Author: Cindy

Guest Post by author Sally Rippin

Posted on by Cindy

Today I am lucky to have the author of Chenxi and the Foreigner and of several other books and she is also an illustrator of some of those books as well.

Thank you to Sally Rippin for taking the time of her busy schedule to stop and do a guest post for me. Also thank you to Joanna at Annick Press for arranging this for me. If you haven’t read any of Sally’s books then I suggest you pick up her books.

GUEST BLOG POST by Sally Rippin

It is too difficult for me to choose my favourite YA novel because there are so many, but I can name some Australian YA authors I love, in no particular order: Markus Zusak, Margo Lanagan, Sonya Hartnett, Martine Murray, Shaun Tan – all these writers combine such fine storytelling with incredibly inventive language and imagery, the two things I admire most in writing.

If I had to choose my all-time favourite book I’d have to go for a picture book because it combines the two things I love most: writing and art. Probably Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, would be my choice because it is such a great example of boundless imagination, both from the character and the author! I can’t wait until the movie comes out!

Thanks again Sally for stopping by to do this guest post for me and thank you for introducing me to some new authors. I actually have I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak on my to be read pile. I will be checking out the other authors you mentioned though.

(Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a favorite of my son. Its a great story.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sally Rippin was born in Australia, but because of her father’s work, her family moved country nearly every two years, mainly around South-East Asia. This meant a lot of time in hotel rooms, so her mother provided a steady supply of paper, pencils and books to keep Sally and her two younger sisters entertained. Books became a way for Sally to connect, understand, learn from, and often escape from, the ever-changing world around her. When the supply of books ran out, Sally began to write and illustrate her own.

At nineteen, Sally went to stay with her father in Shanghai, China. To keep her busy while he was at work, he signed her up at the local art college to study traditional Chinese painting. She fell in love – both with the art and the country – and ended up staying three years. There, while studying art, she began writing again, at first merely to record the details of everyday life but also to make sense of what she was experiencing. Soon she found she could explore her emotions more deeply through short stories than through diary entries, or letters to her friends. Many of these stories and experiences eventually found their way into her first novel, Chenxi and the Foreigner (Spring 2009).

Her time as an art student in China allowed Sally a unique vision of this country that she wouldn’t have had access to in other circumstances. She feels lucky to have been part of a community of artists who were passionate and political, and taught her much about the importance of the role of the artist in observing, recording and analysing society. These are themes she explores in her novel. As Sally says through her main character, Anna: “Artists are here to show the viewer or reader or listener, things that we may never have thought about before—or even everyday things in a unique way.”

Sally now lives with her partner and three sons in Melbourne, Australia, where she writes and illustrates full-time. She has had over twenty-five books published, many of them award-winning. As Sally grew up in many countries where English isn’t the main language, she is familiar with the feeling of being an outsider and she continues to be drawn to stories or characters who express this, whether they be immigrants, troubled teenagers or rebellious artists. Now, as a writer, she appreciates the distance that having been an outsider allows her to reflect on the world that she lives in.

Please check out the following blogs for more stops that Sally will be making:

Thursday, September 3:
September 4: Hey! Teenager of the YearSaturday
September 5: Into the Wardrobe

She has also appeared here:
Monday, August 31: Tea Time at Annick Press
Tuesday, September 1: The Book Muncher

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Guest Post with Carolyn Brown & Contest

Posted on by Cindy


I have to thank Danielle at Sourcebooks for giving me the chance to have Carolyn Brown guest post on my blog today.

Thank you to Carolyn for taking the time out of your busy schedule to guest post for me.

If you haven’t read Lucky in Love yet then you really should its a good book.

Thank you for allowing me to join you as a guest today! It’s a delight to be here to discuss the difference between writing for the literary market and now taking things more main steam.

Lucky in Love, my second foray into the paper back world, has just hit the market and I’m so very excited about it. The first four books I sold were paperback books to Kensington for their Precious Gems line. When that line died I approached Avalon with a manuscript for the literary market. They bought it and that was ten years ago. The thirty fourth one was published last month. There are a few more still in the process so right now I’m still writing for both the literary and the main stream markets.

How do I keep them separate? Very easy! While I’m writing a main stream trilogy I focus on those characters and the qualities that make them who they are. When I’m writing literary, I do the same but under different guidelines. For instance, in the Lucky Series, I’ve got three strong women who’d fight a forest fire with a cup of water and expect to have enough left for a long cool drink afterwards. In the Black Swan series, I’ve got three sisters who are sassy and spunky but are not allowed to cuss out the local busy body next door.

My big four major differences are:

Length: The literary books I write are somewhere between 50-60,000 words which means the story must be told in a shorter form without losing any of the appeal. Main stream runs from 90-100,000 words and gives me more room to expand the main characters and work in all the quirky secondary characters my warped brain can come up with. Lucky in Love has approximately 350 pages as well as One Lucky Cowboy and Getting Lucky. My literary books run at least a hundred pages less than that.

Content: My literary market’s guidelines say no sex, no profanity and no drinking. It’s a wholesome family oriented market with a readers’ age base from thirteen to a hundred and ten. Sorry if I left out someone who is past that age. If you are still reading my books and you are over a hundred and ten, please leave a comment or visit my website and drop me a line. I’d love to hear all about your life. The main stream guidelines are more flexible and give me wiggle room with a brawling Texan’s temper in a bar fight or a heroine’s absolute rage when she finds out her man’s been cheating on her. If you are over a hundred and ten and like the new Lucky Series I’d really like to hear your comments and comparisons between it and the library’s hard back books.

Market: Literary markets rely mainly upon libraries for their sales so they do not publish the mass quantities that the main stream market produces. Plus literary market sells my books online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc. Main stream will show up in book stores, Wal-Mart and Target and be available to purchase right off the shelf. My readers are very excited that they will be able to walk into a book store and buy a book right then without having to wait for it to arrive in the mail.

Cost: Hard back books are wonderful for libraries. They can be checked out and read time after time. But they are more expensive than paper back books. The literary books which can be ordered online are now over twenty dollars per book. Lucky in Love will sell for less than seven dollars.

Whatever I write, it’s with the hope that I touch someone’s heart. That they laugh so loud their neighbors call the cops to calm down the ruckus next door, that they use up half a box of tissues during a sad scene, and when they finish the last page they want one more page, one more chapter or at least the promise of another book that mention the characters to continue the story line.

Here’s hoping Lucky in Love gives the reader all those things. If you run out of tissue holler right loud and I’ll send you another box. If you really want the story to continue rest assured One Lucky Cowboy is coming in November and Getting Lucky in January. If you laugh so hard the neighbor calls the cops, you are on your own!

Isn’t the ability to touch emotions what sets a good book out in front of the others? What book has made you giggle, made you weep or sigh?

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Lucky in Love—in stores September!

When hunky rancher “Lucky Beau” Luckadeau accuses spitfire Milli Torres of stealing his prize bull, she promptly shoots at him, triggering a feud that only gets resolved when they discover they share a steamy hot memory from a night long ago…

It was a night of passion that has always haunted Lucky. The mysterious beauty he seduced at a cousin’s wedding disappeared. He’s always been lucky at cards, lucky

with cattle, and lucky with land, but he’s never been lucky in love.

Now Milli Torres has come to southern Oklahoma to help out on her grandfather’s ranch. A cut fence and a big, mean Angus bull in the pasture are bad enough, but then she looks up and sees Beau Luckadeau. Great God Almighty, how did he get from Louisiana to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and what in the hell is she going to do if he recognizes her?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Brown is an award-winning author who has published 36 historical and western romance novels for the library market, many of them bestsellers in that market. She was born in Texas and grew up in southern Oklahoma. She and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma.

Thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks I have two copies of Lucky In Love to give to one Canadian resident and one US resident. Please note that you must have a valid mailing address.

To enter all you have to do is answer this:

Isn’t the ability to touch emotions what sets a good book out in front of the others? What book has made you giggle, made you weep or sigh?

Don’t forget to include you email address so that I can contact you should you be the winner.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Lucky In Love Tour and Review

Posted on by Cindy

PUB DATE: Sept 2009

Thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for sending me the book to read and review and for allowing me to tour this book too.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When hunky rancher “Lucky Beau” Luckadeau accuses spitfire Milli Torres of stealing his prize bull, she promptly shoots at him, triggering a feud that only gets resolved when they discover they share a steamy hot memory from a night long ago…

It was a night of passion that has always haunted Lucky. The mysterious beauty he seduced at a cousin’s wedding disappeared. He’s always been lucky at cards, lucky with cattle, and lucky with land, but he’s never been lucky in love.

Now Milli Torres has come to southern Oklahoma to help out on her grandfather’s ranch. A cut fence and a big, mean Angus bull in the pasture are bad enough, but then she looks up and sees Beau Luckadeau. Great God Almighty, how did he get from Louisiana to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and what in the hell is she going to do if he recognizes her?

MY THOUGHTS:
I have to say right away that I am not a huge romance book reader and its a genre that I don’t read much off but when I got Lucky in Love I was excited to read it. Not that the cover had anything to do with it. 🙂

The book opens up with some fences being cut between two ranches and a prized Angus bull being on the wrong side of the fence. Beau the owner of the farm with the prize bull comes storming up to the fence accusing Millie of stealing the bull and not knowing what she was doing and that she would be fired by night fall. He has no idea who she really is. Millie can hold her own and is pretty much in his face and shots at him with her gun. She goes on the fix the fence and gets the bull back to the right farm.

Beau is intrigued by Millie. She seems familiar but she denies she has met him before. She knows him very well. But how well does she know him? Will he eventually remember who that mystery woman he met a few years ago? What will he do when he uncovers the whole story?

The book was exciting and kept me hooked. I am really happy that I gave this book a chance and I am really looking forward to finishing up this series.

Here is where Lucky In love is touring next:
-September 2—Reading with Monie http://www.readingwithmonie.com/
-September 3—Cindy Reads Romance http://cindyreadsromance.blogspot.com/
-September 4—Romance Reader at Heart’s Novel Thoughts Blog http://novelthoughts.wordpress.com/
-September 8—A Journey of Books http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/
-September 9—Love Romance Passion http://www.loveromancepassion.com/
-September 10—Pop Syndicate’s Book Addict http://popsyndicate.com/books and Yankee Romance Reviewers: http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Brown is an award-winning author who has published 36 historical and western romance novels for the library market, many of them bestsellers in that market. She was born in Texas and grew up in southern Oklahoma. She and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, now make their home in the town of Davis, Oklahoma.


Upcoming books in this series is:
One Lucky Cowboy Pub Date: Nov 09
Getting Lucky Pub Date: Jan 2010

I am dying to read the rest of the books in this series.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Ask Me Anything Review

Posted on by Cindy

TITLE: Ask Me Anything: Every Fact you Ever Wanted to Know
AUTHOR: DK Publishing
PUB DATE: August 2009

ABOUT THE BOOK:

An inventive and informative collection of lists, Q-and-As, and trivia, “Ask Me Anything “offers hilarious, hip, and hysterical facts in an ultra-accessible format. Want to know who the cuddliest carnivores are? Need to find the opening lines to a myriad of national anthems? Find the answers to these and thousands of other off-the-wall questions quickly and effortlessly with “Ask Me Anything.” It’s the wackiest and most wonderful collection of trivia ever.

MY THOUGHTS:

As a parent with a child I am sure you must get asked:

How come the stars aren’t all the same?

Why does the moon change its shape?

Why does the wind blow?

Why are all dinosaurs different?

What do our bodies look like under the skin?

Plus so many other questions which I could go on asking. Sometimes you can answer your child with simple answers that you know and sometimes you get that hmm I don’t know. Well this book covers all the above and then some.

This is such a great book for Michael’s age and higher. He has asked me all kinds of questions and its nice to have Ask Me Anything to refer too. With simple answers and great photos. This is easily one of my favorite books.

We love DK books. They make the best books for children. We always borrow different kinds of DK books from the library and I think one of our favorites is one they do on trains.

So if you are looking for a gift to pick up the child who is always asking questions about everything and anything then this is the book for you.

Thanks to Chris from DK for sending us this great book.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Lace Reader Tour and Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: July 29,2008 (Hardcover)

Paperback Date: August 18,2009

I have to send a huge thank you to Trish and TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be on this tour.

I had this book on my TBR pile since late last summer and I never got to read it so this was a perfect time to take it down of the shelf and read it.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In the tradition of The Thirteenth Tale, Brunonia Barry’s bewitching gothic novel, The Lace Reader, is a phenomenon. Called “[a] richly imagined saga of passion, suspense, and magic” by Time Magazine, it is a haunting and remarkable tale told by an unforgettable, if strangely unreliable narrator—a woman from an enigmatic Salem family who can foretell the future in patterns of lace. The Lace Reader was a runaway New York Times bestseller—hitting the top lists in major cities across the country, from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles—and has immediately established debut author Brunonia Barry as a major force in contemporary American fiction.

Book Description
Every gift has a price . . .
Every piece of lace has a secret . . .
My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time. . . .

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator of The Lace Reader, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations, but the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light.

The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths in which the reader quickly finds it’s nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, “There are no accidents.”

MY THOUGHTS:
I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect when I started to read the book. With an opening line like this:

My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time.

It was that line that hooked me into the book. I had a hard time to put the book down and ended up devouring the book in a two day span and that was only because I read this while I was on vacation other wise I am sure I would have read it in a day.

The book takes place in Salem, Massachusetts.

The main character Towner has flown in from California when her brother calls to let her know that Aunt Eva is missing. Towner hasn’t been back to Salem for over a decade and is very reluctant to be back. Towner is staying at her Great Aunt Eva’s house. Towner begins to have visions of past happenings and she also gets visits from Eva’s ghost. At first she thinks they are real until they find her aunts body and she knows differently now.

We begin to see Towner struggling with second-guessing herself because she isn’t sure whether she is going crazy again or if she is really experiencing the events. We discover that Towner was hospitalized after having suffered from depression and hallucinations at the age of 17. Her twin sister had committed suicide just before Towner was hospitalized. She has memory gaps that were caused from the shock-therapy she’d received as part of treatment.

Even though the book is mainly told my Towner, there is also another person who tells some of the story and that is Rafferty (a police officer) and he is involved because he is investing the disappearance of Eva who has turned into a friend to Rafferty.

What really happens? How much is believable and how much is a lie?

This was a great read with a little bit of mystery and love. I love that each chapter began with The Lace Readers Guide. Another thing I enjoyed was the cliches that were said that Aunt Eva use to say, such as “He’s crazy as a loon.”, “Two bricks shy of a load.” and “Not the sharpest tool in the shed.” and many more.

This is Brunonia Barry’s debut novel.

You can see the trailer for the book and other stuff here: The Lace Reader

Soon, LaceReader.com will also have a downloadable t-shirt iron-on design and printable signage for booksellers.

In the September issue of Book Page Contest, there will be a sweepstakes in which the grand prize is a trip for two to Salem, two nights at The Hawthorne Hotel, and a guided Lace Reader tour of Salem with Brunonia. (US only)

Brunonia Barry is going on tour again, and here’s her schedule:
9/8 – Bellingham, WA – Village Books – Reading and Signing
9/10 – Oakland – A Great Good Place for Books – Reading and Signing
9/12 – San Mateo – M is for Mystery…and More – Reading and Signing
9/14 – Los Angeles – Vroman’s Bookstore – Reading and Signing
9/15—Edwards, CO – VIP Customer Book Club Event
9/20—Andover, MA – Meet the Author Benefit for PATHS
10/12 Mequon, WI Next Chapter Bookshop
10/13 Dallas, TX Legacy Books10/20 – Lexington, MA Library
10/22- Swampscott, MA Library10/27- Destination Salem Lunch, Hampton Falls Library
11/18th 10 AM, Exeter Library, Exeter, NH.

Here are some upcoming virtual blog tours of The Lace Reader:
-Sept 3/09 http://www.eclecticbooklover.com/
-Sept 4/09 http://shhhimreading.blogspot.com/
-Sept 7/09 http://literatehousewife.com/
-Sept 9/09 http://bookopolis.blogspot.com/

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Back To School-2009

Posted on by Cindy


Today is Michael’s first day back to school and he is going into Grade 1. Where did the time go? It just seems like yesterday he was going to preschool. The time goes to fast.

Michael is really excited to be going back to school. He misses his friends. With that being said he will be in school for 5 days and then he has a long weekend as its coming up to Labor Day.

As much as I will miss having him home I am really happy to have him go back to school. Looking forward to being able to catch up with both of the blogs and clean up my emails as its been suffering alot.

Although that might be short lived as I have a job interview on the 2nd. I am really nervous as I haven’t been working in a number of years but really excited at the chance that I might possibly be working very soon again.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Books Bought #18

Posted on by Cindy


Books Bought is a meme that I am hosting here on Cindy’s Love of Books. The purpose of the meme is to list any books you physically have bought either weekly, monthly etc.

Physically bought books can be books you either bought at a friends of the library sale, yard sale, used book store etc. as long as you bought them

As you might have noticed I haven’t bought anything for a little while now and I was doing okay but then this past week I had the urge to go book shopping. I tried to put it off but I couldn’t. I am weak. I hate to admit it but for me book shopping is like an addiction and you need to have your fix and that is my case. I am actually surprised that I managed to go this long without buying anything. I am hoping that the next time will be a month later from today.

Anyways Thursday night Donna/Books Bound, her daughter and myself headed to chapters to do a little shopping. I think a little shopping would be a understatement, not on my part though. The person shall remain nameless. LOL

For Michael I bought:
-Horrid Henry’s Stinkbomb
-Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend
-Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse
-Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter
-Horrid Henry’s Christmas
-Horrid Henry’s Underpants

Horrid Henry’s books are all by Francesca Simon. They are for ages 7-10. Michael loves reading them and we always laugh when we read them.

For myself I bought:
-The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson (This is the first book in the series for YA)
-Confessions of a teen nanny #1 by Victoria Ashton
-Confessions of a teen nanny: Rich Girls #2 by Victoria Ashton (this was on sale for $5.39)
-Confessions of a teen nanny: Juicy Secrets #3 by Victoria Ashton (this was on sale for $5.39)
-Love at first click by Elizabeth Chandler
-Company’s Coming: School Days Lunches by Jean Pare. (I was happy when I found this one as these cookbooks are always expensive and I managed to get it for $6.29 CAN)

What books did you buy this week?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.