Sunday, September 30, 2012

Saving Halloween by Lisa Ard



Saving Halloween
by Lisa Ard


Description
When book-smart Anne Parson meets Halloween Spavento, she sees exactly what she wants to see - a friend. Halloween waves away trouble, magically silences school bullies and offers Anne unfailing friendship. But, when the Spavento family's enchanting exploits are exposed, will Anne face her fears and save Halloween?
A spellbinding tale of outcasts who find acceptance, a girl who discovers the true meaning of family, and characters who are not always what they seem.

Review
By Margaret C. Arvanitis
When Anne, tormented by school bullies, finds a new friend, she is welcomed into the Spavento family. Anne finds a family different from her own rigid parents who are involved so much in their own careers leaves her with strict schedules, tutors and house servants. The Spavento family is considered strange by the town folk. When Anne finds out their secret, will the girls' friendship end?
Yes this is a Halloween story, but it is also the story of the struggle teen age girls have to fit in with the norm. Author, Lisa Ard has a great imagination. Well written. It should be in every middle school library.

About the Author
Lisa Ard leads a charmed life in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children. Lisa's first book, Fright Flight (Dream Seekers Book 1), received the FlamingNet Top Choice award. Lisa has also written Dream Team (Dream Seekers Book 2), featured in an earlier blog post.
Saving Halloween won a 2012 Kay Snow Writing Award for Young Readers. In addition to writing, she loves visiting schools and hearing from readers. Already she’s presented her fabulous writing workshops to a gazillion young students (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you can check her website counter for the current number). For school visits, book information, contests, games, puzzles, or just to chat, you may contact Lisa via her website.

Links


Friday, September 28, 2012

Under Shattered Skies Trilogy by P. D. Allen


Under Shattered Skies Trilogy

Read here about the first two books in the Under Shattered Skies trilogy: Murderer's Sky and Daemon Sky. You can read about final book in the series, Mourning Sky, in a further blog post

Murderer's Sky:
Book 1 of Under Shattered Skies
by P. D. Allen



Description
Under shattered skies, fifty-seven illegal immigrants are murdered outside of the town of Heater, Arizona, a dying town in a dying civilization. Their deaths in a ritual sacrifice awaken Sheriff Elliot Pierce, Father Albert Hayne, pregnant survivor Maria Diaz and all of the people of Heater to an evil as abhorrent as what is happening in the sky overhead, an evil that is linked to what is happening in the sky, to their fate and to the fate of the entire world.
Murderer's Sky is the first book of the speculative, dystopian horror trilogy Under Shattered Skies. Set in a world not too different from our own, a world where humanity has passed the point of no return in its exploitation of the planet, a world where the monster threatening the future of life on this planet is the sociopathic inclination of its dominant species. Is there still a chance to save it all? Perhaps, but only if we can overcome isolationist tendencies and achieve a new degree of empathy with the world in which we live. Can that happen? Or are we damned to commit suicide by ignorance? Find out in Under Shattered Skies.

Review
By Elaina Davidson
Murderer's Sky begins innocuously enough - a priest summoned to a mother's home, the local sheriff giving him a ride- but all is not as it seems. Overhead the sky is sickly and ominous and there are rumors of a terrible massacre out in the desert.
We come to know this priest with the soul of a musician and we travel with the sheriff into the jaws of hell. We meet a mother trying to help her challenged son- a boy who paints prophetic images of doom. We follow two boys who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnesses to terrible atrocity. We meet a woman about to give birth, the only survivor of a holocaust.
And then there are those with ulterior motives. Drug smugglers and people peddlers, soldiers without conscience, and their leader, a creature from the darkness. And the first inkling of what and who caused the changes to the atmosphere comes to the fore; this is long-term manipulation. And what, pray, is up at that church raising a safe house?
Every character is well-rounded and the tale flows with ease, holding the intense interest of this reader. Woven into and throughout is the ages-old struggle between what is good and what is evil- an enlightening experience in this silent, hot and dry context. A well-structure tale; P. D. Allen is a born storyteller.
I recommend Murderer's Sky to anyone who enjoys depth in characters, a strange adventure, science and the supernatural- these factors are cleverly woven to form a tapestry that appears normal...yet isn't. My only gripe is that Murderers Sky ended too soon! But the stage is set, and we know our characters now...and I cannot wait to read the next volume: Daemon Sky. May it be soon.

Links


Daemon Sky:
Book 2 of Under Shattered Skies
by P. D. Allen



Description
The multi-threaded plot of Under Shattered Skies is on the move even as the sky itself is on the move. In the second book of the series, Daemon Sky, our many characters draw inexorably closer to their fate. And we are given our first close look at the evil behind the plot to cull the population through atmospheric cataclysm, as well as a glimpse through the eyes of Martin Ross and his henchman, Vince Riker.
Will Albert Hayne be able to heal the wounds of his past, with the help of the elemental spirits he has subconsciously invoked through his fiddle playing?
Will Sheriff Pierce be able to rescue the town of Heater from its own rising madness, and will he be able to rescue it from the shadow of Martin Ross and the flux of the disturbed skies?
Will Zach McCready be able to lead the people of Loveland Manor successfully through their encounter with Homeland Security and the US military?
Will Keven Howell be able to rescue his injured friend without falling into the hands of Homeland Security?
Will Lucinda Morales be able to keep her family and her community safe from the threat of anti-immigrant violence?
Will Connie Blain and her children be safe from her deranged husband?
Will Rhonda and Allison Howell be able to rescue their mother before she becomes a victim of Reverend Chassey's mass suicide?
And will Colonel Nations be able to save his base from the designs of Martin Ross, along with the town and the entire world?
Daemon Sky takes the suspense, the intrigue and the terror up another notch, transcending the plot through the interweaving of characters, storyline and imagination, to deliver the reader into a whole new realm of speculative fiction.

Review

By Elaina Davidson

Daemon Sky is akin to a modern parable. The problems of our civilization are condensed into the small town of Heater in Arizona where good folk have to battle for survival against not only the greed of evil men, but a shattering sky that could end all life. In Heater there is racial tension, religious fanaticism, crime and prejudice, but Daemon Sky isn't a political statement, a religious treatise or shake-up about crime, greed and uncaring. It's far more interesting than that! Not only does the reader fall in love with some characters (especially Father Hayne), but the reader is transported into a space of archetypes, demonic forces, the terrible science that destroys and, above all, the beauty and power of pure music.

And yet, given the great concepts, I have to tell you there is something very "normal" about Daemon Sky. Perhaps it's the well-rounded characters and what makes them tick (so to speak), or perhaps it's the fact that one can identify with one or more of them...and perhaps it's P. D. Allen's remarkable ability to keep a story flowing ever onward...

Loved Murderer's Sky (vol 1), loved Daemon Sky as much, and can't wait to read the final instalment of the trilogy, Mourning Sky!


Links

About the Author
P. D. Allen has seen the publishing industry from many angles, as an editor, proofreader, typesetter and a sales clerk in a book store. But first and foremost, he is a novelist. With the publishing industry in turmoil due to the rising popularity of ebooks, he has chosen to throw his hat in the ring as an indie author.
P. D. has led a dynamic and adventurous life. He bicycled the Rocky Mountains, traveled the country as a wandering minstrel, and took degrees in geology, earth science and mathematics. Some consider him an authority on energy issues. His work has been referred to in the US Congress, and in the Australian and French Parliaments.
Yet his greatest talent has always been storytelling. He writes fiction in longhand, with a pen and paper, and then types the handwritten manuscripts into document files for proofing and editing.
Twelve years ago, he had the good fortune to find his soul mate, Elizabeth Anne Pfeiffer (nee Lovan). Elizabeth is an angel who has stood by his side through the best and worst, and has always believed in him, even when he did not believe in himself. He must have done something good, to have such a wonderful person as his partner.
Over the next couple of years, P. D. Allen will release several novels. He will also produce further volumes of Yoopernatural and Quantum Meditations. The last book in the Under Shattered Skies trilogy, Mourning Sky, was released in October 2012.

Links


Monday, September 24, 2012

Revenge So Sweet by J. A. Cunningham


Revenge So Sweet
by J. A. Cunningham



Description
What would you do if you had awakened from a coma to find out you and your spouse were the victims of a surprise attack? This attack put you in the coma and resulted in the death of your spouse. And now you are haunted by visions of the attack that show it unfold little by little in full detail.
What would you do if you never had to sleep, never had to eat, healed quickly and had unbelievable strength? Would you use that ability to seek revenge?
Morgan K. Wright, a cage fighter known by the name of Kane, is experiencing just that. Follow along in this action packed drama, as he seeks out six members of a local mob that were behind this surprise attack. After taking out these six mob members, aided by his new found abilities, Morgan’s hunger for revenge is not satisfied. He meets up with Krystal, his dead wife Sara’s best friend, in an effort to gain important information. As Krystal is not willing to give up the information freely, she offers Morgan a proposition. Will Morgan accept her proposition? What will Morgan have to do to gain this information he wants? What will Morgan do when he finds out who the sole person responsible for the attack is?
Warning: Reader discretion is advised. The content of this book is not suitable for young readers. This book contains strong language, sexual situations, and strongly depicts acts of violence and rape.

Review
There are no reviews as yet. Be the first to review this NEW RELEASE.

About the Author


J. A. Cunningham was born and raised in North East Kansas, were he currently lives with his wife and three kids. His love for Science Fiction books has inspired him to share with the world his personal collection of stories stored in his creative mind. Revenge So Sweet is the author's first novel. He has also published the short story Waking up Dead.
Outside of writing he enjoys fixing PC's, drawing, riding motorcycles, programming, reading, and most of all having fun with his family.


Links


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sec4rets by A. L. Burgos



Kindle Edition only $3.00
Sec4rets by A. L. Burgos


Description
We all have secrets...
Mark, Tiffany, Kevin and Kim are best friends. When they enter High School together they find out that it's not all fun and games as they find out that drama is involved. They must stick together to get through High School but when they start to keep secrets from each other, ones that can tear them apart, their friendships will be tested as the secrets come out. So will their friendships survive or will the secrets be too much and tear them apart? Let the secrets come out...



Review
By Katherine Christina Rochholz
I will give this 4 out of 5 stars
I loved this book. I normally do not read this type of book, teenage drama was never my thing. I went through enough of it as a teenager. But I loved this book! I wanted more, there were the characters you loved, the characters you loved to hate… those you just plain hated… those you related to… I won’t go into much detail because people should read this book, it deals with a lot of real issues. It is a quick read, I read it in just a day. I loved some of the characters and hated others. I had my ideas about who it was that knew the secrets. It was a fast paced book that kept you on the edge of your seat, leaving you wanting more, and leaving you loving and hating the characters. I would recommend it for older teens and young adults, there is some language to it, but what teen doesn’t say a cuss word now and then. 
Now why did it get 4 and not five if I loved it so much? There were parts where I had to go back and reread just make sure that I knew what was going on. Within chapters you transition from one character to another, and there is no space no clear transition. The other thing though I love dialogue, it seemed there were some parts that needed more, there could have been more details of a scene or the facial expressions of the characters. There is so much you can get from dialogue but sometimes the dialogue needs a little help. There were some other little details that didn’t really make too much sense but they are forgivable. 
I am very excited to know there is a book two because I so want more of these characters. So if you want teen drama you have found it with this book. It is an edge of your seat roller-coaster ride of drama and breathtaking moments that create characters you will love to hate, and hate to love. A great first novel from A. L. Burgos!


Excerpt
The sun was beginning to come up. The birds were chirping as they flew from tree to tree. The New York streets were wet from the nights rain. Cars zoomed down the streets as people made their way to work. A alarm clock rang on a nightstand next to the bed of one Tiffany Gomez. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. The radio played some song that Tiffany did not know. She looked over at her alarm clock. 7:00am blinked in big red lights. She rubbed her eyes and slammed her hand down on the clock. She laid there under her covers for a few minutes. She knew she had to get up but her body was telling her to stay still. The first day of High School loomed in her mind. She knew it wasn’t going to be as fun as she seen on TV.
“Damn it.” She finally spoke. Her body was finally letting her get up from her bed. She made her way down the hall to the bathroom where she would shower the night away. She stood there under the warm water and she thought to herself. There would be a lot of old people from Junior High there, so that was a plus. On the other hand there would be a bunch of new people she didn’t know. Ones that she knew would be rude and ones that she knew would try so hard to be her friend. She kind of felt relaxed more with the thought of the rude ones. She hated people who tried to befriend her when she didn’t like them. It was her number one pet peeve.
“Can you hurry up?” Joseph yelled at the top of his voice. Joseph is Tiffany’s younger brother. He was starting his first day of Junior High and he was overly excited.
“I’m coming out now.” She yelled back. They didn’t have the best brother sister relationship but they didn’t have the worst either. They would argue over the dumbest things but what brother and sister didn’t.
When their father passed away 2 years ago Tiffany was in Junior High and Joseph was still in elementary. Joseph knew about death but he wasn’t fully aware of what it meant. Tiffany had to be strong for her brother who had sleepless nights. He had dreams of his father buried under ground with worms eating his eyes. He would cry almost every night. Tiffany didn’t have time to grieve cause her mother and brother were a mess. She tried to keep them calm until one day Tiffany had enough. She called her best friend Mark over for a sleepover. As they laid on her bed watching a movie Tiffany broke down in tears. She cried so hard that she couldn’t breathe. She felt so much better after that cry. She had finally released the hurt and pain that was inside. Her and Mark just stood there holding each other.
“Mom said to hurry up breakfast is on the table and I need to shower.”
“I am coming.” She yelled with a tone of annoyance added in with anger.
Tiffany stepped out the shower and tied the towel around her body. She walked over to her room so she could dry off and get dressed. There on her computer desk stood her Blackberry. She picked it up and looked at the screen, no missed calls or text messages. Tiffany was hoping that Mark had tried to contact her. After they graduated from Junior High School Mark decided to leave New York and go to Pennsylvania. Mark didn’t tell Tiffany anything about his plans, it was Mark’s parents who had informed her of his plans. All Summer he had been ignoring her calls and texts. Her best friend had abandoned her.

From the Author
I want to introduce myself, my name is Anthony Luis Burgos and I am an aspiring writer. As a young child I loved to write, it became a big part of my life. I am now 27 years old and have finished my book, the first book I ever wrote that I am self publishing. 
All my life I have had people tell me to publish my books but I never knew how to do that. I Googled publishing and it seemed nearly impossible to get published. Now with the likes of Nook, Kindle and iBooks anyone can get your books published and make money from it. 
I finished my first teen drama book entitled Sec4rets last month and I am so pleased with it. The writing process was one filled with so many emotions. I went through being happy, angry, sad, confused, and lost. When I write I write for a reason and that is to have people out there relate to something, so when I wrote some scenes in my book I did cry. There were also times where I lost my way and felt like I wouldn't finish the book at all, I didn't know where I wanted the book to go or how I wanted the characters to be. I was in a major writers block point for about a whole month. I sat back and took that month off and just let ideas come to me, and low and behold they came like a tidal wave and I was back to writing my book again. 
As a writer I had my writing process in mind, not all authors have the same state of mind for their project but I had my way and it worked. At the beginning of writing I had the characters names, the storylines and the ending. I feel that you should have a ending before you start writing so that when you start writing you have a idea of how it should flow, so that it can get to that final chapter and final scene you have in your head. I may have changed some of the story lines a few from time to time but the ending always stayed the same in my head. The funny thing is that this is a teen drama series and I already have the ending for the final book (which is number 8 lol) and now I know what I need to do to get to that ending that I yearn to reach. 
Overall the writing process is very fun but at times can be very stressful because I do have friends waiting to read it and I don't want to let them down. I am excited for everyone to read it and I am already working on book 2 and have my writing process all in my head….ending and all…"

Links


The Affect of Red by P. A. Davis


The Affect of Red
by P. A. Davis


Description
The Affect of Red is a work of fiction, a tragic story of love at first sight, woven into the shadowed world of human trafficking. It is now available in paperback as well as Kindle edition. An audio version is in the works.
Camille Durran is a young attorney in San Francisco. Through her discovery research on a land deal in Nevada, she realizes that the plaintiffs in her court case are a front for an international human trafficking operation run Russian mafia group. Her distaste for this type of abuse provokes her to expose them to the FBI, they see her as a menace to their child prostitution operation, and the threats on her life begin.
Camille's friend convinces her an evening out might help her get some relief from the anxiety and pressure brought on by her court case. Although she is ambivalent, Camille acquiesces; she puts on a red evening dress and sits on a barstool with her friend in an upscale San Francisco bar.
Robert enters the bar, expecting to meet some friends, and he is immediately taken by the sight of Camille. By chance he finds a seat next to her, they begin talking and find they have similar circumstances, and as they continue, the attraction grows deeper.
They agree to meet the following weekend in Reno, Nevada for a lunch date. The conversation stumbles as Camille's concern for her current situation distracts her attention, almost driving Robert from the table. Neither wants to part, they find common ground and decide to start the lunch date over. After a pleasant afternoon and evening, they are walking through the lobby of a hotel when Camille is detained by one of the Russian mafia thugs. Robert helps her escape, but this only begins a new existence, an existence of running, hiding from the Russian mafia group.
They are taken into the witness protection program and relocated to a remote cove in Costa Rica.
Their love deepens in Costa Rica, and when they return to the US, they marry, have a child, and begin living an idyllic life as vineyard owners in Northern California. But the threat of the Russian Mafia never leaves their lives.

Excerpt
Sophia noticed a crowd was gathering below her perch on the tenth floor. From this height, the deep shadows cast by the buildings which soared above the street obscured most of the throng that gathered. But she could tell by the play of light and shadow people were filling the sidewalks and streets. It was late afternoon and she could see the lights of the Barcelo Palacio Hotel coming on, there were cars rushing along the Pan-American Highway further in the distance, and the sun’s disk was compressed like an orange being crushed between the sky and the horizon.
What started as a few curious onlookers was now a mass of humanity. She could make out police enforcers, fire and emergency crews with their roving medical attendants, reporters, and the curious, always the curious crowded into the street below. None-the-less, it was more people than Sophia had seen in one place in her short fourteen years. Her window of time to make a move was running out. She looked through the window and could see her captor asleep on the couch. It wouldn’t be long before he awoke, and the pressure to do something was growing.
She looked over the edge of the balcony again. The spot she proposed to be her landing zone was now filling with people, police, and emergency vehicles. She picked a wide opening between two cars. ‘That will have to do’, she thought.
Sophia rubbed her abdomen, looking at the slight protrusion and roundness she knew she loved, and at the same time, she hated. She thought of her life in this shadowed world, nights filled with screams and fear, the hopelessness of her plight, and how it all culminated in this moment
Sophia thought of her father and only hoped he could forgive her. A tear appeared below one eye, and she prayed her mother, whom she would soon join up in heaven, would understand.
“I’m sorry baby X,” she said aloud. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
She raised her arms and lowered her head like a seraph about to aviate the air above the crowd. With a diffident smile, Sophia dipped her head, and taking aim on the opening she chose, let her body fall forward.
“Oh Mother, Oh God – Forgive me.”

Review
By Makenna Hutton 

After a somewhat slow tempo at the beginning The Affect of Red settles into a riveting read the moment Robert and Camille hook up. Camille is an attorney who has inadvertently discovered that the Russian plaintiffs in her court case are a front for an international human trafficking ring. That prompts Camille to turn the bad guys into the FBI. From that point on, her life is threatened and that's about the time she meets Robert.

What I liked about this book is that the author brings human trafficking to the forefront with his fictional account. The idea of exploiting children is obscene and most of the time people do not want to venture into this topic at all, although it exists. My hat is off to the author for that alone.

At times there were a few stretches in the plot but overall the book is very well-written and offers a look into the kinds of people who exploit children.

About the Author

P. A. Davis is an award winning Architect currently living in Hawaii on the island of Maui. After growing up and working in Laguna Beach, CA, he married his wife, Barbara in 1980 and moved to Santa Rosa, CA, where they lived for 15 years. Prior to living in Hawaii they lived in Truckee, CA, Albuquerque, NM, Divide, CO, and Olympia, WA. He studied music and was a song writer and performer from 1969 to 1971 before he decided to study Architecture. He has three daughters, three granddaughters, and a grandson. He is the author of The Red Poppy and Raindancer.
Please visit the author's blog for further insights into the author's stance on human trafficking and child prostitution.

Links