Pump Up Your Book’s July 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 1

Welcome to Day One of Pump Up Your Book’s July 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

James Boyle, author of the urban fantasy/horror novel, Ni’il the Awakening, will be visiting Book Marketing Buzz! When several people are brutally killed in the town of Placerton, on the isolated Oregon coast, most locals think a rogue bear or cougar is roaming the forested hills near town. Police Chief Dan Connor is not so sure. He has witnessed some very strange things lately, such as disembodied voices, muttering a strange foreign language and an old Indian man who seems to be near every crime scene, but disappears before he can be questioned. Dan’s investigation takes him to the local Sihketunnai Indians and their legend of the Ni’il, magical shamans charged with maintaining the balance between humans and the natural world. According to the elders, one of the Ni’il is responsible for the murders and intends to kill everyone in the community. It is Dan’s job to stop it.

You can visit his website at www.jamesboylewrites.com.

_________________________________________

LG Bradshaw, author of the general literature book, Dot to Dot, will be stopping off at Blogcritics! ‘Dot to Dot’ is a literary relay race revolving around one central theme: we are all connected. These connections may be seemingly insignificant – bumping into an old friend on the street or passing a stranger in a hospital corridor – but they have the potential to alter the course of our lives, some slightly, others in more profound and lasting ways. The race begins with an embattled United States senator and moves from character to character like wildfire: the senator’s disgraced wife who decides to leave the public eye following the outing of her husband; the motley crew of movers tasked with transporting the senator’s wife and kids back home to New Mexico; a boy who takes matters into his own hands to save himself and his mother from her murderous boyfriend; a private detective who discovers that his past has come back to haunt him; a police chief who spends his own money to help a Mexican family; the Mexican family themselves who are desperate to get their kidnapped daughter back; a country music singer who stumbles on fame after heartbreak; and, finally, a serial killer who has the tables turned on him by a very unlikely avenging angel. Simply put, ‘Dot to Dot’ is a story about people, some extraordinary, some not, but all memorable and flawed in their own unique ways.

You can visit the author’s website at www.lgbradshaw.com.

_________________________________________

Claire Cook, author of the women’s fiction novel, Seven Year Switch, will be stopping off at Colloquium and Night Owl Reviews! Just when Jill Murray’s finally figured out how to manage on her own, her ex-husband proves that he can’t even run away reliably. After seven long years missing in action, he’s back–crashing into the man-free existence Jill and her ten-year-old daughter have built so carefully. And what’s a good mother to do? To a child, even a deadbeat dad is better than no dad at all. Jill’s life just hasn’t turned out quite the way she planned. By now, she’d hoped to be jetting around the world as a high-end cultural coach. Instead, she’s answering phones for a local travel agency and teaching cooking classes at the community center. Enter free-spirited entrepreneur Billy, who hires Jill as a consultant for an upcoming business trip. Is their relationship veering off in a new direction? And what about her ex? Jill couldn’t possibly still have feelings for him . . . could she? Suddenly, her no-boys-allowed life is anything but. They say that every seven years you become a completely new person, but Jill isn’t sure she’s ready for the big change. It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help her make a choice–not so much between the two men in her life, but between the woman she is and the one she wants to be.

You can visit the author’s website at www.clairecook.com.

_________________________________________

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting The Hot Author Report! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

_________________________________________

Gary Fong, author of the memoir, The Accidental Millionaire will be stopping off at Literarily Speaking today! The Accidental Millionaire is the memoir of Gary Fong, would-be slacker who revolutionized wedding photography, inventor of popular photography aids, entrepreneur, contrarian, bon vivant and a man who really, really didn’t want to become a doctor. A first-generation Chinese-American, Gary was raised in one of Los Angeles’ least-desirable neighborhoods and was forced to deal―in his own quirky and often very funny way―with the burdens of poverty, crime and his parents’ relentless aspirations. These issues almost overwhelmed him until he had a dramatic epiphany. Spotting a bumper sticker that read “Since I gave up hope, I feel much better,” Gary promptly did just that. He stopped trying and started succeeding. At turns hilarious, insightful and instructive, The Accidental Millionaire is Horatio Alger-meets-David Sedaris. Turning the traditional self-help principles upside down, The Accidental Millionaire disdains the goal-oriented approaches of traditional self-help philosophies. Sometimes not knowing where you are going is the best possible way to get there.

You can visit the author’s website at www.garyfongaccidentalmillionaire.com.

________________________________________

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, Rise of the Fire Tamer, will be stopping off at Blogcritics and The Writer’s Life! After winning a contest for a popular game called Wordwick Games, five teens Gemma, Sparks, Rio, Kat, and Jack, are invited to stay at Wordwick Games inventor Henry Word’s mysterious castle and play the newest level of Workwick Games. Little do they know, the castle is the doorway to a wondrous world call Anachronia where words can be used as weapons, power, and commodity. There is unrest in Anachronia, and if the five teens can follow the rules of Wordwick Games and prove to be the best player, one of them will be crowned Ruler of Anachronia.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

James Hayman, author of the murder mystery, The Chill of Night, will be stopping off at Rundpinne! Fresh off the success of The Cutting, James Hayman brings Detective Michael McCabe back in an even more powerful tale of duplicity, murder, and revenge. Glamorous young Portland attorney Lainie Goff thought she had it all—brains, beauty, and a fast-track to a partnership in a top-ranked firm that was going to make her rich. But then one cold winter night she pushed things too far, and her naked frozen body is found in the sub-zero temperatures at the end of the Portland Fish Pier. The only witness to the crime: a mentally disturbed young woman named Abby Quinn who mysteriously disappears the very same night. With the discovery of Lainie Goff ’s body and the disappearance of Abby Quinn, Portland homicide detective Michael McCabe finds himself on the trail of a relentless and clever killer. A killer he must find before another life is lost. With The Chill of Night James Hayman returns to tell a gripping tale of evil and deceit and creates characters so real and so human, we want to meet them again and again.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com.

__________________________________________

Lisa Heidke, author of the women’s novel, Lucy Springer Gets Even, will be stopping off today at Rex Robot Reviews! Lucy Springer thinks she’s got it tough. She’s living through renovation hell, her two kids seem more challenging than ever, and her once successful acting career has been reduced to the odd commercial. Then Max, her husband, absconds to Bali with an unknown companion and things go from bad to disastrous. But Lucy doesn’t give up easily. Juggling increasingly chaotic building dramas, bewildered children, her crazy best friend-slash-agent Gloria, her ever ‘helpful’ mother and chasing after Max, Lucy Springer is determined to get her life on an even keel – and more.

You can visit the author’s website at www.lisaheidke.com.

__________________________________________

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting Examiner! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

__________________________________________

Rebecca James, author of the psychological suspense novel, Beautiful Malice, will be stopping off at The Book Connection!

An international sensation that The Wall Street Journal called a “publishing phenomenon,” this layered, poignant, and chilling novel of psychological suspense is the year’s most stunning American fiction debut.

From its wrenching opening to its shocking climax, Beautiful Malice unfolds a haunting story in which people, motives, and circumstances are never what they seem.

You can visit Rebecca online at www.rebeccajamesbooks.com/.

__________________________________________

Jackie M. Johnson, author of the relationship book, When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton is Empty: What You Need to Know About Your New Beginning, will be stopping off at Paperback Writer and 4 the Love of Books! While most books for singles tell readers how to get the next guy, When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton is Empty encourages a healthy healing process. Practical and biblically based, each chapter guides the reader through a metaphorical day of restoration. Twilight recognizes and deals with endings, night validates and grieves the loss, dawn awakens hope, and day is the new beginning based on the solid assurance of Christ.

You can visit Jackie online at http://whenloveends.com/about.html.

__________________________________________

Maria Lucia, author of the fantasy/adventure novel, Liberation: Book One of the Andrusian Chronicles, will be stopping off at Association Puzzle! Amora Madre is content in the Smokey Mountains pursuing her teaching of love, things of the spirit, and metaphysics. Her childhood invisible playmates, Casey and Nia, are always by her side. But when soul mate Gabriel Ephraim enters her life, she is drawn into the heart of a horrific encounter with the spirit world in the skies over Washington D.C. Catapulted into service for the Intergalactic Supernatural Intelligence Agency, ISIA, the kindred lovers soon discover the existence of an invisible wickedness over the city, its galactic origins, and its evil designs for national and world events. As part of an Andrusian galactic strike force, assembled to dismantle the malevolent legion’s brutal matrix, Amora and Gabriel, seasoned and accomplished, embark on a dangerous adventure filled with Onaweyans, Scorpillians, historical figures, and a confrontation with the dark supernatural syndicate over the fate of the United States and the earth.

You can find out more about Maria Lucia at www.andrusianchronicles.com.

__________________________________________

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Review From Here!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream.

Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

__________________________________________

Marilyn Meredith, author of the paranormal romantic suspense novel, Lingering Spirit, will be stopping off at Inkyblots!

Nicole Ainsworth’s husband, Steve, has a premonition of his death and moves his family to a mountain community where he serves as a deputy sheriff. He is killed in the line of duty and his wife, Nicole, is left to struggle with the changes forced upon her life.

While trying to cope with her grief, raise her two little girls, her husband’s spirit visits her on numerous occasions. She soon learns that someone else is watching over her, too.

Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com.

_________________________________________

Soren Paul Petrek, author of the historical thriller novel, Cold Lonely Courage, will be stopping off at The Writer’s Life! An assassin born of death and violation is the most dangerous of all. Cold Lonely Courage tells her story.The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War II. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance. Crushed, Madeleine returns his body to her parents.In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer. Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for duty with Britain’s shadowy Special Operations Executive. Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE ‘Dirty Tricks Department’. They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival. Madeleine fights on terrorizing the murderous Nazi elite always only one step ahead of capture and torture.

__________________________________________

Sue Provost, author of the Christian spirituality novel, Where is God in Your Life: Three Retreats in Christian Spirituality, will be stopping off at As the Pages Turn!

As Christians, our spiritual journey constantly brings us back to Jerusalem, to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which gives meaning to all that we do. Strengthened by God’s Spirit we join on the walk to wherever, we share meals, and we tell our stories. We remember. God, as we go along our life’s way, will help us to be aware of His presence with us. He will open our eyes, makes us expectant, eager to be met by Him. We will never complete our spiritual journey.

You can visit Sue’s website at www.sueprovost.com.

__________________________________________

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye, will be stopping off at Beyond the Books! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

__________________________________________

Diana M. Raab, author of the memoir, Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey will be stopping off at The Story Behind the Book!

Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey is a compassionate and wry self-help memoir written by an award-winning author, nurse and poet, who at the age of forty-seven found her life shattered first by a DCIS (early breast cancer) diagnosis and five years later by another, seemingly unrelated and incurable cancer—multiple myeloma.

You can visit the author’s website at www.dianaraab.com.

__________________________________________

Katie Salidas, author of the paranormal erotic short story, House of Immortal Pleasures, will be stopping off at Hollywood Gossip! Blindfolded and kidnapped, Daphne is whisked away to the famed, House of Immortal Pleasures, a Vampire-run Brothel in Pahrump, Nevada. Sometimes the only way to mend a broken heart is to get back in the saddle. At least that is how Daphne’s friends see it. And since Daphne isn’t showing any signs of letting that happen, they take it into their own hands. With a few shots of liquid courage, a pat on the ass, and a donated gold card, Daphne is unwillingly sent into fantasy room 123 to meet her creature of the night, Connor. It’s Connor’s job to seduce and entice Daphne to try all the expensive, sexual services on the menu. And he is prepared to do just that, until he peers into her mind and sees the damage done by her broken heart. After learning of her past pain, Connor’s plans change. No more is this a game of seduction to pad the pockets of the brothel owner. Connor decides to lavish Daphne with real attention and affection. Something she desperately needs. He will heal her heart the only way he can, by showing her she is beautiful, desirable, and sexy.

You can find Katie Salidas at www.risingsignbook.com

__________________________________________

G.F. Skipworth, author of the historical fiction/humor book, The Simpering, North Dakota Literary Society will be stopping off at Examiner! Card shark and ex-nun Farika Zingarella won the town of Simpering, North Dakota in the greatest card game ever played at The Huffy Hussy Casino & Billiards Parlor. Gathering five female geniuses to her side, she assembled a sisterhood so powerful that even the United States government had to watch its step. There wasn’t much to laugh about in 1919 – World War I had ended, fascism was already rising in Italy and American women took up the suffrage question. Then along came The Literary Society. You’ve never lived in a town like this!

You can visit the author’s website at www.rosslarebooks.com.

_________________________________________

Nancy Thayer, author of the women’s fiction novel, Beachcombers, will be stopping off at Pump Up Your Book!

Beautifully written, powerfully felt, full of both abundant joy and heart-wrenching sorrow, Beachcombers is an extraordinary novel that centers on the bittersweet reunion of three captivating, very different sisters on Nantucket over one gorgeous, exhilarating summer.

You can visit Nancy online at www.nancythayer.com.

_________________________________________

Steven Verrier, author of the contemporary fiction novel, Plan B, will be stopping off at Life in the First Draft! Life was good to fifteen-year-old Danny Roberts. He was a model student, playing violin in his high school orchestra and earning straight A’s on the fast track to university. But then things went very wrong very fast. The problems started when a teacher wouldn’t let Danny out of class to go to the bathroom – even though he said “I’ve really got to go!” Danny responded by defying authority for the first time in his life. That shocking act of defiance earned him a suspension, and Danny’s troubles snowballed from there. But Danny isn’t your typical student, and he doesn’t take his lumps lying down. He fights back on his terms as he plots a course through uncharted waters.

You can visit his website at StevenVerrier.com.

_________________________________________

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Bookventures Book Club! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

_________________________________________

Renee Wiggins, author of the friction novel, Transformations: Give Up the Struggle, will be stopping off at Lori’s Reading Corner! We all have had our ups and downs in our lives, some more than others. But, how we end up in the end, determines how we actually see the storms. .In fact, these storms makes us stronger, better and a wiser person. Resisting change can make the obstacles, the hindrances and the storms become even more unbearable. However, if we choose to view them in a different light, change can moves us into a more rewarding position. Renee shows how our life should follow our words. These words/affirmations presented in this book can be a turning point in your life. These affirmations helps us to break the chains of negative thinking and help us to release the past and move forward.

You can visit Renees’ website at www.resultsbyrenee.com.

__________________________________________

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting Jen’s Book Talk! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.

You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Vincent Zandri, author of the thriller/suspense novel, The Remains, will be stopping off at Literarily Speaking! Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape. Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead. Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year. But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.

You can visit the author’s website at www.vincentzandri.com.

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 19

Welcome to Day Ninteen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting The Book Connection! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting The Story Behind the Book and Marta’s Meanderings! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting The Writer’s Life! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting My Friend Amy, The Eclectic Reader and Tribute Books, Reviews and Giveaways!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting Write for a Reader! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting Pick of the Literate! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting The Hot Author Report! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Candid, Clever and Cost Effective and Down Under views! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Object!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Just One More Paragraph!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Libby’s Library Reviews! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Bookventures Book Club! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Chrissy’s World of Books and Freda’s voice and Books 4 Moms! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Smitten with Books and Cleverly Inked!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Teresa’s Reading Corner! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting Literarily Speaking! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting The Little Reader! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 18

Welcome to Day Eighteen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting Blogging Authors! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting Lynn’s corner and Literary Lolita! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting The Book Connection and Introducing Writers! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting The Epic Rat and Review From Here!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting The Cajun Book Lady! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting Books R Us ! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting The Hot Author Report! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Books 4 moms! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Literarily Speaking and I Heart Books!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Just One More Paragraph!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Rundpinne! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Bookventures Book club! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Fodder for Fiction! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Thoughts in Progress!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Theresa’s Reading Corner! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting (no stop today)! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting (no stop today)! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 17

Welcome to Day Seventeen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting Marta’s Meanderings! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting Writing Daze! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting The Book Boost! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting A Room Without Books is Empty and So Many Precious Books So Little Time!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting Star Shadow! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting Brizmus Blogs Books! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting The Hot Author Report! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Literarily Speaking! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting  Allison’s Attic!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Writing Daze!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Book Marketing Buzz! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Bookventures Book club! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Thinking the Lions and The Best of Everything! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting The Laughing Housewife!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting A Good Addiction! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting (no stop today)! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting (no stop today)! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 16

Welcome to Day Sixteen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting (no stop today)! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting CMash Loves to Read! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting Reading at the Beach! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting Bookgirl’s Nightstand, Just One More Paragraph and Celtic Lady’s Reviews and The Book Connection!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting Books R Us! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting Literarily Speaking! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting The Hot Author Report! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Literarily speaking! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Night Owl Reviews!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting (no stop today)!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting ! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Bookventures Book Club! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting The Plot and Comics Experience with Andy Scmidt! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Writing Space!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Tea Time With Marce! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting ! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting Writing Daze! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting ! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 15

Welcome to Day fifteen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting Let’s Talk Virtual Book Tours! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting American Chronicle! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to four days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting The Hot Author Report and Marta’s Meanderings! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting Bags, Books and Bon Jovie and Theresa’s Reading corner and Cafe of Dreams!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting cafe of Dreams and The Naked Hero! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting The Story Behind the Book! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting Book Marketing Buzz and Readaholic! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Literarily Speaking and Chrissy’s World of books! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting As The Pages Turn and When Kate Blogs!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting (no stop today)!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Broken Teepee! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Bookventures Book club and Joseph’s Book Review Blog! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Blogcritics! and The Plot! and Bookventures Book Club Chat!  DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Book Madness!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting The Book Connection! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting !  Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting ! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting ! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 13

Welcome to Day Thirteen of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting A Journey of Books! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting Review from Here! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting Book Tours and More! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to foud days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting Lynn’s Corner! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting Acting Balanced and Life in Review!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting Literarily Speaking and The Hot Author Report! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting A Book and A Chat Radio Show! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting My Reading Room! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Lady D books and Fodder for Fiction! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Rundpinne!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting (no stop today)!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Theresa’s Reading Corner! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Blogging Authors! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Paperback Writer and Jenn’s Book Talk! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting One Book Bum!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting (no stop today)! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting Bookventures Book Club Chat! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting (no stop today)! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting Mommy Reads Too Much and Considering all Things Literary! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 12

Welcome to Day Twelve of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting The Book Boost! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting My Favorite Things! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to foud days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting Beyond the Books! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting The Review Stew, Literary Lolita and Broowaha!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting (no stop today)! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting (no stop today)! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting (no stop today)! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting A Moment with Mysteee and Writing Daze! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Write for a Reader!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Broowaha!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Book Hounds! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Literarily Speaking! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting Review from Here! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting The Hot Author Report!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Tell Me a Story! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting Bookventures Book Club Chat! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting (no stop today)! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 11

Welcome to Day Eleven of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

 

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting The Writer’s Life! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

 

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting Night Owl Reviews! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to foud days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting Literarily Speaking! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting Savvy Verse and Wit and The Book Faery Reviews!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting Examiner! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting Examiner! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting Readaholic! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting Cafe of Dreams! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Pump Up Your Book!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting Reading at the Beach and The Plot!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Book Hounds! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Night Owl Reviews! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting  Book Tours and More!  DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Long Beach Examiner!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting Coffee, Books and Laundry! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting Bookventures Book Club Chat and The Hot Author Report! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting Simply Stacie! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________

Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour – Day 10

Welcome to Day Ten of Pump Up Your Book’s June 2010 Authors on Virtual Book Tour! Follow along as these talented authors travel the blogosphere all month long to talk about their books, their lives and their future projects. Leave a comment at their blog stops and you could win a FREE virtual book tour if you’re a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate if you are not published. So, pick your favorites, follow their tours, and make sure you leave them a note to tell them you stopped by!

________________________________________

The Mountain Place of Knowledge by Marshall Chamberlain

Marshall Chamberlain, author of the adventure/thriller The Mountain Place of Knowledge , will be visiting (no stop today)! Books in the Ancestor Series are adventures into plausible reality, carrying the reader into unique realms of danger and suspense as today’s civilized world is forced to re-evaluate its understanding of Earth history. Scientific mysteries and subtle but familiar metaphysical principles are encountered by stalwart characters as they discover remnants of past, highly advanced civilizations and artifacts of their ancient technology.Book I in the series, The Mountain Place of Knowledge, is set in Belize: Two U.N. scientists are dispatched to the country to investigate the death of a vacationing agency head. A Scepter instrument is discovered in a burial chamber at the top of an ancient Mayan temple, possessing the power to heal and destroy. A Codex from the chamber leads the scientists to an ancient tree called the Sentinel that contains controls for opening an entrance to the inside of a mountain. A plethora of technical wonders and bizarre experiences befall the two, setting the stage for a clash of nations intent on possessing the secrets of the mountain.

You can visit his website at http://www.MarshallChamberlain.com.

________________________________________

Live Happily, Ever After...Now! by Terry M. Drake

Terry M. Drake, author of the self-help book, Live Happily, Ever After…Now! will be visiting Rundpinne! Live Happily, Ever After… Now! uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, and Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want! Ask yourself: Are you in control of what you think, act and feel? Are you living the life you want? Would you like to be happy and successful in everything you do? The key is learning how much control you have over your life, your beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to begin living the life you want.

You can visit his website at www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com.

________________________________________

Returning Injury by Becky Due

Becky Due, author of the suspense novel, Returning Injury: A Suspense Celebrating Women’s Strength will be visiting Book R Us! Rebecca’s life just keeps getting better. With Jack away on business, she’s looking forward to foud days alone to work on her new client’s PR campaign to help women take back their lives. But her past intrudes. Roy, the man who stalked and assaulted her years before, has been released from prison. Home alone in her big, beautiful house out in the country, Rebecca has to learn to take back her own life while facing her fears and regaining her strength. But will she be strong enough when she faces the ultimate test?

You can visit the author’s website at www.beckydue.com.

_________________________________________

Why God Matters by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian, author of the Religion/Christian Living/Catholic/Self-Help book she collaborated on with her father titled Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life will be visiting Cafe of Dreams and Putting Words on Paper! Many times one sees Roman Catholicism explained using either closely reasoned theology or an appeal to ancient writers of the Church. While both are legitimate approaches, the average reader looking to explore the faith is often left cold. In their collaboration, Why God Matters, Deacon Steven Lumbert and his daughter, Karina Lumbert Fabian, delineate the Catholic Faith as experienced by a pair of average, everyday people like the great majority who make up the 24% of Americans who share this religion. In the stories of this pair, one see both ways people come to Catholicism, by birth (“cradle Catholics”) and by conversion. Their descriptions of their separate paths thankfully lack the religiosity of the all too common ‘and then a miracle takes place’ school of religious experience. Rather than blasts of light, fiery swords, spiritual fistfights, and angelic choirs, theirs is the long religious slog of the everyday. The effort that one must put out each day in the long trek to Heaven. What is Catholicism really like? One would be hard-put to find a better verbal painting of the faith so many call their own.”

You can visit the author’s website at www.whygodmatters.com or www.karinafabian.com.

________________________________________

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner, author of the historical fiction, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, will be visiting The Blue Stocking Society!

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris , The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.

You can find C.W. online at http://cwgortner. com/

_______________________________________

The Phantom Diaries by Kailin Gow

Kailin Gow, author of the young adult novel, The Phantom Diaries, will be visiting The Naked Hero! What happens to the Phantom after the tragedy at the Paris Opera House is the basis for this fantastic tale of The Phantom Diaries, loosely based on Gaston Leroux’s classic, The Phantom of the Opera, but with a new tale and a modern twist. This new series for older teens and young adults is told through the eyes of 18 year-old Annette Binoche, who lands a job at the New York Metropolitan Opera House as a seamstress’ assistant only to become the lead singer of the Opera House, with the help of the mysterious, yet highly-seductive Phantom.

You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com.

__________________________________________

The Cassandra Prophesy by Robert "Doc" Gowdy

Robert “Doc” Gowdy, author of the science fiction novel, The Cassandra Prophesy, will be visiting (no stop today)! Called to action by a mysterious ancient Order-an ancient Order in cahoots with the Empress Flaccilla of the First Galactic Empire of Emperor Tulla-to help bring about the fulfillment of a long forgotten prophesy, the beautiful galactic pirate, Captain Bonny Morgan, sets out on her mission to successfully bring the prophesy to reality. By kidnapping the Empress’s daughter, Princess Cosette, Captain Morgan sets into motion an adventure awash in political intrigues, hidden agendas, unexpected revelations, and bold, daring gambits by those involved at every level of the conspiracy. Setting out to find her kidnapped sister, Princess Lysette, joined by her beautiful, mischievous, and extraordinary slavegirl, Tink, crisscrosses the galaxy in a bawdy, erotic, and often hilarious attempt to find Cosette. Along the way, Lysette and Tink fall in with a variety of extraordinary allies in their attempt to find Cosette, meeting the Lady Brit, Jon Black, Pirate Queen Colleen O’Malley, Gunns Mannigan, Buster O’Malley, the beautiful pirates Kana and Blaze, and Bully, the roguish owner of the pirate tavern, the Pretty Red.

Visit his book at Amazon for more information.

___________________________________________

The Last Track by Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard, author of the mystery/thriller novel, The Last Track, will be visiting From the Shadows! Imagine if being late meant a child disappeared forever. That is the fear that drives Mike Brody—the man you want when the one you love is missing. In The Last Track, a police detective recruits Mike to help find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found. As Mike and a local officer search for the boy, the killer follows them. While the investigation expands, Mike’s ex-wife, a well-connected journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy . . .

____________________________________________

Secrets by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, author of the tween/teen fiction book, Secrets: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! will be visiting (no stop today)! Following on the heels of the best-selling book The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything), SECRETS: You Tell Me Yours and I’ll Tell You Mine…maybe! is the continuing diary of a girl moving into her teen-age years. The Girl has plenty to fill her journal. The pages reveal a new school, a new baby in the family, new friends, a new guy and a new set of issues to face. Enter the secret world of an almost-teen as she learns which secrets to share and which to keep to herself.

You can visit Dr. Holstein on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/ and http://www.thetruthforgirls.com/.

________________________________________

Hollywood Under the Covers by Brandie Knight

Brandie Knight, author of the romance adult fiction novel Hollywood Under the Covers was on tour from June 1 -11, 2010! Hollywood Under the Covers is a rare look inside the seductive entertainment industry. To the outside world, Hollywood is portrayed with glamour, riches and fame—but to insiders, it’s a cold, dark, scandalous place, where survival is not about basic instinct but the people you’re sleeping with. The book exposes the erotic side of four Hollywood moneymakers, openly revealing how nothing is safe in the hands of greed. Hollywood Under the Covers is an intriguing world of sex, drugs, scandals, and the downside of fame. Loosely based on actual events, this fictional story takes the reader on a fast paced, head-spinning journey into a world so strange it could only be based in truth.

You can visit her website at www.brandieknight.com our Pump Up Your Book.

________________________________________

Thumbing Through Thoreau by Kenny Luck

Kenny Luck, author of the inspirational coffee table book, Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau, will be visiting Today’s Adventure!

The book is fully illustrated by artists Jay Luke and Ren Adams and will include nearly 300 of Thoreau’s quotes.

You can visit the author’s website at http://www.thumbingthroughthoreau.com (in process)

_________________________________________

My Dog Tim by Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone, author of the literary short story collection, My Dog Tim and Other Stories, will be visiting The Plot!

“St. John of the Midfield” is anchor of this collection, an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Also included are: “My Dog Tim”, “White Fang”, “The Note Giver”, “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes.

You can visit Gary online at www.garasamomaccagnone.com.

_________________________________________

Short Circus by Steven V. Masse

Stephen V. Masse, author of the young adult fiction novel, Short Circus , will be visiting Lori’s Reading Corner! Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.

_______________________________________

Full Moon at Noontide by Ann Putnam

Ann Putnam, author of the memoir, Full Moon at Noontide: A Daughter’s Last Goodbye will be visiting Introducing Writers Radio Show! This is the story of my mother and father and my dashing, bachelor uncle, my father’s identical twin, and how they lived together with their courage and their stumblings, as they made their way into old age and then into death. And it’s the story of the journey from one twin’s death to the other, of what happened along the way, of what it means to lose the other who is also oneself. My story takes the reader through the journey of the end of life: selling the family home, re-location at a retirement community, doctor’s visits, ER visits, specialists, hospitalizations, ICU, nursing homes, Hospice. It takes the reader through the gauntlet of the health care system with all the attendant comedy and sorrows, joys and terrors of such things. Finally it asks: what consolation is there in growing old, in such loss? What abides beyond the telling of my own tale? Wisdom carried from the end of the journey to readers who are perhaps only beginning theirs. Still, what interest in reading of this inevitable journey taken by such ordinary people? Turned to the light just so, the beauty and laughter of the telling transcend the darkness of the tale. During the final revisions of this book, my husband was dying of cancer, and he died before I could finish it. What I know so far is this: how pure love becomes when it is distilled through such suffering and loss–a blue flame that flickers and pulses in the deepest heart. As I finish this book he is gone three months.

You can visit the author’s website at www.annputnam.com.

_______________________________________

Confilicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Michael Ruddy, author of the fiction novel, Conflicts with Interest, will be visiting (no stop today)! T.R. Morgan, a seasoned building professional, finds himself entangled in the combined corruption of the high profile law firm that is attacking him and the insurance companies that are supposed to defend him. Still enduring the painful memories brought on by the tragic death of his wife, he soon finds out, nothing involving lawyers and insurance companies happens quickly. Instead of resolution, T.R. unwittingly enters a world of human trafficking, drugs, and illicit sex taking place behind the scenes. And his story comes forward to an explosive climax that no one could possibly foresee, least of all T.R. himself. This suspenseful tale of contemporary fiction is packed with enlightenment and high-stakes characters; provoking thought on a new subject in a new light.

You can find Michael online at www.rodeopublishing .com

_______________________________________

Sky Girl by Joe Sergi

Joe Sergi, author of the MG/YA sci-fi/fantasy novel, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, will be visiting The Hot Author Report and Pump Up Your Book! DeDe Christopher is an average high school sophomore with dreams of winning the National Gymnastic Tournament and dating the school quarterback. But her world changes when DeDe begins to develop fantastic abilities that are strangely similar to those of a fictional comic book superhero named SkyBoy. With the help of her best friend, Jason, a self-proclaimed comic geek, DeDe begins a quest to discover her true destiny as she confronts the all-too-real enemies and allies of SkyBoy. She must deal with capes, apes, and aliens to find a way to live up to a legacy that no one can remember and become Sky Girl.

You can visit his websites at www.joesergi.net and www.skygirlnovel.com.

______________________________________

Beyond the Map's Boundary by Nibi Soto

Nibi Soto, author of the fantasy mystery novel, Beyond the Map’s Boundary – A Timely Sort of Adventure will be visiting (no stop today)! All Mattie and Trevor have ever known are happy, stable lives without any hint as to who they really are. Suddenly, all of that changes when Mattie begins having visions and witnesses historical events appearing on particles of light. Unbeknownst to her, Mattie was born into a family of time travelers. in order to save her from dissolving into the core of time, Trevor becomes her time link, making it possible for her to return to the present following each time travel into the past. With the accidental discovery of the Rings of Prather Mendell, Trevor now shares many of her powers. Together they try to foil the plans of an illicit time traveler from the future who will stop at nothing to possess the secret, supernatural abilities of the time travelers and the forbidden powers of the rings.

You can visit the author’s websites at www.nibisoto.com / www.beyondthemapsboundary.com.

______________________________________

Heartbroken Promises 2 by Sherry D. Shumard

Sherry Shumard, author of the romance novel, Heartbroken Promises 2, will be visiting Book Tours and More!

Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan a very handsome and eligible bachelor who is raising his son by himself. She meets her sister’s waiter Noah and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. She gets kidnapped while babysitting along with Jordan’s son Derrick and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Derrick and her be rescued or be killed?

_____________________________________

A Note From an Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

Bill Walker, author of the soul searching romance novel, A Note From an Old Acquaintance, will be visiting (no stop today)! Brian Weller is a haunted man. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma.

A popular author of mega-selling thrillers, Brian’s life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife’s prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

You can visit his website at here.

____________________________________

Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

J.P. White, author of the literary fiction mystery novel, Every Boat Turns South will be visiting Bookventures Book Club Chat and The Hot Author Report! Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Merengue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands. Read this before you make winter vacation plans.

You can visit the author’s website at www.jpwhite.net.

_________________________________________

Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young

Pamela Samuels Young, author of the legal thriller, Buying Time, will be visiting (no stop today)! Buying Time is a scandalous tale of blackmail, murder and betrayal, evoking John Grisham with a dash of Terry McMillan. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential to solve all of his problems. In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch. His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars—including a hefty broker’s fee for himself—in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath. The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General. When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson—who has some skeletons of his own to hide—are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.You can visit her online at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

_________________________________________

Making a Case for Life by Stephanie Wincik

Stephanie Wincik, author of the parenting/family/social needs book, Making a Case for Life, will be visiting (no stop today)! Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or newly pregnant, you know that most prospective parents hold high expectations for their offspring. Superior intelligence, physical beauty, excellent health, and outstanding athletic ability are just a few of the qualities we dream our children will be born with. Since contemporary society tends to value these qualities above all others, it is only natural for us to hope our children possess the attributes that will provide them with the greatest opportunity for a successful life. But what if your child arrives with a different set of qualities—a combination of traits that the world views as a disability? What if you are told that your child will have Down syndrome? What happens to your dream of producing the perfect child? Nothing need happen to your dream. You only need to alter your definition of perfection. In this book, we will explore the myth of the perfect child, along with a number of popularly-held yet erroneous beliefs about the negative impact of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome. At the same time, we will begin to develop a new perspective on which characteristics are truly the most desirable in a changing world. As our society becomes increasingly self-absorbed, materialistic, and violent, the new human beings entering the world will need a fresh arsenal of personal qualities if our planet is to survive and thrive.

You can visit her website at www.stephaniewincik.com.

________________________________________________