008ASVXR8
217 pages

PURCHASE: Amazon  and BN

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...