Monthly Archives: October 2012

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.

Eire’s Captive Moon, book review

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Book Review

Eire’s Captive Moon
By Sandi Layne

I love grand historical fiction, with strong characters, with details of life as it was then, with romance and drama and delving into a world so unlike my own. And it doesn’t get any better than this book!
The place is what we know as Ireland, moving to the land of the Vikings. Charis is a healer to her people. Cowan, the son of a king, returning home. Agnarr, a Norseman, looking for adventure, slaves and wealth before returning to his home to marry his betrothed. When the Vikings raid the villages along the Irish coast, no people can withstand against them, no gate can keep them out. Everyone is swept away, to death or captivity. History, and that’s where the story begins.
What did I love? Better to ask what I didn’t love, and the answer would be, I loved everything. I’m all about characters. If I don’t like the characters I don’t like the book. Sandi Layne created people about whom I cared deeply. I ached for them, hoped for them, cheered for them. I was fascinated by the details of life, in both lands we visit. Some of it I’d read before in other books, but many details were new, making me want to learn more.
The very best thing was that Sandi Layne kept me guessing to the very end. When Charis had a choice to make, I honestly could not guess which way she would go. I knew what I wanted to happen, but I was not sure Charis wanted the same thing. Few authors can keep me wondering to the very end of the book. I almost always figure things out before it’s answered in the story. I found myself thinking, come on, come on. What is she gonna do? Holding my breath, and feeling absolutely delighted that I did not have a clue!
If you love historical fiction and romance do not miss the chance to read Eire’s Captive Moon. It’s the first in a trilogy, and I can hardly wait for the next. It’s a long time since a book like this captured my heart and mind so completely.

Damaged Goods

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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.

book review, The Enchanted

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The enchanted, by K> B. Hoyle

Book Four in the Gateway Chronicles

Okay, I admit, I’m obsessed, crazy, wild about the Gateway Chronicles. And book four only strengthened all that. The best yet? Well, for me anyway. As I told a friend the other day, who asked me if I really thought she’d enjoy it, it has the charm of Harry Potter without the darkness. I read each new book as fast as I possibly can, swallowing every word eagerly, like a starving person, being given a big turkey dinner. Only, when I finish the book, yes, I feel satisfied and content, but not full, never fulll, because I just want more!
It’s hard to say too much about the plot without giving away spoilers. It’s year four at cedar Cove Family Camp, and the Six are eagerly looking forward to another trip to alitheia. It seems like each year, they go through something interesting just trying to get there. This year, it’s unprecedented rain fall, to the point that the ferry can’t run. The gang has to drive and then trek through water, just to get to the gateway into alitheia. Once there, they meet old friends, help tellius prepare for his coronation, suffer heartbreak through loss and set off in an attempt to close a gateway by which they think Tselloch is entering alethia. And through it all, Darcy still feels compassion for colin Mackaby, the boy from her world who she believes is being used by Tselloch.
The kids are sixteen now, and we see it in the maturity level of the book, of the things they face this year and in the kids themselves. They are each growing up and showing it in many ways. I came away feeling so proud of them all, even Perry, who I never liked before. Their loyalty to each other is stronger than ever, and they are not afraid to show it, even when someone in power disappoints and hurts one of them. They stand together, and you just know, The Six are going to fulfill that prophecy and save alitheia. In the Enchanted, you really really believe it.
I laughed and cried reading this book, and I felt triumph, triumph for the Six, for how far they’ve come, and what they can and will do. As always, I hated to leave. When it was time for them to return to our humdrum old world, I felt disappointed and thought, oh please, why can’t they just stay. I know I will miss Alethia, tellius, Veli, rubidius and all the rest, particularly, Darcy, and the rest of the Six, until we all get to return next year.
Is it next year yet?

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 [email protected] 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!