Book Giveaways

Book Giveaways 2009 (to date)

Messy Tessy sent to The Old Silly

Land of Expression given to Sheri W

Walking Fish given to John W.

King By Right of Blood and Might won by S.M. Carriere

A Circle of Souls won by Rasberry

Murder in the Magick Club given to Gwenyfar

Kill Me Twice given to John B.

Glen Beck’s Common Sense sent to L. Diane Wolfe/Spunk on a Stick

The First Thirty Seconds sent to Crystal Clear Proofing

Hail To the Chief given to Gwenyfar

Prodigal Sons sent to The Old Silly

Oracle’s Legacy Book 1 & 2 given to Jonathan

The Guilt Gene to be sent to Betty Dravis

The Code of Destiny still up for grabs-leave me a comment

A Walk for Sunshine to be sent to Alyssa Ast

If your name appears above and you haven't already received your book, please email me your mailing address so I can send it to you.

The following two books are up for grabs. I received them from the authors but will not be reviewing them as upon starting them they were not books I was enjoying. While they turned out not to be books for me, someone may enjoy them. If anyone is interested in them, leave me a comment.

Don’t Look Down (A book about the minds of six man in a psychiatric hospital)

Embellish (a paranormal romance)

Future Books:

Septimus Heap – Syren
Sorrowed Souls
Pigs in the Pulpit (eBook)
Letters to Rosy/Letter Writing Prize Pack(contest- interview will be Friday, Dec 4th)

A Time For Being Thankful

The above painting entitled The First Thanksgiving was done by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris centuries ago. To me it symbolizes the melting pot of our country and shows us at our best. As we enjoy Thanksgiving this year may we remember those who came before us and opened their hearts and their homes to all and gave thanks for and shared the abundance of life that they had. In our modern times, when we face many of life challenges, lets take this opportunity to be thankful for all the blessings we have, no matter how small they may be. It is the little things in life that carry us through.

I will not be posting this week, as I know many of you will be preparing for family gatherings, traveling and celebrating. To all of you, where ever you are from, I wish you a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving week!

Welcome to the Weekend With... Sheldon Greene

Last week I reviewed a wonderful book called Prodigal Sons written by Sheldon Greene. In my research of the author I discovered a man who is even more interesting and diverse than the characters and spies he writes about in his book. I consider it an honor that Mr Greene agreed to today's interview.

Tell us a little about yourself (where you grew up, family, etc.).

Greene: I’m a Mid Westerner, born in Pennsylvania and raised and educated in Cleveland Ohio; one of those “first in the family to get a college education” Americans. Cleveland gave me a great foundation for a life of learning and thought. They had an elementary school program called Major Work, which taught promising kids to think and be creative. I learned early on how important the character and quality of education is in making us what we are. I’m married to a psychotherapist, my one and only mate. We have a daughter, an artist who is married to a philosopher. They live in Philadelphia and are both educators.

You have an impressive background as an attorney, an author and as an executive of a wind energy company. I have a feeling that is just the tip of the iceberg.. Having served on Obama's national policy team for energy and as the world focuses on becoming more 'green', please tell us about wind energy. What advice would you offer the average person about using energy more efficiently or how we as individuals can make a difference?

At this time wind is the most economically viable alternative energy source. Coal fired plants are still the cheapest until you factor in the indirect costs of their impact on the environment and health. The problem with renewable energy is that it is not constant, because the wind varies. Wind and solar energy can’t be the dominant energy source, at least not until the cost of storing energy is significantly reduced. If and when that happens we will be able to capture the wind based energy, hold it and release it when is needed. One big problem is that while we have a national highway system, our energy highway, the grid, is antiquated and feudal. The Obama administration’s energy policy includes money for an energy super-highway system that is smart enough to deliver energy as needed. Hopefully we’ll have that in the next ten years.


As individuals we can help in two ways. The first is saving energy; turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat, buying energy efficient light bulbs and fuel efficient cars. The second is supporting our government’s efforts to achieve energy independence. This costs money, tax dollars and even somewhat higher energy costs, but money we spend now will in the long run create two million permanent, well paid jobs, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and help to make us competitive globally.


Politics and immigration are probably not topics most book reviewers/bloggers would approach, but I'm always intrigued by the subject and so more willing to broach the subject. Having also served on Obama's policy team for immigration, and being well versed in government health and labor policies, what advice would you give to those who want to make a difference and be part of a change for the better for our country? And as many Americans have grown apathetic where government/politics is concerned, in your opinion can we as individuals really make a difference?


A sense of powerlessness and mistrust of government afflict much of our American society. There’s a reason for that. Our governments, state, federal, and local, do often spend too much money with too little result and the media magnify the failures. Even so, too many of us don’t make an effort to develop an understanding of the complex and interrelated issues that confront our country. (The subject of immigration, for example, touches every sensitive element of what makes up our society. The impact ranges from the insatiable demand for cheap, unskilled labor to the challenge of integrating and educating people of varied social and economic diversity. That just scratches the surface.


Lots of people relate strongly to a single issue but don’t integrate their personal concerns into a broader perspective. Others are satisfied just to get canned buzz-word opinions from the 24/7 TV media.) More of us need to engage and participate in ongoing political action movements. And we need make a habit of tapping the resources of the internet and the print media to develop a deeper comprehension of the issues; health delivery, education, energy, just to mention the ones currently on the front burner. We need to become an informed, participating electorate.

In your books you write about characters and times that are in transition, it is said that history often repeats and one can easily see cycles in history. One always hopes that we will never see another world war, yet one can see similarities in the past and the current climate. With the complex and compelling character's you have created, what wisdom do you think they would have for us?

The overriding message of Prodigal Sons is that we humans are blinded by ideology. Ideology is a distorted lens through which people view the world. Reality is kaleidoscopic. If people are to cope effectively with reality as it changes they need to look at it and sift it without preconceptions.

Prodigal Sons isn't your first book to deal with a post WWII, why is that time period and the people of that era inspiring for you?

The Twentieth Century alternated between colossal technological achievement and cataclysmic destruction. We experienced two World Wars, genocide, hundreds of smaller conflicts, the implosion of the colonial era, the rise and fall of Communism and Fascism, population explosion, the degradation of the world’s environment on the one hand and a multitude of life changing advances in health, communication, technology on the other hand.


What particularly interested me about Post War Germany, was the intersection of conflicting ideologies; Neo-Nazism, Zionism, Capitalism and Communism and the way the clash informed and animated the characters. The change agent in the book is love. If that sounds like a cliché, so be it. But for me, love, of other people, of the world, is the seminal component of the life force. It’s social gravity.

I haven't had the opportunity to read Lost and Found yet. Can you tell us what it's about?

A Holocaust survivor chooses between life in a small Western Pennsylvania town and reparations in Israel. Reviewers described it as gentle, funny, poignant, magical and deceptively simple. The book celebrates the small miracles of ordinary life. A rabbi discovers he can heal. Sterile people give birth. A mysterious bookstore burns. A cookbook divides the sisterhood. A stranger drops some money on a needy philanthropist. The Los Angeles Times Book Review gave it a Critics Commendation and said, "Greene is a born storyteller."

Your work is very complex yet seems so effortless. How much research and what types of research do you do?

Thanks. That’s a great compliment. I do lots of research so that the historical matrix underpinning the fiction is accurate. For example, the newspaper articles about Post War Nazi activities, the battle of Degania Aleph during the Israeli War of Independence are faithful to the contemporary accounts, to mention a few. I use whatever source is available; contemporary journalistic accounts, books, and of course the internet.

When did you first decide to start writing?

I started writing fiction in Law School and never stopped.

How do you navigate the actual story? (e.g. do you pre-plot it all out, get the main details and then flesh it out, divide up chapters, let the characters tell you their path, etc.) How long does it take you to complete one of your novels?

The novels germinate with a single image or notion. For example, one time I was having dinner in an Italian restaurant. Beside our table on a shelf was a sculpture. My interest in it evolved into my novel, Burnt Umber, about ten years later.


I start with a story, then progress to a detailed outline of the book embellished with historical background and character bios including their basic personality traits. Once the characters are alive in my head, they seem to do and say things their own way, and I become the medium for them. It’s a bit supernatural, like conjuring up a spirit.

When you get stuck on writing, what do you do to clear your mind and get back on track?

I take a nap.
Most great authors are also avid readers. While it is hard for us to imagine you have any free time with all that you do, are you an avid reader and if so, who do you enjoy reading?

I am an avid fiction reader and my tastes are varied. I could name at least fifty authors, each one different in style and subject matter. I’ve read every Le Carre and every Patrick O’Brian. A couple of recently read books that are quite different but equally compelling are; The Painter of Battles, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout.

Hope my questions aren't too different for you. I have found that while my readers want to know about an author's book they also like to know the person behind the writing and are often compelled to follow authors who are as intriguing as the characters they write. You definitely fit that bill.

These questions were great fun.

I want to thank Sheldon Greene for taking the time to answer my questions and sharing some of his insights with us. Please check out his website, http://www.sheldongreene.net/

And to read the review of his book, click here.

Book Reviews - Oracle's Legacy by R. B. Holbrook

What if since the dawn of time, there were people living among us with special powers? Powers based on the ability to manipulate energy- telekinesis, mind-control, control over nature, etc. In R.B. Holbrook’s Oracle’s Legacy, those people walk among us.

Oracle’s Legacy is a trilogy that started with Children of Sun and continues with the recently released, Shadows of Fate. Around 12,000 BC, Tesen was the first human to discover the ability to manipulate energy and with others who had this same ability, he established the first tribe, called Uni’Ki. That first tribe was destroyed nearly 6,000 years later, when they began abusing their powers and using them against the powerless humans. It was then that Structure was established. Structure divided those with power into eight houses depending on how they controlled energy: Blade, Breath, Flame, Heart, River, Stone, Sun and the nearly now extinct, Moon. Those with powers bear a tattoo-like Seal. How much of their bodies the Seal covers depends on the level of Enlightenment they have achieved. One progresses higher in Enlightenment and gains more power as they master an understanding of the balance their individual power requires. There is a Grand House, made up of selected members of the different Houses, that governs Structure and one Oracle, that has the most power of all and is chosen to give guidance to their people.

Children of Sun centers around a dysfunctional Structure family of nineteen brothers and sisters, who share a common biological father and have all been taken in by the two oldest son’s Mama. The story itself is driven by twins, Ollie and Ellis. Ollie is a ruthless killer you can’t help but love. While she is a skilled assassin and knows her way around weapons, part of her power gives her the ability to make others turn on themselves. She is brash, over the top, often out of control, and the only thing she is as devoted to as job is protecting the family she loves. Ellis is the yin to her yang. He is the quiet scholarly one that does his best to keep her grounded, until Granger appears and then he must decide whether to trust his sister’s instincts or continue to be her over-protective brother. R.B. Holbrook builds her characters and their world over the course of this first book with a sensory overload (in a good way) of non-stop action. By the end of the first book, when the Oracle starts to die, all the Houses will be trying to have their candidate chosen to be the new Oracle. Ollie and her family will be put to the test trying to protect the Oracle and survive the struggle for power.

Shadows of Fate picks up where Children of the Sun leaves off and instead of losing speed as some second books do, Holbrook continues to deliver even more non-stop action and further insight into the characters, book one introduced us to. In this second volume, we learn the fate of the Oracle and her family of protectors. Shadows of Fate is an even better book than it’s predecessor, however it is hard to tantalize you with details that won’t give away the cliffhanger ending of book one. Although this book is a lot longer than the first, because Holbrook sets such a good pace, it never feels too long. I think the best way I can describe it for sci-fi fans out there, is in terms of a blockbuster movie. Remember how when the first Harry Potter or Transformer movie came out, how unique it was and how the action was so great you couldn’t believe it when the credits started rolling. Then around the 4th Harry Potter or the recent sequel to Transformer, halfway through you were fidgeting and checking the time. Not because the movie was interesting or action packed, but because the film makers had just drawn things out a little too long. Well Holbrook has created the anti-thesis to that. Her books get better with each volume. In fact, when you get to the end the only negative you can think of is, “What?!? I have to wait for the final volume!” In Shadows of Fate, you will learn more about the dark and often hidden members of the House of Moon. Some characters will be revealed to be more harmless than they previously appeared and some seemingly innocent, helpful characters will be revealed to be truly evil. Although, I’m dying to tell you more, I will refrain, because this trilogy is excellent and I highly recommend it to sci-fi/fantasy readers.

If you love a story that gives you everything, love, romance, murder, mayhem, corruption, deception,….. then you will be hooked on these books. If you love comic books, the words in these books will come to life before your eyes. If you like Heroes, but wish they would stop introducing new characters, wrecking the storylines and just wandering off, then Oracle’s Legacy will give a new set of heroes to follow that won’t leave you hanging or confused. 4.5 out of 5 energy spikes.


These books were provided by the author.

The Good The Bad & The Ugly Wednesday

Welcome to another week of The Good The Bad & The Ugly. For those of you that are discovering this weekly feature for the first time, let me tell you what it is. Every Wednesday, I introduce you to three sites or blogs I have discovered. Generally, the three sites will follow a similar theme. Don't let the ominous title fool you, all the sites are great in their own way and worthy of following and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are just titles with twisted meanings. The Good is a site that is intriguing and you should check it out if you get a chance. The Bad is a site that will surprise you and you may find yourself checking out more than once. The Ugly is so fabulous you may find yourself addicted. This week we take a look at some author blogs and hopefully you will not only discover a new blog you like but also a new author.

The Good- is a blog I only discovered on Monday after reading an interview on Spunk on a Stick Tips.  Jamieson Wolf's self titled bloghas the subtitle "Words that satisfy every need..." I haven't had a chance to read many of his post yet, but they are very candid and give you the feel of sitting in a coffee shop or at a friends house and listening to that friend talk. The post that struck me when I first checked out the blog is last Thursday's Blind Karma. As a big believer in Karma, this post is an excellent example of what our society today is like and how doing a small thing for someone else can make your day. Hopefully it will inspire you to go out an do your own good deeds.

The Bad- is Creations by Laurel-Rain Snow. I discovered this one last week after checking out one of my commenters. Actually she has many blogs, and I haven't had a chance to look at them all yet so I decided to go withthe first one that caught me attention. Make sure when you check out her page that you click on her profile and go visit some of her others as well. I'm sure they are equally as wonderful. This blog is a mixture of reviews, meme's and musings. Those musings are short stories that are nice little pick-me-ups or distractions when you need a little break from the same old sites. With Thanksgiving being next week, check out this post.

The Ugly- is Belle Karper's Beauties and Beasts.......... Blog! Baby! Blog! . What can I say, I love this woman's style. If a man ever wanted to know what goes on in a woman's mind then he should go to this site. Karper's blog is like a running narrative of thoughts.  She is witty and sometimes sarcastic and the way she puts it down in her post has almost a random yet not disjointed feel. Just like that little voice in our heads. You know the one where we are talking to ourselves only we are glad no one can really hear us because we might sound a little nutty or maybe occasionally spastic. Only Karper doesn't sound funny or spastic, she will make you smile and often even laugh. In my book, we definitely need more sites like that. One of the first post I read on this site was This is one of the things I want to be when I grow up....