FEATURE: "Construction Tales: Volume 1" by Leslie Jasper (Virtual Book Cafe Tours)

What happens when a woman works in a field dominated by men?  You just might be surprised...

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"Strap on your work boots and put on your hard hat. Let me take you on a sheetrock dusted journey to see what it is like to work within the construction industry. The work is hard, the environment is unforgiving, and the jobsite can be either extremely hot or cold. Almost 17 years ago, I stepped foot into a male-dominated work environment. Despite the lack of a warm embrace, I pushed my way into this world to learn the trade. I showed my many mentors that I wanted to be here and was ready to learn and work. After some grit and sweat, I worked my way out of my apprenticeship to become a journeywoman electrician. I earned a great working reputation within my trade and some aches and pains along the way. I work with guys from all backgrounds and all walks of life; and a few females that share my goal to be called journeywomen. Construction workers do not care that you do not feel up to the challenge that day. You must suck it up and get the job done! You will witness what it is like on a weekly basis to work within my industry. Every story in this book is real. The names of my co-workers have been changed to protect the innocent….or the guilty! I must warn you that this book is not for the faint of heart!"

Genre: Self Improvement

Publisher: Self-Published at CreateSpace

Release Date: August 6, 2013

Buy: Estore | Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

     Leslie is a journeywoman electrician who works within Westchester County, New York, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and the five boroughs of New York City. Leslie has worked within the construction industry for the past 17 years. She is also an evening OSHA instructor/writing coach working part time for Empire College. Leslie recently graduated and received an MBA with honors at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. She lives with her two sons, Tom and Johnny, in Lake Carmel, New York. Leslie enjoys spending quality time with her sons such as snowboarding and visiting haunted houses throughout New England. She also enjoys cruise ship traveling around the world, renovating her home, and spending time lifting weights in the gym.

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Excerpt

"Chapter 3- The Big Job

Construction Tales: Volume I: A Woman’s Journey To Become An Electrician

I was sent to work on a brand new job coming out of the ground in Connecticut. This job would provide massive amounts of overtime and help my living situation tremendously. I learned real quickly that the pace on this job was very different from my last job. It was more of a laid back, easy-going work environment. I would have never guessed that I was about to meet a whole group of characters on this very large job.

     I set foot on the largest construction job I had ever witnessed at this point in my apprenticeship. By this moment in time, the country was coming out of a recession and this massive deck job was going to catapult many trades’ people into a good financial position. My first day was in a giant room that was in the process of becoming the data center for a very large trading floor. As an apprentice, my first three hours of the day were all about getting coffee for a third of the crew of roughly 100 electricians. There were no elevators so two other apprentices and I had to walk up a minimum of six (up to thirteen) flights of stairs and provide coffee for the group of hungry and hung-over electricians each day.

The coffee trek was a half-mile walk to the deli each morning. I placed my order and sat there with the other apprentices until the order was ready. I had to make sure I had proper change for each person who ordered and double-checked all orders for accuracy. Coffee was the most important part of the day and screwing up the order could ruin the entire day. This was especially true when we went into overtime. If you got the coffee order wrong, plenty of these guys would react like spoiled children and have an actual temper tantrum. I started to get to know two fellow apprentices, Ryan and Todd, very well while getting our daily orders of coffee. I will never forget my friendship with these two fellow apprentices.

Ryan was a tall, dark-haired, and very hairy guy from a community normally filled with rich and upper-class folk. Ryan often reeked of body odor, cigarette smoke, or booze from the night before. He was and probably still is clearly a fish out of water in his community, yet he fit right in on a construction site. Ryan played in a band. He was very rough around the edges, with plenty of piercings all over his face. Ryan came in to work on a regular basis hung-over, often stinking as if a keg of beer had been splashed all over him."  

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REVIEW: "Sir Stan the Bogeyman" - by Stacey Morrell (Virtual Book Tour Cafe

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"Do dark places bother you?

The space under your bed…

The closet, door slightly ajar…

Do you believe in the Boogey Man?

Who is he?

Where did he come from?

What does he want?

Maybe he has a story to tell,

And we should listen."

Sir Stan the Bogeyman

by Stacie Morrell

Illustrated by Elizabeth Berg

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Publisher: Self-Published at CreateSpace

Release Date: September 1, 2013

Amazon - Coming Soon!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Accomplishments: Started a used bookstore for the Friends of the Wilsonville Library, subject of Oregonian article, published in: Antiques and Collectibles Magazine, Bookman’s AB Magazine, Antique Trader, Writer’s Digest (writing clinic), Book Magazine. Started the E-Commerce collectibles department for Goodwill of the Columbia Willamette. Currently pursuing an Associates of Applied Science in Business and Management at Portland Community College, holding a 3.98 GPA, member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society, on Dean’s and President’s List.

Interests: Reading (pretty much anything even the cereal box if nothing else is available), writing (all genres), family (wife and mother), growing in and spreading my faith, learning (information geek), travel (but I rarely ever get to), volunteering, bargain hunting at garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, etc.

In one sentence, who am I? Stacie Morrell is an eccentrically entertaining neurotic bibliophile who sells collectibles, tries to have patience with her precocious daughter, fearlessly tries to do everything, and writes because she is driven to as part of her genetic composition.

If I could go back and do one thing over: I would have figured out what I wanted from life way before now and gone back to school to get it (much, much sooner than I did).

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REVIEW
Parents throughout the world have used stories of terrifying things to get them to behave after dark.  "Behave, or I'll tell the Bogeyman!" "Get away from the water...kustaka is waiting!"  We've all frozen when some unexplained noise assaulted our eardrums after dark.  What if Mom wasn't just pulling my leg?  What if something is coming to pull my leg off!!  But what if those "scary things" have a story?

REVIEW: "Descent" by C.L. Romans (Virtual Book Tours Cafe)

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"When Captain Fomor leads his unit of six angelic warriors to Earth in an attempt to escape the war in Heaven, not only do they unwittingly set into motion the age of legends, but they must face an inescapable evil that threatens to destroy them, the humans they fall in love with, and the Earth itself.

Creating a new life on antediluvian Earth is no where near as simple as Fomor’s team had hoped it would be. A tragedy occurs early in their sojourn that convinces the seven that they must avoid both humans and fallen angels. But when they unexpectedly meet with the Nephilim, a tribe of unusual humans with unknown origins, the results are unprecedented. However, falling in love with humans is the least of The Unit’s problems.

Mankind is busily descending into a maelstrom of violence and profane religion. The Fallen, angels transformed into demons by their rebellion, have regrouped and are using the tattered remnants of their power to prey upon humankind in horrific ways. Not only is a demon demanding human sacrifice in a nearby village, but the world is careening towards a global disaster that not even The Unit can stop."

Genre: Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Brass Rag Press
Release Date: July 1, 2013
AMAZON LINK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cheri Roman is a writer, editor, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and friend, in whatever order works best in the moment. Most days you can find her on her blog, The Brass Rag, or working on the next novel in her fantasy series, Rephaim. Cheri lives with her husband and two Chihuahuas in St. Johns, Florida.

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REVIEW

     When I was a child, the television show "Hercules" was just the coolest thing ever (not to mention that Kevin Sorbo is pretty hot as Hercules).  A dude with super huge muscles who rescued the underdogs from trouble and waged a battle against evil...and had a pretty hilarious sidekick?  I asked my dad once where Hercules came from.  After all, if every myth is borne from a kernel of truth, where was the truth in the Hercules myth?  My dad sighed and told me a story of angels coming to Earth, falling in love with human women, and creating the "ancient men of yore..."  But who were those angels?

BOOK FEATURE: "The Art of Forgetting" - by Peter Palmieri (Virtual Book Tours Cafe)

Every now and then a book finds you.  This is one such book!!  I have a psychology degree and work in the mental health field, so anything to do with anything regarding human behavior fascinates me.  Also being fascinated by biology and having worked on the fringes of the medical field (I served at a group home), I was immediately pulled in by "The Art of Forgetting", a hugely medical / psychological book...and the cover is AWESOME!!  While this post is a book feature post - and I'm more than happy to feature this book! - know that I received permission to do a review as well.  I simply CANNOT wait to read this book!!

Oh, and the author grew up in one of the places I desperately want to visit.  Italy!!

Don't forget to scroll all the way to the bottom of this post...you don't want to miss the giveaway!!

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"Dr. Lloyd Copeland is a young neurologist who is tormented by the conviction that he has inherited the severe, early-onset dementia that has plagued his family for generations – the very disease which spurred his father to take his own life when Lloyd was just a child. Withdrawn to a life of emotional detachment, he looks for solace in hollow sexual trysts as a way to escape his throbbing loneliness. Still, he clings to the hope that the highly controversial treatment for memory loss he’s been researching will free him from his family’s curse.

But when odd mishaps take place in his laboratory, his research is blocked by a hospital review board headed by Erin Kennedy: a beautiful medical ethicist with a link to his troubled childhood. The fight to salvage his reputation and recover the hope for his own cure brings him face to face with sordid secrets that rock his very self-identity. And to make matters worse, he finds himself falling irretrievably in love with the very woman who seems intent on thwarting his efforts."

Amazon

Genre: fiction: medical (medical suspense)

Publisher: self

Release date: June 2013

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Palmieri was raised in the eclectic port city of Trieste, Italy. He returned to the United States at the age of 14 with just a suitcase and an acoustic guitar. After attending public high school in San Diego, California, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Animal Physiology from the University of California, San Diego. He received his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed his pediatric training at the University of Chicago and Loyola University Medical Center. More recently, he was awarded a Healthcare MBA by The George Washington University. A former student of Robert McKee's Story seminar and the SMU Writer's Path program, and a two-time attendee of the SEAK Medical Fiction seminar taught by Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer, Peter is now busy practicing general pediatrics at a large academic medical center while working on his next medical suspense.

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EXCERPT

      “Isn’t it a sin to have some thoughts, Father Roy?” Mrs. Langdon said in a near whisper.
     Father Roy was breathless. “About tulips?” he asked, attempting to sound nonchalant, but his voice quivered.
     “As a man, do you ever feel the urge to –”
     “I am not the one in confession, sister,” Roy said. It was not the first time someone had tried to ask him that question – a query impertinent souls seemed compelled to ask a young priest with the looks of a Hollywood movie star.
     “I’m so ashamed, Father. I don’t know what’s happened to me. I just don’t know what to do any more.”
Father Roy grasped the silver crucifix hanging over his chest and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger. He considered giving a short discourse on the tenth commandment but decided on a more pragmatic approach.
     “When our path grows dim and we’re in peril of losing our way, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of our commitments. Our commitments define who we are. When I step in the shadows, I remind myself of the covenant I made with God.”
     “My husband sickens me.”
     The suddenness of the statement left Father Roy speechless.
     “We haven’t had sex in over six months,” she said. “I wanted you to know that.”
     “The Diocese offers couple’s therapy for marital conflicts. Perhaps –”
     “Couple’s therapy!” Mrs. Langdon said with a sour chuckle. She shook her head. “I’m such a fool. For some reason I was under the impression that we…” She pulled a crumpled handkerchief out of her handbag, dabbed her nose and sniffled. “Tell me my penance, Father.”
     Roy hesitated. “Your penance is to reflect on the holy sacraments of our church. And… say a rosary.”
     “Am I absolved of my sins?”
     Father Roy made the sign of the cross, trying not to make it appear perfunctory and said, “Go in peace, sister.”
     He listened to the clicking of her heels resonating off the church’s tiled floor as she walked away, brought a knuckle to his lips and inhaled deeply through his nose. How was it that he had still not learned to recognize when women were attracted to him? Was he doing something to garner this type of attention? Could he whole-heartedly deny that he enjoyed it?
     A figure entered the confessional and sat heavily on the wooden bench. “Forgive me father, for I’m about to sin.”
     The musty smell of stale beer and sweat permeated the enclosed space making Father Roy sit back and turn away.
     “How long has it been since –”
     “You know damn well the last time I went to church, Roy.”
     “Andrew?” Father Roy studied the silhouette through the perforated partition. “Is something wrong?”
     “It started, Roy.”
     “I’m sorry?”
     “It has begun. How did Churchill phrase it? Not the end of the beginning but the beginning of the end… or maybe I’m saying it all wrong. I don’t know, you’re the one with the fancy schooling.”
     “Maybe we should go in the Parish office.”
     “It’s been going on for months. I know you’ve seen it too. You just didn’t want to say anything and of course I’ve been trying to hide it. That’s the Copeland family way, isn’t it? Ignore things, deny they’re happening, hide all the evidence and go about your business with a stiff upper lip. Isn’t that what Pops did?”
     “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But he did know. He couldn’t deny that in the last year he had witnessed his brother’s worsening mood swings and those barely perceptible moments of hesitation that were becoming more frequent. Those same tell-tale signs he had witnessed in his father when the illness had yet to progress to its extreme. Signs that made Roy feel powerless, like a sandcastle on a beach in the face of a slowly rising tide. So he ignored it all, said nothing, and prayed.
     “At first I thought I was just overworked, you know,” Andrew said. “Pulling overtime, staying out late with the boys, getting burned by the candle at both ends, so to speak. Then this morning, I’m driving to work. I got my thermos and lunch pail on the front seat. I get on the Eisenhower, same damn route I’ve taken for twelve years. But today I get to South Damen and I realize I don’t know where the hell I’m going. I don’t have a fucking clue!”
     “Andrew, please.”
     He lowered his voice. “I don’t have a flipping clue, Roy. I pull over in front of Cook County and I start bawling like a kid in a department store who can’t find his mom.”
     “Have you been drinking?”
     “It’s not the booze, Roy. It’s not the damn booze.”
     “Have you seen a doctor?” the priest asked.
     “What for?”
     “They might be able to help.”
     “Like they helped our father... who art in heaven?” Andrew snorted. “You know there’s not a damn thing they can do.”
     Roy swallowed hard. He wiped beads of sweat from his upper lip as a rhythmic pounding grew in his temples.
     “You’re frightening me, Andrew.”
     “I’m frightening you?” Andrew let out a chuckle. “Hell, Roy, you never had nothing to be frightened of your whole life except God above.”
     Someone knocked on the door of the confession box.
     “Hold your piss out there! The stall’s taken,” Andrew said in a gruff voice. There was a timid shuffling of feet, then the resonating silence of the church. “Roy, I’ve never been good with words, and I don’t like to wear my feelings on my sleeve like a damn chevron, but I want you to know something. I want you to know that you’re the best damn brother I could have ever asked for.”
     Roy felt a pall of guilt draping over him. “I’m the one who should say that to you.”
     “Just hear me out. I know I haven’t always told you, but I’m proud of you. I’ve always been proud of you... even when you made us lose at stick-ball.”
     “Which was all the time.” The men chuckled.
     “You made me a better man,” Andrew said.
     “After all you’ve done for me I can’t bear to hear you say that.”
     “I thought this was a confessional. Don’t people come here to get things off their chests?”
     “They come to be absolved of their sins,” Roy said.
     “And you can do that?”
     “God can do that. It’s never too late to open your heart.”
     “It’s too late for me. But I do need to get something off my chest.”
     “I’m listening.”
     “It’s time to come clean with you about something, Roy. Something you should have known long ago.” Andrew rubbed his massive hands together, stopped suddenly and cracked his knuckles. “Two things we Copelands have always been able to do: hold our liquor and keep a secret.”
     “I’m afraid I’m not so good with the liquor part,” said Roy.
     “No, I suppose not, padre,” Andrew said with a wistful smile. The wooden bench creaked as he shifted his weight and leaned into the partition. “Now listen carefully. I can only stand to say this once.”
The two men sat with their heads inches from each other as Andrew spoke in a hushed tone. At one point Roy let out a gasp and recoiled. Andrew paused as his brother gazed at the darkness hanging over the floor – the priest’s eyes darting about – and resumed his soliloquy when Roy leaned heavily towards him again.
Andrew murmured for another minute or two. Finally, he straightened and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as if to brush away the bitterness of the words from his lips. “Just promise, if something happens to me, you’ll take care of the bride and child.”
     “What’s going through your mind?” Roy said between heavy breaths.
     “Just promise me.”
     “You know I would never abandon them.”
     “That’s all I needed to hear.” Andrew cleared his throat and sat silently.
     Roy felt as though he were inching towards the edge of an abyss. That he would fall into the darkness if left alone to ponder his brother’s revelation. But an even stronger fear was pulsing through his veins. There was something in Andrew’s countenance: an eerie sense of relief, a cool resoluteness that sent a shudder down the base of Roy’s neck.
     “Maybe I can come by the house tonight,” Roy said. He wanted to punch through the partition, to clench his brother and not let him leave.
     “You got customers waiting,” Andrew said. “Business is good for you these days.” Andrew got to his feet. “Good-bye, Roy.”
     “Godspeed, Andrew.”
     When Andrew opened the oak door of the confession box, a small man wearing a tweed jacket stood outside, a crest of wild gray hair spilling over his wrinkled forehead. The man’s eyes opened wide at the site of the large police officer stepping out of the confessional and he began to finger the well-worn fedora he held by his paunch, turning it in his hands as if it were a steering wheel. Andrew stopped in front of him and said, “Give a man a chance to pull his pants back up, will you?”
     Roy greeted the next penitent in the confessional but his mind remained on his brother. How was it possible to feel such dread and deliverance, contempt and gratitude, guilt and utter relief all in the same breath? He had witnessed souls under severe strain shift from throes of laughter to sobs of despair in the span of a few seconds and always wondered how this was possible. But now he understood. He rested his head in his hands, elbows digging in his thighs, and tried to catch his breath.
     A sound like a hollow crack startled him. Not the sound of a kneeler. It must have come from outside. It brought his focus back on the words of the old gentleman who confessed that he lied to his wife about going to Cicero and losing fifty bucks at the Hawthorne race course, and that he harbored less than charitable feelings towards the Negroes who were moving westward into good Irish neighborhoods.
     The murmur of voices reverberated off the church’s arched ceilings. Then a single plaintive voice: “Someone call an ambulance. A cop’s been shot!”

     Now seriously people, how can one NOT want to read the whole book after this excerpt?!

     And for the giveaway......

Giveaway: Signed Paperback & Bookmark Prize Pack, 3 Ebooks, 2 Bookmarks

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REVIEW: "Jack Canon's American Dream" - by Greg Sandora (Virtual Book Tours Cafe Blog Tour)

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"It’s the steamy summer of 2016 in Washington, D.C. just days before the Democratic National Convention. A long and painful recession has left ordinary Americans suffering, spawning the hottest Presidential Contest in history. Jack Canon, a man born into privilege, a witness to great social injustice is going to be President of the United States–no matter what! Desperate and corrupt, the leader of the free world orders a hit to slow him down. The plan backfires–the wrong people are dead–a manhunt points to the unthinkable–The President of the United States.

Rewind one year, Jack’s focus on redistribution of wealth and energy has made him powerful enemies. Once his friends, Rogue Billionaires, Oil Sheiks, the Mob, all want him gone. The current President wants him alive–thinking he can win against an unabridged liberal. A Universal Raw Nerve of wealth vs. poverty is exposed becoming a thrill ride as deep machinations of espionage, geo-politics and deception, even murder play out. Kind and charismatic, Jack’s just naughty enough to have you falling for him like one of his loving circle of loyal friends. Of course he’s flawed, a dedicated family man, faithful to one woman, but in love with two. Is it his fault his best friend is impossibly jaw dropping beautiful? Think the crime and passion of the Godfather meets the romance and innocence of Camelot. A story that could spark a movement, a book that can seed a revolution. A heart thumping climax so shocking you’ll pull the covers and draw the shades! One things for sure, through all the drama and suspense, you’ll be pulling for Jack!"

Amazon and Barnes & Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"I’m originally from the Portland, Maine area and lived and worked there for years before moving to Southwest Florida. I am currently working on the sequel to Jack Canon’s American Destiny – which will be titled Jack Canon Clean Sweep. The sequel will be available in about three months.

My Dad and Mom were artists, my father painted and my mother wrote poetry and loved to garden. Most Saturdays we loaded up the 1970 Chevy Impala to trek to a one man show somewhere or other. I took a different track graduating with a business degree; owning and operating an Award Winning Franchise Fitness Center. Currently a professional manager I am living in Florida with my beautiful wife and children, and following my passion.

Some of my other projects include a children’s book called Sammy the Sea Turtle – about an infant sea turtle taken from his nest the night he was to find his way to the sea. Sammy lives with the family until their son – the boy who took him, graduates from high school. On that day Sammy, backpack in tow – begins the long journey home.
My second project in the works involves angels – a man during a visit to Bar Harbor Maine encounters an angel; quite accidentally, he is told – she was not supposed to make him aware of her existence. Only three others have ever seen the real thing. Naturally he falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful creature.
www.gregsandora.com"

REVIEW
     Politics are important, whether or not we follow every politicians word or merely get involved when it is time to vote.  But who are politicians?  What makes them tick?  How do things work behind the scenes?  Personally, I'm much more interested in politics from a human behavior standpoint than due to any interest in polity...I leave that bit to my poli-sci major husband.  However, even I acknowledge that politics make or break countries, leaders, people.  But what happens when a kind-hearted man pursues a life course which puts him in the midst of a heartless political machine?

"Dominant Species Volume One: Natural Selection" - David Coy (Virtual Book Tours Cafe Blog Tour)

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"Imagine an alien science where tissue, bone, nerves, and muscle are used like we use iron, wood, rubber and wire. Now imagine yourself held captive with hundreds of others by beings who wield this grisly technology as easily as we do hammer and saw; beings whose lineage can be traced through the morally hollow, parasitic branches of nature's evolutionary tree. What would you do to survive? Would you re-draw the boundaries of your own morality to stay alive? What would you compromise? How might you escape? This is the context of NaturalSelection, the first of three volumes of the Dominant Species series of books. What distinguishes Dominant Species from other stories in its genre is its visceral imagery and more importantly, its rich subtext. The story can appeal to those fascinated and drawn to horror and strong drama, and at the same time will fascinate those who can tune into its broader message about our relationship to the natural world. Taken as a whole, the series is a puzzle linked together with genetic threads that unravel like a double helix. Viewers intrigued by mystery and dramatic puzzles will find a fascinating playground for guesswork, thought and discussion.

The first volume sets the stage for the ongoing conflict between Homo sapiens and a visiting alien race. Like all successful serial drama, the story poses many questions to be answered, each one carefully laced into a central theme about human survival, the action driven by antagonists both alien and human.

The story is character driven, each character fully developed and rich, providing the colorful characterization required by serial drama. Central to the first volume is teacher Phil Lynch.

The story starts as a peaceful visit to his weekend getaway in the Sierra foothills. Hours later he finds himself living an unthinkable nightmare. Paralyzed and taken prisoner, his body is used as an unwilling host in a bizarre and grisly series of parasitic infections. On board the alien vessel within which he is imprisoned are more than a hundred other humans – and like Phil – just as confused and terrified – their bodies subject to unfathomable violence for a dark and malevolent purpose. As the terrible truth about the alien visitation unfolds, a small group of captives must first understand – and then fight for escape from the terror that holds them captive. That struggle will stretch razor-thin the limits of the human will to survive.

There is strong language in the story because humans under stress often use such language. There are no puppy love or adolescent motifs of intimacy in the story. Instead there are very many mature, psychosexual themes that run through all three books. Some are represented symbolically, others described explicitly. There is violence. The story is not PG-13.
The story is a human drama that will be appreciated by most adult demographics. It is strong, unflinching theater played through characters who repulse us, fascinate us, and often, appeal to our better natures; ones who continually remind us of our human strengths—and weaknesses."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"I’ve had a lifetime love of science fiction and horror. I suspect it started in puberty since most obsessions do. My passion for it was so strong as a penniless youth, I resorted to boosting copies of my favorite authors’ works off the shelves of the book section of the local Federal’s department store. My friends and I soon had a collection of great sci-fi at discounted prices to read and read again. But I’m not wholly without conscience about those shifty activities as a scrawny youth. I’ll shake my head from side to side and mumble “Crap, that was stupid” once ever decade or so. But that’s about it.

I consider myself a sci-fi film Nazi. I’m sure I’ve seen every sci-fi movie ever made – certainly the vast majority of them. I can’t pass up even the worst of it. All those god-awful, black and white B flicks of the 40’s onward, with their outrageous and ham-handed themes of science vs. ignorance and good vs. evil, wrapped in whatever pseudo-scientific covering was popular that year, transfixed me, entertained me, and like the works pinched then stashed in my friend’s basement, made me think. When pivotal films like “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing” elevated sci-fi film up out of the gutter with all those glorious and expensive production values, I was im himmel.

I attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Like so many of my peers at the time, I left Wayne

 State with an utterly useless BA with a major in psychology. I’ve cleaned tractor cranes for money and 

worked as a steel mill laborer when the last one of those plants in Michigan still existed. I’ve worked as a 

 night janitor. I moved to southern California when I was 30 years old and sold cars for a while. Shortly 

thereafter I worked for what used to be called the Hughes Aircraft Company as an in-house photographer.

 For the last 10 years of my work-a-day life I worked as a senior project manager for Computer Sciences 

Corporation. I now live in Oregon where I started and recently sold a fitness gym. I relate this choppy 

history to drive home my favorite maxim relating to life and the living of it: you never know where in the f***

you’ll end up. You’ll find my books laced through with that persistent theme. I hope you find the journey of 

reading them, should you attempt it, if not straight and linear, at least interesting."

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REVIEW
First, I apologize about the wonky formatting above - it didn't cooperate with me.  :)

Humans are the top of the biological totem pole.  We are taught this in science classes from elementary school on.  We are the dominant species...all food chains eventually lead to us (or at least the big, important ones).  We dominate the planet and determine its course and future.  We are regaled with science fiction stories that tell us of other species, but we generally eventually dominate them to.  But what if we encounter an alien species, or they encounter us, against which we have no defense other than pure, dumb luck?

"In Times of Trouble" - Yolanda Sanders (Virtual Book Tour Cafe Blog Tour)

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"Divorced, single mother Lisa Hampton is grateful for a fresh start after a humiliating scandal forced her to relocate from Maryland to Ohio. Her biggest issue nowadays is dealing with her rebellious teenage daughter, Chanelle, who is one smart comment away from being toothless!

Other than the stress of dealing with Chanelle, life is perfect. Lisa has a new beau and a steady job that allows her the opportunity to rub shoulders with very wealthy and influential people. She is best friends with Isaac and Olivia Scott, an extremely rich and powerful couple.

When Chanelle accuses the Scotts’ son of rape, Lisa learns how quickly her friends become enemies as Olivia and Isaac use their wealth and power to manipulate justice. The Scotts prove that they are willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their son, even if it means destroying both Lisa and Chanelle in the process."

Genre: Christian | Contemporary | Inspirational

Publisher: Simon and Schuster/Strebor Books

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Yolanda Sanders

Yolonda Tonette Sanders took a leap of faith in 2004 when she resigned from her job with the State of Ohio after only three and a half years to focus more on writing. It was a leap that she has never regretted. In 2005, her debut novel, Soul Matters, was published by Walk Worthy Press and Time Warner (now Hachette Book Group). In 2008, her second book, Secrets of a Sinner, was published by Harlequin/Kimani Press. That same year Yolonda started Yo Productions, LLC, a Christian based literary services and theatrical entertainment company, which she used to launch and create her first stage production. The theatrical version of Soul Matters debuted successfully in September 2009 at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Since then, Strebor Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, is planning to release four of Yolonda’s titles by April 2015. Currently, Yolonda resides in Columbus, Ohio and is the loving wife of David, proud mother of Tre and Tia, and joyful caregiver of her mother, Wilene.

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REVIEW

Where is God when life seems to just be a sh** storm with no proverbial or literal light at the end of the tunnel?  People have wrestled with this question since Biblical times.  Toss in today's issues - drugs, rape, selfishness, power, greed...you name it (really, these are age-old issues) - and you have a mucked up place that desperately calls out for a Savior to set it right.  Or in the very least, to walk with us when the sh** hits the fan.  But what if those fans keep on coming?  And if we feel alone?  Where is God then?

"Stilettoes and Scoundrels" - Laina Turner (Virtual Book Tour Blog Tour)

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"Stilettos & Scoundrels

Presley tells her boss what he can do with her job in HR and embarks on a new career as a freelance journalist. What seems like a simple interview with a Senator turns to murder when the day after her interview the Senator turns up dead. Does the fact that Presley was one of the last people to see him alive make her a suspect? Her ex-boyfriend Cooper, who was in charge of the Senators security, might think so. Presley is determined to clear her name but can she do it and resist Cooper’s charms?

Necklaces & Nooses

When Presley’s boss is found hanging she thinks its suicide until the police discover its homicide. Who would want to kill a boutique owner? Presley’s not sure but she’s determined to find out. The cute detective assigned to the case makes it all the more exciting.

Handbags & Hooligans

Presley went to Vegas to watch her friend Anna get married and the event turned into solving the mystery of her brothers girlfriend disappearance. But Ashley wasn't exactly the schoolteacher she appeared to be. Who was she and was she kidnapped?

The holiday short…Mistletoe & Murder

In this holiday short story, Presley goes home for Christmas expecting it to be a relaxing holiday until her old boyfriend, Brian, asks for her help finding out who has been stealing from him and it turns from theft to murder. Why would anyone want to kill Tommy and what was he hiding?

Gems & Gunshots

Presley heads to San Diego to hang out with Cooper and enjoy the great west coast weather. She didn’t expect that while hanging out at the local coffee shop she would be a witness to a robbery and murder at Gemstone’s Unlimited. Much to Cooper’s dismay Presley feels compelled to investigate. She discovers that not only was the store owner a womanizer but also was filing false insurance claims for diamonds that weren’t really stolen. Was that why he was being blackmailed? Was that why someone robbed his store? Presley is determined to find out!

As a bonus get the short story prequel, A Day in the Life of Trixie Pristine.

In this short story prequel, Trixie and her friends Berklie and Sophie, considered themselves typical thirty something females until someone turned up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Or was one of them the intended target?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"Who am I? It kind of depends on the day. I am a human compendium of unrelated things. I used to think I was just weird, had shiny ball syndrome and couldn’t focus, scattered, you name it. Then I decided it was OK to be all over the place as long as each avenue I wanted to explore had meaning and purpose or was fun. So I embrace the fact I am a college professor, a writer of fiction and non-fiction, promoter of other authors, human resource professional, business consultant, mom, and all around interesting person (according to my closest friends).

When I’m not working toward my goals I like, ok fine, LOVE wine, coffee, shopping, and books. I enjoy my kids, they are awesome. I hate the cold but yet live in the mid-west. Vegas is one of my favorite spots as I love to people watch and if I ever get married again it will definitely be in a drive through chapel by a fake Elvis.

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REVIEW
Women.  Can't live with 'em, can't make 'em stay out of it when trying to conduct a murder investigation.  Gossip is a crucial part of small town life (much to my annoyance...I grew up in a town of approx. 450 -- fart on one end of town and the other is talking about it before you arrive).  Gossip fuels hair salon chats, meetings over coffee, and small town rumor mills when someone dies who just might have something to hide.  We get criticized for gossiping - and rightly so, it is a bad thing to do - but what if gossip lends help to the unofficial investigation of a small town politician's murder?

"Alizel's Song" - Bill Pottle (Virtual Book Tour Cafe Blog Tour)

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"An unranked angel, Alizel, tells the inside story of the rebellion of Lucifer and the fall of man. Join him as he strolls through Heaven’s gardens, ponders theological questions with other angels, and battles against others who have turned away.

This epic tale will take you from the inner workings of the quark to the interplay between galaxies, from what lies hidden in the soul to the fundamental questions of good and evil."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill is a martial artist, author, and university professor in Colorado. He tries not to take himself too seriously while his work explores the interplay between religion and science, fantasy and technology, and what it means to be a human. Bill earned his Master's Degree in Biological Engineering from Cornell University and lives happily ever after with his wife and daughter.

Website | Book Site | Facebook

REVIEW

As a budding theologian, I'm rather curious about interpretations of anything surrounding God...particularly of angels.  Particularly of angels!  Despite intricate descriptions of certain dreams, expositions on one thing or another, and simply confusing parables, we get very little about angels other than they exist (of this I personally have no doubt - ask and I'll tell you why).  Oh, there is something in Genesis about the angels guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden, and Revelations speaks of angels flying 'round God singing praises all day.  Balaam spoke to an angel after his donkey spoke to him, an angle went around and killed first-borns in Egypt, an angel heralded Jesus' birth to shepherds, etc....though we get some stories, we get nearly nothing about angels in Heaven.

"Celebrate the Sinner" - Steve Scott (Virtual Book Tours Blog Tour)

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"Unsettled conditions anywhere give rise to fear,” Old Ted remarks. “Fear finds scapegoats and easy solutions.”

In 1924, Marie walks through the Waverly Baby Home and chooses Teddy because he looks like the child she deserves...but the boy has hidden defects. Five years later, against a backdrop of financial ruin, KKK resurgence, hangings and arson, Marie's husband, Merle, struggles to succeed, Marie loses her way, and troubled seven year-old Teddy begins to see what he and his family are missing.

CELEBRATE THE SINNER unfolds with the onset of The Great Depression after Teddy’s father buys a bankrupt sawmill and moves his small family to an isolated Oregon mill town. Merle feeds his hunger with logs and production, while his young wife feels like rough-cut lumber, unworthy of paint and without a future. When a conspiracy threatens the mill, Merle adds the powerful KKK to his business network. Untended, Teddy strays as he searches for a connection outside himself. He loves the machines that take the trees, but he also worships his new, young teacher. He discovers the Bucket of Blood Roadhouse and begins spending his Saturday nights peering through its windows, gaining an unlikely mentor: Wattie Blue, an ancient, Black musician from Missouri, by way of Chicago, plays the lip harp and calls out square dances. When Wattie faces the Klan and his past, Teddy and his family are confronted with equally difficult choices.

Framed by solitary, narcissistic, ninety-year-old Ted, this story of desperate people contains humor, grit, mystery and an ending that surprises, even stuns. "Spines and bellies soften and round off with the years," Old Ted muses. "Thoughts, too, lose their edge, but secrets scream for revelation. Perfect people, after all, don't hold a monopoly on the right to tell their stories."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 S.M. Scott was raised and educated in Oregon, Alaska, France and Africa. Born in the Willamette Valley, his father, grandfather and great grandfather were Oregon lumbermen. When he was eight, his parents packed up the family and their portable sawmill and moved to Anchorage, Alaska where they began cutting homesteader timber in the summers and teaching school each winter.

He later returned to Oregon to pursue undergraduate studies at Linfield College. Along the way, he has studied economics, biology, French and medicine. He attended medical school in Colorado, undertook surgical training at the University of Utah and completed his cancer training at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He and his family now live in Salt Lake City in the warm company of Saints and sinners. He is a practicing orthopedist and cancer surgeon.

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REVIEW

Historical fiction is a tricky beast.  An author must weave an engaging story while maintaining historical accuracy, an accuracy that shifts as each successive generation sees past events through eyes shaped by different, more recent events.  How many times have each of us heard and uttered the phrase "if only I knew now what I knew then"?

"Epsilon A.R." - Zachary Humphreys (Virtual Book Tour Cafe Book Tour)

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 "Hundreds of years into the future, mankind has gone under ground to relocate to the beautiful city of Epsilon. Epsilon is run by a strong, secretive government that keeps its citizens in check by subtle manipulation and strict schedules. No one questions its authority and no one is unhappy. ALN-896, an average man who is just trying to live a normal life, begins to have dreams; something strange and rare in Epsilon. In his dreams, he meets a man named Harry and everything is fine- until Harry dies. When ALN-896 wakes up, he shrugs it off as if nothing has happened. It was only a dream. But then the next day, he is suddenly arrested and sent to prison for killing Harry, whom ALN-896 assumed was just a figment of his imagination. Now inside prison, ALN-896 begins to learn about everything the government of Epsilon has been doing and he plans on escaping. Not only from prison, but from Epsilon. This one decision turns him against everything he has ever known and forces him to face against centuries of lies. To escape means to live. But what will it cost?



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zackery Alexander Humphreys is a Novelist, Actor and Poet who occasionally dabbles in Screen Writing and Play Writing.

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Email - zackeryhumphreys@hotmail.com  

REVIEW

Dystopian futures.  These have been the stuff of our imaginative fancy for years.  From stories about children living on Mars who wait for a once-a-year glimpse of sun, to evil robots vying for control of the Earth and using humans for batteries, to adorable little robots who just want to clean up the trash, dystopian futures have been used to explore social questions, bizarre and disturbing "what if" scenarios, and shock us into caring about the present.  Epsilon A.R. is a dystopian future with a twist.