A Cup of Love Anthology for Valentine's Day

                                                      Buy it on Amazon Kindle


New From Gilbert Street Press on Kindle for only $2.99. Proceeds go to charity. Now there is a sweetheart of a deal.




There's a new anthology on Kindle - A Cup of Love: Stories From the Heart. 30 authors writing on love and life in this charming anthology in time for Valentine's Day. It is my latest project and I am darn proud of it. Thirty author friends (some personal friends and some those Facebook kind you love) contributed their work for charity. All proceeds from this book go to First Book, a non-profit that helps bring new books and educational opportunities to children in need. They are a wonderful organization and we are thrilled to do a little to raise money to contribute to them.

We did this before. November 2014 with A Cup of Christmas. 31 authors for First Book then, too.

It is amazing and heartwarming to share this adventure with so many wonderful writers. Some of the stories are by award winning authors and some by those published for the first time. It is a coming together of folks sharing love to give back.

From Amazon: A Valentine’s Day anthology filled with stories from the heart. Thirty writers, award winning to those published for the first time in this book, share fiction, memoirs, and a few tasty recipes to benefit charity. All proceeds go to First Book, the country’s largest network of educators serving kids in need. As in real life, these stories include moments that are bright and beautiful, happy and romantic, and in some instances, sad with loss. First love, first kiss, childhood memories, a ghost helping a widower, an angel bringing a mother to a child, a box of old letters, therapy dogs, rescue dogs, a visit to Paris, advice for the broken-hearted, chocolate mousse, and more. The common denominator is love. Why send a card when you can send an eBook. Send to your friends. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. Authors: Elaine Ambrose, Tori Bailey, Barbara Barth, Genie Bernstein, Susan Boswell, Kimberly Brock, Marlene Ratledge Buchanan, Jennie Campbell, Valerie Joan Connors, Doug Dahlgren, Kerry Alan Denney, Lori Duff, Nathalie Dupree, Audrey Frank, Cynthia Graubart, Sally Hamer, Tara Joyner Haussler, Jane-Ann Heitmueller, Lynn Hesse, Carol James, CeCe Landress, Georgia Lee, Mary Marvella, Karen Roberts, Jackie Rod, Amanda Stewart, Laura Templeton, Constance Walker, Randi Ward, and Renea Winchester.


And my story? Of course, it has a dog in it.

I hope you find this sweet book and buy it, send it to a friend, or, if you are so inclined, you can make a donation straight to First Book by clicking here.



 

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

 

 

Peg Brantley "The Sacrifice"

 

Available on Kindle

 

 

About the Book:

 

Former lawman Mex Anderson is trying to cope with the horrific murders of his family as best he can. Moving from his small, Mexican town to the snowy mountains of Colorado has helped, however it seems nothing can ever take away the gut-wrenching pain of his loss. When the head of the drug cartel responsible for the killings approaches him with an offer that would reveal the individuals behind the murders, it might lead to the one thing that would allow Mex to heal: revenge.

The Sacrifice: a novel of guilt and redemption that proves there is always hope for tomorrow even in the midst of unconscionable evil.


What They Are Saying About "The Sacrifice":



“Peg Brantley’s latest, THE SACRIFICE, accomplishes that rare feat of being both heartfelt and suspenseful. A gripping tale of murder and revenge, it ultimately becomes something much, much more.
— Dennis Palumbo, author of the Daniel Rinaldi mystery series

“Peg Brantley has done it again. Her third book (after THE MISSINGS and RED TIDE) is another thrill ride, a hyperventilation-inducing thriller about evil and power and endangered innocence. And MAYBE a new (and very interesting) sustaining female character. Mex Anderson may have companionship in the next book or two.”
—Timothy Hallinan, Edgar-nominated author of the Poke Rafferty and Junior Bender series

 

 

 

About The Author:

 

 

Peg Brantley

 

 

A Colorado native, Peg is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters In Crime. She and her husband make their home southeast of Denver, and have shared it with the occasional pair of mallard ducks and their babies, snapping turtles, peacocks, assorted other birds, foxes, a deer named Cedric and a bichon named McKenzie.

Read Peg Brantley's guest post on The Henderson Files -  Five Simple Truths for Indie Authors.

 

 

Links:

 

Amazon

 

Peg Brantley's Amazon Author Page (see her other books)

 

Website

 

Blog

 

Facebook Author Page

 

Goodreads

 

Crime Fiction Writer Web

Crime Fiction Collective

 

Twitter  @PegBrantley

 

 

 

Upcoming Author Appearances (click here for details)

 

2013 Mile High Holiday Mart -Denver, Co. -  Nov 22, 2013

 

Left Coast Crime - Monterey, Ca, - March 20.2013

 

 

 

Valerie Joan Connors "In Her Keeping"

Available on Amazon, Kindle and Barnes & Noble

Bell Bridge Books (August 15, 2013)

From Valerie Connors: About the book and the inspiration behind the story.

 

My inspiration for the book was an eight-week old, 20 pound tiger cub named Meka, that my husband and I met in September of 2010 on a weekend visit to North Carolina.  I got to feed the cub a bottle, and it was an amazing experience that would change my life forever, but also tugged at that empty place in my heart that always longed for children of my own.  In the days and weeks that followed, I couldn't get the cub out of my head.  I began to do research about tigers in captivity in the United States, and the dwindling number of tigers remaining in the wild.  I discovered a whole new world, most of it sad, some of it tragic.  But in the midst of it all were a whole group of kind-hearted individuals who devote their lives to caring for these animals in accredited sanctuaries. They rescue tigers and other big cats from abuse and neglect, and give them a safe place in which to live out their lives as comfortably as possible in spite of their captivity.  It never really occurred to me that such a problem existed.  But people engage in some really cruel behaviors with these animals, taking them away from their mothers too soon in order to let people handle them all day long for photo ops, or thinking that they would make a really great pet, only to discover later, when the animals weigh 400 pounds and could kill you in an instant, that they really hadn't thought it through.  Sometimes these animals, the lucky ones, end up in sanctuaries where trained and responsible handlers love and care for them.  What happens to the others is very sad indeed.

 

The plight of tigers in captivity in the United States is something most people are unaware of.  It’s an unfortunate result of shortsightedness and uninformed decision making over a long period of time.   Sadly, unless something is done, these magnificent creatures will soon disappear from the world entirely.  That loss will be significant.

 

In Her Keeping is about one of the good sanctuaries, and a woman who desperately wants a child of her own.  But after eight years she has tried and failed to accomplish it.  But when she finds herself caring for a tiger cub instead, she learns that motherhood can take many forms.

 

 

 

About The Author:

 

 

Author Valerie Joan Connors

 

 

In Her Keeping is Valerie Connors' second novel, but first through a traditional publisher, Bell Bridge Books.  In 2010 she self-published Give Me Liberty, the story of a young woman’s journey in 1953 from a small town in Michigan to New York City, where she struggles to fulfill her destiny. 

 

Valerie Connors is working on two more novels and hopes to get on in the loop for publication in 2014. During normal business hours she is employed by an architectural design firm as their Operations Manager, which deals with IT and Human Resources. In May of this year she was installed as the President of the Atlanta Writers Club after serving on the board for two years. She and her husband live in the Metro Atlanta area.

 

 

What They're Saying About In Her Keeping:

 

 

"A warm and inspiring novel of second chances, starting over, and learning that happiness comes in all forms and all (tiger) stripes.    ...New York Times bestselling author, DEBORAH SMITH

 

 

"Valerie Joan Connors scores a home run with her wonderful story about two fascinating subjects:  true love and tigers." …New York Times Bestselling Author, HAYWOOD SMITH

 

 

"Valerie Joan Connors knows her tigers, both real and ephemeral. In Her Keeping is a cinematic tale of love lost, and love found."   ...JESSICA HANDLER, author of Braving The Fire: A Guide to Writing Through Grief and Loss, and Invisible Sisters: A Memoir.

 

 

"Valerie Connors' novel offers a refreshing variant on a woman's journey of self-discovery. On the surface In Her Keeping appears to be about Sylvia Holt re-channeling her desire for motherhood by nurturing big cats. Deep down, however, this is a story about her reconnection with people and her renewed trust in the wisdom of the heart." .... GEORGE

WEINSTEIN, author of Hardscrabble Road.

 

Meka

 

 

Links:

 

Author's Web

 

Amazon

 

Kindle

 

Give Me Liberty

 

Bell Bridge Books Interview

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book signing with husband and members of the Atlanta Writers Club

 

Roy Dimond New Release "The Rubicon Effect"

 

New release from author Roy Dimond September 9, 2013. Available on Amazon and Kindle . Use the Look Inside feature on Amazon to read pages from the book.



“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.” —Buddha
 

About the Book:

A new Pope, a new US President, and the end of the world. What happens when we cross the Rubicon, and there is no going back to the way things used to be? How do you solve problems with no solutions? These are the questions author Roy Dimond dares to ask in his new thriller.

Two seemingly unrelated events will soon affect the entire world! The Holy Church has just ordained the first South American Pope. Born into poverty and raised on the mean streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the new leader of the Holy Church intends to bring the church kicking and screaming into the 21st century. While at the same time, the death of the Venezuelan President has opened the door to a new, rising political star and her plan to inspire an entire world. The Pope finds himself cleverly trapped in a web, from which he cannot escape, when the Republican nominees for President and Vice President of the United States of America, Richard Delaney, and his stunning running mate, Michelle Yakin, propose a horrific solution. However, three visionaries: a mysterious Elder from the Andes Mountains, who calls himself Older Brother, the second term, lame duck, President of the United States of America, and an environmentalist, see another way . . . Unfortunately, the time to act is running out. Mother Nature may have crossed the Rubicon and there is no turning back. The Apocalypse, the End of Days has arrived and humanity is to be judged.

Published by Raven's Wing Books, an imprint of Grey Gate Media, LLC. ISBN 978-1618071002



About the Author:

Author Roy Dimond

Roy Dimond was featured on Book Talk on August 15, 2013 with his novel The Singing Bowl. You can read that post by clicking  here. We welcome Roy back today with his new release this month, The Rubicon Effect.

From a recent interview, Roy talks about his main character in The Rubicon Effect. You can read the full interview on the Authors Promotion (Authors Promotion and Books Marketing, a new blog on WordPress.com site)


Sam Albright, my main character, doesn’t suffer fools and seldom has doubts. He’s an environmentalist who knows what’s coming, Armageddon, and worse, he knows that it is already too late to affect Global Climate Change. 

 However, at a deeper level, I think the main character is really the psyche of mankind. Behind the scenes, it is really all humanity that drives my characters. From the newly elected Pope, to the second term lame duck President, from the new President of Venezuela, to the Republican right-wing they really only represent the needs, desires, and dreams of humanity. None of my characters got to where they are on their own; humanity raised them to the positions they have. That’s why I say my story is really about what drives mankind… hope or fear.

And a little personal information about the author from the same interview.

Before I was a writer I was working with at-risk families as a Youth Worker. It was there that I found so many enriching and fascinating people and I often draw from that experience to find characters and plots for my novels.  I then began traveling, and have had the good fortune to find many interesting places. Again these experiences have often found a way into my writing.

 In my spare time I hike and am fortunate enough to live with my wife in one of the most beautiful places on the planet aptly named Garden Bay, on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada.


 Links:

Author Website

Author Interview

Amazon

Kindle

Facebook Author Page

Grey Gate Media

Smashwords

Goodreads 

 

Roy Dimond "The Singing Bowl"

Available on Amazon and Kindle. Other sales sites listed below.

Publisher: Green Dragon Publishing Group; 2 edition (March 13, 2013)

 

About The Book:


A Tibetan monk embarks on a journey filled with harrowing dangers and strange mysteries. His quest is to find a lost book and save an ancient way of life. Under attack from Chinese Communists, a monk travelling the wilds of Tibet is given a daunting task--to bring a way of life back from the brink. That's the spellbinding journey revealed in Roy Dimond's new, action-packed adventure tale. Given an ancient artifact from his monastery, the sacred "Singing Bowl," the young monk beads out on a trek to find a lost book and reunite a broken circle to keep his centuries-old civilization alive.

Amazon Reader Reviews:

"The Singing Bowl is a novel of amazing scope. It's a story of political intrigue, a mystery, a travelogue, a romance, but most of all, a powerful tale of an inner spiritual journey."

"Mr. Dimond had me from the first line, 'Today my heart broke and a world shattered.' "

"This epic story is an ultimate must-read in your life backpack!"



About The Author:

 

Roy Dimond at Machu Piccu

"I was not always a writer.  For most of my adult life I was a Youth Worker meaning that I worked with families that were struggling, or children who were having a hard time.  It was a profession that was both rewarding and heart breaking.  In the thirty years that I was a Youth Worker, I learned two things that led me on a journey half way around the world and back.  When I returned — I began writing." 

 

For thirty years, Roy Dimond worked with at risk families and presented workshops at universities and colleges. Roy draws inspiration for his novels from a combination of this experience and his varied explorations of such locales as Cuzco, Kyoto, Santorini and Tsumago. Five years of research and travel reinforced with fifty years of meditation culminated in The Singing Bowl and it's powerful message.

 

Dimond lives with his wife in Garden Bay, a small fishing village on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. When not traveling, Roy can be found in his log home overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean writing his next novel.

Upcoming Releases: The Rubicon Effect, published by Grey Gate Media and Saving Our Pennys.

Links:

Author's Website

Author's Facebook Page

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Tower Books

Waterstones

Goodreads

AuthorsDen

YouTube

The Wall Street Journal




 

Tudor Rubato won Best Contemporary Cover at the RONE awards

 

Buy On Kindle

As a follow-up to our post on author Jamie Salisbury on August 6, 2013 (link to post) we are pleased to announce her cover for Tudor Rubato won  Best Contemporary Cover at the RONE awards Friday night in Las Vegas!!

From Jamie:

 I certainly cannot take credit because fantastic cover artists like Fiona Jayde is the person responsible for taking my ideas and making them come to life!! Thanks Fiona!! You rock girl!!

Lauren Clark "Stardust Summer" Perfect Holiday Weekend Read As Chick Lit Author Book Hop Continues

Buy On Kindle.

About the book:

Single mom Grace Mason doesn’t believe in miracles, magic, or love at first sight. She likes the quiet life, complete with her eight-year-old son, their tiny house, and her teaching job. For Grace, happiness means that nothing much ever changes in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Then, one thousand miles away, tragedy strikes. A massive heart attack leaves Grace’s estranged father comatose in an Upstate New York hospital. While a team of doctors fight to keep Henry Mason alive, Grace and Evan rush to his bedside to say their final goodbyes.

Henry’s passing brings little closure for Grace, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to her new surroundings. What begins as a short trip results in an entire summer spent with Henry’s second wife, Kathleen, and her next-door neighbor, Ryan Gordon, the town doctor. When a series of unlikely events lead to Evan’s disappearance, Grace must face her worst fears to find her son and bring him back home.

Stardust Summer explores the complexities of forgiveness, what it means to be a family, and the fabulous possibility of falling in love—again.

About the author:

Author Lauren Clark

Lauren Clark writes contemporary novels sprinkled with sunshine, suspense, and secrets. A former TV news anchor, Lauren adores flavored coffee, local book stores, and anywhere she can stick her toes in the sand. Her big loves are her family, paying it forward, and true-blue friends.

Lauren is a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association, the Mobile Writers Guild, and a regular contributor to Parents & Kids Magazine's Mississippi Gulf Coast Edition. Check out her website .

Lauren Clark visited Book Talk last year on May 30, 2012 with her novel Dancing Naked In Dixie. Click here to see that post.

Purchase Links:

Kindle

Amazon

Kobo

Smashwords

Nook

Other Links:

Author Web

GoodReads

Facebook

Twitter  @LaurenClark_Bks

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