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

 

 

You Are Invited! Atlanta Writers Club Book Fair This Saturday, February 16th

 

Atlanta Writers Club to host its first Book Fair this Saturday.

The Atlanta Writers Club announces their first-ever Book Fair to be hosted this Saturday, February 16, 2013.

Over 60 authors and members of the Atlanta Writers Club will display and sign their books at Georgia Perimeter College-Dunwoody (2101 Womack Road, Dunwoody GA 30338). Featuring award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-nominated authors, the public event is a way for writers in Georgia to connect with other writers as well as their readers. Young adult, memoir, mystery and literary novels, among other genres, will be available for sale.

The book fair is a free event that begins at 10:30AM on the second floor of Building NB on Georgia Perimeter College-Dunwoody's campus. Sales of books will be provided by Peerless Bookstore in Alpharetta.

Immediately following the book fair is the Atlanta Writers Club's monthly meeting featuring guest speakers thriller-crime writer Amanda Kyle Williams, author of THE STRANGER YOU SEEK and STRANGER IN THE ROOM, and romance and women's fiction writer Anna DeStefano, author of over 16 novels in four genres. AWC members Mary Grace Schaap and Alexandra Hughes will also speak.

Like the Atlanta Writers Club facebook page!

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!

Mary Gilmartin "Adventures With Easton, The Magical Journey"

Meet The Author

Decatur Book Signing

Eagle Eye Book Shop

SATURDAY – JULY 14, 2012- 1:00 PM

EAGLE EYE BOOK SHOP

2076 N. Decatur Road, Decatur, GA 30033

Available at Eagle Eye Book Shop after the book signing July 14, 2012

Author Mary Gilmartin talks about her debut children's book and her writing experiences today!

About my first book:

The main character, Easton, is what I love most about my book.  I enjoyed writing this book because it took me back to my own childhood.  I had my own adversities to overcome, just like he did in this story.  The beauty of traveling into a magical world created through the eyes of a nine year old when he falls asleep at night is one of the reasons why dreaming is exciting.  However in my story, Easton soon discovers that happiness is actually all around him and that’s when the real magical adventure begins. This is a book for all ages, especially the 9-12 year old.

Book review:

The author's first review was published in the Stone Mountain-Redan Patch, June 9, 2012. Read the full review online. An excerpt below.


Bradley Evans:  In Adventures with Easton, local author Mary Gilmartin takes the adult reader to a place that can only be remembered from dreams or memories. For young readers, it is a place of exciting mysteries, adventure and enjoyment.

About the author:

I live in Atlanta, Georgia near Stone Mountain even though I was born on a hundred acre farm in eastern Tennessee by a midwife. I spent my childhood growing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina before moving to the city.  During those years I was a tomboy who claims to have climbed the tallest tree and shot the straightest arrow.  Those formative years as a child competing against four brothers are great memories. I still have a scar on my left elbow when I fell off my oldest brother’s bicycle when I attempted to ride it backwards.

My life has been one non-stop spiraling journey that continues to excite me. Three years ago was a turning point in my life when I took a creative writing class at Emory University in Atlanta.  Then, suddenly, three months later I found myself unemployed due to the economy. I was no longer part of the corporate world.  That’s when I set up my own office in my home and seriously started writing.  Last year I finished writing a fictional story about a nine year old boy  overcoming his adversities.  My first book “Adventures with Easton, The Magical Journey” debuted this year on June 2, 2012. 

My writing technique: 
 

Most of my ideas for writing come from that exciting database stored inside my head. I sometimes wonder where my vivid imagination comes from, but actually I know.  I am an extremely visual person and can honestly say that I have never had writer’s block. I am inspired by life and everything around me. The stories I write sometimes want to write themselves. The words seem to flow onto the screen when I sit down in front of my computer and start writing. Typing is my preferred method for writing.  Sometimes I will write a story idea that comes to mind on a piece of scratch paper.  This usually gets transcribed, printed and filed to develop later. 

My advice for other writers:

My advice for those who love to write is to "finish" that one story you are passionate about first! That's exactly what I did last year when I selected a storyline about a nine year old I had started but pushed aside to start writing stories. Today, I am happy to say that it is finished and now a published book.

Visit Mary Gilmartin's website to learn more about the author.

Mary Gilmartin

Shane Etter "Bottom Dwellers"

Visit the authors website. Book signing this Saturday in Gainesville.

Link here for details.



Author, Shane Etter



My name is Shane Etter, and my first novel, Bottom Dwellers, was published in April of 2011 by Black Rose Writing, a Texas-based small press (www.blackrosewriting.com).  Bottom Dwellers is a supernatural thriller about green mutant people with gills living on the bottom of one of the largest manmade lakes in the U.S., in north Georgia.  It’s the first of what I anticipate being a series of books to follow with the Dwellers theme of a worldwide mutant community. 

While scuba diving in Lake Lanier, Patrick Dylan encounters a lost community of green people with gills who have been living on the bottom of the lake since being built in the early 1950s.  Mutants due to radiation leakage from the Georgia Nuclear Laboratory, built in Dawson Forest, around the same time as the lake, the have survived, quietly and until this time with no one discovering them.

Despite their warnings to Patrick to stay away and not return, he does come back and a battle with an evil element of the bottom dwellers ensues.  It’s also during this time he that he meets a beautiful Lake Lanier park ranger, Trudy Price.  They start dating, quickly get engaged and marry.  While on their honeymoon in NYC, they get involved in a murder investigation that leads them into the abandoned subway tunnels under the city, where they encounter the mole people of New York.  A different kind of bottom dweller and a different struggle ensues.

Bottom Dwellers may be purchased at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Shane started writing after suffering a stroke at fifty years old and during his recovery period a brain shift occurred causing him to become creative virtually overnight.

Shane likes creepy books, and he is pictured with one of his favorite bestselling authors, John Connolly.

Shane makes his home in north Georgia, where he is currently working on the next Patrick Dylan and Trudy Price adventure and where he lives with his wife, Ellen, and their two standard poodles, Hawk and Pearl. He is the president of his own small high technology company and collects books and wine and enjoys working out in his spare time.

What they are saying about the book: Shane has crafted a great first book! He has written a fast paced story that allows you to suspend disbelief and enjoy the story!

Doug Dahlgren "The Son: Silas Rising"

Find the book series on Amazon.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

That quote from Edmond Burke has been paraphrased by some, but the message is always the same.

It comes from a time that gave birth to our country and in one simple sentence explains the essence of what makes us free. The willingness to take a stand, for what is right, against any odds.

Those ideals are the inspiration for my character, the mysterious and secretive assassin known to the world only as, “The Son.”

Set slightly in our future, yet close enough to be uncomfortable, the stories expose a layer of evil that goes untouched by the law. High ranking political figures, who use their positions to protect them, while committing unspeakable crimes.

My protagonist investigates the charges against these people and if proven to himself, he takes what he sees as “appropriate action.” His morals and ethics are patterned after the Sons of Liberty. Those revolutionary patriots are today seen as heroes, but in their time that was in question. I leave the answer, as to this character, up to you.

The story of “The Son” is currently a three book series, with more on the way.

I began putting my stories on paper after retiring from two, simultaneously held careers. Those careers allowed me and my wife to raise our three children, which is the point of working, but they also exposed me to a wonderful base of characters. People I met and dealt with through the years. Understanding how people will react to situations is very important in business and more simply, communications.

Story telling is basically communicating, expressing ideas in a way that others will understand and hopefully agree with. This is how I try to approach my writing.

They say, “people change,” and that is true. But personalities are usually dependable, reacting as you expect them to. This gives you a sense of comfort and reliability in both real friends and characters we read about or watch on television or in the movies.

I hope my characters are making friends among those who read about them. If I can accomplish that, I will have happy readers who look forward to the next story.

That’s what story telling is all about.

I love meeting with and speaking to book clubs. If you're a member of a book club and would like to have me come speak to your group, please e-mail me!

Doug Dahlgren

                     

Visit the author's website.

Like Doug Dahlgren's Book Page.

Meet the Author Saturday, June 9th

Noon til 3PM

 Books for Less, Buford, Georgia, near the Mall of Georgia

2815 Buford Dr, Buford, Georgia 30519