More updates....

Hey guys!

There are a couple of cool things happening in my life:

1) I'm going to start focusing on my own writing....what can I say, reading so many awesome books has me inspired to get some of these ideas out of my head!  Hopefully some of you will read my upcoming works.

2) I've got a little jewelry business going - Butterflies Aside - and need to spend some more time on that.  CHECK IT OUT!!  There's some pretty cool stuff there (okay, I'm biased...but seriously, check it out!)

These two things means that I'm going to fulfill the posts that I've signed up for, but won't be taking on too much more.  There are also a few books on my shelf that I want to read and review on here that aren't a part of any tour.  So, sorry guys, but I'm going to be slowing down on here quite a bit. I hope you all will support me  in my writing and beading!

Blessings and hugs!

BTW: there are some reviews for some FABULOUS books coming up....stay tuned (I'm not slowing down yet!)

For those of you with a brain like mine that wants dates and such, at the end of April I'm going to start focusing more on my own writing, so I won't be taking on many reviews after that unless something is REALLY interesting to me.

BLITZ: "Mail Order Groom" by Cindy Flores Martinez (Reading Addiction Virtual Blog Tours)

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Lisa is about to marry her first real love and have the wedding of her dreams, but her world is shattered when she finds her fiancé, Jeff, in the arms of another woman. When he calls the wedding off, Lisa is heartbroken, but her heartache turns to anger when she sees him in town the next day with the other woman.

In a momentary lapse of reason, Lisa decides to marry another man at the wedding. She finds Krzysztof Zielinski from on Mail-Order-Grooms.Com. He needs to marry an American woman so that he can stay in America, and he’s willing to pay money for it, but his reason for needing to stay is what tugs at Lisa’s heart and convinces her to say “I do” to him. Besides, green card marriages are easy, right? They’re short-lived and not real. She won’t even have to live with him. And marrying another man would be the perfect revenge on Jeff. 

Lisa races to the altar with her stand-in groom, but she struggles with the guilt of deceiving her parents and facing her confused wedding guests. And then she learns that she does have to live with Krzysztof. She wakes up the next morning hoping it was all just a bad dream. 

How will she handle the dilemma she has gotten herself into? Will she be able to make things right in the end?

Mail Order Groom - PROMO Blitz

By Cindy Flores Martinez

Romantic Comedy

Date Published: February 2014

  * AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cindy Flores Martinez

"My name is Cindy Flores Martinez. I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles. I have an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. I have been a screenwriting instructor, screenplay consultant, script reader, and screenplay collaborator.  My debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, which was inspired by my own Polish ancestry, started out as a screenplay and movie project. I spent years shopping it around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world and had two well-known actors, one of them Academy Award nominated, interested in portraying the lead character’s parents. After not finding the success I wanted, I officially canceled my film production company in November of 2009 and embarked on the journey of turning my screenplay into a novel."

Author Links

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

EXCERPT

"Daphne was waiting for me as I raced down the sidewalk on Main Street through the bustling morning crowd. I had called her right as she was about to dial my parents number and tell them that the wedding was canceled, and I asked her to meet me there instead. I had picked myself up off my bed, my body rising as if from the ashes. My demeanor had gone from the deepest, darkest hopelessness to a light flickering upon my newly made up face.

Daphne watched me in disbelief as I approached. “Tell me you are not serious about this.”

“I’m dead serious.” I rushed past her without stopping.

“But he’s a total stranger!”

I was on my way to meet Krzysztof Zielinski from Mail-Order-Grooms.Com, and I was going to ask him to marry me. Crazy? Yes. Insane? Irrational? Unbelievable? It was all of those things and more, but my mind was made up.

Daphne joined me. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I have to. If Jeff doesn’t want me, or this wedding, then I’m going to show up with a man who does.”

She scoffed. “You can’t be serious.”

“You said your friend married a man to help him get a green card, and she only had to see him at the wedding and at the interview at the immigration office. I’m going to do the same thing myself.”

Daphne swerved around a passerby. “But your situation is different than hers. You have a lot of people in your life who know you. How are you going to explain this to them? What are you going to tell your parents?”

“I’m going to say that I fell in love with Krzysztof and that I want to marry him instead of Jeff.”

She guffawed. “They’re not going to believe that!”

“I’ll make them believe it.”

“How?”

I couldn’t see why she was acting as if it was so impossible. I didn’t think it would be too hard to convince anyone after they saw how Krzysztof looked, and wait until I told them he liked baking and writing poetry. “Aren’t you the one who wanted to marry Josecito what’s his name?” I flung my arm in the air.

“Only after I got to know him and if things worked out. I never would have done it this soon. Will you please stop and think about what you’re doing?”

“I have thought about it.”

“I don’t think you have. Not fully.”

The delicious aroma of baking bread permeated the air as we approached the Polish bakery where Krzysztof worked. I stopped a few feet away from the entrance. “Daphne, will you please go along with this for me? Please.”

“No, Lisa. This is crazy!”

“Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? I loved Jeff more than anything, and he threw me away! If you would have heard the things he said to me. If you would have seen him with her.”

“I know, but this isn’t the answer.”

“It’s the perfect answer.” "

This Blitz is brought to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours

GUEST POST: "Battlecry" by Jeffrey Snyder (Fire and Ice Book Tours)

Hey  hey hey...check it out - you should really see the author's response to the question "what was the most difficult part in writing a fiction story?"

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"Fall in love with a true heroine!

Sixteen year old Kaí-Ling was raised in the ways of the sword. The child of a former samurai warrior and an American mother embarks on a journey to right the wrongs life has dealt her. The lifelong lessons and skills she acquires as well as the friends she makes along the way aid her in her quest to fulfill her destiny. Robbed of her father’s love before she was born, Kaí-Ling now seeks vengeance upon those who took him from her."

Virtual Book Tour Dates: 2/20/14 – 3/6/14
Genres: Young Adult/Teen, Middle Grade, Fiction, Genre Fiction, Fantasy

Tour Promotional Price: $.99

AMAZON  *  BARNES&NOBLE  *  BOOKSTAND PUBLISHING  *  GOOGLE BOOKSTORE
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeffrey Snyder

Jeffrey (JL) Snyder is a Top 100 Author at Authorsdb.com. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Texas - El Paso. The spark that ignited his aspirations to becoming an author was first lit by words of encouragement from his high school English teacher. Initially, however, he did not act upon those words, and the flame flickered within him for many years, almost extinguishing at times. That was until he met an angel, a gift from God, whom he now happily calls his wife. She reignited that spark that was once lit so many years ago with love, motivation and support.

Jeffrey is an avid reader of fiction as well as comic book/graphic novel fiction. He is a self taught artist who is fond of the Japanese Manga style of drawing. As a writer of fiction, he enjoys walking in the footsteps of his characters. Battle Cry is his first novel. He is currently working on the second volume of Battle Cry and many other projects.

FACEBOOK  *  BOOK DAILY  *  AUTHORSDB.COM  *  TWITTER  *  WEBSITE  *  AMAZON'S AUTHOR PAGE

GUEST POST
"I don’t really look at any aspect of writing fiction as difficult. There are however, many challenges I face when creating a fictional story. The three most important challenges are; creating an original story, real characters and choosing the narrative.

Is my story original? That’s the first question I ask myself before starting a new story. Is there any other story out there similar to what I’m thinking about writing? Since it is impossible to have read every story ever written I usually look at the genre I am writing for and research a few stories that are similar to mine.  When looking for similarities I look at the elements of fiction; plot, storyline, characters, setting, etc. If my story idea is similar in any way to these stories, then I know I have to come up with something that makes my story stand alone. That in itself is the challenging part. What is it about my story that can make it stand out among the others? What makes it unique and original? Is it the characters, plot or the conflict of the story? If so how? These are just some of the questions I will need to answer in order to know whether my story will stand alone.

Character development is crucial when writing any fictional story. I believe that if you don’t have unique, believable and interesting characters, then the story will be lifeless and plain. Trust me; no writer wants his/her story to be referred to in that way. I want readers to be able to relate with my characters. Whether it is the main character- protagonist or antagonist, or a minor character, they must possess qualities, mannerisms, personalities and even flaws comparable to real people. These are characteristics that I utilize to make characters unique and intriguing.  If I write a story with a character that is intelligent, beautiful, strong, invulnerable and pretty much perfect in every aspect then I will have a story that will not connect with most people. So I try to create characters that are human in every facet, even if they are not.      

Some might think that choosing a type of narrative, whether first or third person would not be so challenging.  However, I believe that the type of narrative I choose when writing my story is one of the most important decisions I will make. To me the narrator is the voice of the story. It is being told through their prospective. If I write a story in first person, the narrative tends to be a one-sided. The story is being told by a character and the views of the story may be somewhat limited. On the other hand, if I write a story with the narration in third person then the story is being told with an outside perspective.  As a writer, it ultimately comes down to me to decide which type of narrative best tells the story I want to convey."

GIVEAWAY

The author is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an autographed Battle Cry poster! One lucky winner will win both. 18+, USA only please. The giveaway runs 2/20/14 – 3/6/14, enter with Rafflecopter!

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BLITZ: "Of Sea and Stone" by Kate Avery Ellison (Xpresso Book Tours)

Here's a cool fantasy story.....(hang in there to the end of this post, there is a lot of neat stuff, and a pretty awesome give-away!)

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"All of her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving…"

Of Sea and Stone by Kate Avery Ellison
Publication date: February 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

GOODREADS  *  AMAZON  * BARNES & NOBLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Kate Avery Ellison 

I live in Georgia with my wonderful husband and two spoiled cats. When I'm not writing, I'm usually catching up on my extensive Netflix queue, reading a book, giggling at something funny online, or trying to convince my husband to give me just ONE bite of whatever he's eating.

Learn more about my writing and books at my blog, find teasers for upcoming works on my Facebook page, and subscribe to my new releases newsletter to be notified of new novels as soon as they hit stores!

BLOG  *  FACEBOOK  *  TINY LETTER

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Describe Of Sea and Stone in six words.

Atlantis, steampunk, sunlight, seawater, secrets, romance.

What books have you read and loved lately?

I am almost finished with Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, and it’s an absolute delight. Witty, immersive, and utterly compelling fantasy that reminds me very much of my beloved Megan Whalen Turner books.

Ice cream or cake?

Ice cream cake, of course! It’s the best of both worlds.

What authors have influenced your writing style the most?

I grew up on a pretty steady diet of mystery, actually, so I feel like classic mystery authors like Agatha Christie had a strong influence on me. When I was a teenager, I started reading fantasy by authors like Robin McKinley, Gail Carson Levine, and Sherwood Smith. The Blue Sword, Ella Enchanted, Crown Duel...I loved those books. I also had a huge love of historical fiction, so Ann Rinaldi, Elizabeth George Speare, and Eloise Jarvis McGraw influenced me a lot as well. As far as more recently-written books that I didn’t grow up reading, I continue to be an awe of fantasy authors Megan Whalen Turner (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, etc.) and Melina Marchetta (Finnikin of the Rock), dystopian author Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games), and contemporary young adult authors Lucy Christopher (Stolen) and John Green (A Fault in Our Stars).

If you had to pick a shoe that represented your writing style, what would it be?

Have you seen those canvas shoes where an artist has drawn original artwork on the front and sides and is selling them online? I think my books are like that—in some ways they feel familiar, but they have their own surprises and twists that make them unique.

Who has been the most supportive person in your writing career?

My husband. About two years into trying to get published, I was ready to give up on my stories and get a job doing something tremendously ill-suited for me, like being a secretary (I am a very bad secretary. Very disorganized). He convinced me to give it more time, and he is probably the sole reason I am published today. He is my first reader, my strongest encourager, and my most reliable critic.

Are you working on anything else currently?

Yes! I’m currently hard at work on the second book in the Secrets of Itlantis series, and I’m also working on a few secret projects on the side—one is a more traditional fantasy, another is a post-apocalyptic novel. I hope to have more details about them for my readers very soon.

EXCERPT

The sea sang to itself in the music of blue water and salt and gulls’ cries as I sat above it, crouched atop the column-like Looking Rock with a spear clenched in my hand and words of frustration crawling on my tongue. The water below lapped at the edges of the rock, foaming over the pebbled shore that ringed the rock, and the foam hid the fish I was trying to catch.

I bent over the water and stabbed the spear into the foaming waves. When I withdrew it from the pool, a fish wriggled on the end, and I smiled with a quick jerk of my lips. I had always been good with a spear, somewhat inexplicably according to Nealla.

I tossed the fish into my sack and moved to the other side of the Looking Rock, where the tide pools were often filled with exotic things washed in from the sea. It was a secret place, and few knew to look here. I came often whenever I had a moment of freedom from my duties, for if I could catch enough things of value, I could sell them in the marketplace and add coin to the stash I kept hidden away, the stash that would one day buy my freedom.

The first tide pools were disappointingly empty except for a few anemone and starfish clinging to the sides of the rocks, and a yellow fish darting away from my face as I peered down.

I moved on. Three more pools, empty. But luck had not abandoned me. At the final pool I stopped, transfixed by the creature I saw beneath the surface.

It was eerie and beautiful, with fluttering fins along its throat and back and tail, speckled blue scales, and a mouth full of teeth. It wasn’t a fish or a dolphin or a snake, but something that looked like bits of all three. I had never seen such a creature. It was some monster from the depths, but a small one.

I bent over the rock, sliding my belly forward by inches, peering into the deep glassy green of the pool beneath where the creature swam in small circles, imprisoned until high tide. I didn’t want to use a spear on such a magnificent creature. For this, I needed a net.

I stabbed my spear into the edge of the pool, marking the fish-creature as mine. Then I scrambled to the edge of the Looking Rock. The wind swirled around me, wetting me with a mist of sea spray as I brought my arms forward and dove into the sea below.

Bubbles exploded around me as I swam through the green-blue water. Below, fish wove between a jewel-colored spread of coral. A dark line at the edge of my vision signaled where the shallow waters ended and the deep water began.

No one ever went out into deep water.

I reached the larger rocks that rose from the water like the spearheads of giants and hauled myself onto a sea-carved shelf of white stone. My master’s house was before me, a collection of caves and hollows in the rock. It was a nice house, with a strip of pebbled beach facing west. Beyond the beach, a shallow place for bathing and washing was surrounded by thin white stones that protruded from the water like fingers and broke the force of the waves.

A hole in the rock wall led to the interior. Strings of shells formed a curtain barrier, and they tinkled and clicked in the wind. I shoved them aside and stepped into the cool stone passage leading to the house.

I needed one of my master’s nets. Just to borrow, to catch that fish.

The master’s father sat on a mat beside the fire, muttering to himself. Beside him were nets, the small ones used for hand fishing. He was mending them, his wrinkled hands moving swiftly as he worked over a hole.

“Hello, Old One,” I said, speaking carefully and respectfully. “I need to borrow a net.”

He lifted his head and scrutinized me. I was dripping from the sea. My hair stuck to my neck and forehead.  Droplets fell from my fingers.

He reached for one of the nets and lifted it toward me, but pulled it back before I could take it.

“Don’t go in the deep places,” he said, and his voice creaked. “The Sea People are in the deep places.”

“Yes, Old One,” I said, leaning forward to reach the net.

The master’s father was crazy, but gentle. Sometimes he liked to ramble about fables from his youth, and sometimes I listened, because none of the others did, and I felt sorry for him.

I didn’t have time for it today.

“I saw one of their ships the other night,” he continued, pulling the net farther away and out of reach again. “Came up from the depths, black as a wet stone, bright with lights. They’re watching us.”

“Don’t worry, Old One,” I said. “We’ll keep you safe.”

He harrumphed as if doubtful and handed me the net. “Stay out of the deep places,” he said again.

I snatched the net and hurried outside once more. The wind fanned my face. I stopped at the edge of the water and shaded my eyes against the glaring sun.

Someone else was on the Looking Rock. I saw a figure moving around the pool. Confound that Old One and his stories! I splashed into the water, my heart pounding as I swam hard, kicking my legs. I reached the rock and hauled myself up, hair dripping, leaving wet footprints as I ran to the tide pools. A young man stood at the edge of the pool, his feet hanging in the water, his arms braced behind him and his face tipped toward the sun. He was lounging, waiting for me, stretched out as if to show off his physical perfections and the gold bracelets on his arms and ankles. That handsome, arrogant face, smirking mouth, and long, dark lashes that contrasted with his pale, wavy hair—I’d know him anywhere.

Nol.

I looked past him into the water and stopped in horror.

The creature was gone.

My bag of sad little fish lay at the edge of the rock, looking deflated in the sunlight. My spear lay beside it.

Fury built up at the back of my neck and swept through my throat to take hold of my tongue. Anger licked at my bones.

“You stole my catch.”

Nol opened one eye and looked at me. “What are you talking about? Your bag of fish is right there. I didn’t touch it.”

“No. The creature in the pool—it was my catch. I found it first, as was clearly demonstrated by my spear marking the pool. You took it! Where did you put it?” I was furious, devastated.

Nol straightened and blinked at me. His smile was slow and smooth, like butter being spread across bread.

“It wasn’t your fish,” he said. “It wasn’t in your net, so you had no claim.”

“I marked it with my spear—”

“You aren’t a fisherman, thrall-girl. The rules of the village don’t apply to the likes of you. You have no identifying marker that deserves to be honored, and that thing you call a spear is simply a piece of garbage with a point at one end. It could have washed into the pool on its own, for all I know.”

I wanted to strangle him. My anger was hot and fierce, and it made my legs tremble. But he was the mayor’s second son, and he could do as he liked. Instead, I bit my tongue and turned away.

I’d lost this round, but I would not lose to Nol again.

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BLITZ: "Earthwalker" by Kellie Wallace (Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours)

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS BOOK....IT LOOKS AWESOME!  (and don't forget to follow my blog, just take a look to the right)

BLITZ
"Noah is an angel whose job relies on collecting human souls who aren’t ready to leave their vessels. To his brothers Michael and Gabriel, he is just another rookie, earning his arch angel wings. When Noah catches an earth bound demon in his form stealing a soul, he is sent back to Heaven to plead his case. But no one believes him. He is banished from heaven for a crime he didn’t commit, given one year on earth to find the demon responsible for his framing. If he fails to do so, he will be dragged to hell for eternity.

On his first day on earth he meets publishing assistant Fern Holliday who helps him get back on his feet. She is reluctant in getting close to him, but agrees to help Noah find the demon. By following the signs Michael sends him, Noah and Fern travel the world in search of the demon. They grow closer every day until Fern is struck down by a mystery illness. Noah is at loss at what to do as her condition worsens. Before the year is up and he returns to heaven empty handed the demon appears agreeing to be taken back, only if Noah takes Fern’s soul to Lucifer. Will he follow the strict rules of heaven or succumb to his heart? Meanwhile Lucifer’s army is growing stronger."

Earthwalker - PROMO Blitz

By Kellie Wallace

Urban Fantasy

Date Published: 1/29/2014

AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Kellie Wallace

Born in Sydney, Australia Kellie Wallace developed a love for the written word early in life, recalling her earliest memory when she was three years old. Her father used to read to her when she was a child, establishing a deep love and respect for books. Kellie wrote a bit in high school, most memorably her first fantasy book called Giblin the Conquer, an X Files fan fiction and a military fiction. She didn’t write another word until 2007.

After finishing high school, Kellie moved to the sunny Northern Beaches from the Central Coast and carved a successful career in the media/advertising industry writing for numerous Sydney based publications.

An aspiring novelist, Kellie fulfilled a dream in 2008 having her first book - All She Ever Wanted - published by Zeus Publications at the age of 22 years old.

In 2013, Kellie released her next catalogue of books Darkness before Dawn, Skylark. In her spare time she loves to write, game and draw. Her first crime fiction novel To lean of falling men will be out in 2014, along with EarthWalker and dystopian Edge of Tomorrow.

WEBSITE  *  FACEBOOK  *  TWITTER  *  TUMBLR

EXCERPT

Noah entered the hospital foyer and shivered, his wet woollen coat dripping water onto the laminate floor. Around him people moaned, writhing in pain or comforted loved ones. He always hated coming to hospitals, the trip often leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

A young nurse engrossed in her paperwork passed him unaware of his stained clothes, wet from the rain. He must have stunk, having spent most of the night shivering in an alleyway, gaining the courage to come inside the building. He gazed at the nurses behind the reception desk taking calls and admitting new patients. They wouldn’t notice if he snuck down the hall to Room 205.

He inadvertently lifted a hand to caress his left shoulder, branded with a handprint of an archangel. It stung tonight meaning his next soul was nearby. He remembered the night he’d gotten the brand, lying on his bathroom tiles dying of a heroin overdose in 1965. He didn’t see who’d grabbed him from near death but he did remember their grip on his shoulder, their fingers boiling his skin like plastic. His soul, ripped from his body, pulled through the ceiling and into the stars. He woke up days later, hovering over a dead body. He didn’t recognise them, or how they died but somehow he knew what to do. He rested his hand upon their shoulder and was temporarily impaired by a bright light. It was gone as quickly as it came, leaving behind a feeling of euphoria. Whatever he had done felt right. A baby’s cry snapped Noah back to reality, back to the dripping coat and the chill in his bones. The smell of the hospital nauseated him. He tapped his notepad against his chest and remembered the job he had to do. He wandered down the hall passing the dead or dying in their hospital beds. They were not his tonight.

When he approached Room 205, he fished in his pocket and withdrew his leather-bound notepad. Embossed in gold was the name of his next soul. Damien Jacobs. According to Noah’s Intel from Heaven, the man had terminal cancer, dead for at least an hour. But his soul was still affixed to the hospital, not ready to leave Earth.

Noah pressed a hand against the door and searched the halls. A nurse ducked into a room nearby, a patient hung by the cafeteria. No one paid him any attention, so he turned invisible, sucking energy from the objects around him. Reaping souls took stamina and energy, draining him quickly. He had a short window of time before he materialised again.

Noah stepped into the room and paused to listen to the sound of weeping. Damien lay dead in his bed, tubes still attached to his lifeless body. After all these years as an angel, he could never forget the colour of the human skin once a soul left the body. The fragile area around Damien’s eyes appeared transparent and elastic. His family sat around him, hunched over, each gripping onto a piece of his blanket, desperate to capture his soul before it left his body. Noah saw movement in the corner of his eye. Damien stood beside him in a white hospital robe, his face blank and deadpan. “Am I dead?”

Noah froze, knowing his answer could change Damien’s fragile frame of mind. When a soul is fresh from the body, there was no telling whether they would be agitated or bitter about their death. It all came down to the first interaction. An angel must treat them as though they were still alive, human.

He took a steady step towards Damien, his hand out stretched. “I am afraid it is true. But you must come with me now,” he said gently.

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REVIEW: "I Am Abraham" by Jerome Charyn (Tribute Book Reviews)

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 Narrated in Lincoln’s own voice, the tragicomic I Am Abraham promises to be the masterwork of Jerome Charyn’s remarkable career.

Since publishing his first novel in 1964, Jerome Charyn has established himself as one of the most inventive and prolific literary chroniclers of the American landscape. Here in I Am Abraham, Charyn returns with an unforgettable portrait of Lincoln and the Civil War. Narrated boldly in the first person, I Am Abraham effortlessly mixes humor with Shakespearean-like tragedy, in the process creating an achingly human portrait of our sixteenth President.

Tracing the historic arc of Lincoln's life from his picaresque days as a gangly young lawyer in Sangamon County, Illinois, through his improbable marriage to Kentucky belle Mary Todd, to his 1865 visit to war-shattered Richmond only days before his assassination, I Am Abraham hews closely to the familiar Lincoln saga. Charyn seamlessly braids historical figures such as Mrs. Keckley—the former slave, who became the First Lady's dressmaker and confidante—and the swaggering and almost treasonous General McClellan with a parade of fictional extras: wise-cracking knaves, conniving hangers-on, speculators, scheming Senators, and even patriotic whores.

We encounter the renegade Rebel soldiers who flanked the District in tattered uniforms and cardboard shoes, living in a no-man's-land between North and South; as well as the Northern deserters, young men all, with sunken, hollowed faces, sitting in the punishing sun, waiting for their rendezvous with the firing squad; and the black recruits, whom Lincoln’s own generals wanted to discard, but who play a pivotal role in winning the Civil War. At the center of this grand pageant is always Lincoln himself, clad in a green shawl, pacing the White House halls in the darkest hours of America’s bloodiest war.

Using biblically cadenced prose, cornpone nineteenth-century humor, and Lincoln’s own letters and speeches, Charyn concocts a profoundly moral but troubled commander in chief, whose relationship with his Ophelia-like wife and sons—Robert, Willie, and Tad—is explored with penetrating psychological insight and the utmost compassion. Seized by melancholy and imbued with an unfaltering sense of human worth, Charyn’s President Lincoln comes to vibrant, three-dimensional life in a haunting portrait we have rarely seen in historical fiction.

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Pages: 464
Publisher: LiverightRelease: February 3, 2014 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jerome Charyn
Jerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With nearly 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life. Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac,"and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers." Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year. Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn was Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at the American University of Paris until he left teaching in 2009. In addition to his writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top 10 percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong." Charyn lives in Paris and New York City.

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REVIEW 
(I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

Oftentimes we lose the man to the legend.  We build up so much story around a historical/political/whatever-al figure that we forget who the real person was....or that So-and-So was a real person.  Nowadays figures in the public eye can - and have - fire back, defending their personality and true self.  When that figure is someone who perhaps had one of the biggest stamps on the history of the nation, but has been dead for over a hundred years, his or her ability to fight off critics is lessened (well, duh!).  How much can we really learn about someone purely from what he left in written form and other historical documentation?  Quite a lot, actually.

COVER REVEAL: "Branded" by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki (Mark My Words Book Publicity)

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BLURB

"Fifty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best. Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home.

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.

The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me.

I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter.

My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story."

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Abi & Missy

Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.

Abigail Ketner

Is a registered nurse with a passion for novels, the beaches of St. John, and her Philadelphia Phillies. A talented singer, Abi loves to go running and spend lots of time with her family. She currently resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her husband, triplet daughters and two very spoiled dogs.

Melissa Kalicicki

Received her bachelor’s degree from Millersville University in 2003. She married, had two boys and currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Aside from reading and writing, her interests include running and mixed martial arts. She also remains an avid Cleveland sports fan.





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