Author: Marcia Meara

#ShareAReviewDay with Darlene Foster – Amanda In New Mexico

/ Marcia Meara / 29 Comments

Today, our first guest is Darlene Foster, who is sharing a lovely review of her book, Amanda in New Mexico. I know you’ll enjoy this review, and will share it on all your social media. Thanks!

Review by Patricia Tilton of Children’s Books Heal

Amanda in New Mexico: Ghosts in the Wind
Suitable for Ages: 9-12
Themes: Adventure, School trip, New Mexico, Haunted hotel, Ancient pueblo, Ghosts

Synopsis
Amanda Ross is on a school trip to Taos, New Mexico with several of her fellow creative students. She shares a room with Cleo, an anxious classmate who insists she see ghosts. Although Amanda is determined to prove there is no such things, she can’t seem to shake the feeling that something or someone is watching her.

Join Amanda, Cleo and their funny friend, Caleb, as they visit a rugged and beautiful landscape where a traditional hacienda, an ancient pueblo, and a haunted and spooky hotel all hold secrets to a wild and violent past.

Does Cleo really see ghosts? Can Amanda escape the eerie wind that follows her everywhere? Perhaps The Day of the Dead will reveal the mysteries of Taos in this latest and adventure of Amanda’s travels series.

Why I like this book:

Darlene Foster has written another lively adventure story for young readers who enjoy traveling, exploring and solving a good mystery. Fans of the Amanda Travels series won’t be disappointed with this fast-paced book which will keep them on edge with a spooky plot and unexplained events.

The story is character driven. Amanda is a fun, upbeat, curious, caring and memorable character that readers will want as a friend — especially since she has keen radar and is always ready to solve a good mystery.  And, Amanda can’t resist a good mystery — even if it involves ghosts, cold breezes brushing her shoulders and unexpected incidents. Her friend Cleo is more sensitive to the presences around and finds it safer to sketch the sites they visit instead of explore. Caleb is more pragmatic, the group photographer and a good balance for Amanda.

Readers will learn about history, geography, architecture, artifacts and shiver at the presence of ghosts that are rumored to be haunting many of the places they visit in Taos — the Mable Dodge Luhan house, the Governor Bent Museum, the Taos Pueblo, the Rio Grande Gorge and bridge, Ojo Caliente hot springs, the Palisade Sills, the St. James Hotel, and the Enchanted Circle Pottery. They will have an opportunity to attend the Day of the Dead celebration.

Amanda in New Mexico: Ghosts in the Wind is the sixth book in the Amanda Travels series: Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask; Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting; Amanda in England: The Missing Novel; Amanda in Alberta: The Writing on the Stone; and Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music.  I recommend you start with the first book, but  Foster has written the books in such a manner that they can be read in any order.

By Amanda in New Mexico HERE


Author Darlene Foster

As a young girl, Darlene Foster dreamt of writing, travelling the world, and meeting interesting people. She also believed in making her dreams come true. It’s no surprise she’s now the award-winning author of Amanda Travels, a children’s adventure series about a spunky twelve-year-old who loves to travel to unique places.  Readers from seven to seventy enjoy travelling with Amanda as she unravels one mystery after another. A world traveller herself, Darlene spends her time on the west coast of Canada and the Costa Blanca, in Spain.

Visit Darlene at her website HERE

 

 

#ShareAReviewDay – What To Submit

/ Marcia Meara / 15 Comments

Thanks so much for the wonderful response to my new feature, #ShareAReviewDay. I hope this will turn out to be a great way to put your favorite reviews in front of new readers.

There are two routes available for those who’d like to do this:

If you are already a contributor, you may post your review directly, though you might want to check with me on dates, so your post doesn’t get lost amid too many others. I’m trying to stick to 2 or 3  each Tuesday, at the most. (Note, the day changed from Wednesday to Tuesday, due to a time conflict.)

If you are NOT a regular contributor, here is what I’d need from you in order to make your post as effective as possible:

The review, itself
A link to the review if it’s on a blog, instead of Amazon or Goodreads
Your cover jpg
Your book blurb
Your author jpg
Your author bio
And most importantly, your BUY links.

And that’s it. When I receive the above, I’ll let you know what date your review will be posted here. Et voila! Happiness all around! 😀 😀 😀

To Shelve or Not to Shelve, That Is the Question

/ Marcia Meara / 58 Comments

Good Morning, Folks! I stand (sit) before you (on your monitors) today to ask a question. Or two. About writing. Specifically, when to admit that you are getting nowhere with your latest WIP.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t have the proverbial writer’s block, and I never have had it. Yet. What I have is a bit more insidious in some ways. This is how it’s all been playing out. When I finished the third book in my Wake-Robin Ridge series, I ended on a note that would work if there were no more books forthcoming for Rabbit and his family. I left the ending open so I could write more if I decided to, but I really didn’t plan to. I wrapped things up in a way that gave readers a pretty good idea of what was waiting for the Cole family in the years ahead, then moved on to the 3rd book in my Riverbend series, which I intend to continue for some while, yet.  And following that book, That Darkest Place, I wrote The Emissary, my first novella, as a spinoff of the Riverbend books.

During the interim, I began to get requests for more stories about Rabbit. Lots of them. Okay, then. I figured if that’s what readers wanted, I’d write a 4th book, and I got started on WRR4–about two days before we were slammed by a tornado spawned by Hurricane Irma. Many of you know that normal life around our house came to a screeching halt at that point. We spent more than six months dealing with every headache you can imagine. Weeks of carpenters hammering, electricians cutting the power, and roofers stomping around overhead. And that doesn’t include all the frustrating calls to the insurance company, inspectors, and the like .

I  tried to keep writing, really I did. But I don’t work well with non-stop interruptions and headaches of every kind for months on end. Suffice it to say that try as I might, I fell farther and farther behind  on my book. I also felt less and less joy in the process of writing, something I’d never had happen before. The end result was that even though I have what I think is a pretty good story to tell, I completely lost my enthusiasm for working on this one. I was plodding through the draft without a shred of joy in my storytelling.

So, I took a few weeks off and reassessed, thinking maybe I should just scrap the whole book and move on with my next Riverbend story. My beta readers (who follow along with my draft, chapter by chapter, and keep me on my toes) weren’t happy with that idea at all. They seem to like what I’ve done so far, so I thought about it some more.

My final decision was to shelve WRR4 for a couple of months and write a second novella in my Emissary spinoff series. The first one was the most fun of anything I’ve written to date and only took me 2 months to go from draft to published. Seemed like a perfect fit, so that’s where I am. I’m starting on The Emissary 2 and after it’s published, will take a look at WRR4 again. Hopefully, taking a break for a couple of months will let me get back to work on it with fresh eyes and a joyful approach to finishing the tale. It has good bones, I think, so that’s what I’d like to do.

My question for you guys (you knew I’d get back to it, didn’t you?) is this: was shelving this book for a couple of months a better plan than just scrapping it? Have you ever come back to a book after taking a break to write something else,  and found you were able to finish it? What about the ones you may have scrapped completely? Do their ghosts haunt you in the dark of night? 

Inquiring minds wanna know. Hope you’ll take a minute and share your thoughts. THANKS!

#NotesFromTheRiver – Introduction to Central Florida Yard Birds – The Northern Cardinal

/ Marcia Meara / 22 Comments

Today’s #NotesFromTheRiver post is uploaded and ready to go. Hope some of you will enjoy checking it out and passing it along. THANKS!

Go here to read:  #NotesFromTheRiver – Northern Cardinal

#ShareAReviewDay #TuesdayBookBlog Owen: Book One of the Tudor Trilogy by Tony Riches

/ Marcia Meara / 20 Comments

I’m very happy to welcome Tony Riches to The Write Stuff. Tony is sharing a review of his book Owen: Book One of the Tudor Trilogy, and he and I would both love for everyone to reblog and tweet this out all over the place. It’s a great review, and well worth passing along! Thanks!

Staci of Pursuing Staci posts:
Okay, seriously. If you have spent any amount of time with me at all, be it here on my blog/social media/in real life, you know that I am  obsessed with all things Tudor Era. What you probably don’t know is that my obsession climbed to the “nth” degree when I found out that I am a descendent of Owen Tudor. So, needless to say, when I discovered that Tony Riches (Tony Riches, you guys. *enter unladylike squeal, here*) had written a book about Owen (and Jasper and Henry!) I absolutely had to have it. And as expected, I was not disappointed.

Tony Riches has this incredible way of fleshing out historical characters, bringing them to life and dragging them smack into the present. I didn’t feel like I had to step back into time to get into Owen’s story; the author brought Owen’s life to me. The historical research done was impeccable, allowing me to escape into the story with ease. I could picture the sights and the scenery, the sounds and politics of court life. The plot moved quickly, with plenty of tense moments, character victories and unforeseen events. My favorite part of the book, however, was the character development. Each character was vividly their own person. And Owen! I absolutely loved getting to know him. I found myself in awe of his strength, his integrity, his compassion, his talent for surviving court life. He was intelligent, had hopes and dreams, made mistakes and followed his heart. He was human and flawed and perfect and I couldn’t put the book down.

I am thrilled that this is a series, because I am not ready to say goodbye to this family.

BLURB

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, OWEN is the epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience as he changes the course of English history.

England 1422: Owen Tudor, a Welsh servant, waits in Windsor Castle to meet his new mistress, the beautiful and lonely Queen Catherine of Valois, widow of the warrior king, Henry V. Her infant son is crowned King of England and France, and while the country simmers on the brink of civil war, Owen becomes her protector.

They fall in love, risking Owen’s life and Queen Catherine’s reputation—but how do they found the dynasty which changes British history – the Tudors?

This is the first historical novel to fully explore the amazing life of Owen Tudor, grandfather of King Henry VII and the great-grandfather of King Henry VIII. Set against a background of the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York, which develops into what have become known as the Wars of the Roses, Owen’s story deserves to be told.

Owen – Book One of the Tudor Trilogy is a new addition to story of the Tudors in the historical fiction tradition of C J Sansom, Conn Iggulden, Philippa Gregory and Hilary Mantel.

Buy  Owen: Book One of the Tudor Trilogy HERE


Tony Riches

Tony Riches is a full-time writer and lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. After several successful non-fiction books, Tony turned to novel writing and wrote ‘Queen Sacrifice’, set in 10th century Wales, followed by ‘The Shell’, a thriller set in present day Kenya. A specialist in the history of the early Tudors, he is best known for his Tudor Trilogy. Tony’s other international best sellers include ‘Warwick ~ The Man Behind the Wars of the Roses’ and ‘The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham’.

For more information please visit Tony’s website http://www.tonyriches.com and his blog The Writing Desk at http://www.tonyriches.co.uk. He can also be found at Tony Riches Author on Facebook and Twitter @tonyriches

#ShareAReviewDay #TuesdayBookBlog Journey to Aviad by Allison D. Reid

/ Marcia Meara / 16 Comments

Today, I’d like to welcome Allison D. Reid to The Write Stuff. Allison is sharing a review of her book Journey to Aviad, and I know she would be very happy if everyone would pass this along far and wide. The more eyes on our reviews, the better. Thanks!

5.0 out of 5 stars Clean, great, intelligent fantasy for teens to adults!
By Y Henryon March 30, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase 

What a wonderful fantasy book! My teenage daughters and I share a love of fantasy books. It is even better when we can read the same books and share our thoughts about it and our favorite parts, etc. It isn’t easy to find clean fantasy books that are not just silly and juvenile. This is in the same vein as Lord of the Rings. Not as grand as that , but still fairly close. The characters seemed real and not shallow. And the way the author wrote made you feel as though you actually were there experiencing all beauty and emotions of her world.

BLURB

Threatening clouds and fierce storms besiege the city of Tyroc. More frequent and powerful than ordinary storms, young Elowyn, a weaver’s daughter living in the outskirts of the city, senses something disturbing and unnatural about them. She soon realizes that the storms are but a warning sign of much more frightening things yet to come. Terrifying wolf-like creatures emerge from the depths of the wilderness at the bidding of a dark master. His name found only among the crumbling pages of ancient texts, the re-appearance of Alazoth and his Hounds is a dark omen for the people of Tyroc and beyond. Only legends remain of the heroes and prophets whose blood was shed ages ago to banish him into the abyss, which should have remained his prison for all time. How he has been released is a mystery, but all the old stories agree that death and destruction are sure to follow. With the Hounds inching closer each day, the city of Tyroc caught up in religious and political turmoil, and her home life no less turbulent, Elowyn has nothing left to rely on but her meager courage and a budding faith in Aviad, the Creator. She and her sister, Morganne, set out on a remarkable journey that challenges everything they have ever known about themselves, the world, and the path that Aviad has laid out for them.

Journey to Aviad is Permafree! Download HERE


Allison D. Reid

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Allison D. Reid was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her love for medieval fantasy was sparked by the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, which fed both her imagination and her spiritual development. When at the age of thirteen her family moved to Germany, her passion for medieval history and legend only increased, and she found herself captivated by the ancient towns and castles of Europe.

Allison returned to the United States to study art and writing at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. She earned her B.A. under the tutelage of the well-renowned and prolific writer Andrew Salkey, a student of her other great inspiration, and the father of fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien. After graduating from Hampshire College, Allison moved to Connecticut. There she got the opportunity to attend seminary and further explore her faith before returning to her home state of Ohio.

Allison now lives in the Miami Valley area with her husband and children. She continues to work on her first published series while taking care of her family, editing for other independent writers, and managing a home business.

NOTE: #ShareAReviewDay #MondayBlogs

/ Marcia Meara / 28 Comments

Last week, I decided to add a new feature on The Write Stuff: Share A Review Day. (See my post HERE). I had originally planned to do this on Wednesday, but after my Senior Moment passed, I realized I’m already committed to a pretty detailed #NotesFromTheRiver post on Wednesdays. 😯 Therefore, I’m going to run our Share A Review Day on Tuesdays, commencing tomorrow.

Those of you who have already submitted your requests will be featured tomorrow, and those of you who plan to post directly may do so on any Tuesday that fits your schedule. The rest of you may email me (contact info in menu above) at any time to request inclusion.

Thanks so much, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what readers have to say about your books! Let’s get those reviews OUT THERE! 😀