A Stone Mountain Christmas Book Signing Party

 

 

 

The Book:

A collection of Christmas stories ranging from romance, to fairies and superheroes, to people who need to believe again. Set in Stone Mountain, Georgia, these stories are filled with Southern-style tradition, love and the magic of Christmas. From revisiting "The Gift of the Magi" to blended families making new traditions, twelve authors share Christmas stories to put you in the holiday spirit. Melba Moon, Mary Marvella, Jackie Rod, Georgiana Fields, Valerie Keiser Norris, John A. Robinson, C.C. Ansardi, Nan Monroe, Yasmin Bakhtiari, Regan Humphrey, Andrea Sommers, James Hugh Reeves.

Published by Gilded Dragonfly Books. Buy on Amazon and Kindle. Need a holiday gift? Give as an e-book on Kindle. include a gift message, just $5.99 and you can send it today using Kindle's gift button!


City of Stone Mountain, Georgia:

While the stories in this anthology are fiction, the town is real. It is named for Stone Mountain, the largest exposed granite dome in North America. Stone Mountain harbors plant and animal life found no other place in the world. It is also the site of a famous giant carving commemorating the military leaders of the Confederacy as well as a state park and museum, including a steam railroad. Stone Mountain is a great family park. The town is full of charming shops and places to eat. Considered part of metro Atlanta, Stone Mountain has a personality all its own!


Book Signing Photos:

The book's launch was held on December 18 at The Spot in Stone Mountain Village, the evening was a fun time. Warm and cozy, and full of holiday spirit, the authors gathered to celebrate the season, meet with folks, and sign books. The food was delish right down to the cake that looked like the cover of the anthology.

Photo borrowed from Facebook, author Georgiana Fields' page.

Not all the authors were in town, but those that were had a merry time.

 

 

 The cake!

 

The Spot in Stone Mountain Village

 

 

 C.C. Ansardi and Mary Marvella

 

 

Mary Marvella, Jackie Rod, Georgiana Fields, Valerie Keiser Norris

 

 

Nan Monroe and Yasmin Bakhtiari

 

 

Author M.J. Flournoy (Melba Flournoy-Moon)

 

 

Jackie Rod

 

 

Author James Hugh Reeves (front left) and family.

 

 

 

If you missed this event, you can meet the authors again in Stone Mountain Village, this Sunday, December 21st, 3 - 6PM at Café JAYA,

6566 James B Rivers Dr, Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083

 

 

"Losing It All" Marsha Cornelius - Get It This Week For 99 Cents

This week you can read Marsha Cornelius' new book, "Losing It All", for just

99 cents on Kindle. Click here to get your copy. Special sale runs from April lst to April 7th.

Marsha has been featured on Book Talk before with her action paced  “The Ups And Downs of Being Dead” about a man whose body is cryogenically frozen, but his soul is wide awake and mobile. Click on her book title and see the earlier post. Be sure not to miss her book “H10N1″ about a deadly virus that rages out of control either.

Marsha recently answered some questions about her newest book!

 

Tell us a little about your new book.

     It’s 1984. Frank Barnes has been living on the streets of Atlanta since his release from a POW camp in Vietnam. He’s not a wino, or a crazy guy, but he just never could get his life together once he came back to the states.

     Chloe Roberts grew up poor in the South, and she’s made some bad choices. Now she’s a young mother with two small children and little education to fall back on.

     These two meet by chance at a local soup kitchen, and although it seems like they will strike up a friendship, fate has other plans. Evidently, they haven’t lost everything yet, and they won’t meet up again until they have.

Why is the story set in 1984?

     I guess the most obvious reason is because Frank was in the Vietnam War, so I had to pick a date where he wasn’t too old. And I chose a date when he’d been on the streets long enough to know his way around.

     It was fun writing about that time. Things were much simpler then: no computers, or cell phones, or video games. And it was a walk down memory lane, researching music, movies, and news events that were happening at that time.

How did you come up with the story idea?

     I live in the country north of Atlanta where there are several horse farms. One day I was walking along a dirt lane, and came across an abandoned cinderblock house. It was almost completely covered in weeds and vines, the windows were broken, the front door hanging open. Inside, the bathroom was trashed, and it looked like kids had kicked holes in the drywall. But the structure itself was sound.

     I think most people would find the house disgusting, but to a homeless person, having a dry roof overhead, and a place to live, would mean a lot.

So is "Losing It All" a romance?

     Not really. At least not in the current context of the ‘romance’ genre. Frank isn’t rich. He doesn’t have washboard abs or a chiseled chin. And he certainly isn’t the CEO of a corporation or a Black Ops soldier or a randy cowboy on a dude ranch.

     Chloe has two small children, she isn’t a blonde bombshell, and she’s very insecure. Not the formula you usually associate with romance novels. These two are just trying to fight their way through life.

How does this book differ from your first two books?

     "H10 N1" is pretty much a non-stop adventure for the two main characters, - Rick and Taeya -  who are trying to find a safe haven after a flu pandemic has wiped out much of the world’s population. It’s considered a present-day thriller.

     "The Ups and Downs of Being Dead" starts in the present, but it continues into the future. The main character has been cryonically-frozen, and must wait to be thawed out. The story is about his interaction with other ghosts, some who are also waiting to come back, and some who are not.

     "Losing It All" is the first time I’ve gone back to the past to tell a story.

All of my books are similar in some ways though. Each story deals with how human beings react to situations, and how they interact with each other. And in each of the books, just when things look bleak, I like to add some humor to relieve the tension.

Where can readers find "Losing It All"?

     It’s on Amazon, both in paperback and Kindle versions. The easiest way to find all my books is on my Amazon author’s page. You can also read more about my books on my website

You can find out more about Marsha Cornelius from her first interview on June 3, 2012.

One week only

April 1 – April 7

"Losing It All"

Only 99¢ on Amazon US and Amazon UK

About the author:

     After 15 years as an elementary school cafeteria manager, Cornelius has quit her day job and now writes full time at home. That is, when she’s not posting on Twitter or sharing jokes on Facebook or chatting with other readers on Goodreads.

     She has even been known to wipe a Swiffer over furniture surfaces and declare her home clean.

     Her two grown sons lead their own lives, while her husband competes with two mollycoddled cats for affection.

     Read Marsha's first interview in June 2012 here.

 

Enjoy a few excerpts from the book!

CHAPTER ONE EXCERPT

Pain’s a bitch. 

The doctor at the VA called it phantom pain, nerve trauma that would eventually go away. Yeah, right. Frank was twelve years and counting.

This morning, he woke to a cold, sluggish fog that had his foot throbbing before he even stood. His only relief was to shift his weight to his toes and keep pressure off the heel. Of course, the gimp-walk didn’t do much for his appearance. People already shied away from his long hair and shaggy beard. The shuffling limp and tortured expression convinced onlookers that he was a derelict.

They should have seen him twelve years ago at the VA. The pain was so intense all he could do was lie in bed, groaning and thrashing, his hospital gown soaked in sweat. Once he was up and around, he’d rolled down the hallway in his wheelchair, ranting at other Vietnam veterans with missing legs and arms. His rage seemed to ease his pain, but like a drug, he needed more. So he started ramming into other wheelchairs, then chasing after those who could walk, bruising their ankles with his metal foot-plates.

On his feet, Frank was a regular fighting machine, wielding a crutch like a club, or throwing sucker punches when least expected. It never occurred to him that those guys were battling their own pain.

In desperation, he pinned a doctor to the wall with his own clipboard, threatening to decapitate him if he didn’t up Frank’s morphine dosage. An orderly put him out on the street.

Then the pain really took hold. The dribble of morphine still in his system wore off while he slouched in the back of a city bus headed for downtown Atlanta. When he threw up in the aisle, the driver tossed him off. Unable to stand, much less walk, Frank crawled into an alleyway and passed out.

A wino rummaging through a trashcan woke him. Frank offered the bum some dough for his bottle of Thunderbird, and slugged the wine down in one long gulp. From there it was all downhill.

CHAPTER TWO EXCERPT

     Clutching a metal cash box, Chloe slipped into her checkout lane at Foodtown, a pitiful excuse for a grocery store, with rusty stains on the floor tiles, and the rancid odor of old meat. She slid the box into her drawer and turned on the light.

     In the next lane over, Jennifer popped her gum as she swiped food items across her scanner. “You’re late again.” 

     “Sorry.” Chloe gave a weak smile. Just because she worked in a rundown part of town didn’t mean she shouldn’t look her best. It took time to find just the right shade of eyeshadow to coordinate with her lavender blouse from K-Mart. Chloe wasn’t the type to just smear a quick coat of lipstick on her mouth. She outlined her lips with a deeper shade, like she’d seen in the magazines. And after what she had paid to get her hair colored, she wanted to make sure it was teased and sprayed to look just like Lucy Ewing on Dallas.

     Jennifer’s Foodtown smock was unbuttoned enough to show a peek of the red bra she wore. Chloe bristled as a construction worker buying a sub sandwich and a quart of beer bent in for a closer look. His hands were filthy. Was he going to wash those hands before he ate?

      Puffing out her chest, Jennifer grinned at him! Sure, Duane loved to see Chloe dressed in short skirts and low-cut blouses. But not the whole world.

     Once the construction worker left, Jennifer leaned against her register, and dug something out of her teeth with a polished fingernail. “So, what’s your excuse today?”

Chloe reached under the counter for a bottle of glass cleaner and spritzed her scanner. “You know how my niece Staci has been babysitting for me?  Well, she was late because she had to stay after school to meet with a teacher.”

     “Yeah, right.” Jennifer snorted a laugh. “You believe anything, Chloe. That’s why you’re in deep shit.”

     Chloe glared at her. “I do not.”

    “Right. Your husband took off, and you think he’s looking for a better job in Chattanooga.”

    “He is!” Chloe felt the heat rising up her neck. “He should be back any day now.”

     “Back my ass.” Jennifer’s glossy red lips curled into a sneer. “It’s been three months.”

     “He’s training for a career,” Chloe repeated what she had been told. “Not just a job.”

    Jennifer wasn’t buying it. “Wake up. He hasn’t even called you. And as close as Chattanooga is, surely he could get away to come home some weekend.”

     Chloe’s bottom lip quivered as she swirled her paper towel over the glass. 

Remember, this week on Kindle for only 99 Cents!

---

Patrick Smithwick, "Flying Change", Author & Jockey, Booksigning Event at Peachtree Battle Antiques & Interiors in Atlanta Nov. 4th

         

 Don't Miss This Peachtree Battle Antiques & Interiors Event if you are in the Atlanta area!

Meet author & Jockey Patrick Smithwick on Sun. Nov.4th

Books are available for sale at this event!

 About the Book from Amazon:

          Patrick Smithwick has done it again. His new book Flying Change is every bit the sleek, well-bred and fast Thoroughbred as its predecessor,Racing My Father.
           In Flying Change, Smithwick is no longer racing his father. He is racing himself - while continuing with his duties as a father, a husband, a friend, a teacher and a writer.

          This memoir of dueling ambitions is the tale of a man who decides in mid-life to call off all restraints, silence all naysayers, put his mind and body and courage to the test, and do what in his case--he has been away from the world of racing for twenty-five years--is the impossible: within a nine-month period get a horse to ride in the most difficult steeplechase race in the world, and then, ride that horse as if his life depends on it, which, literally, it does.          
         Flying Change is an inspiration for anyone who thought he or she could never compete again.  If you'd like to know what it's like to be a member of the elite racing set, if you'd like to experience firsthand a foxhunt at its most exciting moments, if you'd like to vicariously ride in the Maryland Hunt Cup, then this is your book.   

          The demands in time and energy required by Smithwick's return to racing pull him away from his family and his ambition to write, creating major conflicts. Yet, the fast-paced narrative shows Smithwick striving to carry on traditions from his upbringing and apply them to the raising of his own three children. These sections are positive, upbeat, father-affirming.  Fatherhood--the tensions, the responsibilities, the possibilities--is a topic sorely missing in the American canon. When tackled in American literature, books dealing with fatherhood are most often ones written by a son or daughter describing his or her mistreatment by father who is often either abusive, violent, alcoholic, inattentive, or worse. Smithwick fights against that formula in Racing My Father, a memoir of growing up as the son of A. P. "Paddy" Smithwick, the legendary steeplechase jockey.   
          In Flying Change, Smithwick goes against the grain again. He writes, as a father of three children, about his relationships with them. He addresses the question of what it means to be a father in 21 Century America. Tragedy on the racetrack in the form of death, paralysis, and suicide lurks in the background. This realistic recreation of the world of Thoroughbred racing gives the book a seriousness, and it also creates suspense.

         Flying Change is a must-read for the general audience as well as lovers of the horse and of horse racing. This is not only a racing memoir that catapults the reader through time and space at a breathtaking pace, it is a literary memoir that examines the big questions of how to live one's life.

 

 

 

From the Author's Amazon page:

 

 

 

 

        Patrick Smithwick has been working with horses all of his life. At a very young age he began working with his father, the legendary steeplechase jockey, A.P. Smithwick, who became a trainer after retiring from riding. Smithwick then worked his way through school and college by exercising Thoroughbreds at major East Coast racetracks and riding steeplechase races at such venues as Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, and hunt meets such as the Maryland Hunt Club and the Grand National.
        Smithwick received a Bachelor or Arts from Johns Hopkins University in 1973 followed by a Master of Arts in creative writing from Hollins College in 1975. After working in the newspaper business for several years, Smithwick began teaching English, philosophy, photography, and journalism at both the high school and collegiate levels. In 1988, he received a master of liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University and in 2000 he received his degree in education for ministry from University of the South. During this time, Smithwick taught as well as held the position of director of publications and public relations at two different schools.
       He has now turned his two biggest passions into two business - writing and training. Thoroughbred steeplechase horse and riding. He also gives talks, teaches part-time, and does freelance writing.

      Visit the Book Website!

Kelly Joy Dennison "Amphibus"

Purchase on Kindle

     Every day since the attacks on September 11^th, Americans prepare for the next event. Terrorists could strike again, employing typical methods with explosive devices. Or they might try something completely different—a biological agent. In this story, one of the most deadly substances known to mankind is purposefully transmitted via the most essential source for sustaining life—neurotoxins . . . in the water.

     Cory Vickers, fifteen, fishes in a pond near his North Georgia home and gulps down pond water to quench his thirst. His mind spins into hallucinations, transforming him into a giant butterfly. With wings to fly, he leaps to his death from a train trestle. A retired Marine colonel dies while attending to his back yard pond. The bodies of two college students are found at Allatoona Lake—one of Metro Atlanta’s water reservoirs. Blood taken from all these victims contains the same unknown chemical compound. Dr. Susan Locke at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is stymied. When she consults the well-respected expert Dr. Waleed Kareem, whose nephew, Jamal, is being secretly profiled by the FBI and CIA for his involvement with Al Qaeda, she becomes entangled in a complex plot that crosses borders in the Middle East as well as in Latin America. As Dr. Locke and her long-time friend, Detective John McCabe, race to find the source, the death toll mounts. Their struggle is truly one of life and death, possibly for millions. Is this some bizarre natural occurrence, or it is terrorism?


Amazon Review: A thrilling and fast-paced read. The characters are described so perfectly you can see them as they work to discover the cause of case after case of unexplained deaths in the Atlanta area. America has overcome terrorist attacks and natural disasters. What do we need to prepare for next?  You won't want to put this book down until you find out.

About the author:

     Kelly Joy Dennison is an actor, writer, artist, and scientist. She actively participates in scientific organizations, writer’s associations, reading scripts for screenwriters, and continues to train at The Actor’s Scene.

     Kelly received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Georgia Tech in 2005 where she investigated therapeutics for the treatment of Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type I. Her doctoral work included analysis as a Guest Research Scientist at the CDC. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Emory School of Medicine in the Division of Microbiology and Immunology. She was also a MacArthur Fellow in the Sam Nunn Security Program in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech where she studied biotechnology policy and critical infrastructure security. She has taught at Oxford College of Emory University, Georgia State University, and Kennesaw State University.

     The author resides in Georgia and enjoys dance, hiking, and oil painting.

From the Author:

    The book cover was designed by using an oil painting I did and graphically enhancing it to a more three-dimensional appearance using Photoshop. The Photoshop image had approximately 30 distinct layers before I flattened the image. I spent two weeks on the oil and two months doing the graphics.

    

     I am very active in the arts. I continue to work on oil paintings, dance, and have a part, playing a marriage counselor, in the film I Think I Do (L.A. Bonds Production) in Atlanta. I will be teaching chemistry at Oxford College again this fall.

 

     I have two more action thriller stories, Project Red Code and Cargo War. They are both screenplays and I am completing them now. The Madison Train is a fiction literary novel along the vein of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.

  

    Visit my company’s website Lemur Tails LLC.

 

   

Scott Thompson "Young Men Shall See"

Available on Amazon and Kindle and your local book stores.

Scott is a winner of the Great American Novel contest, from Tag Publishing, for 2010.

The Book:

Sometimes peace means silence,and justice means murder.

Life for Gus Ambrose in the small community of River Falls, Georgia, is a constant struggle to seek wild adventure, understand the mystery of love and escape the pervasive boredom of high school. On the surface, River Falls is a peaceful and perfect world - a mix of quaint southern charm, happiness and safety. But the scars of the past have a way of working their way to the surface and slamming headlong into the present, shattering innocence and revealing the worst humanity has to offer.

Reviews on Amazon:

"The author describes the characters and scenes in a way that make them vidid enough to allow the reader to visualize the person and the scene that is taking place."

"Scott has a beautiful way of telling the story of 4 teens during their senior year of high school in 1980's Georgia."

"The book was written with such detail and emotion that I felt like I was with the main character Gus during this coming of age story. I found myself unable to put the book down, I had to find out what was going to happen next."

From the author:

Places, Characters, and Introverted Writers

Often my stories start out with real places, people, and events, but quickly become their own.  I like to write about what I know and to learn more about what I care about through my writing, always hoping that I might help others learn more in the process.  Writing is a solitary endeavor, but, often, is eventually shared where it is digested by others.  My novel, Young Men Shall See, is a coming of age story that takes place in River Falls, Georgia, in 1989 and 1990.  The story follows several teenagers through their senior year in high school.  This story of teenage misadventure changes when they encounter hate, political corruption, and eventually death.  They are faced with decisions that challenge everything they know, or thought, to be true.

When I write about a place, like River Falls, it is often based on a real place.  River Falls is based on my hometown of Newnan, Georgia.  When I was growing up this was a fairly small town that has exploded since I left for college over twenty years ago.  I could have used Newnan as the town, but chose to create a fictional place so that I could change the setting as needed to fit the story.  This gave me more flexibility and also allowed me to let the town become a character all its own.

Creating characters in stories is something that must be done delicately, and even though I often start with real people, the characters become their own quickly.  A character may start out 90% of the person it is based on, but by the time the character lives, they are almost completely unique and different.  Every character has a bit of me, as well as several other people, and by the time a character speaks their first words they are as unique as a child is from his parents.  There are parts of the parents in the child, but ultimately the child is his own person.

About Me:

           Like many writers I’m something of an introvert.  Writing is the perfect pursuit for introverts as it allows many hours of solitude with one’s thoughts.  It provides hours to sit quietly, dream, and create.  It can be very rewarding.  Many writers never chose to publish and simply enjoy the process of creating, but those of us that do publish become authors.  As an author you have to go against everything that is natural to introverts to promote your work.  Even the sub-head above titled About Me goes against my natural tendencies because it feels a bit egotistical.  But promotion is necessary, and there are rewards in book promotion when authors look for them.  Rewards like meeting new people; discussing books with other bibliophiles; and having others read and appreciate your writing, even if there’s always the possibility that some will not like your work. 

            Where I’m not introverted is with my family.  When I hug my family I’m reminded that I’m the most blessed person in the world.  I have a beautiful and supportive wife, who is a talented photographer, and two crazy little boys who have taught me the meaning of life.  We all live just outside of Suwanee, Georgia, with a Jack Russell Terrier that met his match when the boys were born.  Of course, I love to read, but also enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, camping, kayaking, and fishing.  

If you want to read about the teenagers from River Falls pick up a copy of my novel, Young Men Shall See at Amazon, Kindle or at your local book store.

You can interact with me on Facebook,  where I often share news about upcoming readings and other book events I think my followers will enjoy. I'm available to speak to groups about my book and writing. You can reach me via the contact form on my website.