On Tour: Recession Proof by Kimberly Lin
Kimberly will be on tour December 5- 26 with her novel Recession Proof Sometimes going after what you want is the hardest thing you will…
Blog Tour Sign Up: Binding Arbitration by Elizabeth Marx
Elizabeth will be on tour in March with her her novel Binding Arbitration, which took third place in the 19th Annual Duel on the Delta…
Future Tour: Thank You For Flying Air Zoe by Erik …
Erik will be on tour January 30- February 20 with his novel Thank You For Flying Air Zoe Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fasten Seat Belt…
Future Tour: Unscripted by Natalie Aaron & Marla Schwartz
Natalie and Marla will be on tour January 9-30 with their chick lit novel Unscripted As a producer on a reality dating show, Abby Edwards…
Blog Tour Sign Up: Chasing China by Kay Bratt
Kay will be on tour in February/March with her women’s fiction novel Chasing China. Books will be available as a print copy or eBook- worldwide.…
Interview with Ella Slayne
Author Q&A for Samantha Robey
What made you want to write High-Heels and Slippers?
I had always liked the idea of writing a full length novel but I completely lacked the courage to do it. When my Uncle Alan passed away suddenly, it was the catalyst I needed to get started. It was a sharp reminder that life can be short and I decided not to waste anymore time.
How long did it take you to write the book?
Nearly four years. Of course I thought I’d finished after a year and half which shows how little I knew!
What was the hardest part in the writing process for you?
I think one of the hardest parts of the writing process for me was learning how to take negative feedback in a constructive way and not let letting it send me into the depths of depression! At first I found it very hard to move on from a critique but actually I found that my book improved after I worked through feedback. Now, I find that negative criticism is often the most valuable because it helps me improve as a writer.
What were some of your favorite scenes to write?
Well I like a bit of romance, and I was always rooting for Josie and Callum to get together, so it was fun writing scenes between their characters. I also enjoyed writing the scenes with Tom in England, even though they were emotional. It was cathartic in a way and my intention was always to write a chick-lit story with a poignant twist; I wanted Josie’s character to have layers. I hope I managed that!
What made you decide to give Josie her own blog?
Starting Josie’s blog was a huge learning curve for me. I was completely new to the blog world but I wanted to test the market and see if there was an audience for a character like Josie. Besides I felt she had a lot more to say than just what was in the book so the blog was a good outlet for her! I’m so glad I did it, even though I was petrified at first.
Are you currently working on another novel?
Yes I am and I hope to release it in the Spring of 2012! It’s called “Holding Me Up – A Life Without Jasmine” and it’s about Trisha Miller, a bereaved mother, trying to find a way to move on from the grief of losing her daughter. It’s starts off in a dark place but I pull her out to somewhere good in the end!
You also do voiceover work. How did you become involved in this?
Back in England my plan, since I was a child, was to become an actress. I studied Drama at Manchester University and then trained as an actress at the Webber Douglas Academy in London. However everything was put on hold when I started having kids and moved to Belgium! A few years ago I made the decision to move forward with a voice-over career because I thought it would be flexible enough to fit around my family life. I am proud to say that I’ve recently become a volunteer reader to the Dallas Reading Resource center which provides a huge variety of audio material for those people who can’t read. It’s a fantastic facility, they reach out to so many people, and it feels good to be using my training for such a good cause.
If you could be on any reality show, which one would you choose?
That is so easy! I am a HUGE fan of American Idol and The X Factor so I would have to be on one of those. Although I’d prefer to be a judge if possible because it must be absolutely nerve-wracking to be a contestant!
Where would be your dream vacation?
I would be alone in an old stone cottage, half-way up a hill somewhere with a view of the sea, there would be a log fire, a steaming coffee pot, a tray set with jam and scones and a bookshelf crammed with books. The only sounds would be the crackling fire, waves crashing back and forth and rain lashing against the windows. I would be wearing cozy jeans, a pair of fleece slippers and a huge, but stylish, baggy jumper and I wouldn’t wash my hair for days! Ooh when can I go?
What is your advice to aspiring writers?
My advice to anyone wanting to start writing is the same advice I tell myself all the time (and it’s also the title of a FAB book by Susan Jeffers which I always recommend because you can apply it to all aspects of life): “Feel the fear – and do it anyway!” Just get started and don’t delete ANYTHING at first. Let the story come out; there’ll be plenty of time to edit your work later.
Blog Tour Sign Up: Write from the Heart by Heather …
Heather will be on tour in February/March with her novel Write from the Heart. Please note this will be an eBook tour only. Use the…
Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
This is a review for CLP Blog Tours. Chosen is the story of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland adoption agency, who gives readers an inside look at a dark (and scary) side of domestic adoption. Chloe works to bring in birth mothers to the agency, connect them with loving families who would love to love a child, and make sure the adoption process goes smoothly. But when it comes to birth parents Penny and Jason, the situation is anything but smooth. Penny and Jason are a young couple that comes from the wrong side of the tracks, hopelessly poor, uneducated…and desperate. Francie and John McAdoo are waiting anxiously for Penny to give birth, and finally bring home the baby that Francie has waited so many years for. But Francie’s own world begins to fall apart as soon as she brings home the baby and finds her husband has a penchant for Singapore “prostitutes.” And finally there is the Nova’s, who have been through fertility treatments and failed adoptions, and are finally pregnant on their own. But when their baby is kidnapped, their entire world is turned upside. Chloe and all these characters are carefully intertwined and their daily lives, difficult decisions, and surprising outcomes will leave readers thinking and talking about this book much after they have finished reading.
Like I said with my last sentence, this book will get you talking. I can’t tell you how many times I have talked about the book, characters, scenarios, etc. since finishing. The writing is eloquent, the characters and situations gripping, and the plot had me absolutely hooked from the first page. It opened me up to a whole new world of adoption, and to be honest- kind of scared me. I learned a lot from Hoffman, who has worked for adoption agencies herself, and closed this book feeling more educated. I enjoyed getting into so many characters thought processes, and I loved the Anonymous sections. My only issues were that I felt the adoption agency where Chloe worked wasn’t very professional- and that included Chloe herself. So many mistakes were made that led to pivotal moments, and I would hope an agency I chose wouldn’t behave that way! Also, the ending was a little unsettling. If you like happy and tidy endings, this won’t be for you. Chloe’s decisions baffled me a little, but overall, I could understand where she was coming from and still really enjoyed her as a heroine. I’m glad I have been introduced to Hoffman, as Chosen is a solid debut and I look forward for more to come!
[Rating: 4]
In My Mailbox: Week of November 27
In My Mailbox: Week of November 27
Title: Princess of Park Avenue
Author: Daniella Brodsky
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Anyone can see Lorraine Machuchi is no ordinary Brooklyn girl. Anyone except for Lorraine, that is. She’s been too busy obsessing over Tommy Lupo to notice. Living day to day on his confusing midnight phone calls and big-haired memories of their relationship in the early nineties, she’s given up any opportunity of leaving Brooklyn. And though she never saw the home she loves as a failure, there’re a lot of folks she’s pissed off by staying put—her mother, her dead grandmother’s ghost, not to mention the old Italian ladies who shake their heads at her in the pork store. And what’s worse, the very guy she tossed everything away for just told her he’ll never wind up with her—a girl who’s not going anywhere.
…Okay, so you might disapprove of her motive—changing for a guy. But then you probably haven’t seen Tommy with three shirt buttons undone. Besides, when Lorraine crosses the bridge to Manhattan she begins to realize she’s got a lot to offer. She starts coloring hair at a swank salon where they actually appreciate a little talent, even if you have to bend some rules to use it. She gets a fabulous Park Avenue sublet, even if it does involve chasing around a dog/horse named Pooh-Pooh. She meets a guy who’s actually…perfect, even if she might be too hung up on Mr. Wrong to notice. She’s asked to become the newest member of the Princesses, an elite group of Park Avenue’s most powerful socialites, even if the reasoning behind it might be a little fishy. Sure, their $400 cashmere sweaters, charity balls for poor girls with small boobs, and ‘sexy’ yoga are a bit over-the-top, but a Brooklyn girl can learn a lot by discovering her own inner princess…
Title: Binding Arbitration
Author: Elizabeth Marx
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Libby pleads her case at the cleats of celebrity baseball player, Banford Aidan Palowski, the man who discarded her at college graduation, begging him to live up to his biological duty. Libby’s worked her backside bare for everything she’s attained, while Band-Aid has been indulged since he slid through the birth canal and landed in a pile of Gold Coast money. But helping her might jeopardize the only thing the jock worships: his baseball career.
If baseball imitates life, Aidan admits his appears to be silver-plated peanuts, until, an unexpected confrontation with the most spectacular prize that’s ever poured from a caramel corn box blindsides him. Libby reveals his son desperately needs him and it pricks open the wound he’s carried since he abandoned her.
All Libby wants is a little anonymous DNA, but Band-Aid has a magical umpire in his head who knows Libby’s a fateball right to the heart. When a six-year-old sage, and a hippy priestess step onto the field there’s more to settle between Libby and Aidan then heartache, redemption, and forgiveness.
Title: The Queen Gene
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Received: From Jennifer Coburn
Synopsis: If It s Not One Thing, It s Your Mother. “You are so lucky to have a mother like Anjoli.” — That s what all my friends say. But really, my friends weren t there when I was eight and my theatre-savvy, drama queen of a mother said she didn t want to take me to the Central Park Zoo because the animals didn t put on a good show. My mother is like a vapor: when she enters a room, she occupies every bit of space. Don t get me wrong — I adore my mom…from a distance. It s just, well, what can you say about a woman who takes her teacup Chihuahua to every new age healer in Manhattan, who has a living-beauty will so her eyebrows will still look great if she s in a coma, and who tells my cousin Kimmy that the sperm bank has too many rules and suggests a new lipstick and a train ride to Princeton instead?
To top it off, she calls me ten times a day to say, “Darling, I m in crisis!” What, like I m not? In addition to mothering my mother, I m also trying to keep my marriage hot with a two-year-old under foot — babysitting the artists in residence at my Berkshires artists colony, which seems to be the Bermuda Triangle of creativity but a breeding ground for seriously insane — resisting an attraction to a man so sexy he could give your eyeballs an orgasm — and trying to rid my 100-year-old home of mischievous ghosts. Yeah, sort of got my hands full. The way I see it, I ve got two choices: go completely mad, or start living my own life on my own terms, starting with my mother. I m just not sure which option is crazier…
Title: A Summer in Europe
Author: Marilyn Brant
Received: From Kensington Publishing/Unsolicited
Synopsis: On her thirtieth birthday, Gwendolyn Reese receives an unexpected present from her widowed Aunt Bea: a grand tour of Europe in the company of Bea’s Sudoku and Mah-jongg Club. The prospect isn’t entirely appealing. But when the gift she is expecting — an engagement ring from her boyfriend — doesn’t materialize, Gwen decides to go. At first, Gwen approaches the trip as if it’s the math homework she assigns her students, diligently checking monuments off her must-see list. But amid the bougainvillea and stunning vistas of southern Italy, something changes. Gwen begins to live in the moment: skipping down stone staircases in Capri, running her fingers over a glacier in view of the Matterhorn, racing through the Louvre, and taste-testing pastries at a Marseilles cafe. Revelling in every new experience — especially her attraction to a charismatic British physics professor — Gwen discovers that the ancient wonders around her are nothing compared to the renaissance unfolding within…
