What was your biggest inspiration while writing WAKE?

So many things inspired me while I was writing the sequel to Whisper, it’s hard to narrow it down to one. I can say, though, there is a radio show called “Grace to You” with John Macarthur, and he did a series about angels. I listened to it several times, and it gave me some incredible insight into the Biblical writings of angels as warriors.

Which character in WAKE is most like yourself?

Hmmm… my mother told me Callie reminds her of me as a teen. I always had super amplified feelings, kind of like Callie has for Joshua. Callie is much cooler than I ever was, though.

Which authors have most influenced your writing?

Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker in subject matter. They write about Christian themes –angels and demons, end of the world type stuff .Jodi Picoult and Karen Marie Moning in style. I am a big fan of writing from different points of view. I love short powerful sentences that drive home an emotion.

I have a comfy oversized orange leather chair with ottoman that a friend was going to throw in the garbage. He gave it to my husband and I instead, and it ended up in our bedroom. This is where I wrote Whisper. Lately, I’ve been writing prolifically at local coffee shops. Much of Wake was written Starbucks – how cliché, right?

What is your favorite book of all time?

This is just a crazy question. I can’t narrow it down to one book. One series – The Fever Series, by Karen Marie Moning – has seemed to ruin all other books for me.

Describe your writing style in three words.

Unique. Unapologetic. Tangible.

What is Callie’s favorite song (or theme song)?

Beautiful Soul.

What is your writing process?

It is still very much evolving, and I think it always will. With Whisper, I didn’t plan much. I had an idea and wrote a scene that ended up being in the middle of the book. Later, I started at the beginning of the story and wrote from chapter one through the end, then came back and wrote a prologue, then an epilogue. I never had an outline – I’ll confess. With Wake, I outlined some, but honestly, some ideas just come to me as I’m writing, and I go with them. One thing I really believe in as a writer is the importance of critique partners – good ones. I’m so lucky to have a group of them. There are six of us who critique each others’ work twice a month. They help me to know what works and what definitely does NOT and also edit for grammar, typos, the dastardly extra spaces!

Dana Faletti is the author of the Whisper series. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in a northern suburb of the city with her three wonderful daughters, a loving husband and a hypoallergenic Siberian Forest cat named Fluffy G.

*Please note- Questions and Answers provided by author.

Hardcover, 368 Pages

Adult -Thriller, Historical

Review Copy/TLC Book Tours

Warnings: Disturbing graphic violence

4/5 Stars 

In the winter of 1897, Elspeth Howell treks across miles of snow and ice to the isolated farmstead in upstate New York where she and her husband have raised their five children. Her midwife’s salary is tucked into the toes of her boots, and her pack is full of gifts for her family. But as she crests the final hill, and sees her darkened house and a smokeless chimney, immediately she knows that an unthinkable crime has destroyed the life she so carefully built.

Her lone comfort is her twelve-year-old son, Caleb, who joins her in mourning the tragedy and planning its reprisal. Their long journey leads them to a rough-hewn lake town, defined by the violence both of its landscape and of its inhabitants. There Caleb is forced into a brutal adulthood, as he slowly discovers truths about his family he never suspected, and Elspeth must confront the terrible urges and unceasing temptations that have haunted her for years. Throughout it all, the love between mother and son serves as the only shield against a merciless world.

Thoughts

Set against the backdrop of lawlessness, The Kept offers a dreary tale of isolation that drips off the pages in cold chills. As chilly as the book itself author James Scott introduces us to Elspeth and Caleb, characters who bring readers the heavy feel of foreboding and a darkness that follows them due to the opening events and later by past lies and deception.

An impossible book to put down and yet at the same time an impossible book to like mainly due to the hopelessness of the main characters lot in life. Even with its darkness though, and story so heavy with violence, I loved the beauty in the metaphors and the visual scenery that gave breath to a time untouched by industry and "Americanism", a time when yes it was scary due to its isolated corners but beautiful by its land and simple living. Its best to dive into The Kept knowing just the synopsis, as taking the journey with the characters is what makes this story so harrowing, giving away pieces of who and what Elspeth is and did gives away too many details. Its certainly not an easy book to get through, nor is it a fast moving plot with tons of action, think of the story more as a long winter tale that seeps into your skin slowly and in the end will be appreciated for its literal merit and not so much its consumability.

The Kept is a dark winter story of murder, lies and desperation into that of a dying soul. While hope layers small parts of a an overall dreadful outcome, the finality of Caleb and Elspeth's journey is just depressing. Readers who enjoy dark pieces will defiantly see the haunting creativity Scott brings to this book, but will long be shaking off the gloomy aftereffects of such tragedy.

James Scott earned his bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and his MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. He has received awards from the Sewanee Writers' Conference, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, the Millay Colony, the Saint Botolph Club, the Tin House Summer Writer’s Conference, Yaddo, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
​
His work has been short listed for the Pushcart Prize and nominated for the Best New American Voices. James currently lives in western Massachusetts.

Thanks to Harper and TLC Book Tours for Review Copy

Bloodmark was a story that lived in my mind for a while, but it wasn't until my mom was diagnosed with cancer for a second time that I realized there was no time like the present to start writing. I spent 3 years doing the research necessary to create the world of Bloodmark mixing in mythology and pieces of history to create a new world.

Have any authors or novels inspired your work?

I have a love of romance like Jane Austen and a love of fantasy like J.R.R. Tolkien. So when your read Bloodmark you'll definitely experience the mix of romance and fantasy.

If you could pick a song that encapsulated your book, what would it be and why?

Singer Leslie Rich, originally from Ireland and now a permanent resident of Minnesota was so inspired by Bloodmark that he wrote and performed a song called "Heart Strings". It is utterly beautiful and speaks to the heart of Bloodmark. He really taps into the mix of current and Celtic styles and the grey misty emotion of the book. The song will be for sale later this month on iTunes. http://www.leslierichmusic.com

What do you want readers to walk away with after reading Bloodmark?

When I started developing the characters in Bloodmark, I set out to create a heroine that was not only fierce but also had the vulnerability that was needed to create the depth of a character that would come to life before your eyes. I wanted her to be someone every girl could look up to. The inspiration that love and family are the most important things in life.

Can you share any future writing plans?

I am writing on the second book in the Bloodmark Saga, Bloodrealms. It has been amazing to dive back into the story and watch my characters grow and introduce new conflict and adventure.

Aurora Whittet started out as a wild red-haired child in Minnesota dreaming up stories for her friends to read. Today, she has completed the first of three novels in the Bloodmark Saga. She is a national award-winning graphic designer in her day job. Aurora lives with her husband and son in Minnesota.

Life is for Living 

by Andrew Critchley - 2014

Being an independent author is the most fun I’ve had in life with my clothes on.

The simple pleasure of creating – characters, dialogue, a story – was a glorious state of unrestrained and uninhibited creativity that I found both liberating and empowering. It’s a Wonderful Life is my favorite film of all time and its basis was a short story, The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern. The possibility of being able to take my favorite film as inspiration and a spiritual guide and build a full length novel, rather than short story, around it was exciting beyond words. 

At the heart of the book is romance. Although stated many times before, probably most notably in Eden Ahbez’s song Nature Boy immortalized by Nat King Cole, I do believe that the only thing that really matters in life is to love and be loved.

In my book Dublin in the Rain, the two lovers are Sophia and Jonathan. Jonathan is haunted by his past – a legacy of being abandoned by his mother and the subsequent suicide of his father – and so stubborn and anal at times that readers want to leap inside the book and physically shake him. Sophia on the other hand is well-read, outwardly confident and sexually expressive but struggles to relate either to her own family or the world around her.

Their relationship is redemptive for them both and they fall in love, marry and have a child. However, as often happens in life (and I can speak personally from my own experience of my wife dying at 42), tragedy changes everything in the book as the baby dies from cot death. Jonathan is distraught, unable to cope and their marriage disintegrates.

Within this is the second key theme of the book – namely that it’s how one deals with difficulty that’s important and not the difficulty itself

Tragedy is sadly a fact of life and often totally unavoidable and beyond anyone’s control. What is controllable however is how one responds to tragedy. The old adage that the glass is half full or half empty is very true. Jonathan’s problem with his life is that not only is the glass half empty but that he neither likes the glass itself not what is contained within it. Change, as is invariably the case, comes from within but sometimes we need help.

With that in mind, underpinning the whole book is a sense of spirituality and destiny. I have always loved D.H. Lawrence’s quote ‘The dead don’t die. They look on and help.’ My belief in the quote has been strengthened still further following the death of my wife. It is this essence that also acts as a catalyst for Jonathan’s annus mirabilis in Dublin in the Rain as he finds reconciliation, forgiveness and ultimately true love.

I have a smile on my face and I sit here writing this piece my book sits beside me. Receiving my copy was one of the best moments in my life.

Being an independent writer meant that I could resist suggestions, pressures even, to leave the book open ended, turn it into a duology or even trilogy, or to further cut it so that was below the ‘industry standard’ of 110,000. It is truly the book that I wanted to write.

It is still early days for me as an author but initial feedback from many readers who have bought the book quite simply fills my heart with joy. And of equal pleasure, I will be starting my next book very soon. It is a very different type of redemption story to Dublin in the Rain and no doubt it will be another joyous adventure as part of my journey as an independent author - full of challenges and learnings.

As Molière once wrote, ‘The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.’

In life, very often the greatest obstacle that we have to overcome is ourselves – for we are most commonly the people who stop ourselves from doing what we truly want to do with our life. Although she died in 2007, my wife Nadine is still looking on, still helping me overcome the obstacles.

Life is for living. Embrace life, love life. It’s often not what you do; it’s the energy and passion that you do it with!

Many thanks for taking the time to read this piece.

GIVEAWAY

Today I have one copy (paperback) of Andrew Critchley's Dublin in the Rain. This is open to everyone, for your chance to win please fill in the copter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On a rainy day in Dublin, during the spring of 1947, a tragic accident brought devastation to those involved. As the subsequent years pass, unable to come to terms with the accident, the survivors set the path for a deeply troubled future for each generation that followed.

Jonathan Melton had a traumatic childhood in which he ended up in foster care, but when he meets the wild, willful, sexually experienced and free spirited Sophia at university, everything changes. At first inept with women, Jonathan’s complex relationship with Sophia evolves from a one-way obsession into a genuine love and shared passion, as the relationship brings happiness, romance and joy to both their lives that neither thought was ever possible. The two marry, and Sophia gives birth to their first child; a beautiful baby daughter. Everything is seemingly perfect, until the evening that their tiny baby is found dead in her cot. 

As his world falls apart around him, Jonathan slips into a dark depression and, increasingly haunted by his past, becomes distant and dysfunctional as he struggles to cope with the loss of his daughter. His marriage to Sophia disintegrates, and Jonathan along with it as he descends further into darkness after leaving Sophia. Although his close friend David succeeds to some extent in saving him from his demons, Jonathan remains a lost and lonely soul, until his apparent chance meeting with the enigmatic Maolíosa in a Dublin bar. Maolíosa and Jonathan form a unique bond, and she challenges his vision of life and the world around him. Fate intervenes, but it ultimately leads Jonathan to redemption, and a final resolution to the aftermath and consequences of the 1947 tragedy.

~Thanks for being on the spotlight today Andrew! To find out more about this author visit:

~Goodreads~

Its time for Shelf Cravings!! A random dish on all things book. 

New releases, coming soon, just discovered and deals for my Kindle.

Im super excited about these particular titles coming in 2014:

~COMING SOON~

May 22nd 2014 by Hodder and Stoughton

They're here ... The boy. The boy watch the boy watch the dead people oh Lordy there's so many ... They're coming for me now. We're all going soon. All of us. Pastor Len warn them that the boy he's not to­­--

The last words of Pamela May Donald (1961 - 2012)

Black Thursday. The day that will never be forgotten. The day that four passenger planes crash, at almost exactly the same moment, at four different points around the globe.

There are only four survivors. Three are children, who emerge from the wreckage seemingly unhurt. But they are not unchanged.

And the fourth is Pamela May Donald, who lives just long enough to record a voice message on her phone.

A message that will change the world.

The message is a warning.

Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither
September 16th 2014 by Simon and Schuster

When Cate Benson was twelve, her sister died.

Two hours after the funeral, they picked up Violet’s replacement, and it was like nothing had ever happened. Because Cate’s parents are among those who decided to grant their children a sort of immortality—by cloning them at birth. So this new Violet has the same smile. The same laugh. That same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all the same memories as the girl she replaced.

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school.

Or at least, that’s what the paparazzi and crazy anti-cloning protesters want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that, though. She’s used to standing up for her sister too, and she’s determined to prove her innocence now—at whatever the cost. But the deeper she digs for the truth, the further Cate's carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, unveiling a world filled with copies and lies, where nothing and no one—not even her sister— is completely what they seem.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
April 8, 2014 by Orbit

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.

Every time Harry dies, he is reborn in exactly the same time and place, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, and nothing ever changes. Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears by his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message back with you. It has come down from child to adult, child to adult, passed back down the generations from a thousand years forward in time. The message is that the world is ending, and we cannot prevent it. So it’s now up to you.”

This is the story of what Harry August does next—and what he did before—and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow. It is a story of friendship and betrayal, of love and loneliness, loyalty and redemption, and the inevitable march of time.

A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka
May 6th 2014 by St. Martin's Griffin

America, today. A continent upended by the deaths of tens of millions of women from a synthetic hormone in meat. Now teen girls are the country’s most valuable commodity, watched over by guards, gates and Paternal Controls on phones, internet and media.

Seventeen-year-old Avie knows her life is over when her father contracts her in marriage to millionaire businessman Jess Hawkins to raise money for his ailing biotech company. Destined to be moulded into Hawkins’s perfect First Lady as he runs for governor on the Paternalist ticket, Avie knows she has to get away - to save who she is and everything she wants her life to be.

Yates, Avie’s childhood friend turned revolutionary, knows Avie has what it takes to make it to freedom in Canada. But on a perilous flight from the mansions of Los Angeles and Malibu to the cover of an exclusive escort service in Las Vegas, Avie begins to learn dangerous truths about who really controls the US government. As her friendship with Yates turns to love, and pursued to the snowy Canadian border by government agents, she must discover whether she really is ‘a girl called fearless.

After the End by Amy Plum
May 6, 2014 by HarperCollins

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
June 10, 2014 by GreenWillow

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
January 28, 2014 by Del Ray

Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Lifers by Jane Harvey-Berrick
February 7, 2014 - INDIE PICK

After eight years in prison, twenty-four year old Jordan Kane is the man everyone loves to hate.

Forced to return to his hometown while on parole, Jordan soon learns that this small town hasn’t changed since he was carted off to juvie all those years ago. He is the local pariah, shunned by everyone, including his own parents. But their hatred of him doesn’t even come close to the loathing he feels every time he looks in the mirror.

Working odd jobs for the preacher lady, Jordan bides his time before he can leave this backwards town. But can distance erase the memories that haunt him? Trapped in the prison of his own mind Jordan wonders if the pain of living will ever subside?

Torrey Delaney is new in town and certainly doesn’t behave in a way the locals believe a preacher’s daughter should. Her reputation for casual hook-ups and meaningless sex is the talk of the town. Add that to her budding friendship with the hardened ex-con handyman, and the good Reverend is less than thrilled with her estranged daughter’s path.

As friendship forms, is it possible for two damaged people who are afraid to love take their relationship to the next level? Can Torrey live with Jordan’s demons, and can Jordan break through Torrey’s walls? With the disapproval of a small town weighing heavily on them, will they find their place in the world? Can they struggle against the odds, or will their world be viciously shattered?

Paperback, 400 Pages

Review/TLC Book Tours

Adult Contemporary

Warnings: Death, grief, mild sexuality

3/5 Stars

What could be worse than losing your child? Having to pretend he’s still alive…

Bestselling author Will Shepard is caught in the twilight of grief, after his young son dies in a car accident. But when his father’s aging mind erases the memory, Will rewrites the truth. The story he spins brings unexpected relief…until he’s forced to return to rural North Carolina, trapping himself in a lie.

Holistic veterinarian Hannah Linden is a healer who opens her heart to strays but can only watch, powerless, as her grown son struggles with inner demons. When she rents her guest cottage to Will and his dad, she finds solace in trying to mend their broken world, even while her own shatters.

As their lives connect and collide, Will and Hannah become each other’s only hope—if they can find their way into a new story, one that begins with love.

Thoughts

Outside of what the book summary tells you, its hard to further information without ruining the book. What I can share are my thoughts and that The In Between Hour is a book highly rich in character study, with a heavy focus on dialog and character interaction. The process leaves readers with a heavy feeling type of novel rather than a actions based novel, or rather how do I put this: a story that's hard to connect to due to the characters, but easy to feel bad for them due to the circumstances.  

I found outside of the dialog the visual writing beautiful, and while the subjects tended to be heartbreaking, there was a feeling of hope laced throughout the novel as Hannah and Will developed a deeper relationship.

In the end I really appreciated the story and the grace White gave these characters to deal with grief, depression and sorrow. Recommended to readers who enjoy women's fiction.

Barbara Claypole White writes and gardens in the forests of North Carolina. English born and educated, she’s married to an internationally-acclaimed academic. Their son, an award-winning poet / musician, attends college in the Midwest. His battles with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have inspired her to write love stories about damaged people. The Unfinished Garden, Barbara’s debut novel, won the 2013 Golden Quill for Best First Book. The In-Between Hour is her second novel.

Connect with Barbara on her website www.barbaraclaypolewhite, Facebook, or Twitter @bclaypolewhite.

*Special Thanks to Harlequin and TLC Book Tours

L.S MURPHEY

~Author of One More Day~

by L.S Murphey- 2014


1. Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas – Steve’s journey inspired me in so many ways. This is the book that inspired me to become a young adult author.

2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut – My first Vonnegut experience was “Harrison Bergernon” in 8th grade. I loved that story, but Slaughterhouse-Five opened the world up for me.

3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – This book taught me that YA could be literature and not just “kiddie books.”

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Who doesn't want a Mr. Darcy to call their own? And who doesn't relate to Elizabeth Bennett? Just a great romance.

5. The Alienist by Caleb Carr – My first real experience with historical fiction, and I loved this novel. In fact, I read it every couple of years.

6. The Tortall books by Tamora Pierce – I love strong characters, and Pierce was writing YA before YA was cool. Her characters leap off the page and live inside you head.

7. Girl of Nightmares by Kendrae Blake – I loved Anna Dressed in Blood, so I was excited to read Girl of Nightmares. Rarely does a second book live up to expectations though, but Girl of Nightmares was so brilliantly executed, it was better than its predecessor.

8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – I strive to be this good one day. John Green set the bar so high with this novel, I don’t know if there will be another book in the near future that affects me as much as this did.

9. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller – Brilliant, dark novel that has stuck with me since I read it in HS.

10. The Curse Workers trilogy by Holly Black – A great, dark trilogy. Black writes some of the best flawed characters you can’t help by love.

L.S. Murphy lives in the Greater St. Louis area where she watches Cardinals baseball, reads every book she can find, and weaves tales for teens and adults. When not doing all of the above, she tends to The Bean (aka her daughter), her husband and a menagerie of pets. She is the author of romance novellas A Reason to Stay and Neighbors. Her debut novel Reaper, a YA paranormal romance, is now available.


She is a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the St. Louis Writer’s Guild.