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A Proper English Lunch and a Great Mystery!

Geri Clouston
Have you ever walked into a room and think, “I’ve been here before,” or met a person and feel, “I’ve met this person before,” but you haven’t.  Yet that connection remains. And that is how the novel, When the Clocks Stopped begins. This is not your typical time travel novel, but rather the creation of a ”chat room” between eras, where characters do not go back and live in another time, but nonetheless through multi-layered and intertwined time lines, interact together. Hazel Hawkins lives in 1976, Annie in 1747. Both live in Cottage House on Romney Marsh.  We know from the beginning of the novel that this house is special. “I think this house likes us,” Hazel’s husband Bruce says to her, as if the house has a personality or is a character in itself. Author Marion (M.L.) Eaton told me, “Rose Cottage is based on the cottage that my Australian husband and I bought in Lydd (thinly disguised in the novel as Rype) in 1975… Rose Cottage not only had its own character, its atmosphere was truly warm and friendly, almost as if it had wrapped a shawl round us. And the experience with Annie, and her knocking on the window,…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Food for Thought, Foodie Lit, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The World of Reading

A Great Thriller and Apple Tarts – Oh My!

Geri Clouston
Jennifer Alderson has created a fast-paced and suspenseful historical novel about art theft In the Netherlands. Two timelines connect the plot. In the contemporary timeline is the feisty Zelda Richardson, intern for an Amsterdam museum’s exhibition of still unclaimed artwork once stolen by the Nazis. Trouble begins when two women claim the same painting.  Zelda and her friend Friedrich become detectives in what becomes a dangerous game worth millions in artwork and a cover-up of murders. During the Nazi occupation timeline, priceless artwork was stolen from Jews, gays, dissidents, and other victims by the Nazi government and too with the assistance of officials and citizens of the occupied countries. Arjan van Heemsvliet is an art dealer trying to protect his artwork from the greed of the Nazis and at the same time, hide his homosexuality, a “crime” that could send him to a concentration camp. Jennifer has pulled together all of this data into an exciting and suspenseful historical novel. Zelda, our modern sleuth, is impulsive, courageous and smart as Sherlock Holmes in sniffing out clues. I immediately liked her!  Jennifer told me, “Zelda’s intellect is driven by her endless curiosity, a deep-seated need to be right, and her naiveté…

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IT’S YOUR BOOK LAUNCH…PARTY IF YOU WANT TO

Geri Clouston
 Lorraine Devon Wilke- Author There are lots of rules in the writing game. LOTS. Ask anyone in the biz for advice, do a little research on norms and protocols, get active in social media groups on the topic, and you’ll be bombarded with generalized and specific do's and don'ts, articles with titles like, “the 10 most important rules of writing,” debates around, “are you an author or a writer?”, and certainly lists of what to avoid, what to absolutely avoid, and how to “do things right.” In the swirling eddy of contradictions and occasional hits of inspiration you will likely get… exhausted. But take a deep breath and know that, in the midst of all that information, you can glean enough good advice and worthwhile input to create your own set of protocols and preferences to fit your style, while still getting the job done. Here’s the trick: You have to be selective. You have to curate that advice. You have to experiment on your own to discover what you agree with, what you don’t. Let’s take the “book launch.” Now, there’s a topic that inspires prodigious amounts of opinion. Just this week I read a lengthy blog filled with…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, indieBRAG, Marketing an indie Book, Thanksgiving, The World of Reading, Uncategorized, Words of Wisdom, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing

Another Tasty Idea and a Great Book!

Geri Clouston
Kitchen Brigade by Laurie Boris Dystopian novels have a long and popular history, from classics such as The Time Machine, Brave New World and 1984 to the more modern Hunger Games, The Handmaid’s Tale and Divergent.  Some take place in a specific time and place and some are vague or fantasies. Some dystopian novels use unknown tyrants while others use current US rivals, such as the Chinese, Cubans or Russians. That is the route of The Kitchen Rivals by Laurie Boris, which uses a specific enemy, the Russians and their allies, the Cubans, as the tyrannical rulers who have taken over the eastern part of the US. Its setting is also specific, taking place in the Hudson Valley, where the author lives. Laurie skillfully places the main scenes in the kitchen, where main character Valerie, now called Three, with her fellow chefs, including Chef Svetlana, under whom she had previously studied at the Culinary Institute of America create meals for the general, his staff and visitors. Food is an important focus in the novel.  While the kitchen chefs are prisoners, food still provides joy, love and artistry. It is used as payment, as for chef Four, and used horribly, as when the child Tomàs is forced to taste food in case…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Spotlight, Food for Thought, Foodie Lit, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading, Uncategorized

It’s a Tough Market for Authors

Geri Clouston
                          Florence Osmund                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Author and Contributor When it dawned on me last year that I was making less money but spending more time promoting and marketing my books than I did three years earlier when I had fewer to offer, I decided to take a break from writing and focus on what I was doing wrong. Since my marketing strategy hadn’t changed during these years, I was pretty sure it was the industry that had changed around me, and I had to understand this in…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, Editing, Graphic Design, Marketing an indie Book, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing

A Thriller & a Burger (Vegan) – Perfect!

Geri Clouston
  Of Half a Mind                                                                                                                                                                                                                            by Bruce M. Perrin Stanley Milgrom’s famous studies on obedience, prodded by bullying and authority, comes to life in Bruce Perrin’s Of Half a Mind. While both are ostensibly about memory and learning, they are in fact about submission and subservience to authority. Milgrom’s studies, of course, were at Yale with students who went home, disturbed after what they thought they had done. [No one was actually electrically shocked or hurt in any way.] Bruce commented, “Stanley Milgram’s studies in the 1960’s and 1970’s revealed an unexpected…

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A Wonderful Book, A Lovely Playground and a Snack- what could be more Fun!

Geri Clouston
  Dana Deserves a Playground Too by Yael Manor Sometimes you just fall in love with a book, the illustrations, the characters and the story.  And that is what has happened here. Yael Manor has written a story for children that needs telling.  Dana is a young girl with a loving family and friends. She goes to the playground where her friends are playing happily. Dana is in a wheelchair and there is nothing there that she can do.  Not the swings, not the carousel, not the slide or the climbing equipment. Yael’s point is that Dana is not alone. Most community or school playgrounds simply do not welcome children who are physically challenged. Children like Dana are excluded from playing with friends. She told me how she was inspired to write this story.  “One day, I came across a story on Facebook about a woman who met a father and daughter at the playground. Due to a disability, the girl was confined to a wheelchair and unable to enjoy any of the playground facilities. All she could do was put her doll in the swing and push it, which caused great sorrow for her and her father. This story gave me the inspiration to…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Food for Thought, Foodie Lit, indieBRAG, indieBRAG Kids, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading

Make a Cosmo, put up your feet and enjoy Been Searching for You!

Geri Clouston
    Nicole Evelina's Been Searching for You One might subtitle this book, “Searching for Romance in the Cold, Single World.” Each of Nicole Evelina’s characters handles being a singleton in individual ways. Annabeth Coe, the main character is a romantic, searching for “the head-over-heels heart-melting love,” while still recovering from a years ago disastrous boyfriend, Nick. Mia, her sexy good friend has no loyalties to her boyfriend or anyone else, we find. Miles, Annabeth’s best friend and work colleague, is Mia’s beleaguered boyfriend. Laine, Annabeth’s boss, is a career woman. Victor, a painter on the way to being discovered, seems to be a good fit until his career proves to need a more “perfect” partner. Alex, a literature professor, is still mourning his last girlfriend. Annabeth has a birthday tradition: she writes to her dream man and refuses to accept anything but her vision of a romantic partner. She’s pushed by friends and family to open herself to dating. “Where’s your boyfriend?” “You aren’t getting any younger.” “Tick-tock.” Like her main character, Annabeth, the author is in public relations and an historic fiction writer. Annabeth would rather stay at home with a good book and glass of wine rather…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Spotlight, Food for Thought, Foodie Lit, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, The World of Reading , ,

Helen Hollick visits with Dr. Daniel M. Walker

Geri Clouston
NanoMorphosis by Marla L. Anderson In the year 2183, climate change ravages Earth, a man-made plague has forced millions into segregated camps, and the hope of expanding to a new world has withered from fear of another alien attack. At the age of ten, Daniel Walker witnessed first contact. The event left him orphaned, traumatized and reluctantly famous as the sole survivor. Driven to carry on the work of his parents, he puts his fame to use with the help of the woman he loves, and gains the financial and political support needed to colonize a new world. Unfortunately, in the process, he turns a potential ally, Cadmon Dhyre, into a determined foe. You can find Helen Hollicks interview with Daniel M. Walker at @ Novel Conversations Author Marla L. Anderson Learn more about author Marla Anderson at her website

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Spotlight, In Praise of indieBRAG, indieBRAG, Novel Conversations with Helen Hollick, Writers, Readers & Self Publishing

A Novel conversation with Gwenna – From Wales to New Zealand!

Geri Clouston
  A Novel Conversation with Vicky Adin's Gwenna Against all odds, the plucky sweet maker refuses to relinquish her dreams. Amid the bustling vibrancy of Auckland’s Karangahape Road, Gwenna Price’s passion is making sweets. Her pa had great plans for the family confectionery business when they emigrated from the valleys of Wales looking for a new life, but he died all too soon. Gwenna promised she would bring his dreams to life instead – and she would, if it wasn’t for her domineering stepbrother, Elias. With him in charge, it would be a matter of time before the business collapsed. Falling in love with the cheeky and charming Johnno opens up other opportunities, but every step of the way Gwenna is thwarted. If not by Elias, then by Johnno’s father and the restraints of a society with strict Victorian values, but Gwenna is irrepressible. Nothing will stand in her way. Throughout the twists and turns of love and tragedy, Gwenna is a young woman with uncommon courage, determination and ambition in an era when women were expected to stay at home. There are people who love her and those who are willing to help her achieve her goal but, blind…

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