Classic Revenge by Mitzi Kelly ~ #Review of a #Cozy #Mystery

Avalon and Mitzi Kelly bring you the first book in the Silver Sleuths series. Classic Revenge combines all the elements of the cozy mystery; the small neighborhood setting, the likeable amateur sleuth (in this case three), no graphic violence or profanity for a fun and engaging read.

In Classic Revenge a dear friend of Trish, Edna and Millie has died. At first her death is ruled accidental but then the woman’s husband, Sam, is arrested for her murder. The women, whose combined age is 193, are incensed. How could anyone believe Sam could murder the love of his life?

The police are convinced they have their ‘man’ and aren’t interested in investigating further. These strong and determined ladies are not going to sit still while Sam is railroaded; despite being warned of the dangers of involving themselves with murder suspects the trio begin their investigation.

As they doggedly follow the intricate twists of the plot, the ladies find plenty of clues and possible scenarios eventually ending up with more danger and suspects than expected only to find themselves held at gunpoint.

About the Author: Mitzi grew up in Texas, loving everything about the huge state. From the stark beauty of the desert plains, to the majestic glory of the mountains, to the intense power of the ocean, she's never had a desire to live anywhere else. Traveling is nice, but there's no place like Texas!

She was raised in El Paso with her three brothers, and credits her parents, Lewis and Lucretia Rothman, for providing an idyllic childhood. There hasn't been a sport invented that the family was not involved in, and Mitzi vividly remembers weekends where the family rushed from a gymnastics meet to a football game and then to the golf course, and still somehow fit in chores and meals! Her parents are her true heroes and there aren't enough words to express her gratitude.

Her family relocated to Houston, but Mitzi moved to San Antonio with her grandmother and landed her first job where she found she had a love for bookkeeping and making numbers work. In 1981 she married her soul mate and best friend, John, and in 1982 their son, John Lewis, was born. Mitzi thoroughly enjoys the moments her husband steps in as her "co-plotter" to add spice to a scene with his unique sense of humor. With the love and support from the two most important men in her life, Mitzi has had the freedom to explore a myriad of interests and that's when she discovered she loved to write. Before tackling novels, Mitzi wrote several feature articles for Our Ageless Times and a current event article for Builder/Architect.

You can find Mitzi Kelly at http://www.mitzikelly.com and be sure to check out Classic Revenge available on Amazon.com.

When Parents Text

A collection of insanely funny texts between parents and kids, When Parents Text is a surprisingly affecting window into the complicated time when parents aren't ready to let go, and kids aren't ready to be let go.

Find it on Amazon now!

http://www.amazon.com/adios/dp/0761166041

The 'girl who drew’ grows up to write by Tracy Farnham ~ An Interview With @RLBHartmann

Most locals know her as Lucille Bollinger, but to those who read her novels, the name is RLB Hartmann.
Hartmann said writing first appealed to her while walking home from school in the third grade.

“An older school chum read a story she wrote for her class. I wanted to do that,” she said. “My maternal grandmother had told me stories all my life, so the seed was already there.”
Hartmann credits living with grownups, who read adult versions of  Bambiby Felix Salten and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell to her, as early training for her writing.

Vocabulary and English skills were already well developed as early as the first grade and she jokes, "I was happy with my high marks on my report card, but had to ask my mom what 'vocabulary' meant."
“I always saw what my dad called ‘little pictures’ in my head. It was a logical step to transition from hearing and reading stories, to writing them,” Hartmann said. “The first story I remember writing was set on the windy plains of some northwestern state, with a horse named Keno as the main character.”

Horses seem to be a trademark of sorts for this local writer. As a young girl, her family moved from Morganton to the Oak Hill area where she became known to classmates as “the girl who drew.”
“Interestingly enough, in the Tierra series, the male characters all have a mystical connection with horses,” Hartmann said.

In high school, she wrote parts of three novels finishing only one that she still keeps in a drawer.

While she was majoring in English and education at Appalachian State, her writing was mostly term papers, but reading fiction remained a large part of her life. A class assignment produced her first real short story. “I remember writing it the morning before it was due, and ripping the final page out of my typewriter just before heading out to class.  That story was ‘Tyler’ which was later published in Far West Magazine.  The check was hefty and convinced me that I was a writer.”

She credits her claim to fame to “I Rode with Cullen Baker,” a story based on a notorious outlaw who terrorized East Texas during and after the War Between the States. In 2001, the feature-length screenplay version won the Split-Screenplay $1000 First Prize. This novel, as well as the “Tierra del Oro” series, are all historical fiction.

While teaching a course called “Literature of the American West,” which she designed for classes at Gamewell-Colletsville High School, a student with an old western magazine and a visiting professor from Oklahoma created a spark which ignited the series. “A visiting professor who came from Oklahoma used the phrase ‘40 grains of black powder.’ I liked the sound of that and dutifully wrote it down in my notebook, having no clue that it would become a nine book saga set in a country I had visited three years earlier on a whirlwind trip — and not a minute spent on the west coast where my characters live,” Hartmann said.

Tierra del Oro covers four generations of the Cordero family, from 1870 until 1920, when General Obregón comes to power. “Tierra del Oro” means “Land of the Gold.”

“To tell everyone’s story required nine books,” she said. Each novel focuses on a main character and his or her conflicts, and all the major characters face challenges from treacherous and dangerous sources.

To learn more about this series, go to www.rlbhartmann.com  where the link "Stories" leads to descriptions and photos illustrating all 9 novels.  Links on the front page also take readers to a secure shopping cart for ordering the first two titles, Forty Grains of Black Powder and Legend of the Sierra Madre.

Book three, Los Pobres, is due to launch mid-November, with others following at three-month intervals until the whole saga concludes with Tesoro, which means “Treasure.”

Hartmann encourages readers to buy these titles using links at the website, then to post reviews at Amazon.com.

Another historical novel, “The Brackettville Horses” is due out in the spring of 2012. More about that will be posted on Hartmann's website and on Face Book and Twitter.

Previous works include her first two books published through Lulu.com in 2005, Floyd and the Traveling Yard Sale, and I Rode with Cullen Baker, which are available in print at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/worksbyrlbh

A somewhat altered version of this interview appeared in the Morganton NC Sunday edition of The News Herald,  Tracy Farnham's weekly summer reading series with a spotlight on local authors pen page turners.  ("Gab" section on 9/11/2011). 

#BookReview: I Rode with Cullen Baker by RLB Hartmann–A Civil War Era Adventure - Don’t miss this heartfelt tale of adventure and loss as a southern belle escapes through East Texas swamplands.

Spooks on Every Corner? By Stephen Marwell #Suspense #Fiction #Readers

What is the perennial attraction of the spy genre? What is it that maintains our fascination for Cold War subterfuge and the mysterious sudden violence of the post-war Berlin of Checkpoint Charlie, Zoo Station and all the spies still lingering in the cold? Having recently re-read a handful of classics of the genre I have been asking myself what they say about political machinations, office politics and social dynamics today. Not to mention relishing these rich tapestries that capture a dark but resonant period of history.

It's easy to forget, and Len Deighton is kind enough to remind us in vivid detail, the oppressive physical immensity that the Wall that separated the East and West sectors of the City, as well as the overwhelming military might that the Red Army held beyond the iconic barrier.

The Berlin of the Cold War years, that shadowy and complex matrix of politics, ideology and history, was a particular manifestation of a few long decades between the end of the Second World War and the epoch defining fall on 9th November 1989. And yet somehow, throughout these decades, a murky kaleidoscope of images from different points in time and space emerged. We see Princes and Emperors, bohemians, romantics and a host of refugees from cancelled lands and purged landscapes. Such vistas and vignettes pepper the margins and spaces between the leaves of the best examples of the spy genre.

The flashbacks and reminiscences of these desperate characters that populate the books serve on one level to evoke the introspective and furtive imaginations that fuelled the survival instincts that enabled survival in the face of the oppressive constraints of the occupying powers. These occupying forces carved up the defeated though still proud City of Berlin into a patchwork of lethal traps and procedures. Only the cunning minds of sophisticated game players could survive and thrive in such an environment. It is not a surprise that the 1972 Chess World Championship between the reclusive American "Bobby" Fischer and reigning champion, Russian Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland became an iconic landmark event of the Cold War era.

In addition to Berlin's home-grown local heroes, the fleeing migrants and displaced souls from now forgotten lands such as Prussia and Silesia were the brightest and best brilliant minds from Oxford, Cambridge and Moscow. Educated puppet masters tugged and sometimes wrenched hidden strings with anonymity to the same immutable logic of the Icelandic grandmasters.

On a different level, closer to home or at least away from the pressure cooker climate of the divided city, of checkpoints, tunnels and redundant bahnhof stations we can also enjoy the wry observations of the puppet masters' private lives. With Stoppardian precision they conduct their personal lives, these archetypes of the genre, with no less enthusiasm for subterfuge and deceit as they apply to theri day jobs. Affairs and passions criss-cross long term relationships with the same determination of the covert political operations. Even just three short decades later the social insight into the private lives of the spy-masters and their Grand Guignol as they ducked and dived between Friedrichstrasse and the Savoy.

In the UK today the BBC TV series Spooks has resurrected many of the tropes and metaphors that define the genre such as dead drops, moles and honey traps. However, this time round the dreary waiting in cold damp vehicles by Checkpoint Charlie has been replaced by relentlessly paced plotting with agent and counter-agent zapping between politicians and scientists with breathtaking dexterity. Speed chess indeed. The machinations of a Len Deighton trilogy are typically played out in one 60 minute episode and the genre appears to be as indestructible as Ian Flemings' famous undercover Commander Bond. Even John Le Carre has reaped the peace dividend by resurfacing with a slew of novels about such contemporary themes associated with the murkier goings on of the pharmaceuticals and arms industries. And finally we discover the full Bond series of novels have been released as eBooks for the digital generation.

Stephen blogs regularly about writing-related matters in this fast moving digital landscape on the key issues that matter to writers and and those interested in writing. Screen writing is a particular focus with regular tips and advice on story, character and plot matters. e-books and e-book readers are changing the way we consume and collect books and there is much to say about how this is changing our world. Thoughtful, comprehensive and always provocative and stimulating.

Read more on the manifesto books blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Marwell

Guest Blog by Jon Reisfeld -- The Story Behind 'The Last Way Station: Hitler's Final Journey'

Thirteen years ago, when I first seriously entertained the idea of writing fiction, I found myself obsessing on a rather strange, and unpleasant, topic. I became preoccupied with the question of Adolf Hitler and his special brand of evil. Most Jews, who noodle on the subject of der Führer for any length of time, end up framing their questions about his rise to power and his essential role in the realization of the holocaust, in the form of an accusation. They point their index fingers at the Almighty, and ask, "How could you let this happen?"
I had no interest in diving down that rabbit hole. In the first place, Hitler and the holocaust did happen. Whether God 'let it happen' or not seemed completely beside the point. In my mind, that line of inquiry epitomized the type of thorny, arcane and largely non-essential question that theologians love to debate. After all, hadn't they spent the entire Middle Ages arguing about how many angels could comfortably fit on the head of a pin?
What I wanted to know was what, if anything, could possibly constitute 'fitting punishment' for someone as innately and actively evil as Hitler. What form would it take? While his death, by any means, might bring some immediate satisfaction to his victims, how could the exchange of Hitler's one life ever begin to atone for the loss of the millions of innocent lives he had taken? It's the same question millions of people, around the world, asked themselves, following the recent death of Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.
Moreover, Hitler's suicide deprived the world of a chance to try and judge him for his crimes. That's when the idea hit me: I could write a story about Hitler's final judgment, in the afterlife. Several benefits of this approach immediately presented themselves. The supernatural beings who rule the afterlife would share God's omniscience and, therefore, know all of Hitler's crimes in advance. Hitler would not be able to lie his way out of trouble. They could see right through him. That would not only save a lot of time in developing the story, it also would deprive Hitler's character of yet another platform to exploit, in putting forth, and promoting, his sick, twisted agenda of hate.
All that remained for me was to research the subject and begin drawing on my imagination. Those tasks still managed to produce some uncomfortable moments, such as when I purchased Mein Kampf, at the local bookstore. (The book remains off limits to readers in Germany, today.) Then, there were all those equally awkward nights at home, when my son and my ex-wife watched TV while I, a nice Jewish dad, sat nearby, engrossed in Hitler's memoir or poring over such books as Explaining Hitler.
The final version of the book is shorter than originally intended, and I actually took more than a year off from writing it (when I was halfway through), because parts of it were so disturbing to me. I'll be happy to discuss these issues and more with you, once you've had a chance to read it.
Author Bio: I am a single, Baltimore, MD - based writer, marketer, former journalist, and father of one, who has eclectic interests, a passion for social justice and an insatiable thirst for good science fiction. After you read my books, please drop me a line and let me know what you think of them. I look forward to it.
Read an excerpt from ‘The Last Way Station’

Get a Free Download of this book from Smashwords Using the code PA54X at checkout.Please feel free to leave a review at Smashwords &/or Amazon

Author Maryrose Wood Talks AboutHer New Book, The Incorrigible Children Of Ashton Place (Ages 9-12) #BookTrailer #kidslit #mystery

The Incorrigible Children Of Ashton Place, the new book from author Maryrose Wood ~ www.awesomeadventurebooks.com

“The Boy with Golden Eyes” was self-pub by Marjorie Young in August 2010~Winner of #YA category at last month’s annual Los Angeles Book Festival

“I was quite shocked, actually.”

That was Marjorie Young’s reaction to the news her novel, “The Boy with Golden Eyes,” won the Young Adult category at last month’s annual Los Angeles Book Festival. And, that’s not a small statement coming from a lifelong psychic.

Young, who lives in a small mother-in-law apartment near Ballard High School with her two cats, walls of books and at least one framed cast photo from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” does psychic readings at the Ballard Farmers Market. She also specializes in readings, healing and spiritual counseling for people and pets.

Every summer, her nephew Sammy visits from New York where his family lives. After one trip a few summers ago, Sammy was sad to be saying goodbye. Young told him she would write him a story, and that’s how “The Boy with Golden yes” was born – one chapter at a time.

“It was just for fun, just for him,” Young said.
The first draft was written entirely through emails from Young to Sammy, who was an inspiration for the main character, Rupert, as well as the model for the book’s cover (much to his continued embarrassment). Sammy even provided a number of the big plot twists found in the book through ideas he would mail back to Young.

Eventually, “The Boy with Golden Eyes” was self-published by Young in August 2010.

As much as Sammy was an influence on the book, which tells the story of a young boy growing up in isolation before venturing into the wider world to do battle with evil kings, it has also been shaped by Young’s experiences growing up with psychic abilities.

“There’s a lot of me in there,” she said.

When she was a child, Young said she had a lot of intuition, but it was mostly about bad things, such as death. Young didn’t like it and tried to squash her gift. It was difficult picking up the subconsciouses of everyone around her, she said.

In “The Boy with Golden Eyes,” Rupert feels led to do things or like people are talking to him, cajoling him to action.
“I’ve often had that,” Young said. “I’ve felt guided the same way myself.”

Rupert must learn to trust his abilities and figure out who he is, which is something Young has faced. She said she has put some of her experiences into a fiction book so people can choose to believe them or not.

While living in Japan, she was taught to turn her psychic ability on and off. It was the best thing that could have happened to her, she said.

Now, she can turn on the ability to do a reading or write a chapter of the book and then turn it off again.

“I consider it a gift, but I don’t understand it,” she said, comparing it to math geniuses in her family. “It is just omething I have.”

Whether she understands it or not, the same abilities that allow her to read people and animals allow her to tell the tale of Rupert.

“I just sit there and it comes through,” Young said. “It’s the same kind of energy.”

She said it feels the same to do a psychic reading as it does to write a chapter; it’s getting information from a character as opposed to getting information from a person. She said she is exhilarated and exhausted after both.

And, just like with her psychic ability, it can be hard to turn “The Boy with Golden Eyes” off.

“The story keeps coming,” Young said. “I have no idea how it’s going to end.”

Young is already working on part four of what she sees as a five or six-book series. Part two and three are waiting for editing and publishing.

In addition to its win at the Los Angeles Book Festival, which honors books deserving further attention from the publishing industry, “The Boy with Golden Eyes” has caught on with readers near and far.

Read the rest of the story…

Submitted by Michael Harthorne, KOMO Communities Reporter

(Read the excerpt of “The Boy with Golden Eyes” the book's website)

#Review of The Sentry by Robert Crais #mystery #thriller

For those of you expecting another L. A. Requiem, you are in for a disappointment. Neither Joe Pike nor Elvis Cole grow in this new book by series writer Robert Crais. In fact, the reason Pike gets involved at all leaves me more than a little baffled. He meets a woman, has one date and falls in love. That was in the back of my mind the entire time I read this book. It is difficult to comprehend why a man would risk his life for someone, who isn't even a sympathetic character, as we find out as the story progresses. And if you don't buy that premise, the book just doesn't work.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big Robert Crais fan. I liked sidekick Pike more than main character Cole after L. A. Requiem, which I consider one of the best mysteries ever written. But I have grown to appreciate the Cole character as developed in The Forgotten Man and later books. It is to me the mystery of these two main characters that is the reason I continue to look forward to the next book in the series. Cole is flip and seems to ask for trouble at times, while Pike is the very sober, loyal and resourceful friend, who seems to be getting his partner out of deep do-do quite often.

Both characters have matured and mellowed, but still manage to get themselves caught up in the middle of a shoot out, whether involved in a case or not. At this stage these cats have used up all nine of their lives. Because Crais is an attractive guy, most of his book signings are well attended by females. I'm sure they don't read the books for the violence, and yet there it is. If you've read the series since it began in 1987, then you are correct in assuming that these guys should be taking fewer risks twenty-three years later.

True The Sentry is a bit of a role reversal for the dynamic duo. This time Cole saves Pike by getting his hands dirty. And the interplay between the two is touching, but then the premise bares its improbable self and I shake my head in disbelief. For those of us who value our time given the plethora of books that are out there, life is a little too short to read a book that is just more of the same. So I recommend that you read L. A. Requiem, The Forgotten Man or even the stand alone Demolition Angel as a way to remind yourself why this author is worth both your time and your patience. After all 2012 is another year.

Copyright 2011 by Linda K. Murdock. Linda K. Murdock is the author of Mystery Lover's Puzzle Book, Crosswords with Clues from Your Favorite Mystery Series. She reads over 50 mystery books a year. Her puzzle book is a mini-anthology that reviews 29 award-winning writers. A check-off list of all the titles in each of the series, along with a crossword puzzle for each series, are included. See a sample crossword and learn more at http://bellwetherbooks.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Murdock

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6099208

MARTY CHAN author reading THE MYSTERY OF THE MAD SCIENCE TEACHER - Part 2 of 4 #kidslit #teachers

Marty Chan reading and telling stories from his book The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher part of Reading Link Challenge 2011.

Children’s Bookshelf By PAMELA PAUL #kidslit #YAlit

THE TROUBLE WITH CHICKENS
A J. J. Tully Mystery
By Doreen Cronin. Illustrated by Kevin Cornell
119 pp. Balzer & Bray.  (Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)

Spot-on humor and a clever story ensure this latest from Cronin will be a favorite among middle-grade readers. The plot thickens as the hero, J. J. Tully, a former search-and-rescue dog with the world-weary voice of a retired P.I., confronts a family of chickens and an “inside” dog, Vince. Trouble indeed, sweetheart — but worth it.

DEADLY
By Julie ChibbaroIllustrated. 293 pp. Atheneum. (Young adult; ages 12 and up)

Paced like a medical thriller, “Deadly” is the rare Y.A. novel in which a girl’s intellectual interests trump adolescent romance. A 16-year-old Jewish tenement dweller in 1906 New York pines away days at a finishing school on scholarship and nights helping midwife young mothers. When she quits school to assist the Department of Health and Sanitation in its pursuit of “Typhoid Mary,” she is awakened to nascent opportunities for women in science.

AMELIA LOST
The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
By Candace Fleming
Illustrated. 118 pp. Schwartz & Wade Books. (Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)

Read more from the New York Times

#NewBook: New Silverstein collection, 'Dragons' release date

New Shel Silverstein collection on the way! HarperCollins will publish a posthumous collection of Silverstein's poetry called "Every Thing On It." The book, with more than 130 poems and drawings never before seen, is slated for a September release. Silverstein died in 1999

More from Book Report

Shel Silverstein’s poems, stories, books were always so much fun for the kids, teachers and classrooms I worked in! LP

I’ve always known that #youngadult authors were among the best storytellers…stories are well-written, fast-paced and just plain…well, brilliant!

Young adult lit comes of age

 

Authors may gear their novels toward the junior and senior high crowd, but adults are snapping up the books, often about misfit teens or fantasy worlds.

• (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

March 08, 2010
By Susan Carpenter

It used to be that the only adults who read young adult literature were those who had a vested interest -- teachers or librarians or parents who either needed or wanted to keep an eye on developing readers' tastes.

But increasingly, adults are reading YA books with no ulterior motives. Attracted by well-written, fast-paced and engaging stories that span the gamut of genres and subjects, such readers have mainstreamed a niche long derided as just for kids.

Humorous Mysteries Never Last Long Enough - Take the Monkeys and Run by Karen Cantwell

Typical suburban mom and film lover, Barb Marr, talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie's Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.

Nashville’s Rhinestone Mask Exposed in Mystery, Blood Country by Dan Jewell, Published by Outskirts Press–5 Star Reviews

Goodlettsville, TN, February 20, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Outskirts Press, Inc. has published Blood Country: A Nashville Sideman Mystery by Dan Jewell. The author's most recent book to date is a 5 x 8 paperback in the mystery and detective fiction category and is available worldwide on book retailer websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The webpage at www.outskirtspress.com/BloodCountry was launched simultaneously with the book's publication.

In Nashville, it’s conventional wisdom that if you’re a sideman looking for work in the music business, you’d better have a steady day job.

Guitarist Joe Rose has a day job, and his business card reads: “Sideman Investigations, Put Someone on Your Side.” Rose is hired by strung out country music superstar Vern Hamlin to look into his father’s two decades old murder. Hamlin has received an anonymous letter suggesting that the man accused of the crime and who was killed in an escape attempt was not the real murderer. Because of Hamlin’s drug and alcohol problems, his uncle Claude, CEO of Hamlin Enterprises, doesn’t approve of his nephew’s plan to reopen the old murder case; he believes it will jeopardize Hamlin’s present sobriety and interfere with his career. But Hamlin’s personal assistant, Jessica Apple, thinks his father’s death is actually the cause of his substance abuse and that pursuing the investigation will help him get closure.

After Rose questions a Desert Storm vet with PTSD, the man is found dead. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? As the sideman searches for the truth, he encounters a violent rogue P.I., Hamlin’s sexy ex-wife, a strange Professor who writes mystery novels, Hamlin’s promiscuous stepmother—now married to the pastor of a Nashville megachurch, and a songwriter with a big gun.

In Blood Country sideman Rose rips off the rhinestone mask of the Nashville Music scene to expose a family’s buried secrets.

Read the Complete Press Release

(Read My Review of This Book)

Untreed Reads goes even more green with two St. Patrick’s Day–themed stories #ebooks

Untreed Reads goes even more green with two St. Patrick’s Day–themed stories

Authors Beth Mathison and S. Furlong-Bolliger have previously released holiday-themed material through Untreed Reads in the past six months.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 04, 2011 – San Francisco, Calif. – Untreed Reads, the San Francisco-based ebook publishing company with the environmentally friendly name, is now going green for something a little different—St. Patrick’s Day. Untreed Reads announced today two new short stories with the leprechaun’s touch—A MOBSTER’S TOAST TO ST. PATRICK’S DAY by Beth Mathison, and PADDY WHACKED by S. Furlong-Bolliger.

Both authors have previously released holiday-themed stories through Untreed Reads. Mathison introduced Jeremy, her cupcake-making hero with mob ties, in the Thanksgiving story A MOBSTER’S GUIDE TO CRANBERRY SAUCE and the Valentine’s short A MOBSTER’S RECIPE FOR CUPCAKES. Her latest work finds Jeremy on the brink of business failure, his girlfriend is ready to dump him and he can’t seem to catch a break from two inept “family” employees.

Furlong-Bolliger’s latest release takes a darker tone. In PADDY WHACKED, Inspector Helmes and his sidekick have their work cut out for them solving the murder of Paddy O’Toole, the Grand Leprechaun. However, nothing can prepare them for the strange lineup of suspects they encounter at the Holiday Icon Convention. Furlong-Bolliger previously released the Thanksgiving mystery DEATH BY JELLO, and the yuletide short CHRISTMAS IN KILLARNEY.

Read Complete Press Release

Norway Is The New Scotland - Historical Romance Author Kris Tualla is the author of the Hansen family trilogy of historical romance novels. The series features the fictional Hansen family of Norway. She believes it is time for a new breed of historical romance hero and that Norway is the new Scotland

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 05, 2011 – Kris Tualla, award winning author of the Hansen series of historical romance novels, has announced her March 2011 schedule of events.

In the historical romance genre, Scotland has always held the upper hand in regards to popular story lines. For many years, novels featuring Scottish themes have been devoured by the reading public. One writer, Kris Tualla, feels that this popular theme has been overwritten and is offering something new, fresh and exciting to the loyal readers of historical romance.

"In the historical romance genre," stated Tualla, "there have been literally countless kilted warrior stories. I believe it's time for a new breed of heroes. I ask readers to come along with me and find out why Norway IS the new Scotland."

All of the primary characters in Tualla's books are members of the fictional Hansen family of Arendal, Norway. The trilogy begins in the Missouri Territory, moves to Norway, and then back again to Missouri after it has attained statehood. The saga of the Hansen family often features older characters and rich story lines.

"When I fall in love with a book's characters," Tualla continued, "I hate for that book to end. So I chose to write a series of books where all the heroes (and one heroine) are members of the same fictional family - the Hansens of Arendal, Norway. Different generations, different continents, but sharing the strength of their Viking ancestors."

Kris Tualla is walking both the traditional path, and the independent print and ebook paths. She will speak about the four publishing choices all authors face today: what each of those paths offers, what they require, and how to know what is best for any writer's career.

Kris Tualla's March 2011 events include:

Author/artist Amy Ignatow follows up her hilarious debut novel: "The Popularity Papers: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang" #kidslit

By Karen McPherson

When author/artist Amy Ignatow's book agent rejected her proposal for an adult graphic novel, he also had a word of advice.

"He told me, 'I don't want to offend you, but I think your work is very childlike,' and he suggested that I write for kids," Ignatow said in a recent talk with members of the Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C. "The moment he said that, I thought, 'Yes! That's what comes naturally to me.' "

So Ignatow created "The Popularity Papers"(Amulet/Abrams, $15.95, ages 8-12), which was published last spring. Subtitled "Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang," the book is presented as a colorfully illustrated, hand-lettered journal kept by the two fifth-graders as they try to figure out how to become popular.

Funny and realistic, this first volume of "The Popularity Papers" has become a smash hit with girl readers, and garnered rave reviews in School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and The New York Times. Now, Ignatow has just published a sequel, "The Popularity Papers: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang" (Amulet/Abrams, $15.95, ages 8-12), in which the friends must cope with a six-month separation when Lydia's family moves to London.

Read More at The Seattle Times

'Dummies Month' Celebrates 20 Years of 'Making Everything Easier'– March, otherwise known as "Dummies” Month

HOBOKEN, N.J., March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The first "For Dummies" book, DOS For Dummies, hit the shelves back in November 1991.  That initial 7500 unit print run launched what would become perhaps the most recognized brand in book publishing.   Since the 1991 launch, the "For Dummies" brand has expanded into a robust 'how-to' website, a B2B operation, mobile apps, eBooks, custom publishing and brand licensing programs (everything from guitar kits to GPS systems), social media fan pages, and much more.   Now, beginning March 1, a group of best-selling "For Dummies" authors will take to BlogTalkRadio's Internet airwaves on a new "For Dummies" channel (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fordummies). Press Release

New Fiction for Week of February 20, 2011

The Union Quilters (Elm Creek Quilts Series #17)
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen Series #14)
by Joanne Fluke
Pale Demon (Rachel Morgan Series #9)
by Kim Harrison
Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely Series #5)
by Melissa Marr
The Paris Wife
by Paula McLain
Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales
by Tamora Pierce
Gideon's Sword
by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Treachery in Death (In Death Series #32)
by J.D. Robb
Night Vision
by Randy Wayne White

#NewBooks releasing this week - This week we have a mixed bag of books…

By: Deidre Wengen

…scheduled to hit shelves. One is a novel from a talented historical-fiction author, JD Robb releases the latest in the "In Death" series, a memoir from the King of Jordan and a celebrity memoirs by a very funny man. Here's the roundup:
(Read Deidre’s Reviews)

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