Tag Archives: books

review and guest post by author Alexandra Allred

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When I thought the blog tour for Damaged Goods had fallen through, I posted my review of the book anyway, hoping people would stop by here and read. Thankfully, TWCS (the writers Coffeeshop Publishing) took back the blog tour, and I have the great honor to be able to post my review again and even better, a guest post from the author. Don’t miss the chance to learn about the inspiration behind one of the main characters, and don’t miss the chance to go out and read this incredible book.

Damaged Goods by Alexandra Allred

Hilarious Girl Power and then some.
That’s how I’d describe this book. From Joanna, who upon divorcing her husband takes an old house in a small Texas town in the divorce settlement, a house which turns out to be a money pit, to Suzette, who has her leg mauled and removed, thanks to a tiger—one of the wild animals she’d rescued—to the women who meet regularly at a local café, these women are people you don’t want to miss. Diverse, seemingly not a group of women you’d picture together as friends, they come to know each other and to help each other. Eventually, they take on the town’s main business, the one that provides the majority of the jobs, while it poisons everything around. Worthy of plots like Erin Brokovich and A civil action. And all the while I laughed and groaned and rooted for these women with all my heart. And I came to care deeply for them.
My initial reaction to Joanna and Suzette on first meeting them was that I wasn’t sure I liked them. I admit, I was tired and burned out when I started reading, having just finished a major project of my own, but when Joanna saw her money pit and yet determined to stay and make it work, I loved her and was on her side. When Suzette first mentioned the way she lost her leg, the animal rights person in me felt my hackles rise. But then the character threw it right back in my face, starting with something about “before you get up in arms about me having this tiger” and I realized she was rescuing animals that other idiots had tried to keep as pets, I was on her side all the way. Allred makes you laugh, even at how Suzette lost her leg, because of the amusing way the character tells the story. Later, as Suzette experienced tragedy, I grieved for her, and as Joanna didn’t give up, I applauded. I felt like I left this book with a group of new friends, friends I hope to revisit someday in future reads of this book.
I love that this isn’t the usual book, it’s not about seduction, and romance and things like that. It’s about friends, about women coming together to fight something wrong, something that on the surface, you’d think they can’t beat. Corporate greed, illegal immigrants, animals and the bonds of women, and all this brings this story to a very special place. I can’t wait to read more by this author in the future.

Post from Alexandra Allred
The Character of Suzette Lee

Please take a moment and Google search “Sue Pope.” You will see a You Tube video about this brave woman and read all kinds of information about the Sue Pope Foundation, Sue Pope Pollution Reduction Fund and Downwinders At Risk (www.downwindersatrisk.org). This is the real Suzette Lee. She is brave and strong, daring and now very, very ill. But even still, she is a leader and I am so proud that she is my friend.

I remember one day we were out at her beautiful property and talking about her life on her land. She has over 70 acres of weeping willows and rolling hills. In the flatlands of Texas, her property is an oasis. Once upon a time, it was also home to exotic cats and other wildlife, including wolves. Before that, it had been the base of a once prosperous Arabian horse breeding farm. Today, Sue breathes with the aid of an oxygen tank and, on bad days, doesn’t venture outside. I asked her very directly, “Why stay here?” She is downwind from the cement stacks and I had to wonder why she would stay on after all her animals, then her son and finally her husband died. But Sue just looked at me. “Why should I leave? This is my home.”

Why was it fair that big business could run her off of her own property? How could it be that dangerous practices and inattentive policymakers could allow so many people to get sick? How could the EPA allow more mercury into the environment? At one point, she asked, do you say, “Enough!”

For me, when creating the characters, Sue was always there. Though she was not physically present, she was always in my mind as other characters were developing. NO tragedy, no fire, no amount of bullying or threats could ever make Suzette Lee leave her homestead …nor can it with Sue Pope.

Ghostwriter blog tour stop, review, interview and giveaway!

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Good morning!

I’m so excited about today’s blog tour stop promoting Ghostwriter by Lissa Bryan. Ghostwriter is an amazing and unique book, and Lissa is a kind, generous and special woman, not to mention one heck of a storyteller. Please, read my review and interview with her, and then enter for a chance to win a copy of Ghostwriter. Info on how to enter at the bottom. Ok, ready?

My review
Ghostwriter, by Lissa Bryan

This is the story of Sarah Howell, a struggling ghostwriter, who as the book begins has recently had a break up with her boyfriend and is struggling to write the autobiography of a politician. While searching for a new apartment, she is invited to look at the home for rent on a small island, an island where she will be the only resident. She discovers this is the actual home where her favorite author, Seth Fortner, lived and died, and she jumps at the chance to live there. She enjoys her quiet solitary life, until some strange things begin to happen.
I am addicted to stories that take place on islands. And I still love the gothic novel, stories that often take place in big lonely houses in isolated locations, so I was thrilled at the chance to read this. I just about squealed and rubbed my hands together with pure glee, when I realized we’d get to visit that house on that island. And I was not disappointed!
The first time Sarah’s picture of the famous author flies off the wall, where it had been hung securely, I almost jumped out of my seat! The series of events that follow, events which frighten Sarah but don’t push her away from the house and the island are in the best sort of ghost or gothic stories tradition. Is there a ghost in the old house, or is there a living person trying to get Sarah to leave?
This story had me spellbound, a little nervous, looking over my shoulder and listening for strange sounds and eager for the outcome. Even when I thought I’d realized what was happening, I couldn’t stop reading and wanted more. And every time I thought I knew what was coming, I didn’t. The details from Seth’s letters of his time in World War I were fascinating and added to the richness of the story. Sarah’s friendship with an unlikely character, the main relationship of the story, at first had me thinking, “What?” and then warmed and delighted me. I love stories about friendship. The strength of such a bond is one of the most interesting things to me, and if that friendship can move to love that’s the best.
The ending both surprised me and yet I felt it was actually right for the story and the characters.
This book is really about characters, Sarah, Seth the author, the others who come and go in her life. They are strong, well-drawn people. You come away feeling you know them and wishing you could. I wanted to be able to read Seth’s books, visit the island and punch the ex-boyfriend in the nose!
A truly wonderful story!

Now my interview with Lissa.
1. You know from my review, that I’m addicted to stories like this, set on islands in big old houses, the gothic style. Is this a style you enjoy and have you read many books in this style?

I had read a few. Rebecca, for example, and I have a passionate love for Wuthering Heights, which some put in that category. I’ve always been an eclectic reader; I don’t have a favorite genre. I read anything and everything, so my influences are wide and varied. Perhaps that’s reflected in Ghostwriter which has elements from a variety of genres.

2. The first time the picture flew off the wall scared me silly. Was it easy to write the suspense? Does that come naturally to you or do you have to sit down and plot it out carefully?

I’m surprised by it myself, but action and suspense scenes have always been the easiest for me to write. The words seem to flow as fast as the action itself. The hardest thing for me to write is love scenes. I really struggle with them.

3. What kind of research did you do for the sections dealing with World War I? Is this a part of history that interested you before writing Ghostwriter?

Primarily, I stuck to first-hand sources, such as letters and diaries, and accounts written by the soldiers themselves. I wasn’t as interested in the details of the battle as I was in their experiences.
WWI had never particularly interested me until I came across an article on the “Iron Harvest.” Every year, the farmers in France uncover tons of unexploded shells and other debris left over from the war. I couldn’t believe the numbers I was reading, so I had to look into it a bit more. I had known of the Battle of Verdun and I knew that it was horrible, but what I read was indescribable.
My research led me to discover the A.F.S, which was the organization that recruited young American men to drive ambulances in France. A surprising number of ambulance drivers became writers after the war, including Ernest Hemingway, Somerset Maugham and e.e. cummings. That’s how the character of Seth began to form in my mind. I saw an idealistic young man who went over to help save lives and was shattered by his experiences.

4. Ghostwriter has one of the most unique plots and endings I’ve ever read. How did you come up with the idea? Did it just spring to life or did something else start it brewing?

Once Seth came to life in my mind, other pieces of the story began to fall into place. It brewed over a long while, maybe a couple of years. Seth had a very distinct voice from the beginning, but it took the other elements a while to form. In the first incarnation, Seth and Sara met right after he returned from the war, but that didn’t work. I re-imagined it several times before I realized that Seth’s voice was that of a ghost, a man both haunted and haunting.

5. Do you have a favorite author? Who and why?

I have so many favorites it would be difficult to narrow it down to just one. Margaret George is my favorite historical author. Stephen King is my favorite in horror, though I prefer his short stories to his novels, The Stand being a notable exception. Sylvia Plath is my favorite poet. (I try to sneak Mad Girl’s Love Song into all of my stories.)
Richard Adams is another favorite for his Watership Down, which taught me how to see from an animal’s perspective and about world-building. Arthur Golden’s delicately beautiful Memoirs of a Geisha is another favorite for also what it taught about building a world and explaining the intricacies of culture to outsiders.
In romance, I face the same problem: too many favorites. I like Catherine Anderson for her sweetness (I loved Sydney Logan’s book for the same reason). I like Bertrice Small for her ability to carry a story across decades. I confess a secret guilty pleasure in Charlotte Lamb novels. I like J.R. Ward for her tough men who turn to kittens when they find the woman they love. Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, and Heather Graham should also be mentioned.
And then, Wuthering Heights… Such beautiful words about an ugly subject: obsession and revenge. It’s not a romance; if any of it is a love story, it’s Cathy’s love for the wild, windswept moors. Some of Sara’s love for the island is an echo of that.

6. What is your favorite book or books? I love to know what authors or books have touched or intrigued or fascinated inspired other authors.

(I combined this question with the one above. It’s difficult to extricate favorite authors from favorite books. They’re often one and the same.)

Thanks to Lissa for that interview.

Now onto the giveaway. If you’ve been here before, you know the drill.

Send an email to sherry@sherrygomes.com with the word, Ghostwriter, in the subject line and with your name and email address in the body of the message. You have all day, tomorrow morning a winner will be chosen. And enjoy Ghostwriter!

thoughts of burning books

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I read on twitter yesterday that an organization against domestic abuse was going to have a ceremonial book burning of Fifty Shades of Grey. And I was appalled and sickened by the news and generally sad that people seemed to approve of the action. Please, if you’re reading this, read on, because this has nothing to do with whether or not I like the Fifty shades books.

Book burning, what can I say? I suppose it is an expression of free speech, but … It horrifies me. Remember when people were burning the Harry Potter books? I mean, Harry Potter, seriously? Would those who cheer at burning Fifty shades cry foul at burning Harry Potter? We members of a society based on Freedom of speech, where do we draw the line? Where do any of us get to choose what book is good, decent or right to be read?
There are books I would never read, books I would not want my children to read, if I had them. Books with ideas I would loathe and cry out against, books that promote hatred. Hatred of other people for their race, color, nationality, religion, disability or gender. I would cry out against the ideas espoused in such books, and yet, I would defend the readers’ right to read, and the authors’ right to write, much as I despised what was written. Is this not our responsibility in a free society, to support the right of someone to express ideas so repellent to our own?
There was a very powerful episode of the old TV show the Waltons that dealt with this subject. Around the beginning of World War Ii, the town got in a frenzy about books. John Boy was publishing a translated version of Hitler’s book in his newspaper, because he felt strongly that it was important to understand what the German leader was saying and his motives. The town was in an uproar, and on one bright Sunday, the pastor got the idea to burn the book and any other German books he could find. Unknown to anyone but John Boy, one member of their church was German and could speak and read the language fluently. John Boy raced to try to rescue the books. He grabbed one, and recognizing what it was before it went into the flames, he went to Mrs. Bremer and asked her to read it. She began to read, “In the beginning, god created the Heavens and the earth.”
Yes, the good people of Walton’s Mountain were about to burn a German copy of the Bible, right there in their church.
No, no, I’m not claiming this thing with Fifty Shades is similar, exactly. That Waltons Episode was an act of ignorance and hysteria. But the concept remains. Can we who love and value books, who would fight for our right to read any book we choose, can we sit back and remain silent when we hear of someone burning a book for their own cause, a worthy cause, as in this case. It doesn’t matter that the BDSM lifestyle presented in Fifty shades has nothing to do with domestic abuse, or that the lifestyle when practiced between consenting adults with safety first and foremost is nothing like domestic abuse. (No, I’m not involved in the lifestyle myself, and this is not a defense of it or lack of defense of it.(
The point is, and please please understand me, the point is that when we start to decide what ideas we will let be in print, when we try to say it’s ok to burn this book because we don’t approve of it, but not ok to burn that one because we do approve, isn’t this a slippery slope for all of us who hold the right to read immeasurably precious?
I don’t know the organization that is going to do this book burning, but how I wish I could cry out to them and say “Wait! Think before you light that bonfire, please!”

K B HOYLE INTERVIEW

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K B HOYLE INTERVIEW

 

I want to thank Ms. Hoyle for answering my questions. Though I wanted to ask many things, I tried to keep it generic enough so as to avoid spoilers. Following the interview, read on to see my review of the White Thread.

 

 

SG:

I love fantasy but I can’t write it. My ideas just never come together. How did you come up with the idea for this series? Did it just come to you, with many details fully formed, or did you get a basic idea and then sit down and flesh out the details?

 

KBH:

The idea for this series definitely came to me with many details fully formed. I knew that I wanted to create a fantasy story based on the camp I attended every summer (from the time I was a baby into my college years). The camp, located in the upper peninsula of Michigan, is such an isolated and magical place all on its own that I knew I already had my setting in place. My idea was to create a fantasy land that paralleled a fictionalized version of the real camp. I know that probably sounds a little crazy, but it gave me all sorts of real material to draw from—and not only in the setting, but in the relationships between characters and some of the events in the stories. Of course, there were (and still are) many, many details to flesh out, but having the real-life basis gives me so many real memories from which to draw. People always say to write what you know, and that’s worked out very well for me!

 

 

 

SG:

I love how the summer camp is the background and how places in Alitheia reflect the summer camp. You put so many details about the camp that it feels real. Is the camp based on a real place?

 

KBH:

As I mentioned above, it is based on a real camp, although I would like to stress that it is fictionalized. I changed all of the names and played around with some of the dimensions and whatnot, but anybody who has been there would be able to tell from reading the books what camp it really is.

 

SG:

Darcy has matured a great deal over the series, and I’m sure we’ll see more of that as the series progresses. How about the rest of the Six? Will they have their moments to shine? Particularly Samantha and Amelia?

 

KBH

I like to think that I’ve given them each at least little moments to shine. The thing is, though, Darcy is the main character, and the story is told in 3rd person limited from her perspective, so the journey the reader ultimately experiences is hers. All of the characters will definitely mature, but I don’t think the reader will feel those changes as acutely as they feel Darcy’s because I’m not taking them inside their brains. This is probably with one exception, but I’m not going to give that away.

 

SG:

I am utterly captivated by Narks, and Yahto Veli is my favorite character. Tell me about Narks. I’ve never read anything else with such a creative character type. How did you come up with a character like that, day and night form sharing one body?

 

KBH:

The seed of the idea that became the narks came from a form letter I used to fill out at camp. It was one of those deals where it was a pre-typed letter home where you could circle the options for each statement (many of the options being silly options), and the last statement on the letter was something like, “Well, I have to go now because…” and one of the options to end this statement was, “…the night narks are coming to get me.” As a child, I just thought this sounded so funny, even though I had no idea what a nark was. I remembered this phrase when I set about creating a unique fantasy creature for The Gateway Chronicles (because every fantasy novel worth its salt has to introduce a new fantasy creature). I wanted the narks to be elf-like as a nod to Tolkien, and it only logically followed that if there were night narks, then there must also be day narks. Then I just set about brainstorming from there. I don’t know why they ended up sharing the same body; I guess it just seemed right to me. On a side note, I finally asked one of my camp friends a few years ago what the actual night narks were, and she laughed and told me that it is just the term for the counselors whose job it is to enforce curfew.

 

 

SG:

The Oracle is reminiscent of mythology. Are there other elements of mythology that will play a significant role in the story?

 

KBH:

The Oracle is reminiscent of mythology, and that was 100% on purpose. I teach ancient history, which obviously includes a lot of mythology, so I have the basis of knowledge to handle it well I think. Furthermore, I’ve been captivated by mythology since I was a little girl, particularly the myths of the Greeks and the Romans. I believe good literature tends to be based on something that came before, so I wanted to include many established mythological elements. So yes, there are other elements of mythology that play significant roles, particularly in The White Thread, but I won’t name them. It’s much more fun for readers to be able to figure them out on their own!

 

SG:

Your teenagers are very believable, particularly as one views them from the first book to now. Do you have teenaged kids or have you spent a lot of time around teens? Will the other characters besides Darcy show so much growth throughout the series?

 

KBH:

I’m glad my teenagers are very believable, but goodness, no, I do not have teenaged kids, lol. I will someday have three teenaged sons, but at the moment they are only 5, 3, and 3 months. I do teach teenagers, however—I teach 8th and 10th grades. I obviously pull a lot of mannerisms from my observations of them, but I also just plain remember being a teenager. For some reason, those years are still very vivid for me, and I’ve projected a lot of myself into Darcy, particularly her failings in book 1 as a 13-14 year old. In my opinion, Darcy was the most flawed of the six of them in the beginning, so she has the most maturing to go through, but the others will go through growth and change as well, just in different ways.

 

SG:

There’s much more I want to know, but it would all be in the way of spoilers. Is there any tidbits or teasers you can give for the next book or the rest of the series?

 

KBH:

Hmmm… I don’t mind saying that the reader should pay attention to Colin Mackaby. Also, for the girls who crave a little romance, the romance is coming! But in typical teenaged fashion, it doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as the characters would hope for.

 

And now, my review!

 

The White Thread

By K. B. Hoyle

Book Three in the Gateway Chronicles

 

I was thrilled to get a copy of this book, and I read it in a day, carrying my Kindle around with me everywhere I went, doing laundry and other household chores. I didn’t answer the phone, didn’t read anything else, didn’t care about email, I was just lost in the spell of Alitheia.

In this third installment of the Gateway Chronicles, the six teenagers from our world return to the family summer camp and thence to the gateway leading them back to Alitheia. And I was ready, eager to jump back into the land and the adventures we would all find there.

The book is mostly caught up with the events of trying to save a beloved Aletheian friend from the fate that befell them in the previous book. But this time, the Six go together, along with Tellius and Rubidius and other familiar Alitheians. They meet with new dangers and new friends along the way. We have a group of six fifteen-year-old teenagers, so we do get a bit of typical teenage angst and craziness, but it really works, and the author does not overdo it in any way. Prince Tellius has grown up greatly in this book, and I think I enjoyed him more than almost anyone in the story. Darcy has really matured by this book, and she was a delight to read and follow as she desperately tries to save a friend.

I think this is my favorite book so far in the series, except that the first book is usually my favorite as it is what introduced me to the wonders of this new world and the characters I came to love so deeply. At the end, I was saying, out loud, repeatedly, “No, no, no, no! It can’t be over!”

The Gateway Chronicles, what can I say? They are magical, wondrous. They make me believe again, make me want to go on adventures and save a different land, make me want to meet all the characters. And Now, I wait, eagerly, and not very patiently, for the next book. But in the meantime, I think about the story and the characters. I wonder what they’ll do, how they’ll save Alitheia, what will happen to them and where the gateway will take them next time. I even worry about the character from our world who is being seduced by the dark evil, joining Darcy in her concern for him, even though he’s not one of the Six.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, the last time I had such a strong draw to a series was to the Harry Potter series. I couldn’t stop thinking about them between books, wondering what on earth would happen next. The Gateway Chronicles does the same thing to me, living in my heart and mind long after the final word. And I really think I need to go back and start the series over from book one!

 

 

book review, The White Thread, by K. B. Hoyle

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The White Thread
By K. B. Hoyle
Book Three in the Gateway Chronicles

I was thrilled to get a copy of this book, and I read it in a day, carrying my Kindle around with me everywhere I went, doing laundry and other household chores. I didn’t answer the phone, didn’t read anything else, didn’t care about email, I was just lost in the spell of Alitheia.
In this third installment of the Gateway Chronicles, the six teenagers from our world return to the family summer camp and thence to the gateway leading them back to Alitheia. And I was ready, eager to jump back into the land and the adventures we would all find there.
The book is mostly caught up with the events of trying to save a beloved Aletheian friend from the fate that befell them in the previous book. But this time, the Six go together, along with Tellius and Rubidius and other familiar Aletheians. They meet with new dangers and new friends along the way. We have a group of six fifteen-year-old teenagers, so we do get a bit of typical teenage angst and craziness, but it really works, and the author does not overdo it in any way. Prince Tellius has grown up greatly in this book, and I think I enjoyed him more than almost anyone in the story. Darcy has really matured by this book, and she was a delight to read and follow as she desperately tries to save a friend.
I think this is my favorite book so far in the series, except that the first book is usually my favorite as it is what introduced me to the wonders of this new world and the characters I came to love so deeply. At the end, I was saying, out loud, repeatedly, “No, no, no, no! It can’t be over!”
The Gateway Chronicles, what can I say? They are magical, wondrous. They make me believe again, make me want to go on adventures and save a different land, make me want to meet all the characters. And Now, I wait, eagerly, and not very patiently, for the next book. But in the meantime, I think about the story and the characters. I wonder what they’ll do, how they’ll save Alitheia, what will happen to them and where the gateway will take them next time. I even worry about the character from our world who is being seduced by the dark evil, joining Darcy in her concern for him, even though he’s not one of the Six.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, the last time I had such a strong draw to a series was to the Harry Potter series. I couldn’t stop thinking about them between books, wondering what on earth would happen next. The Gateway Chronicles does the same thing to me, living in my heart and mind long after the final word. And I really think I need to go back and start the series over from book one!

book review, The Six by K B Hoyle

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The Six is the first book in a series of six. In this first book, the group of six main kids are about thirteen years old. Darcy, the main character starts the summer unhappy about being forced to go on a family vacation to a family camp, instead of being able to go to her usual horse camp.

Darcy raises interesting emotions in me. She’s awkward and uncomfortable in this social setting, and yet, when her neighbor, Samantha, tries hard to be her friend, Darcy is embarrassed to be seen with her. Sam is noticeably overweight. Their other neighbor, Louis is also a sort of nerd, and Darcy is embarrassed being seen with him. Part of me resents her for that. I was the odd child in school, being blind, and kids were afraid to talk to me or to be seen with me.

And yet, I also completely relate to Darcy’s shy awkwardness, her feelings of inadequacy in this overly social setting, even to her thoughts that her voice sounds squeaky when she tries to speak. Darcy’s inner thoughts about such things could very well have been my own.

One day, Darcy and Sam take a walk, and Darcy happens to wander through a special gateway into another quite wonderful world. There she meets Yahto Veli, a Nark, a creature who has a day self and a night self, a completely different look and personality for each, but in the same body. she meets others as well, and she is told that she is part of a prophecy, a prophecy of Six that would come and help save this new land from the tyranny under which it has suffered for years. she must return to her own land and bring back her five other friends. When they return, they will begin to fulfill their destiny. they each have a role to play: the warrior, the scribe, the spy, the musician, the companion and the king’s intended.

They set off on a marvelous adventure into a world of new friends and new dangers. they must learn their secret talent, try not to get captured and help free the land.

After a year, they will go back to their own world, where they will find no time has passed at all. They will return the following year and continue the fight to save the land and its people.

I completely and utterly adore this book. The sequel comes out on Thursday, and I can hardly wait. The characters are delightful, completely believable in their strengths and flaws. None are perfect but all are endearing.

I haven’t felt this captivated by a young adult book like this since Harry Potter stole my heart, and this surpasses even my love of the Mysterious
Benedict Society series. I found myself thinking of this long after the last words, wanting more, wishing I could go to the camp and the other world and participate in the struggle for freedom. Hell, I almost wished I was thirteen again and could go on the adventure and be part of the Six.

Definitely Five out of Five stars, two thumbs up and any other ways I can say, I love this book and can’t wait for more. Nothing has entertained me and haunted me so much in a very long time. I consider it a must read for any adult who still has that secret part in their soul and wishes they could just go, go to a new world, go on a dangerous quest and live to tell the tale.

Sherry, posted June 12, 2012