Emanuele Dabbono

Emanuele Dabbono

Guest: GALE LAURE

The Fantasy Office of This Author
By Gale Laure

I have often fantasized about my perfect office. This will be a perfect room. I imagine it will be warm in color – perhaps a warm brown or beige – but expansive and cool. It will be a place where I can go and get lost. I can be alone with my characters. I can envision their adventures and feel their emotions.

My fantasy office will have ceilings more than sixteen feet tall with a loft area surrounding three sides of the room. A spiral staircase will lead upward to this loft. In my loft are large comfortable chairs and a few side tables. Bookcases are on every wall from floor to ceiling.

Bookshelves would also cover the wall in the lower half of my office except for one wall. Light would pour into the room from a floor-to ceiling window on this wall. I would have a credenza facing this window. Hummingbird feeders would hang just outside the window with flowery plants to attract butterflies. I would place my computer here and work. With the warmth of the sun gently upon my face, I would write the sequels to my current novel, Evolution of a Sad Woman. At my back would be my desk, piled high with all my research materials and books. How happy I would be.

The knowledge and talent of the centuries will surround me. On my bookshelves will be books by Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, James Michener, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Homer. How amazing it would be to have ages of talent surrounding me – inspiring me.

I would add all the wonders of today with works from Stephen King, John Grisham, Danielle Steel, Sue Grafton, Michael Crichton, James Patterson, Lori Foster, Lauren Dane, Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell and Nora Roberts.

Sprinkled among my treasures would be books such as thesauruses, dictionaries, encyclopedias, books of maps and other research books.

Scattered around my wonderful fantasy room would be a large couch where I can lie down and rest for a while and think. There would be large overstuffed, comfortable chairs where you can curl up, read and enjoy one of the wonderful novels of the greats.

In one corner would be a small door that leads to a large walk-in closet. Inside would be file cabinets filled with research materials.

But . . .

For now, since my small one desk and one file cabinet office were destroyed in hurricane Ike, I hold my laptop on my lap, sit in my wing back lounge chair in my living room and write on my next novel. Who knows? Maybe Shakespeare or Christie had to work in similar conditions once upon a time. Maybe Fitzgerald had to beg his family for quiet so he could concentrate. So here I sit with my fantasy office still a fantasy, my laptop weighing heavily on my lap and my next novel pouring from my fingers.

I guess we all have dreams.

For more information about Gale Laure or her international selling novel, Evolution of a Sad Woman, visit www.galelaure.com or www.evolutionofasadwoman.com (her blog) or do an Internet search for booksellers for this novel.

A gift...

I was given a gift this morning, from someone very special to me, someone I love very much. I thought it would be nice to share this with all of you because it is so very beautiful.

MATT DUSK

The incredible, and very talented
MATT DUSK

Guest: CHRIS DeBRIE

I started writing and drawing simply to amuse myself. I remember classmates looking over my shoulder while I doodled during lessons. Reading was important with my parents. They didn't so much push books on me, but I saw them reading, and wanted something for myself. We didn't throw a lot of money at entertainment. So the library down in Raleigh will be visited by my spirit one day, I spent so much time there. I would walk the stacks at random and pick up whatever caught my eye. Biographies, cookbooks, graphic novels, repair manuals, economic history, foreign language coursebooks, astral projection instructionals--I would read anything. The more I took in, the bigger my appetite got.

By this point I had my own stories simmering, so I started filling spiral notebooks until I got to high school and learned to type properly. I joined school newspapers, and it taught me I didn't want to make a career of writing about yesterday's news, chasing people around by foot or phone to ask questions. I wanted freedom to follow my nose--which I've gotten, but like every self-promoting author, I ended up chasing people anyway...

Whatever came out of my mind in the early days, another's opinion of my writing was incidental. If I could reach that sweet spot where an author can read his own stuff and almost forget it came from him, that feeling was good enough. Still is. It was some years before I realized that other people were entertained, but I didn't know because I didn't share at first. All I cared about was the creative process.

That started to change my freshman year at college, when I had to write my own short version of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown became "Vinny Borranno", small-time Brooklyn hood. When the professor handed papers back, she kept mine and asked if I'd read it out loud. I refused because I thought I'd written something offensive, and was being spanked in front of everybody. So she recruited another student to read it, and when my story was done, everyone applauded. My good friend, in the class with me, gave me hell all afternoon over the look on my face. He kept saying I should have been proud, but I was embarrassed, because I hadn't put much effort into the assignment and all I heard were the flaws. It was later when I thought of it in another way--I'd barely tried and they still liked it. What if I tried?... so here we are.

About the Book:

Donna wonders how she can forgive and forget.
Charlene doesn’t quite know what she wants.
Robbie is usually thinking about which honey he plans to bag.
And Erven just does his best to obliterate the world…
Their lives and histories interconnecting, these characters navigate that uncertain time between classrooms and the wide-open world.

About Chris DeBrie:

Chris DeBrie was born in North Carolina, creating comics and stories as soon as he could hold a pencil. He wrote the millennial love story As Is as a ninth grader, publishing it a decade later. Selective Focus was the result of those homemade comic screenplays. With Shakespeare Ashes, he pulls the reader into the raw thoughts of four very different characters. DeBrie is a fan of photography, learning languages, and clean water. He lives in Virginia.

http://www.washyourhandsproductions.com/

ROYAL CONSORT

Available NOW at
Hearts On Fire Books

ROYAL CONSORT - November 15th

So, as it happens.... I am finally going to have this special book released! HEARTS ON FIRE BOOKS will be publishing my short fantasy/erotic romance ROYAL CONSORT. That stunning guy on the cover, he's real... someone I love and adore - my Italian Prince, Vincenzo. This book was written for him. So, please check it out on Sunday when it goes live at Hearts On Fire.... In the meantime, let me tell you a little bit about the book, and tease your interest (I hope) with an excerpt:

ROYAL CONSORT

Publisher: Hearts On Fire Books

Release: November 15th, 2009

Blurb:

On the fantasy world of Foress, the daughter of the world’s last remaining god is challenged to locate one of the ancient swords that were forged as the Triad of Power among the once-powerful gods. Sherindal is a skilled warrior, but a woman with many conflicts in her heart. She has spent her life in the service of her father, the god M’Har, yet it is not she who will wield the most powerful of the swords. Diviner is to be her brother’s destiny, even though she is certain the legacy should be hers. Sherindal carries another of the three ancient weapons, Huntor. The final part of the triad is to be held by the hands of men, and her lover, the Prince of Ember City, is the guardian of Predator.

Excerpt:

She waited, certain her sire had heard her call. She closed her eyes, heart-weary and desperately afraid. This should not have happened for many years yet. Something was wrong, very wrong. The air changed subtly, a softening almost, and the hush grew deeper as time itself became suspended. The last remaining living god of Foress coalesced into flesh and sinew a short distance from where she waited.

“M’Har.” She rose and drew Huntor, placed it point down on the ground before her. She bowed curtly, and he halted a few feet in front of her.

“You must leave your anger here, Sherindal,” he advised without rancor.

“Must I?” she responded, and turned away, ashamed of her fear, and the fury it created within her.

“This was not supposed to happen, Father,” she whispered after a pause.

"Diviner has been stolen,” he told her, deep voice filled with dread. “I have guarded it since the Ancient Wars which nearly destroyed us, Sherindal. Kept it safe for the One who would one day wield it again in defense of our world.”

“Kept it for my brother!” she concluded with real bitterness. She wanted to remind her father of the accomplishments of her life, her strengths and knowledge, but she swallowed the words and waited for him to speak. They’d had this argument countless times, it left them further apart each time. She wondered if the point of no return had been reached, or if they would, in fact, engage in the futile game again. She had no strength left for games, and chose to admit defeat by concession.

“Your quest began over a thousand years ago, Sire,” she stated softly. “This world has not known war in a millennia.”

“Yet Diviner has been taken,” he reminded her. “The third sword of the Sacred Triad, in the hands of one who would use it to foretell a future that the mortals of this world are not meant to know, my daughter.”

“And you must pass on the Guardianship before you leave this world,” she concluded. He nodded and she raised Huntor in her hands, stared at its shining blade, the rhunes etched into the very core of the magical weapon. “It is not I who shall hold Diviner,” she said. “Yet it is my life… my Destiny… to find he who will.” She laughed, the sound a bitter, dark irony, then she stared at her father with eyes that burned in their mirthless amusement. “It is a hollow Fate, my father,” she hissed.

“Yet it is your Fate,” he returned with none of the rage that churned in the air around his daughter. He was old, and sadness the only companion he had in his darkest night. “Just at is was Argon’s fate to pass his weapon to Rienn, and for your mother to place Huntor in your hands before her final death.”

The reminder that her beloved carried a weapon like hers was always a source of unease. She’d feared for him when Argon died suddenly, on the other side of their world, in a war they’d known nothing about until his passing. The weapon had been delivered to Rienn by her own hands when M’Har had summoned her to complete the task. Now she would once again place the most powerful blade of the Triad into the rightful hands, but this time it would also be the hands of a stranger who held the mystical sword…

Coming November 15th
Hearts On Fire Books

GUEST: Molly Roe

This week begins an on-going feature for authors with TRIBUTE BOOKS. In the coming weeks I will be introducing you to the talented Poets and Historical authors with this wonderful independent press. My first guest is Molly Roe, who has written a wonderful novel entitled "Call Me Kate" which I think will be enjoyed by anyone who reads history, and history based fiction. So, before we get to the interview, let me introduce you to the Author:

MOLLY ROE (pen name for Mary Garrity Slaby
Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires

Molly Roe is the pen name of Mary Garrity Slaby, a veteran language arts & reading teacher at Lake-Lehman Junior Senior High School. Mary holds a Ph.D. in education from Temple University, and Pennsylvania teaching certification in six areas. She has pursued the hobby of genealogy for the past decade. Mary was born in Philadelphia, raised in Schuylkill County, and currently lives in Dallas, Pennsylvania with her husband, John. They are parents of two grown children, Melissa and John Garrett, cover illustrator of Call Me Kate. Digging into the past has given Mary newfound respect for her ancestors and a better understanding of history. Call Me Kate is the first in the author’s trilogy of historical novels loosely based on the lives of the strong women who preceded her.

The interview:

1. Have you always been drawn to history, or did something in particular trigger the idea for an historical novel?

Certain historical eras have always intrigued me, but overall I was never a history buff. Genealogical research led to discovery of a connection between my great grandparents and the Molly Maguires, a big topic in local Pennsylvania history. Once started, I continued delving into topics related to the Mollies: labor unions, immigration, and the Great Hunger in 18th century Ireland.

2. Do you feel that fiction and fact are well married in historical fiction, or does the make-believe overshadow rather than enhance the reality of history?

I am a strong proponent of historical fiction and definitely believe it enhances reality. My readers have told me that they were fascinated by the glimpses of daily life in the coal patches and are looking forward to my next book to learn more. People who would never pick up a book about anthracite mining will learn many facts about the industry in Call Me Kate, but the facts are couched in a heart-wrenching, suspenseful story.

3. How much research has gone into your book? A lifetime, or was the researching done as it was required throughout the process of creating your book?

I began researching when my son was a freshman in high school and he is now 26, but those dozen years went quickly! I also had to dig up expert information during the writing. My writing group friends kept me busy checking details that they were curious about. Researching is very enjoyable activity for me. I am currently researching the mine fire in the town of Centralia, and the Molly murders in that area.

4. What “message” do you feel you are trying to convey with your work, or is there one?

There are several messages, but a primary one is: Respect your immigrant ancestors- they gave you the life you have today.

5. What would you like to tell readers about your specific book that would encourage them to buy it and experience it for themselves?

Call Me Kate has a nice mixture of history, adventure, suspense, emotionality, and humor. It informs the younger generation about the rigors of nineteenth century life, but it also sparks memories in the older generation who lived during the era when coal was king. That quality makes it a great gift to share with young and old alike.

To learn more about this book, this author, and many other fabulous books, visit TRIBUTE BOOKS:

http://www.tribute-books.com/index.html

GUEST: Caridad Pineiro

Please welcome another amazing guest today... this book sounds incredible!! First, the author....

I remember summer days and waiting for the bookmobile or walking to the library to get a pile of books to read. That pile would last only a few days before we were waiting again to get another pile of books.

I was an avid reader much like my grandmother and mother. I read everything, including the cereal box if nothing else was available.

I guess because I was an avid reader, I always had stories floating around in my head. Every night when I went to sleep, I would start a story in my head and the next night, pick up with that story. It wasn’t until my fifth grade teacher assigned a project – to write a book for a class lending library – that it occurred to me to take one of those stories I’d had bouncing around in my head and turn it into a book.

I started writing then, but I also didn’t stop reading. As soon as I finished one book, I would pick up another. All through high school and college, I continued reading. Through law school and the many years thereafter, books provided me with joy and a way to experience all different kinds of things.

My writing continued as well, but in spurts as time allowed. After my daughter was born, however, I found myself in a difficult position at work – I had hit the proverbial glass ceiling. It was a difficult time for me and if not for the support of my family, my books and my writing, I don’t know how I would have survived.

But I not only survived, I turned my energies toward not only writing, but writing to get published. For the next several years I worked on improving my craft and understanding the publishing business. I attended conferences and sat through workshops. I met other writers and found that the issues I faced were very similar to what others were encountering.

That networking helped me find the courage to send one of my novels to a publisher who eventually would buy my first book. I can’t say enough how important it is for aspiring writers to leave behind their solitary lives and get out and meet other writers as well as improve their craft and understanding of the publishing business by attending conferences.

Today I’ve published over twenty novels and novellas and am always working on a new proposal to send out to an editor. In between books and/or revisions, I will pick up some of favourite authors and take some time to read. I read both in the genre that I write and outside the genre because I find that helps me keep my writing fresh by inspiring new ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to visit with me today! I hope you enjoyed finding out a little about me and I look forward to finding out about you and whether you’re avid readers or aspiring writers.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment – a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body — and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

About Caridad Pineiro:

New York Times and USA Today bestseller Caridad Pineiro wrote her first novel in the fifth grade when her teacher assigned a project – to write a book for a class lending library. Bitten by the writing bug, Caridad continued with her passion for the written word through high school, college and law school. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Caridad’s passion for writing led to a determination to become published and share the stories she loved with others. In 1999, Caridad’s first novel was released and a decade later, Caridad is the author of over twenty novels and novellas. Caridad hopes to continue to share her stories with readers all over the world for years to come.

When not writing, Caridad is an attorney, wife and mother to an aspiring writer and fashionista. For more information on Caridad, please visit http://www.caridad.com/ or http://www.thecallingvampirenovels.com/

Survival By Storytelling Magazine

So, this is a special project that deserves to be heard about... I've had a look, and it's really great! Spread the word, and check out this wonderful debut issue, ok?

Well, I know you’ve all been waiting for this for quite a while, and it’s finally here. Survival By Storytelling Magazine, Issue One is up for sale at Lulu for a mere $9.00 in print and $5.00 in electronic format! You can go here to purchase it. The magazine will also be appearing on Createspace and Amazon in time, but the process for those two is different from Lulu, and longer, but you’ll hear from me as soon as it happens.

For now, you can get your copy of SBS from Lulu, at 10% off for the month of November, all you need to do to get the discount is enter GREATBOOK at checkout! And in case you wanted to know why you should purchase the issue, here’s some incentive:

We have some amazing fiction and poetry from writers new and old, all twenty-five and under, many of them members of YWO (Diocletian, Mercy, Adri, Nyx, Tegzz, and Crocolyle, unless I’m missing anyone).

We have an interview with author Paul Genesse (The Golden Cord and The Dragon Hunters; he has also written many short stories for collections published by DAW). He also wrote us a fine article about writing.

There is also an article by author T. M. Hunter in here, author of Heroes Die Young.

Every sale of SBS pays our authors. Since we pay by royalties, every sale is directly helping the contributors, and that’s a good thing, right?

Every sale also helps Young Writers Online, which is also good. Mostly the money goes to contributors, but YWO gets a little bit out of it too, and that goes to making sure we can have more contests in the future!

It’ll make you feel good inside. Trust me. SBS is like chocolate, only better.

So go out and get your copy now! As for the contributors: you’ll be getting an email from me shortly in regards to free copies for you, which wasn’t in the contract, but, hey, I feel that you deserve something for your patience. Plus, it’s standard practice anyway!

Lastly, please advertise about SBS. I’ll try to get some promotional images together, but if you could blog about us, that would be great. Spread the word and let everyone know what you think about the magazine!

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this endeavor over the last year+. It’s been a lot of work and we’re glad to be done, if not a little misty-eyed about it. Thanks to all who contributed, and here’s to a good opening run!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

EYE OF THE WHALE: A review

EYE OF THE WHALE
by Douglas Carlton Abrams


Some books linger in the heart long after you put them down, and they lure you back. That’s part of the magic with Douglas Abrams’ newest novel, EYE OF THE WHALE. It keeps pulling you back, making your mind work – it makes you think, and therein lies a large part of its magic.

If you have had the good fortune to read Doug’s debut novel, The Lost Diary of Don Juan, then you know his style of story-telling is both compelling and seductive. He’s good at touching his readers where they live, and where they think.

EYE OF THE WHALE grabs you from the start, and in the early chapters there is a scene in which a whale and her newborn die, it is wrenching and lingers in your heart. You feel the horror of heroine Elizabeth McKay, and in those moments, perhaps more than in earlier scenes, she becomes part of you. You suddenly care greatly about her, and the passion she has for the whales, and their place on this planet. As the book progresses, we cheer for Elizabeth, cry with her, and hope she can achieve the task she has undertaken to save a trapped whale. Through it all, Abrams pulls at our hearts and makes us acutely aware of what needs to be done to save so much of the life that inhabits this world of ours.

As with Don Juan, the story unfolds with fluid prose, well-crafted and vivid imagery, and most of all, with the passion that is quickly becoming Doug’s real trademark in his storytelling. The scope of the story is global, yet intimate as well, told equally as political thriller, ecological awareness statement, and to a large degree a love story. The love affair is with Earth, but also the fragile yet unbreakable depth of love that exists when like-hearts struggle to hold onto each other against all odds.

If you are looking for an insightful, thought-provoking, articulately written novel, look no further – this one is all those things, as well as being a beautiful and intensely engaging story. Once again, Douglas Carlton Abrams brings his special vision to the page, and I am more than happy to recommend this one with highest praise!


EYE OF THE WHALE
by Douglas Carlton Abrams
Atria Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-4165-3254-5
ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-4391-6554-6

Guest: MICHAEL BARON

For anyone who has not been introduced to this novel, you're in for a treat. When You went Away is an emtional journey into aspects of all we are, and how we face the adversity life often forces upon us when we are least ready for it. Journey with Gerry Rubato, a man who has all he wants from life, and is happy - until everything changes and he is forced to reevaluate and rebuild after Fate deals him a blow that will change him forever. In the skilled hands of novelist Michael Baron, the human spirit is revealed in strength and weakness, and your heart is captured... It is my great pleasure to have Michael with me today, I hope you enjoy his delightful post, and it will inspire you to find his book, and experience it for yourself, it is well worth the effort, believe me! Welcome Michael...

My First Time:

I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking lately about the process of writing my first novel, When You Went Away. This has caused my mind to wander back to my first time. No, not that first time. I mean the first time I wrote a sex scene in a work of fiction.

When You Went Away is my first published novel, but it isn’t the first novel I wrote. It isn’t even my second. No one will ever see the first two, however. I wrote the first when I was thirteen and I’m not sure it technically qualified as a novel. In truth, I’m not sure it technically qualified as English. I wrote my second in a Novel Writing class in my junior year in college. The goal of the class was to develop a story and write the first few chapters. My novel was a coming-of-age story about a fateful summer among a group of close male friends and the protagonist’s first experience with love -- and I decided that I was going to write an entire first draft over the course of the semester. The prose came very easily to me, and I was flying through it. Then, about two-thirds of the way into the novel, it was time to show the protagonist and his love interest making love for the first time. Suddenly the pages weren’t writing themselves any longer. In fact, I came to a dead stop. I’d read plenty of sex scenes in other people’s novels, and I’d known this scene was coming for a hundred pages. I also felt it was completely necessary to the story, as it was an epochal moment in the relationship and in the protagonist’s life. Still, it stopped me cold.

There were a couple of issues here. One was that I couldn’t decide on an approach. Did I go metaphorical? Did I go clinical? How much emphasis did I put on the act, and how much did I put on the buildup to the act? The other issue was the nature of the class itself. It was a workshop class, which meant that every student read what he or she wrote that week to the rest of the group for review. The passage I’d read the previous week made it very clear that the moment had arrived between these two characters. If I just skipped past this, my fellow students would call me on it. But would their disapproval over that be harder to endure than my skittishness at reading such an intimate scene aloud?

Finally, I decided to go “all in.” I summoned everything I knew about the characters and about their relationship, allowed myself to imagine what their first night together would be like -- and I wrote an eight-page description of the experience. I decided to focus on emotions and sensations, but I didn’t shy from the visuals. When I finished writing it, I felt an actual sense of fulfillment. This lasted until I had to read the scene to the class. Since my eyes were on the page, I couldn’t see the reaction from my fellow students. But the utter lack of movement in the room told me that I’d either captured their attention or made them hugely uncomfortable (or both). No one had chosen to read a passage like this before me. When my reading was over, someone tried to say something about the imagery and another person mentioned something about the characters. The basic message in the room, though, seemed to be, “can we please get on to the next reader?” However, when the chapter came back from my professor, it carried a note that read, “Great freaking scene. You handled this like a pro.” I chose to believe that he meant I’d handled the scene like a professional novelist and not that I did it like someone who wrote about sex for a living.

This came back to mind when I wrote the critical sex scene in When You Went Away. I decided not to make it eight pages long (it’s not even a page long). That’s a younger man’s game. But I did want to “handle it like a pro,” and I wanted to make it as emotional as I could.

You can visit Michael on the web here: http://www.michaelbaronbooks.com/

Guest: LISA A. SHIEL

Six years ago my first book, the novel The Hunt for Bigfoot, was published. This year I released my fifth published book, The Evolution Conspiracy. Each of my books has to some extent dealt with controversial ideas—Bigfoot, UFOs, alternative history, and now evolution. What attracts me to these ideas? It's not so much the controversy as the mysteries. How did life emerge? Is Bigfoot real? Have history textbooks left out something? My books, whether fictional or true, have given me an outlet for exploring the esoteric and flouting mainstream dogma whenever it needs flouting. While discussing Bigfoot is one thing, exposing the flaws in evolution as I have done in The Evolution Conspiracy proves quite another. Diehard evolutionists pounce on anyone who expresses the slightest doubt, assailing them with ridicule. So why bother?

I do it because, no matter what your beliefs, ridicule should never silence you. Diehard evolutionists use words as weapons in their war against dissent. I do the same, but for the opposite reason. Through my writing I encourage people to think for themselves and stand up for what they believe. The characters in my novels refuse to back down in the face of the worst personal attacks, even in the face of death. Fortunately in The Evolution Conspiracy I'm not fighting for my life! Instead I battle for your right to see the evidence, all the evidence, and make up your own mind about evolution. My words are weapons of empowerment. That's why I became a writer, to uplift and encourage people.

My methods are simple. I do the research, collate the evidence, and present it to you along with my analysis of it. My eight years of research lies at your fingertips, in the pages of The Evolution Conspiracy. So the next time someone tells you evolution is a fact you can concur or debate, but you will know you have read the uncensored evidence before reaching your conclusion.


*****

Lisa A. Shiel researches and writes about everything strange, from Bigfoot and UFOs to alternative history. She has been interviewed for big-city newspapers, national magazines, drive-time talk radio shows, and TV news. She has a master’s degree in library science. As a fiction writer, Lisa developed the Human Origins Series—which includes the novels The Hunt for Bigfoot and Lord of the Dead. Lisa’s other nonfiction books are Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs & the Sasquatch (a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s 2006 Book of the Year Awards) and Strange Michigan. Her latest book, The Evolution Conspiracy, Vol. 1, marks the initial release in a planned three-book series. Find her online at EvolutionConspiracy.com, Twitter.com/LAShiel, or on Facebook.

Every Picture Tells A Story

So, it began like this.... The concept was a simple one, I posted 12 images to my newsgroup photos section, and told everyone to have a look and spread the word - were any authors out there interested in creating a story based on one of the pictures. Thankfully, some very talented writers liked the idea, too, and offered their talents to create this special anthology. It's a FREE download, in PDF format - our gift to loyal and interested readers. It's non-erotic, but of course there is romance, sweet and sensual. We wanted this to be a collection everyone could enjoy, so if you would like to check it out, it's available for download at my new website - ALL free reads on the Romantic Moments site, always. I hope you'll consider registering when you go by, and when there's new content available for you to enjoy, you'll be notified. Otherwise, you don't hear from me, I promise.

So, to the collection, which is aptly named:

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

DOWNLOAD HERE

Contributing Authors:

Brigit Aine

Donna Hatch

R.L. Stuemke

Colleen Love

Antonia Tiranth

Vicki Gaia

Denysé Bridger

Guest: LYNDA DREWS

Please welcome my guest today, Lynda Drews...

My dad was an alcoholic. I remember escaping to my bedroom to find refuge, curling up with a book in a down-filled chair, trying to shut out the arguments from below. Books sheltered me from the pain and embarrassment I felt. Since I couldn’t bring friends over to my house, books became my buddies. Maybe I can thank my dad’s vice for helping to stimulate my “need” to read.

Forever I’d been intrigued by mysteries. I’d loved Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys. Upon opening a Highlife Magazine, I’d immediately turn to the page to uncover the concealed objects within the picture. Treasure hunts were irresistible. The Game of Clue logical. And problem solving, stimulating. As an adult, my friends thought I was a contradiction. A “Shit” rarely crossed my lips, yet I loved to immerse myself in books about serial killers and gore. So in 1984, when I lived through the tragic events surrounding my best friend and running partner’s mysterious bathtub drowning, even though I was feeling terrible pain, like the community, I was absorbed.

As a freshman in college, I'd really enjoyed two basic studies courses: creative writing and introduction to computer science. The latter was a new and emerging field and I was encouraged by my professors to be the first graduate. So, I put my writing passion on the backburner, until I retired from my 30-year career with IBM. Ever since Pam Bulik’s death and her husband’s subsequent first-degree murder trial, I'd believed I had a story to tell. To me, the most unbelievable thing was that the Buliks were integral members of our close-knit running group. It was hard to believe that one of our members could be arrested for planning the murder of another, while a third member surfaced as the motive. I embarked on writing Run at Destruction: A True Fatal Love Triangle, to resolve, for myself, why Pam had actually drowned. In turn, I wanted to pass this knowledge along to others that might be headed down her same path.

One of my Amazon.com reviewers said, “I cannot help but think that Run at Destruction is a rarity in the true crime genre simply by virtue of the fact that Lynda Drews was one of the closest confidants of the murder victim. This gives the book a level of personal insight and authenticity seldom reached by investigative journalists and big-time writers who later try to elbow their way onto a crime scene.” Writing my book was very personal. As Publishers Weekly said: “passages about [the author and victim’s] shared moments, and Drews's feelings of emptiness in the decades since, are remarkable.”

I hope you agree…

About the Book

Deeply immersed in the close-knit culture of long-distance running, Pam and Bob Bulik were avid competitors. To all appearances, they were also a happily married couple, devoted to each other and their two young children. Then, Bob made a fateful decision. He began an extramarital affair that led to his wife’s tragic death and to one of the most sensationalized and heavily attended trials in Green Bay’s history.

Candidly written by Pam’s best friend, Run at Destruction exposes the irresistible human passions that make us so vulnerable, and the ultimate price we pay for choosing to act on them. You’ll relive every detail of the crime and the exhaustive police investigation, and watch the courtroom drama from a front-row seat as a major homicide case unfolds in a small town where everyone knows all the players. Then, when you’ve heard all the evidence, you can decide for yourself – was Pam Bulik’s death a terrible accident, intentional suicide, negligent homicide or premeditated murder?

Visit Lynda: http://www.lmdrews.wordpress.com/

Delicious Girls!

TALES FOR DELICIOUS GIRLS

by Barbora Knobova


Once in awhile you are given a book that is really many things all rolled into one. If you’re expecting a romance in Barbora Knobova’s TALES FOR DELICIOUS GIRLS, you might be surprised to learn you’re going to get one. Not boy meets girl, but girl meets herself… Barbora’s tales are about learning to love all that is good in yourself, ladies – and she reminds us with humour, tears, and very entertaining tales, that each and every one of us is unique, talented, sexy, and smart – we are DELICIOUS!!

The opening note sets the tone: “Delicious Girls don’t cry. Ever. Because they know it’s useless anyway.” Says it all, doesn’t it? So, ladies/girls – time to dry the tears and get on with being the delectable creatures that you are.

Ms. Knobova tells her tales with charm, wit, and grace. Her style flows as smoothly as the laughter and the awakening that happens with each new revelation she offers. Written with insight, intelligence, and honesty, TALES FOR DELICIOUS GIRLS is an epiphany of the spirit for any woman who takes the time to really absorb and think on the message contained in this book.

Smart and savvy are two words that spring to mind immediately. If you are a woman who questions your value, read this and be reinvented by your personal sense of worth. If you know someone who’d benefit, you’ve just found the perfect gift for any occasion!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an entertaining, provocative, and delicious read. Visit Barbora’s website: http://www.barboraknobova.com/ – and become one of the Delicious Girls – it’s an attitude adjustment of the spirit, plus it’s one helluva lot of fun to read!


TALES FOR DELICIOUS GIRLS
by Barbora Knobova
ISBN: 978-0-578-03339-6
© September 2009