Review: Parallux View

Once again, I've found a new author that I am really enjoying! I recently read Allan Leverone's book, Parallux View, and found that I couldn't put it down. I think that I ended up reading this book in about hours. That is always a good sign for me when it comes to reading a book. If I can't put it down to do the everyday things that need done, then I must be enjoying it.

The story was well written and packed a great deal into a very small time frame. It was interesting to consider this story as a "what if" scenario of what was happening toward the end of the Cold War. Could this really have happened?

The characters in this story were intriguing. I found myself journeying right now to Tracie and Shane as they traveled from Maine to D.C. while being pursued by members of the KGB.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more of Mr. Leverone's work.

FTC Notice: I received a copy of this book from the author.


Join Allan Leverone, author of the thriller, Parallax View, as he tours the blogosphere May 6 - June 28 on his third virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!  

ABOUT ALLAN LEVERONE

Allan Leverone is the author of five novels, including the Amazon Top 25 overall paid bestselling thriller, THE LONELY MILE. He is a 2012 Derringer Award winner for excellence in short mystery fiction, as well as a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee. Allan lives in Londonderry, NH with his wife and family, and a cat who has used up eight lives. Visit his website at www.allanleverone.com.

Follow Allan!

ABOUT PARALLAX VIEW

It’s late in the Cold War, and the Soviet Union is slowly disintegrating. In the midst of this uncertainty and upheaval, a mysterious group of KGB officials has concocted a desperate plan in an attempt to maintain power. And one beautiful young CIA operative is all that stands between this shadowy cabal and the outbreak of World War Three. Spring, 1987. CIA Special Operations agent Tracie Tanner is tasked with what should be a relatively straightforward mission: deliver a secret communique from Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. President Ronald Reagan. After smuggling the document out of East Germany, Tracie believes she is in the clear. She's wrong. There are shadowy forces at work, influential people who will stop at nothing to prevent the explosive information contained in the letter from reaching the White House. Soon, Tanner is knee-deep in airplane crashes and murder, paired up with a young Maine air traffic controller and on the run for their lives, unsure who she can trust at CIA, but committed to completing her mission, no matter the cost.

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Parallax View Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

Monday, May 6 - Book reviewed at Author Rebecca Graf

Wednesday, May 8 - Interviewed at Examiner

Thursday, May 9 -Book featured at Authors and Readers Book Corner

Monday, May 13 - Interviewed at Literal Exposure

Wednesday, May 15 - Guest blogging at Janna Shay

Thursday, May 16 - Guest blogging at The Book Connection

Monday, May 20 - Book reviewed at Vic's Media Room

Tuesday, May 21 - Guest blogging at My Cozie Corner

Wednesday, May 22 - Interviewed at Digital Journal

Thursday, May 23 - Book reviewed at Miki's Hope

Monday, May 27 - Guest blogging at Rainy Day Reviews

Wednesday, May 29 - Book feature at Book Lover Stop

Friday, May 31 - Interviewed at Review From Here

Wednesday, June 5 - Interviewed at I'm Shelfish

Monday, June 10 - Book reviewed at Celtic Lady's Reviews

Monday, June 10 - Book featured at Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews

Tuesday, June 11 -Book reviewed at Mary's Cup of Tea

Thursday, June 13 - Interviewed at Broowaha

Monday, June 17 - Book Featured at Community Book Stop

Tuesday, June 18 - Guest blogging at Allvoices

Wednesday, June 19 - Book featured at The Writer's Life

Thursday, June 20 - 1st Chapter Reveal at Gina's Library

Friday, June 21 - First Chapter revealed at Rainy Day Reviews

Monday, June 24 - Book reviewed at Create with Joy

Tuesday, June 25 - Book reviewed at Queen of All She Reads

Wednesday, June 26 - Book reviewed at Review From Here

Wednesday, June 26 - Book featured at Confessions of a Reader

Thursday, June 27 - Book featured at My Cozie Corner

Thursday, June 27 - Book reviewed at My Reading Table

Friday, June 28 - Book reviewed at My Book Retreat

Friday, June 28 - Book reviewed at Must Read Faster

Guest Post: Kraig Dafoe

My favorite Poem:

My favorite poem is The Road Not Taken written by Robert Frost and published in 1916. This work spoke to me immediately upon hearing it for the first time.

     

The year was 1985 and I was fourteen. I had some free time so I wondered into my middle school library. I started browsing through some vinyl albums when I happened across one titled The Road Not Taken. I had never been interested in poetry but I decided to give it a listen.

     

The album was Mr. Frost reciting some of his work and the title cut moved me. I read somewhere that Robert wrote this poem for a friend of his that went to serve in World War I. The work is so vivid that if you close your eyes, you can picture the scene before the end of verse one.

     

The poem talks about a fork in the road and the direction you decide to go. For me, this was the decision of life and the path I wanted to travel. In life, there comes a time when you must decide whether you want to be a sheep or a shepherd.

     

I decided when I first heard this poem I wanted to go my own way. Society dictates the way people are supposed to travel. The norm as depicted by convention leads people down a road well traveled, while a few soles take the less beaten path and forge their own destinies.

     

The Road Not Taken or the path of life less traveled may be a tuff way to go but the rewards for creating your own path are far more fulfilling. You can exist as part of the norm and maybe you find your-self happy and fulfilled but that isn’t the case for me.

     

If you take anything from this, I hope it is the fact that no-matter what road you travel, it should be your decision and yours alone.

Search for the lost realm blog Tour Information:

About the Author:

Kraig Dafoe was born in Potsdam, New York and grew up in Canton. He played high school football and joined the United States Army Reserves at the age of seventeen.

    

Kraig married at the age of nineteen and moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia where he worked as a Private Security officer for The Christian Broadcasting Network and also attended theTidewater Community College for business. 

     

After five years as a security officer, he became a Deputy Sheriff for the city of Chesapeake Virginia.

    

Kraig left the Sheriff’s office after nine years of service and pursued a couple of different business opportunities before he went on to publishing his debut novel.

    

Kraig is the father of five children and he currently resides in Kansas, raising his youngest son.

His latest book is the fantasy/adventure, Search for the Last Realm.

Visit his website at www.kraigdafoebooks.com

Connect with Kraig:

FACEBOOK

About the Book:

Search for the Lost Realm is an epic journey in which a young man named Varan wants to find a power which has been missing from the world of Kantania for thousands of years.   

    

Varan sets out but soon discovers his true mission is to save the worlds creator from a spiritual bond placed upon him by the powerful demon, Eldrok.

    

From demons to dragons and sorcerers to soldiers, battles erupt and Varan must hurry or the world could be lost to darkness forever.  

    

This story does not consist of action alone as Varan faces dilemmas of the heart, struggles of the flesh and complex issues of the mind.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | ITUNES

Book Excerpt:

     A sound normally dismissed during mid-day, the lock’s scarce clatter rang out like church bells, trespassing on a death like serenity. As tumblers aligned, Varan hoped his crouched frame went undetected on the sage’s porch. With his remaining eye, the thief peered over his right shoulder at ghostly shadows cast upon a vacant street. Choking down his heart, he ever so cautiously swung open the door and, after easing into the shop, he gently returned it to its frame. A shaft of moonlight pierced shutters flush, as the lurking thief, through dusty air, investigated a dreary interior. To his left, shelves of musty books, with their worn bindings, all stood erect by ornately carved bookends. In the near corner, to his right, a large silver‑blue sphere, dimly glowing, sat upon a heavy wooden pedestal.

Rafflecopter Code for $100 Amazon Gift Card/Paypal Cash:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1a49cf72/">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Search for the Last Realm Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/03/29/pump-up-your-book-presents-search-for-the-last-realm-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Book Blast: "Polar Night" by Julie Flanders

Join Julie Flanders, author of the suspense/urban fantasy book, Polar Night, as she tours the blogosphere May 6 through May 10 on her first Book Blast with Pump Up Your Book! Julie will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC/Paypal Cash to one lucky reader! To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form on the participating blogs below anytime during the tour and good luck!

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ABOUT POLAR NIGHT

When Detective Danny Fitzpatrick leaves his hometown of Chicago and moves to Fairbanks, Alaska he wants nothing more than to escape the violence and heartbreak that left his life in pieces. Numbed by alcohol and the frozen temperatures of an Alaskan winter, Danny is content with a dead-end job investigating Fairbanks' cold cases. That all changes when a pretty blond woman goes missing on the winter solstice, and Danny stumbles upon some surprising connections between her disappearance and that of another Fairbanks woman three years earlier. Forced out of his lethargy, Danny sets out to both find the missing woman and solve his own cold case. The investigation points Danny towards Aleksei Nechayev, the handsome and charming proprietor of an old asylum turned haunted tourist attraction in the Arctic town of Coldfoot. As he tries to find a link between Nechayev and his case, Danny's instinct tells him that Nechayev is much more than what he seems. Danny has no idea that Nechayev is hiding a secret that is much more horrifying than anything he could ever have imagined. As his obsession with finding the missing women grows, Danny finds his own life in danger. And when the truth is finally revealed, the world as he knows it will never be the same.

Purchase your copy:

AMAZON| BARNES & NOBLE

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ABOUT JULIE FLANDERS

Julie Flanders is a librarian and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a paranormal suspense thriller, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing.

WEBSITE

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Pump Up Your Book and Julie Flanders are teaming up to give you a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash!

Here's how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from May 6 through May 10. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter and announced on May 11. Each blogger who participates is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog. If you would like to participate, email Tracee at tgleichner(at)gmail.com. What a great way to not only win this fabulous prize, but to gain followers and comments for your blog, too! Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Polar Night Book Blast

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Participating Blogs:

Monday, May 6

Must Read Faster

Mary's Cup of Tea

Jody's Book Reviews

Books and Needlepoint

Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, and More

Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews

Miki's Hope

Margay Leah Justice

The Book Connection

Tuesday, May 7

My Devotional Thoughts

Tales of a Book Addict

Laurie Here

Parenting 2.0

My Book Addiction and More

Queen of All She Reads

Wednesday, May 8

Thoughts in Progress

My Reading Table

Authors and Readers Book Corner

Maureen's Musings

Thursday, May 9

Cabin Goddess

Mom in Love with Fiction

Janna Shay

Friday, May 10

My Cozie Corner

Celtic Lady's Reviews

The Paperback Pursuer

If you would like to join this book blast, leave a comment below with email information or email Tracee directly at tgleichner (at) gmail.com.

Review: Princess April Morning-Glory

Written during the golden age of Hollywood, Princess April Morning-Glory is a beautifully told children's book that transcends the years.   The story of Princess April Morning-Glory is told in a way that a young child can understand and relate to.

Princess April Morning-Glory has become unhappy with her life and leaves Fairy Land without realizing or understanding the consequences of her actions.  In order to return home, she finds a Wizard who tells her that she must complete 3 good deeds before he can tell her how to get home.  As she sets about her task, Princess April Morning-Glory makes new friends who help her along her path as she works to return home and learns about herself in the process.

The one thing that was hard for my children to understand was reading the calligraphy.  It was beautifully done, but is it hard for a young child who is learning to read to make out all of the words.


FTC Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book from Kelley Smott Garrett through Pump Up Your Book Tours for review. I am not being compensated for this review.

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About Letitia Fairbanks:

Letitia Fairbanks, the niece of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, lived a life guided by artistic passions. In 1939, wanting to commemorate her late uncle, Letitia began work onPrincess April Morning-Glory, allowing a creative outlet for combining her lifelong loves: painting, writing, and illustration.

Holding firm to her artistic identify, Letitia gravitated toward portraiture, landscapes, and still-lifes. She was also a biographer, co-authoring Douglas Fairbanks: The Fourth Musketeer, with Ralph Hancock. Her marriage to Hal Smoot in 1966 marked the beginning of a particularly joyful and creative period. Needle points and annual Christmas cards, which featured a painting from the previous year, not to mention her role as a wife, mother, step-mother and grandmother brought her much fulfillment. After a life rich in artistic accomplishment, Letitia passed away in September of 1992.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK

 About Kelley Smoot Garrett:

Kelley Smoot Garrett was born in Dallas, raised in Manhattan and has lived the life of a West Texas wildcatter as well that of an IT professional. At one time or another in her life she’s called places as diverse as Scourie, Scotland; Austin, Abilene and Midland, Texas; Singapore; Paris; and Auckland, New Zealand — home. She is proud to be the daughter of Sue Ashby and Harold Smoot and the step-daughter of Letitia Fairbanks Smoot. She currently lives with her husband Danny Garrett, three cats, and one happy only-dog, Moxie in the Texas Hill Country.

About Princess April Morning-Glory:

At long last, Princess April Morning-Glory emerges as a lost treasure from the golden age of Hollywood.

Written and illustrated in 1941 by Letitia Fairbanks, the niece of silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, the seemingly traditional children’s book is transformed into a modern-day fairy tale that will captivate child and adult readers alike.

Letitia was inspired to create portraiture for the characters of Princess April Morning-Glory from film stars of the day. John Barrymore, and Letitia's cousin Douglas Fairbanks Jr., provided glamorous inspiration through their then-current films. The Wicked King's (Barrymore) costume was sparked by his role as Louis XV in Irving Thalberg's 1938 Marie Antoinette, while the hairstyle resembles his eponymous role in Archie Mayo's 1931 Svengali. Prince Chivalry was inspired by her cousin's (Fairbanks) sword-fighting role in David O. Selznick's 1937 The Prisoner of Zenda.

Viewed as unconventional when it first debuted – up until then, no one had thought to meld a Disney-like moral tale with a swashbuckling adventure – the story centers on the prescient acknowledgment that we create our destinies by the choices that we make.

The main narrative is focused around the brave and courageous Princess April who must first transcend darkness and evil before she can realize her true potential. Intrigued by the Great World and its sense of adventure, a young Princess April decides to abandon the familiarity of her home in Fairyland and undertake a voyage into the unknown. Once outside the Enchanted Forest, she finds comfort and friendship in the company of various creatures who ensure her safe passage.

But returning home proves more difficult than at first she realized. In order to go back to Fairyland, a friendly wizard informs Princess April that she must first accomplish three good deeds. CanPrincess April resist the temptation of darker forces and summon enough courage to continue doing good deeds? And if she dares to hold true to herself, will it someday lead her back home again?

Rafflecopter Code for Kindle Fire HD Giveaway:  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Princess April Morning-Glory Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/01/26/pump-up-your-book-presents-princess-april-morning-glory-virtual-book-publicity-tour-win-kindle-fire-hd/

Review: Buzzard Bay

Buzzard Bay by Bob Ferguson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Gripping is a good word to describe Bob Ferguson's Buzzard Bay. I had a hard time putting this novel down.

The reader follows a Canadian farming family who leave their home in Canada for the chance to be part of an experimental farming community. Or so they think. In reality, they are rehabilitating an area for use by cocaine traffickers. What follows is their struggle to stop the cocaine traffickers and their fight to escape before they are killed.

There were only two things that bothered me about this novel. First was how the author kept jumping back and forth between using the first- and third-person to tell the story. Secondly, I could have done with a little less of the graphic sex scenes but overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

FTC Notice: I received an advance copy of this book from the author.



View all my reviews

Guest Post: Rena Fruchter - Procrastination

So…my next book is due in eight months.  The sequel to this one.

That’s PLENTY of time.  More than enough time to write a book or two.

Let me first take care of the 2,427 emails that have piled up in my Inbox.  Not to mention the mail and bills that are all over the dining room table, with nobody else taking care of them. 

Well, I can certainly spare a couple of weeks, right?

Very important to get things organized first, before plunging into the next book.

My clothes are all over the place.  What?  These clothes aren’t even the right season.  All I have to do is pull out the drawers filled with summer stuff and replace them with winter stuff.

Really…I only need six months to write this book.  I can do it.  I’ve only got two trips to make during that time, two big events that need planning, and a few other projects.

OKAY.  Got to start.  Today.  Should I start at the beginning? Or plunge right into the middle of the book.  Maybe Chapter 23 would be good.  I know what’s going to happen in the middle.  I can always go back to the beginning later.  Then it won’t read like I started at the beginning and it got better later in the book.

I think I’ll have to start tomorrow. I just need to get another dog first.  My dog is lonely.  She really needs a companion.  I’m sure my husband won’t mind.  Well, it might take a little of the time I really need to work on the book, but the new dog can keep my old one company while I’m ignoring them both, locked in my study working on the book.

Argh.  Can’t move into the study just yet.  All my notes from the last book are still taped to the walls, with scribbling all over them.  And the various drafts of the cover, so I could look at them for a few days before deciding which worked best.  Admittedly that was months ago.  All I need to do is go to the store and pick up a couple of plastic storage boxes for all the old notes from the last book.

After I go to the pet store and see if the perfect dog is there.

Do I really need more than five months to write this book?

I’ll write one sentence first! Then at least I will have started this book. 

But what if it’s the world’s worst sentence, as bad as “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Best to wait one more day so I can think of a really good sentence!

Guest Post: Michael Johnston - Good advice and why I don’t always take it.

Like you, I’m sure, I have friends, relatives and acquaintances who seem to be listening attentively as I tell a colourful story about one of my many exciting experiences but, too late, I realise they are simply waiting and watching for me to draw breath, at which point they will pile in about their own even more colourful and very much more self-centred experiences and, somehow, no matter how closely I listen and watch, they never seem to need to draw breath or pause for dramatic effect.

Well-meant advice from my talented and experienced father seemed to be rejected even faster than any publisher has ever rejected a manuscript.  It simply made me want to do the opposite and then, a week later perhaps, I would find I was doing what he had advised, thinking it was my own idea, until the penny dropped, or my father said something that would send me off into a fit of sulks.

However, if you get hold of a book which was published in 1934, is still in print and offers advice for beginning and sustaining any writing enterprise, you will never think about writing in the same way again.  The book is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande (1898-1948) which is still in print.  Brande deals with two aspects of writing: the physical and the mental.  Physically, she believes that it is only by making oneself write a certain number of words every day, ideally at the same time of day, that one becomes, like an athlete, tuned up to achieve the level of performance a serious writer needs.  Accountants, remember, do not put off their work until inspiration strikes and neither should serious writers.  Once you have become fit as a writer, then you need to develop your imagination in the same way as you have developed your writing muscles.  This is not a review of Becoming a Writer but, if you’ll take my advice, now is the time to buy a copy and get started.

Incidentally, while checking my facts about Dorothea, I found out that she also wrote Wake Up and Live, published in 1936, and which sold over two million copies. It was even made into a musical by Twentieth Century Fox.  I know nothing about it but the title isn’t a bad bit of advice so I shall look it up when I’ve posted this blog.

Another bit of advice was handed out by a speaker at the Writers’ Circle I took part in while living in Harrogate.  Looking us in the eye, she said very matter-of-factly, “A writer is someone who writes”.  Maybe it’s true that everybody has at least one novel in them but, thankfully for the rest of us, few of these ever get written because the hard work involved in writing a book puts most people off.  I think this is simply another way of expressing what Dorothea Brande says in her book.  Unless you find you are writing something every day, you are probably not a writer and might find it better to stick to your knitting, or whatever you find you really like to do.  After all, we writers (I flatter myself) need readers and there are no barriers to entry to that honourable profession.  And no writer worth his or her salt is not an avid reader!

So, you write daily; you have a vivid imagination; you read until you fall asleep; what’s next?  Choose your subject and, ignoring as far as possible, all other claims on your time, just get on with it: and I shall look out for the results in my bookshop.