Monday, August 31, 2009

"Irretrievably Broken" & Irma Fritz visit Bookland Heights!



IRRETRIEVABLY BROKEN is the haunting, funny, and heart-breaking account of German ex-patriots Nora, Ruth, and Bettina Adler. The plot takes us across the U.S., to the bush country of Canada, and to a cold case murder scene in Germany as this multi-cultural family deals with diversity and racism. The novel is populated with unforgettable characters in a sometimes shocking and always unflinchingly honest exploration of the past. “Irretrievably Broken” was chosen as one of the top 20 novels by the online magazine, “Cold Coffee.”


AUTHOR IRMA FRITZ was born in Ukraine of German ancestry. By the time she immigrated to the U.S., she had already lived in five countries: Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. Ms. Fritz developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a child, growing up in post-WWII Germany, she wrote poetry and short stories, and immersed herself in reading the classics. Upon moving to the U. S., she earned a B.A. in English from Cal State L.A. After graduation, she spent some years working as press agent at various Hollywood PR companies. After moving to Washington State, she worked in banking administration and human resources.

Ms. Fritz continued to hone her writing skills at the University of Washington as well as other writers’ workshops. “Irretrievably Broken” is her debut novel. The work was ultimately inspired by a newspaper clipping from her hometown in Germany. A neighboring property had been torn down and a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath, was unearthed. Experts speculated that a synagogue would most likely be situated beneath the foundations of the house she had lived in as a child.

Ms. Fritz says, “I read the clipping and promptly forgot about it. Or so I thought! But this discovery must have been burned into my subconscious. After I finished the novel, I rediscovered the clipping and realized how these facts had informed my writing. There, at the heart of a story of adventure and travel, of love and loss, was a Holocaust story, come to light after years of concealment, very much like the mikvah that had been unearthed so many years later under our former neighbor's house in a small German town where no one in post-WWII Germany ever spoke about such things.”


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“You must read this novel to truly understand the impact of what this amazing author has successfully written . . . This is a book that reminds us that forgiveness does not come easily and without a price. It is truly about a family that finds understanding and each other as result of their shared lives and experiences . . . I give this book FIVE GOLDEN STARS”
Fran Lewis: Reviewer
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WHAT OR WHO MOST INFLUENCED MY WRITING:
Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Styron, Shakespeare; the Russian novelists Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky & Pasternak; Graham Greene, John Irving, Michael Chabon, Michael Ondaatje,Cormac McCarthy; Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, Dorothy Allison, Donna Tartt, Ann Patchet, Annie Proulx, and on & on.

ONE THING I WANT READERS TO KNOW ABOUT MY BOOK:
Such incredible pain and joy to write! The characters “talked” to me for a long time after I finished the novel.

NEXT PROJECT and WHEN:
A book of short stories--with death as its common theme--I hope to publish before yearend. Next I plan to develop one of the short stories, “The Cat,” into a novel.


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Brought to you in part by:
BUY: WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty , BUY: Wendel Wordsworth, BUY: Cynthia's Attic


Monday, August 24, 2009

Author Anne Carter - Point Surrender


“Truly a wonderful read… ghosts… mystery… a heart touching story and one with an ending that will surprise… kept me hooked to the very last page.” — Coffee Time Romance Reviews

I'd been on the hunt for a great summer read and I found it! All the elements I love; the California coast, the ocean, lighthouses, romance and mystery. What more is there?

Anne Carter's Point Surrender has it all. Amy Winslow has reached, just about, the lowest point in her life and is running from seemingly insurmountable problems. Enter, Case McKenna. Just his name gets the blood boiling! They share the strange sighting of a mystery man falling from a bluff near the lighthouse, along with a desire to bury unhappy events in their lives.

While trying to escape her own demons and uncover clues about the death of a former lighthouse keeper, Amy unwittingly reveals aspects of Case's life that he had long suppressed. Will this drive them apart? Or bring them closer?

You can find the answer in this beautifully written story by author, Anne Carter. Look for follow-up, Cape Seduction, coming this fall from Echelon Press.


More about Anne Carter - Beacon Street Books

Buy Anne Carter books at Echelon
Buy Point Surrender on Amazon
Buy Point Surrender on Fictionwise


Brought to you in part by: BUY: WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty , BUY: Wendel Wordsworth, BUY: Cynthia's Attic

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Morgan Mandel and her Killer Career

Killer Career Blog Tour with author, Morgan Mandel!

KILLER CAREER is about a lawyer who wants to quit her day job and be a writer. Sounds tame, right? Not when her mentor is a New York Times bestselling author who not only writes about murders, but also commits them. And what about her law partner? Does he mean more to her than she thought? Will he let her go without a fight?

Did I mention she has an elevator phobia? The bad guy knows that, too.

Sometimes it’s not easy to be a writer, but most of us know that already.



BH: Welcome to Bookland Heights, Morgan. We always like to give our readers a glimpse into the author's world, so here goes. What or whom most influenced your writing?

MM: I enjoyed reading mysteries by Mary Higgins Clark, Dick Francis and Sidney Sheldon, but a library presentation by Chicago-North RWA authors hooked me into the writing addiction.

BH: What is the one thing you want readers to know about your book(s) and/or writing?

MM: My books are very dear to me, but so are all of my online friends. I’ve never met many of them in person, yet I feel I know them very well.

BH: Hope we're included! What is your next project and when can we expect to read it?

MM: After my best efforts to launch KILLER CAREER and set it on its path, I plan on publishing the first book in the Our Little Rascal series, about my special needs dog. I’m also halfway through writing Forever Young, a thriller targeted for the Boomer generation. I hope to get one or both books out within a year.

To find out more about Killer Career and Morgan Mandel's Blog Tour visit her website and her blog

The next stop on the tour is on Monday, August 17 at http://thelittleblogofmurder.com/, hosted by Jeffrey Marks.

BUY Killer Career on AMAZON.COM, BN.COM

Also available at Bookstores, Libraries, Mobipocket.com

HOW I NAMED MY BABY By Morgan Mandel
It’s not easy to name a novel. The title needs to be catchy enough to attract readers, yet descriptive enough to portray what’s inside.
When I was writing KILLER CAREER, its name was Deadly Dreams. That was an okay name. Still, for some reason, maybe because the word, dreams, was in the title, the name lacked energy.
The book was done. It was with my editor. Everything would soon be finalized. I had to think up something and fast, but for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with the right words.
I brainstormed with friends, one of them being the multi-published
Robert W. Walker, a fellow member of Acme Authors Link. He came up with a few suggestions, one of them being Career Killer. I kind of liked the name. Its meaning could be taken more than one way and had alliteration going for it. Still, for some reason it didn’t ring true.
Then it hit me. Switch the two words around. Make it KILLER CAREER. Yes, that sounded exactly right. I’d found a name in the nick of time.
So now you know how I named my baby. Thanks, Rob, for the inspiration.

Brought to you in part by: BUY: WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty , BUY: Wendel Wordsworth, BUY: Cynthia's Attic

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Teryl Cartwright's "A Sensible Match"


A SENSIBLE MATCH: How do you thwart well-meaning, but relentless, matchmaking parents without getting caught?

Abby's perfect solution was to try too hard to chase down and please her equally reluctant counterpart, the new vicar of Midland. Lord Edwin Chappell was certainly startled by her performance but too smart to be taken in by Abby's act. Just as she was showing him that she was anything but the perfect vicar's wife, he was trying to prove that her idea of a vicar was quite as far fetched.

After a humorous battle of wits and wills between the young couple, tragic events lead the matchmaking parents to stand against the match just when Abby and Edwin are falling in love. Now, the couple must decide to obey the time-honored dictates of their respective families or follow the path they believe God has now chosen for them.

Kay James of The Romance Readers at Heart website has this to say..."A SENSIBLE MATCH by Teryl Cartwright is one of those delightful books that brings a smile to the reader’s face from the very first page. Then, it kept me entertained so thoroughly that I was saddened to realize the adventure was nearing an end. Although the story feels a bit “rambling” in spots, the story is overall wonderfully written, engaging and through-and-through humorous. Not merely an account of one couple’s awkward courtship, it is a commentary on relationships. Those between men and women, families and their opinions on marriage and the opposite sex.

"A SENSIBLE MATCH is a sensible choice for summertime reading. It is entertaining and lively, romantic and funny. I loved watching the relationship between Abby and Edwin evolve. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say it was great fun to watch them change so drastically. They are not the same characters at the end of this novel that they were in the opening pages, and it was entertaining to watch the transformation."


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An excerpt - A Sensible Match:

“Well?” Constance tapped her toe impatiently, awaiting Abby’s response.

“I am sure I must see him soon enough. I need not appear eager for I am not.” Abby’s heart raced; she wished she could just go home.

What must everyone be thinking? Were they watching her, too?

Constance moved to put her arm around Abby’s shoulder. “Truly I sympathize with you, sister, though I don’t understand.”

“You would not wish to marry against your will,” Abby explained. She really didn’t want to meet this man and resented her parents for insisting upon it.

“But if you don’t marry, I may have to wait!” Constance whined. “It doesn’t seem fair to do that to me. Now, does it?”

“Fair…what is fair?” Abby kept her voice low. “Should I marry to please you, Mama, Papa, his family, him…all but myself?” She ended up sputtering rebelliously.


“Isn’t it a Christian duty to forget the self? Besides, from what I can see of him, he looks a man of fine mettle.” Constance smiled provocatively. She kept stealing glances across the room to see the newcomers more clearly.

“Fine mettle.” Abby looked over her shoulder. She saw the top of his head with some difficulty for many people had moved to greet him.

“Look how he enters a room and makes it his own. Oh, how I hate how everyone crowds around him. How well pleased he must be with all the attention.”

She watched him move and talk. His smile was charming and his looks handsome… not at all what she had expected. Surprisingly, he did not look sickly; he looked very fit and well dressed for a country assembly.

He looked fine, but Abby told herself that Christian character remained more important above all. She would not be fooled by looks; she knew what he thought of her.

“His is the gift of a silver tongue and a smile that speaks as well,” Constance observed. She almost looked envious of her staid older sister and continued lightly tapping her fan against her arm as if preoccupied.

“Mettle indeed…fine metal. I’d rather he have a heart of gold than quicksilver wit or…or iron will.” Abby was not impressed by him or his winning ways.

“Perhaps he has lead feet as well. That would indeed be tragic if you must dance with him,” Constance teased. “Fine metal, Abby, just for you.”

Abby became envious of the ease with which he graced the dance. This man looked as if he had the gift of social graces. He seemed so eloquent that surely he could have his choice of bride. So why was he not already engaged? What was wrong with him?

Thoughts from the author:
* What or who most influenced your writing?
While Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park influenced my novel, A Sensible Match, my writing has most been influenced overall by Georgette Heyer and Louis L’amour.

* What is the one thing you want readers to know about your book(s) and/or writing?
I would like readers to know that it’s possible to have faith and a sense of humor; I try to include both within a great story.

* What is your next project and when can we expect to read it?
Courting Constance, sequel to A Sensible Match, will be published next year. It’s about “how to win a guy in 10 days” with hilarious results.

Brought to you in part by:
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Monday, August 3, 2009

Dark Shines My Love - Alexis Hart


Review Quotes:

"A moving novel...the love scenes are marvelous. This is an enjoyable story that will make you laugh, cry, and be glad you read it." –Romantic Times Magazine

"A beautiful, moving story. Alexis Hart has the amazing ability to generate characters that literally step off the page in three-dimensional form. The dialogue is well developed and the entire story is a hauntingly accurate tale concerning a serious issue. I loved Patric from the first moment he appeared and Callie was as real as if I were standing next to her. Well done. Ms. Hart has written another winner." –Leslie Burbank, author of To Tame a Viking

Blurb:

Darkness surrounds Patric LeClerc. Blinded in a tragic accident years before, he does nothing but drive everyone away with his anger and resentment over the life he's been cursed with.

Everyone, that is, except Callie Carpenter. Desperate for a home and a job after the break-up of her dreadful marriage to a wealthy but abusive man, she tries to restore Dark Gardens Plantation to its former glory.

Patric lets his guard down and shows her that deep within, a spark of warmth and humanity still glows. Soon she finds herself more interested in him as a man than a patient. When her ex threatens to take away her son, Callie and Patric join forces to try to save the boy.

But can Patric's dark past ever allow him to see Callie's love for him, or will he drive her away as well, for having come too close to the true, if vulnerable, Patric LeClerc?

Bio:


Karen L. Syed is the president and COO of Echelon Press, LLC. Every day is a new success story for her as she continues to grow herself and her business. She has seen eight of her own novels published (writing as Alexis Hart), along with numerous articles and short stories. As a former bookstore owner, she garnered a nomination from Publishers Weekly for their Bookseller of the Year award. She is committed to helping and encouraging everyone she comes in contact with to seek a healthier and more positive quality of life by reaching for their dreams.

You can learn more about Karen Syed at Life of a Publisher Blog

Echelon Press

Karen Syed is also the publisher of WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty and the 'tween time-travel series, Cynthia's Attic. Oh, and she likes purple hats.


Brought to you in part by: BUY: WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty , BUY: Wendel Wordsworth, BUY: Cynthia's Attic