Promotion in Motion: Davalyn Spencer in time for Christmas

As You Are at Christmas

—a novella by Davalynn Spencer

About the author:

Davalynn Spencer is an award-winning journalist whose writing has taken her from the city crime beat and national rodeo circuit to adjunct professorship and inspirational publication. Her work has appeared in The Upper Room, Power for Living, The Quiet Hour, Chicken Soup for the Soul, American Cowboy, Western Horseman, and Prorodeo Sports News.

Davalynn is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Christian Authors Network, and The Christian PEN. She writes inspirational romance represented by Linda Glaz of Hartline Literary Agency, speaks and leads worship at women’s retreats, and makes her home on Colorado’s Front Range with her husband, Mike, and their Queensland heeler, Blue.

Connect: Follow Davalynn’s inspirational blog at www.davalynnspencer.blogspot.com, visit her website at www.davalynnspencer.com, and connect with her via http://www.facebook.com/davalynn.spencer and https://twitter.com/davalynnspencer.

Endorsement: Dreams of family, finding love right under your nose, and rekindled faith make As You Are at Christmas a charming romance for any season.  — Lisa J. Lickel, author of Meander Scar

About the Book:

Devastated by her cheating boyfriend, an elementary school teacher heads home for Christmas only to be surprised by the handsome stranger waiting there.

Angela Murphy’s plans for a cozy Colorado Christmas shatter when she finds her fellow-teacher boyfriend entangled with another woman. But she goes home anyway—to her grandmother Mollie’s Berthoud Boarding House where she’s forced into tasks with Mollie’s handsome new boarder, Matt Dawson. While temporarily rooming at the boarding house until his new furnace arrives, Matt sees through Mollie’s manipulations to pair him with her granddaughter, but he can’t complain about spending time with the beautiful gray-eyed school teacher and the mangy stray they pick up on their way home from cutting a Christmas tree. In the company of both a beauty and a beast, Matt understands more clearly the words of a long-forgotten youth leader. Will those words draw him back to a long-forgotten God? And will Angela find that home lies not in the Victorian house of her childhood, but in the arms of the man she’s grown to love?

As You Are at Christmas is available December 1, 2012 from White Rose Publishing (Pelican Book Group) in e-book format and will be featured there December 15. Throughout the month of December, all Extravaganza titles will be on sale for $0.99 at PBG, CBD and Amazon.

ISBN: 978-1-61116-206-6

Electronic

 

Buy the book from the publisher or

Christianbook.com
Amazon

Davalyn, what do you love about this book?

I love the way God’s redemption makes the ugly into something beautiful, much like Mollie Murphy transforms onions into a desert-like relish with her Sweet Onion Jam. You can find the recipe on my website—and don’t forget to also sample Mollie’s homemade pumpkin bread!

Beyond that, I love the way brokenness can bring two people together who may otherwise never have crossed paths. In this case, it’s a broken furnace and a broken heart. And I love the way long-forgotten words came back to Matt, the hero. A comment by his church youth leader years earlier stays buried deep in Matt’s subconscious and comes to the surface at just the right time. That’s exactly what happened to me as I wrote this story. A theme that was hovering in the back of my mind inserted itself in the plot when I wasn’t looking.

What’s the main thing you learned during the process of writing and publishing this book?

As I wrote this story, I learned to listen to my characters. I know that sounds strange to people who don’t write, but I’m a seat-of-the-pantser, and tend to “watch” the movie in my head as I’m writing. Okay – don’t call the men in white coats! Creativity comes in many forms.

What should your readers discover and want to share with their family and friends after reading this book?

I hope readers will open their hearts at Christmas to more than just family, and experience what Matt does when he recognizes the Lord’s redemptive love—that we don’t have to get cleaned up to come to God.

Author comments:

“My favorite story is Beauty and the Beast—not the popular animated version, but a televised play I enjoyed with my children years ago when they were little. As we watched Beauty kneel beside the dying Beast and offer him her love, I saw the power of Christ’s love for us. “While we were yet sinners” he loved us. What would have happened if God had waited until we were lovely or lovable? We would have been forever lost under a curse, just as Beast would have been lost without Beauty’s love to break the evil spell.

This theme worked its way into the fabric of As You Are at Christmas. When my protagonists Angela and Matt were forced into a tree-cutting expedition by Angela’s manipulative grandmother, they stopped to rescue a woeful stray from the roadside. I had to give in to my characters’ demands that transforming love be a part of the story. And they were right!

I shouldn’t be surprised that my first fiction contract was for a Christmas novella because Christmas is my favorite holiday. Come to think of it, a lot of my favorites popped up in this story—Christmas, Colorado, pumpkin bread, Beauty and the Beast, and of course, romance.

God’s grace undergirds the stories I love best, and serves as the motivation behind my fiction as well as my devotional book (Always Before Me). The Lord’s love letter to us echoes through His creation and through our circumstances—good and bad. My characters discover this and it changes their lives. Hopefully it will change readers’ lives as well. What better reason to write!”

Final Market Monday, Best of MM: Influencers

I’m grateful for the support of our various teams and supporters through the years. We’ve all learned things about blogging, expectations, a little of who we are, promtions that work and don’t work, and scheduling our time. For our final Market Monday piece, I’ll share this popular post from June 2011, with a few updates.

Thank you again, and look for Elaine, Sophie, and me over at Author Culture.

What An Influencer Does

By Lisa J Lickel

 

There are book reviewers, there are promotion team members, there are posse and tribe members and cheerleaders for authors…but how does it work? What should they do for and with you to help you promote your work? Here are some examples; few of which you need to be a writer to do.

 

AN INFLUENCER WILL do many or all of these activities:

 

Recommend the book as club selection to your book club; visit the author’s interviews and leave comments.

 

Mention the book when you visit online book club or chat sites. I like to quote a passage or make a comment on Facebook while I’m reading the book.

 

Offer the author a guest spot on your blog or web site. Add the book to a sidebar on your blog, at least for a while.

 

Regularly contribute to an online book review site, and online retailers to post a review. If you’re in a chat room, an online forum, wherever, and the topic comes up, talk about this relevant book you read.

 

Offer to write a book review for your local newspaper. Offer to write (or use one from the author) an article or press release.

 

Add the book to your list of favorites on social networking sites such as Facebook, Shoutlife, Author’s Den, and Goodreads, and post about the book to your friends.

 

Ask your public library to order a copy of the book for their shelves. If your church has a library, ask the librarian to add it to the acquisitions list or offer to donate a copy.

 

When you shop at a bookstore see if they are carrying the book. If not, ask if they’ll order a few copies.

 

If you belong to a writer’s group with a newsletter, ask if you can contribute a book review or give some other plug.

 

Help create a buzz about the book by mentioning it in any groups you might belong to: small group studies, women’s ministry groups, health club, MOPS, civic organizations, Scouts, PTA, etc.

 

Tell friends, family, other people in your social circles about the book and the author. Talk about it when you’re in a waiting room, in line at a store, or at the coffee shop.

 

Make book gifts at holidays and birthdays a regular habit.

 

Hand out author cards, bookmarks, or other promotional materials. Leave a copy in a waiting room (ask), the book shelf at the retirement/assisted living center near you, at that lodge or campground you visit that has a share shelf, at the little neighborhood library.

 

Always remember: Word-of-mouth recommendation is still the number one reason book buyers buy specific books.

 

Tuesday Promotion in Motion: Madily In Love by Lynda Lee Schab

About the Book:

All Madi Lee McCall wants is to fall madly in love again…with her husband.

After a rough patch, Madi’s determined to get her marriage back on track. She’s even taking a romance class at church and getting great suggestions…that fail miserably. The distractions are plenty. She has just reentered the workplace as a health spa receptionist. Her 16-year-old daughter, Christina, is pushing the limits, and Christina’s twin, Max, has fallen hard for a girl who isn’t Madi’s picture of a perfect match for her son. Even younger daughter, Emily, is developing a teenager-ish attitude.

When her mother-in-law moves in—temporarily, of course—the stress starts to drive Madi a little crazier than normal. What she wants, more than anything, is some peace among the chaos.

OakTara

c. 2012

ISBN: 9781602903562

$17.95

Buy from the publisher

Buy from Amazon

“Lynda Schab captures what’s real in women, taking us up and down the roller coaster of Madi’s life with wit and wisdom.” -Christa Allan, author of Walking on Broken Glass and The Edge of Grace
The Madi Series
Delightful. Witty. Entertaining. Real. Poignant.
Light-hearted Women’s Fiction at Its Best

 

About the Author:

 Lynda Lee Schab got her writing start in greeting cards (Blue Mountain Arts, Dayspring) and from there went on to write articles and short stories (Mature Living, Christian Home & School) and in many places online (including http://www.examiner.com/ and http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/). As a freelance writer, she works behind the scenes at FaithWriters.com and is a regular book reviewer for FaithfulReader.com. She is also the Grand Rapids Christian Fiction Examiner and the National Writing Examiner for Examiner.com and a staff writer for http://www.sharedsorrows.com/. Mind Over Madi placed second in the 2008 ACFW Genesis contest, chick lit category, received a highly commended award in the FaithWriters Page Turner contest, and was a finalist in the 2007 RWA Get your Stiletto in the Door contest. Madily in Love was a semi-finalist in the 2011 ACFW Genesis contest. Lynda admits she has a lot in common with the character of Madi. Not only are they both addicted to ice cream, chocolate, and computer games, they struggle with the same types of insecurities and continually require a hefty dose of God’s grace. Lynda lives with her husband, Rob, and two teenagers in Michigan.

Connect with Lynda:

www.LyndaSchab.com (website)

www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com (blog)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynda-Lee-Schab-Author/178942525494801

www.Twitter.com/LyndaSchab

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5265702.Lynda_Lee_Schab

A brief interview with the author:

What do you love about this book?

I love the whole series, mainly because of one thing. It’s the same reason I’ve been hearing from readers: It’s real. Okay, so some events are a bit dramatized and over-the-top, but generally, Madi is every woman. She’s definitely me. Her addiction to chocolate, her poor attempts at handling stress, her sometimes not-so-Christianly responses to people and situations. I wanted to show that our weaknesses, our mistakes, our foolishness can’t erase the fact that God loves us. Such a revelation!

 

Tell us what new thing you learned during the research, writing, or publication process of this particular book.

That I really can meet a deadline! Hoping that will also be the case with the third book in the series. As of right now, I’m way behind schedule. I have lots of work to do!

 

What should your readers discover and want to share with their family and friends after reading this book? 

Besides the reminder that God loves them despite their quirks and failures, I hope readers remember one of the recurring phrases in the book: Embrace this Place. In other words, even when life gets ridiculously crazy and overwhelming, we need to remember that “this too shall pass.” And, most likely, we’ll realize how that craziness was exactly what we needed to change and grow into who God wants us to be or learn something He wants to teach us.

Oh, and one more thing: I hope readers take away the fun—and not the frustration—of trying to add a little spice to their marriages!

 

Market Monday: Excuses, Excuses, not to promote

10 Marketing Excuses That Can Kill Your Book and Career

(And Their Remedies!)

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

 

Here are excuses many authors use not to promote, killers all. Each includes advice that will help a writer salvage his book and career from wrong thinking.

• “My book is doing well enough. My career is on an upturn. I can easily take a year off from promoting to write.”

Advice: Cut back if you must but slot in some time to keep the efforts you’ve already made at least at a simmer.

 

• “I hear everyone is cutting back on promotion so why shouldn’t I?”

Advice: Didn’t your mother ever ask you, “If Johnny jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?” Look at those authors. If they’re selling lots of books, it’s because somebody (their publisher, bookstores, their publicists) is promoting them. I’ll bet, though, that most of the authors saying this aren’t selling very many. Look at your situation. If you don’t do it, who will do it for you?

 

• “I like Carolyn’s Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) idea so I’m going to only do things that cost no money at all.”

Advice: Hey! Frugal is one thing. Cheap is another. Some of the best things you can do cost some money. An example is American Booksellers Association Advance Access program. Find it at www.bookweb.org. Careful though. Always weigh the “rightness” of any program for your particular book.

 

• “I’m gong to examine everything I’m doing and only continue what I can prove is working.”

Advice: You may not be able to prove much, if anything. That’s not the way marketing works. Judge how well your entire campaign is going only after you have given it plenty of time to work. If one thing is working well, maybe it is because your title or name is being seen elsewhere. Balance your campaign, yes. Try new things, yes. Cut back on a few only if you must. Keep in mind that book sales are not necessarily the most valid way to evaluate your promotion.

 

• “Nothing I’ve tried works. I’m giving up.”

Advice. You may be on the brink. Or maybe you’ve been giving up on each aspect of your campaign too early. Any marketing plan must be many-pronged, frequent and long-term.

 

• “If I cut back on promotion and find my sales slipping, I can always gear up again.”

Advice: Yikes! Good publicity and promotion build. It’s like skipping rocks on a pond. With each stone, ripples wave out, out, out. Eventually, after you’ve skipped lots and lots of stones, the results start coming back to you in waves. If you stop whipping those stones into the water, the results dissipate. It will take a long time to get enough stones dancing across the water again to match what you’ve done and, once you lose momentum, you may never get it back.

——

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t, (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo), The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor) and an Amazon Short, “The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know To Sell Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less.” Learn more at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/. She tweets writing and promotion tips at www.twitter.com/FrugalBookPromo

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Instructor for the renowned UCLA Extension Writers’ Program  
Web site: http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/
E-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com

Carolyn’s award-winning poetry chapbook would make a lovely Christmas gift!

Promotion in Motion: dwashington-jones, the runaway Christmas tree

Welcome d. washington-jones, who talks about writing and her children’s book.

About the Author:

d. washington-jones is a writer and an educator who teaches business and economics courses.  She is also a mother of four and an avid “story teller” as was her mother before her.  Although “The Runaway Christmas Tree” is a children’s E-Book, she explores writing in many genres.  She exemplifies a conspicuous writing style of humor, discovery and adventure. She has won numerous awards in education and also writes songs, poetry, business plans and seminars.

From the Book:  

The Kent family wants to purchase a real Christmas tree this year.  When they finally pick one from Nick’s Magic Christmas Tree Grove, they get more than what they bargained for.  They wanted a real tree, but just how does one define “real?”  That is precisely what the Kent family is about to find out!

An Interveiw with d.washington-jones

When did you first begin to write?

In junior-high school, I wrote a short story that everyone seemed to like and it started others to write stories all over the school.  I wrote the story in one weekend and I was hooked from there.  Although I never got it officially published, I consider it one of my greatest achievements because of its impact.  From there, I began to write songs, poetry and plays.  One of my plays was entered in a talent show and I won first place!

What is the most difficult part of writing?

Discipline, hands down.  The most difficult thing for me is actually sitting down to write.  So many other things take precedence some times and I have learned that a heart that is full of anxiety is not free to write.

What was the inspiration (motivation) behind the book? 

My youngest son, now 15, was nine years old when I began writing

this book.  He brought home a story starter that his teacher had given him. I thought it was such a cute idea and that it had the potential for a great little book for children.

What is the hardest part about self-publishing a book?

The hardest part is marketing.  Even if you have a great story, it could just sit on Amazon’s shelf along with millions of other books, because it is difficult to get the word out that it is there.  It can become one book, lost in a sea of many.

What do you like best about your E-Book and why do you think others will like it?

I believe that the story-line is really great and that it has “classic” Christmas story potential.  I could actually see it play alongside “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” or even “Rudolph” on television. It is also based around the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas.  The cast of characters are charming and are very unique like no other classic before it and the illustrations, done by Joe Parrie, are excellent.

How exactly do you feel about your book being an E-Book as opposed to a paperback book? 

Well, I’d love to see it in paperback one day, but for now, my book is a statement to the opportunities available for writers through self-publishing and this is a vital part of what I like to call, “The Digital Revolution.”  More people are buying E-readers and are reading E-Books as one in five households have read an E-Book in the last 12 months according to a Pew Research study done recently. Besides Kindle, Kindle Fire and Nook, my E-book can actually be downloaded by way of a free Kindle app for the I Pad, I Phone, Android and other electronic devices.  This is a new day and as a writer, I am excited to be a part of it.

What can your readers be in store for in the future?

I’m excited to announce that I am writing a sequel, The Runaway Christmas Tree Goes to London. I have a mystery series that I am working on for children, a love-story and a few other things that are in the works.  I’m excited about these projects and can’t wait to see them in print, or E-Book form and out of my head! (Writers will certainly understand that one).

Where can your readers connect with you?

Readers can connect with me on Facebook, twitter, through our website, blog and the following:

http://www.facebook.com/dwashingtonjones

http://www.twitter.com/dwashingtonjone

http://www.therunawaychristmastree.com

The Runaway Christmas Tree website and launch page or even through my inspirational blog at www.dwashingtonjones.com.

To purchase the book on Amazon

Here is the link to purchase it on Barnes and Noble

                                                             

Deep Thinkers and Curious Space Travelers

Deep Thinkers

by Tom Blubaugh

We are all travelers on this space ship we call earth. Oh, yes! It is a space ship! As I sit at my computer, writing and sipping a bottle of flavored water, I have a mental awareness, but not physical one, of movement. This planet, although it seems to be perfectly still, moves at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour around a sun that is 100 times as big and 93,000,000 miles away. Every 365.25 days in our year, we travel 587,322,000 miles through space while rotating at 1,000 miles per hour. This planet is 8,000 miles wide – the sun we circle is 800,000 miles wide. It takes 8.3 minutes for the light of the sun, which travels at 186,285 miles per second, to strike the earth’s surface. It would take the earth 57.8 days to reach the sun’s surface if this were possible. The sun travels at a speed of 491,832 miles per hour around the galaxy and it’s estimated it would take 220,000,000 years to complete one orbit.

If the previous paragraph causes you to be in awe – you are a deep thinker. If it makes you wonder how we know this information and creates a desire to dig deeper – you are a curious space traveler. I am both.

What I am going to share with you is of an intimate nature. I keep a journal of many of my conversations with God. I started this in March 2004. I often say something like “I wish I had done this years ago” but I hope I have learned that everything comes in God’s time. I love the statement “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I do not write in my journal every day and not all of my transcription is done in my journal. Sometimes I type in my word processor. Where I write is not important. The process is my most effective means of communication with God.

Some of what I share are things from a very small portion of these conversations. Others are experiences I have had when God has taught me life lessons. Some are things I’ve heard others say and their words have stuck with me.

One day when I was having a conversation with the Lord, He said, “Write. Don’t stop. Communicate.” I have written for a long time so I didn’t really think too much about it. A few days later, He told me again to write.

“You want me to write?”

“Yes. You have a lot to say. It will help many.” I told Him I didn’t know where to start or on what.

“I will show you.” At that time my website, The Genesis Project was under construction and I felt I had done a fair amount of composition so again I didn’t change anything.

A few days later, we were having a talk and I said, “This is so neat Lord. I had no idea communication with you could be like this”.

“Share it,” he said.

My writing is an attempt to follow His command. It is not inspired as the Bible is inspired. It is a collection of some of my personal communications with God.

We are very fortunate to be writers at this particular time. It is an awesome time and one I believe God is using mightily to promote His kingdom. For years, a verse in the Bible has intrigued me—“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14). Although I know this verse is true, I’ve wondered how this was going to happen. Now I believe I know—via the Internet. We Christian writers are part of His awesome plan.

My office is a twelve by fifteen foot room in the middle of the United States. Only God knows how many countries my writing reaches through my blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other channels.
Connect with Tom:

Tom Blubaugh, Author of Night of the Cossack and other works

 

Night of the Cossack historical fiction ebooks available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble

Night of the Cossack historical fiction signed paperback at Night of the Cossack  FREE shipping to address in USA.

Night of the Cossack historical fiction pdf file will be available soon.

Facebook fan page

The Write Trail Scribbling from the sometimes creative/sometimes scattered mind of Tom Blubaugh

Twitter @tomblubaugh

Goodreads

Authors Den

Info-line for writers promotion

Linkedin to join my network

Genesis Project my ministry site

Follow me on Pinterest

The Sunday Book Review – The Seventh Dimension: The Door

 

The Seventh Dimension-The Door

By Lorilyn Roberts
c. Oct 14, 2012, Amazon Digital

YA Adventure/Fantasy

ASIN: B009R8Q1WC

$.99 E-book

 

A truly epic adventure for readers of all ages: although Lorilyn calls this a YA coming of age story, it’s every bit as wondrous for adults. The author has studied the classics, and only subsequent reads will help you find the planted symbolism that makes Seventh Dimension-The Door a clever read.

You’ll find a loving nod to Pilgrim’s Progress if you follow the little white dog into the woods. Shale Snyder has a dreadful accident as a young girl, and finds it difficult to forgive herself or move forward when the victim refuses to accept her grief or confession. Grief is accompanied by hatred which colors Shale’s world.

She is given a second chance, however, in a fantastic land of talking animals (grown from Roberts’s first story, The Donkey and the King), an allegory which makes teaching your children about forgiveness, good and evil, a much easier task. Follow Shale and her new friends as she travels on an adventure of a lifetime to find the king while also growing out of her bad habits into a self-assured young woman who learns obedience and gratitude despite willfulness in the face of despair. Finding the father she always wanted, and his new wife and mysterious servants, help Shale unravel the truth of her long-ago accident, and face the consequences with a clean heart.

Truth, time travel, self-doubt, sacrifice, forgiveness and even all four loves, are explored in depth in this soon-to-be beloved tale of supernatural grace. Told in third person from Shale’s point of view, with humor, dread, sorrow and shame, Roberts’s time-honored story-telling will make you feel part of the adventure and eagerly anticipating the next book.

Buy on Kindle

♦♦♦♦♦ Reflections

Lost in the Woods new book – free e-book today!

We’re doing something a little different today. Instead of just a review, we’re showcasing Cheryl Rogers, author of a new series aimed at pre-teens, starting with Lost in the Woods, which you can get free today on Kindle.

Lost in the Woods: A Bible Camp Mystery, a brand new mystery adventure for preteens and teens, is available for free this black Friday weekend in the Amazon Kindle Store.

The book set in the Florida backwoods is the story about a boys’ church group whose first-ever nature retreat turns into a nightmare.  Problems begin early when the no-see-ums strike at dusk. And it’s downhill from there when 13-year-old Zack mysteriously disappears in the middle of the night, several of the campers become sick, and a hurricane threatens the Gulf Coast.

The story shares biblical principles and the message of God’s saving love in an action-packed plot with a cast of lovable characters. Readers encounter the nature-loving Zack, shy, video-loving Chang, tough and cocky Steve, and the reluctant chef, Bill.

The book is authored by Cheryl Rogers, publisher of New Christian Books Online Magazine, a free publication with new book announcements, excerpts, author marketing news, digital book news, features and an online storefront.

“As a mom I’ve been privileged to work with school and church groups. I try to capture the realism of those experiences in a fiction account that shares my faith,” Rogers says.

Rogers, a Miami native who worked several years as a newspaper reporter, writes ebooks encouraging people of all ages to seek God and stay connected to his word. Among her books are Finding God: Biblical Answers to Questions About Our Maker and Fast Track to Victory, A Christian Guidebook.

She targets preteens and teens with Just Like Jonah Wail Tales, a collection of short stories teaching there is a price to pay when you disobey. A family book, the I Can See Christian Storybook Treasury aims to defeat doubts about God as a child grows.

Rogers came to know the Lord as an adult after suffering a devastating illness. “It is my hope to spare others the needless pain of not having God in their lives,” she says.

An experienced camper and native Floridian, Rogers has traversed the backwoods trails, swatted no-see-ums, paddled canoes, and pitched her tent on primitive campsites sans electricity.

The book retails for $2.99, but Get your free copy today. The giveaway runs Nov. 23, 24, and 25.

Exclusive details about the lovable Bible Camp Mystery characters will be published in the coming weeks at New Christian Books Online Magazine.

Tuesday Promotion in Motion: Vijaya Schartz and Chronicles of Kassouk

NOAH’S ARK

Chronicles of Kassouk – A Prequel (The beginning)

By Vijaya Schartz

From Desert Breeze Publishing

April 2012

About the Book:

When Trixie’s star freighter, Noah’s Ark, drops out of jump space in an uncharted part of the universe, she believes the M‑class planet on her viewer represents hope and salvation for her motley crew and the ragtag settlers aboard her ship.

Kostas, ex Space Marine, the expert survivalist recruited for this expedition, doesn’t believe in coincidences, and knows that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Everyone on this voyage to seed a new planet with life, is running from something, and harbors dangerous secrets… including Trixie, who vowed to never let a man control her life again. As for Kostas, he would get lynched on the spot if anyone suspected who he really is.

But on this seemingly abandoned planet, others are watching, herding them for evil purposes… And when the truth emerges and secrets unravel, Trixie and Kostas will have to fight for survival, for freedom, and for the right to love…

Buy the book:

Amazon Kindle

B&N Nook

All Romance eBooks

 

About the Author:

Born in France, award-winning author Vijaya Schartz never conformed to anything and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims to also travel through time, as she writes with the same ease about the future and the far away past. She has over twenty titles available in various genres. Her books collected many five star reviews and literary awards. She makes you believe you actually lived these extraordinary adventures among her characters. Her stories have been compared to Indiana Jones with sizzling romance. So, go ahead, dare to experience the magic, and she will keep you entranced, turning the pages until the last line.

A brief interview with the Author:

1. What do you love about this new book?

I love the fact that after writing the entire series, I went back and re-read all the books in order to write about what happened before. I had sewn so many threads in the course of the four other novels, that it was a challenge. I had many legends and sites, and cultures that needed a point of origin. Of course I knew what they were, but writing their story was very exciting. I also loved revisiting the world of Kassouk with a new perspective.

2. What new information did you learn in the writing or publication of this book?

I learned that I work well with a frame of reference. The more details are imposed upon my story from the start, the better it is for my muse. Constraints do not impair but enhance my imagination. So when I had to work with so many threads, while my author friends were exclaiming how restrictive it might be, I was excited and inspired. That’s probably why I also work well writing publisher series, like the Borealis sci-fi romance series from Desert Breeze Publishing. I also learned that I can get cats into my stories, even on a spaceship.

3. Please share something unique about the book or yourself that fans won’t find on your web site or Facebook.

The Chronicles of Kassouk series started for me a long time ago, when I wasn’t published yet. It started as a short story. I wanted to prove to myself that I could write a story about snow, even though I hate the cold and I have lived in the warm zones of the globe for a few decades. But I discovered at the time that I couldn’t write short. The working title was The Snows of Kassouk. Then it became White Tiger and was first published as a single title by Triskelion Publishing in 2004. Then, after the Triskelion bankruptcy fiasco, Desert Breeze wanted to re-publish it, and that’s when it became a series that now has five titles. Hush-hush. There is a sixth title in the works, but it won’t be published until 2014.

Visit Vijaya:

Web: Vijaya Schartz

Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick

http://www.amazon.com/author/vijayaschartz

The Sunday Book Review: The Diaries of Pontius Pilate

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate

by Joseph Max Lewis

c. August 2012

Trestle Press

Genre: Contemporary Thriller

e-Book $4.99

briefly:

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate opens with the murder of a member of an archeological team along the shores of the Dead Sea. We learn that the murderer and victim are both spies observing the expedition and grappling with the fact that the team has just discovered some controversial artifacts.

In fact, archaeologists Kevin Elliot Jill Gates have unearthed twenty mysterious copper scrolls. They manage to open one scroll far enough to take a series of digital photographs of the writings and email them to a Professor of Ancient Latin for translation. Unaware of the content, Kevin and Jill are unprepared when they’re caught between an ancient conspiracy of global power that’s determined to destroy the scrolls along with everyone connected to them and a small interfaith group of former military volunteers, the only force on earth that stands between the truth and certain death.

 

My review:

Joseph Max Lewis, former Green Beret, debuts with a page-turning thriller. Although the author asked for a review and sent a review copy, I did purchase the e-book.

Diaries is part conspiracy theory, part archaeology, part special ops and technological suspense with some torture and a little romance.

The reader is sent between international and inter-denominational power groups, but it’s not clear at first who are the good guys and which are the bad, which only ramps the tension. Moving through Israel, the US, academia, and anonymous torture chambers where evil reigns, readers gradually learn along with archaeologists Kevin and Jill exactly the importance of the long-held secret they unearthed. Never published, documented, or even more than faintly rumored, the existence of Pontius Pilate’s, one-time Roman ruler of Palestine at the time of Christ,  investigation into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus could affect the faith of the world. Pilate hid the diaries perhaps too well, for they lay silent for two thousand years, along with other artifacts from that horrible time.

Running from those who want to destroy evidence of the diaries and anyone who knows about them, Kevin and Jill must figure out who to trust as they are forced into close quarters on a ship. They wonder if they can even trust each other. Over the course of time, they examine their feelings as well as matters of faith while trying to keep the scrolls safe.

Diaries is not for the faint of heart, as scenes of massacre and torture are somewhat graphic. Intriguing details of military operations are detailed, as one would expect given the author’s background. Little formatting glitches and occasional other errors don’t stop the action much; I occasionally buzzed through extra-long passages of technology which others would probably enjoy. The romantic relationship was a little rough and spastic, but the story was not meant to be built around a romance, and those elements will only get better in future work, I suspect. I look forward to more from this author.

Buy on Nook

Buy on Kindle

♦♦♦♦ Reflections