Monday, October 31, 2011


INDIE AUTHOR BOOK SALE!

Get ready to spend 99 cents each on 36 Indie Authors' books!

WHEN?
TOMORROW, 
Tues, Weds, & Thurs
Nov 1st - Nov 3rd

Indie Author's are having a 99 cent SALE on their books in celebration of
 Melissa Foster's NEW RELEASE
"Come Back to Me"!








              WHERE?
Come back to my Blog OR visit these sites and bookmark them!  CLICK ON THESE LINKS:
http://www.melissafoster.com/ and 
http://www.womensliterarycafe.com/ 
And it will take you to the link for the 99 cent Book Sale!
There will be other NEW RELEASES from these Authors as well!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Crazy Book Tours Presents:


"Holy Ghost Girl" by Donna M Johnson




“Holy Ghost Girl” by Donna M Johnson
Publication Date:  October 13, 2011
Gotham Books

From the Publisher:

A compassionate, humorous story of faith, betrayal, and coming of age on the evangelical sawdust trail.

She was just three years old when her mother signed on as the organist of tent revivalist David Terrell, and before long, Donna Johnson was part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher’s inner circle.  At seventeen she left the ministry for good, with a trove of stranger than fiction memories.  A homecoming like no other, Holy Ghost Girl brings to life miracles, exorcisms, and face-offs with the Ku Klux Klan.  And that’s just what went on under the tent.

As Terrell became known worldwide during the 60’s and 70’s, the caravan of broken down cars and trucks that made up his ministry evolved into fleets of Mercedes and airplanes.  The glories of the Word mixed with betrayals of the flesh and Donna’s mother bore Terrell’s children in one of the several secret households he maintained.  Thousands of followers, dubbed “Terrellites” by the press, left their homes to await the end of the world in cult-like communities.  Jesus didn’t show, but the IRS did, and the prophet/healer went to prison.

Recounted with deadpan observations and surreal detail, Holy Ghost Girl bypasses easy judgment to articulate a rich world in which the mystery of faith and human frailty share a surprising and humorous coexistence.

Holy Ghost Girl:  A Memoir (Gotham Books, October 13, 2011, $26.00, Hardcover) recounts the rise and fall of BBrother Terrell from southern folk hero who was beaten by Klansmen for seating blacks and whites together, to womanizing end-time prophet who fathered children with more than one woman outside his marriagen, including Donna's mother.   When pressed about his children's future, he brushed the concern aside with, "Jesus will come before then."  As Terrell's personal life began to implode, thousands of followers, duibbed Terrellites by the press, descended on backwaters across the south to await the Acopalypse.  Stories emerged of guitar-shaped swimming pool, fleets of Mercedes Benz, a privatge jet and real estate payments made with brown bags filled with cash, and the prophet/healer went to jail.

Holy Ghost Girl bypassed easy judgment  of Terrell and his followers to articluate a rich and mystical world rendered with the wry observations and details only a kid would notice.


MY TAKE:

5 out of 5 stars from me!  I couldn’t have said it any better about this book than what the Publisher has said about this book, as they are exactly right on the mark about it, but that this is an actual memoir that goes into much greater detail, of course, than you can dare to imagine.  I do have a great opinion of this book.
Day by day, revival after revival, the people pour in looking for some kind of hope for Jesus Christ to perform a miracle in their lives.  In some places of this book I was in stitches, and in others, it was so sad.  For example, a man just came up to Terrell and handed him his hard-earned money, money he probably could have used to feed or clothe his family all because the good Lord laid it heavily on his heart to do so.  If this guy only knew what that money went to.  NOT to help people, but to line Terrell’s pockets and more! 
I always laugh when I see these tent revivals in the movies or on TV!  I always think what a sham!  Who and why would someone readily give out money to anyone who has erected an old circus tent just in the name of Jesus?  These people need their heads examined!  Today things are different.  We have the power of television and the internet.  In a way things are not that different, just the process of the delivery of the message is different.  I am not saying ALL people who get on TV are crooked, either.  Look at Joyce Meyers, for example, and all the good she does!  I also know there are others as well who are not wrong, so sometimes it can be a tough decision
This book goes into such detail of all the things that happened as to what made Dona’s mother, the daughter of a Pastor to begin with, even decide to join David Terrell’s group to become the organist of these tent revivals, to how and what made Donna want to leave this dysfunctional so-called family she had back at the tent revivalists.  I don’t know HOW she turned out so normal?
It was amazing how fast they got these dust ridden tents up, even with volunteers helping from other churches from all over the areas these groups went to speak at couldn’t get to fast enough to help raise these tents, as the Revivals were often referred to as the Sawdust Trails from 1960-1962, to the trouble the kids would get into as the preaching went on. 
The part that hit me the most was how in the memoir, Donna was able to see this was NOT the way to live life, (perhaps David Terrell taking her as his wife at a very young age and sleeping with her) to her leaving without ever turning back to look again.  That is, until Brother David Terrell, the Healer, the End-Time Prophet, the closest thing Donna had to a father figure dies/Daddy, dies.  This is in the very front of the book, in the Prologue, in which Brother Randall Terrell, son to David Terrell, decides he is going to raise his father from the dead, just like Jesus was.  Shocking.
This book is a wonderful memoir as to all Donna went through.  Just amazing!  GREAT read!  I highly suggest reading this book!
I received this book for “FREE” from Gotham Publishers, through Crazy Book Tours, through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read and write a review about this book.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.


Saturday, October 29, 2011

LitFuse Publicity Tours Presents:


"Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Susan May Warren


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Hope finds the hopeless when a storm hits.

It's Christmas weekend 1949, and despite the threat of a storm, the townspeople of Frost are determined to continue their holiday traditions, if only as a means to forget the war that they had all just suffered through. But the suffering hasn't ended for Dottie Morgan who lost her only son in the war. She's preparing to wallow in her isolation for the weekend, when Violet, nearly a spinster at age 29, dares to make a request that will force Dottie to publicly revive the memory of her dead son.

When a storm traps the two women at home with a strange young man who has an unbelievable confession and a neighbor with more to do with Violet's past than she would like, no one can predict how this Christmas will give them all a second chance.


My Take:

In “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, Warren takes us to a small town, Frost, Minnesota, in 1949, shortly after the war where the wounds of war are not yet healed.  A Christmas blizzard snows in several people into Violets home, a Safe House where people can go for that very reason.  Even though Violet has in her mind all she is wishing for is that anyone who has been coming by her home earlier is to just go away.  She wants to be by herself.  Violet lost her son in the war, and she is not healed yet.  She has a long ways to work through it, and she is plain not ready when a blizzard hits and four other characters find there way to her home to weather out this blizzard through the  holiday season.
This is a very cozy read, and Warren makes us feel it, as she always does in every book she writes.  We can feel all the circumstances that bring all five of these characters together, their emotions, and the sense of the holiday.  The way she writes we can feel the snow falling and hitting our faces during this blizzard.  We can feel all the snow that hits us as it falls off the  branches of trees and then you walk into the a warm, cozy house, where the heat feels so good..  All of the characters that are snowed in at Violet’s Safe House over Christmas have all seem to have their own flaws, but this does not stop them from still enjoying each others’ company, getting to know each other better, and then enjoying the season itself.  I think out of all the characters and their flaws one of the hardest has to be Violet’s loss of her son during the war.  Even though a little time has passed, the hurt still feels like yesterday.
Get ready to enjoy a wonderful holiday book that is sure to stay with you through all the years of your holidays.  Each holiday you will remember this story.  
I cannot suggest to you more than to read this book when it's a cold day outside where all you want to do is snuggle inside and enjoy it for yourself.  You'll be able to feel what the characters feel, smell the scents of the season, and even envision it all..  You'll be experiencing all that Susan May Warren has written in this wonderful story between these five characters inside this Safe House.  Again, you will also find yourself picking this book up year after year to read reread it.  
Descriptive writing like this is truly a gift Susan May Warren has with her writing and not many authors can attain this.  You feel as if you are right there participating in whatever situation she is writing about.
This book, like all the books by Susan May Warren, held my attention so well I did not want to put it down.  When you don’t want to put a book down, and there are dishes in the sink and other household duties that need tending to, you find yourself ignoring these and continue reading her books.
I LOVED this book!  I should say I LOVE ALL of Susan May Warren’s books!  One thing about this author is every book she writes is definitely different.  She is NOT a cookie-cutter author at all like many who write a lot of books can be.  The variety of the books she writes astounds me!  She can write many genres and pull them off so well.  They are ALL their own, separate stories, which is why I enjoy this author so much.  I know I can pick up any one of her books and read an entirely new and different story than I’ve ever read by her before.  That says a LOT about an author!
I received this book for “FREE” from Summerside Press, through LitFuse Publicity, through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read and write a review about this book.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town onMinnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.

Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder ofwww.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)

A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at:www.susanmaywarren.com.







Thursday, October 27, 2011




“Falling to Pieces, A Shipshewana Amish Mystery” by Vannetta Chapman

Callie, from Austin, Texas, is not Amish, and neither is her aunt who just passed away in Shipshewana, Indiana, where she was just found dead face down in her garden, the same place she owns a quilt shop.  Callie needs to go to the Quilt Shop her aunt owned there so she could sell it and get back to her own home.
While Callie was in Shipshewana, she found this shop also attracted quite a few tourists, and she also met and befriended many wonderful Amish women there as well who really depended upon this quilt shop for all of their quilting and sewing needs.  These women had also helped her aunt run the quilt shop she owned.  They knew everything about the quilt shop, and were quite able to run the shop without her.  They also held some of their quilting bees at the quilt shop.
The local newspaper editor ran a rather derogatory article against the quilt shop, and Callie was all set and ready to go to the newspaper for an after hours meeting to discuss this problem.
When she arrives, she finds he is dead.  She ran out of the building frantic.  She caused such a ruckus, it attracted the police.  Now Callie is being held responsible for the murder of this man.  Everyone knew she didn’t do this, except the police who were constantly after her.  Callie takes the investigation of this murder into her own hands.  Callie is bound and determined to solve this murder on her own.  Despite the police investigating this crime and getting nowhere but to continue to blame Callie, even the Amish women knew Callie did not commit this murder and helped her to prove it.
I found this book very enjoyable and completely different than all the other Amish books that have been written.  The difference is this book is not specifically about an Amish woman, but an Outsider who comes to Shipshewana.  There are many Amish women who work at the shop and Callie does befriend one in particular who happens to know a lot more about the local police than what she leads Callie to believe.  The rest of this book focuses on the murder investigation and Callie trying to prove herself innocent.
I do look forward to the next book in this series.  The writing was good, and the story really held my interest as well as the characters..
The really neat part about this book is I have been to Shipshewana and could relate to the town’s description.
I received this book for “FREE” from HarperCollins Publishing courtesy of NetGalley as an ebook through their Book Reviewer’s Program in exchange to read and write a review about this book.  It is NOT required for my review I write to be either positive or negative, but, “of my own opinion.”  I was NOT provided with “ANY” monies to accept this book, “NOR” to read it, NOR were “ANY” monies given to me to write the review for this book.  All that was ‘expected’ of me was to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it.  Again, the opinions expressed for and about this book are ‘of my own opinion’.  I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.


Monday, October 24, 2011

             It's Here!!!  Welcome!


Thanks to http://www.iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com and to Rhiannon from The Diary of a Bookworm!  (You can click on her Blog name to go directly to her site!)  
A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU TO BOTH OF THEM!


This Giveaway runs from October 24th to October 31st, Halloween night, at MIDNIGHT!


You will ENTER MY GIVEAWAY BY CLICKING HERE: 


http://lauriehere.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html


      HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
  

Sunday, October 23, 2011


TUES, NOV 1 - THURS, NOV 3, 2011
DISCOUNTED to just 99¢ for 3 DAYS ONLY 




COME BACK TO ME
By 
Melissa Foster
 (click title to read excerpt)

Pre-Order HERE for 99 cents!
Author of the Amazon Bestsellers
CHASING AMANDA
AND
MEGAN'S WAY

 COME BACK TO ME  discounted to  just 99¢
DISCOVER MORE GREAT AUTHORS 35 ADDITIONAL books reduced to 99¢ EACH
 BUY 3 books Enter to GET 1 FREE with our dailyMYSTERY BOOK Giveaways
"I" am doing this!  I will be giving this book away in some of my Giveaways I have from NOW through Christmas!  
"[COME BACK TO ME]..a hauntingly beautiful love story against the backdrop of betrayal in a broken world."  Sue Harrison, author of MOTHER EARTH FATHER SKY 
 "COME BACK TO ME is passionate, romantic, and moving. A vivid story of loss and hope - a fine read for a wide audience." Midwest Book Review

WoMen's Literary Cafe is proud to host a launch party to celebrate the release of bestselling, award-winning author, Melissa Foster's highly anticipated third novel, COME BACK TO ME (Greenforge Books). Read EXCERPT
 Paperback: 978-0-9847165-1-7  Kindle:  978-0-9847165-0-0 
For three days only, 35 AUTHORS will celebrate Foster's release by offering their books to readers for just 99¢. GIVEAWAYSCONTESTS - AND MORE!
In the LEFT side column, click on the Melissa Foster "Come Back to Me" book ICON to take you to her page at the WoMens' Literary Cafe for MORE information!


Enter to WIN autographed, leather-bound edition of COME
 BACK TO ME.
One one produced! **Actual title will be imprinted and may vary in appearance.
Handmade by Renaissance Art  
 Read the press release here: COME BACK TO ME
BONUS BUYS