I loved the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity that it gives the reader! :) Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read which would provide a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! :) Love the concept! Therefore, this weekly meme was originally hosted by Should Be Readingwho became A Daily Rhythm. Lovingly restored and continued by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:
What are you currently reading!?
What did you recently finish reading!?
What do you think you’ll read next!?
After which, your meant to click over to THIS WEEK’s WWWWednesdayto share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! :) Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!
*Titles were blog tours I missed hosting over the Summer.
A beautiful mixed bag of readerly delights await me, as I tackle the stories I had meant to read and review over the Summer (June – September) whilst dipping into my first reads for Autumn! As you might have noticed I have an appreciation for stories during the war eras and for war dramas in particular, but I took a chance on a non-fiction piece that is set around redemption and solace when I elected to read Ruth W. Crocker’s book. The Tulip Resistance will be taking me behind the lines of war from a Dutch perspective whereas I generally enter through the World Wars through the British or French lines of perception. Read More
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Language of Hoofbeats” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Lake Union Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
When I originally heard about this story from a list of blog tours which may or may not become a tour with TLC, I cast my hat into the ring to be amongst the book bloggers who might be able to review it! One of the more interesting bits of revelation as a book blogger whose in her 2nd Year, is how extraordinary the blog tour schedules are set and how each book starts to curate it’s own unique history of going on tour! This particular book was slated to be on a blog tour, yet it was uncertain if it would be at one point. Part of me grieved a bit as even though I knew I could still read this novel through my local library (libraries are a booklover’s best friend!), there was an internal part of me who had hoped I could read and blog it for my readers!
I have been a bit open and honest about how I am going to be adopting out of (domestic) foster care in the future, as I have found different ways to broach the topic whilst either reading a book who has the same topic of interest knit inside it or if I find a window of where I could talk about being a future Mum in a way that worked with what I was blogging about at that point in time. This novel sparked an interest because it is about blended families, about having adopted children and fosters; whilst attempting to sort out how to bring a family together as a whole. To me that undercurrent of a theme for the novel spoke to me, as any Prospective Adoptive Mum never knows what is going to happen once you open your heart and home to fosters and adopted children. There is always a period of adjustment and then a moment of where all parties start to connect in ways no one could have seen but always had hoped. The journey of being a blended family through adoption or fostering of children is a path not everyone chooses to walk, but is one that is knitted into my own heart.
Therefore I am always mindful and aware of which books I want to read in the future to help encourage an open dialogue on my blog — for riveting and realistic fiction for adults as much as for stories inside Children’s Lit which can help children and teens in and out of the system find stories they believe are representative of their own life story. This particular focus on my blog began with a Middle Grade novel Red Thread Sisters and has evolved forward. In 2015, I want to take a moment out of each month to bring a spotlight on the books I’m finding through my library as there is a wonderful assortment of novels and non-fiction for foster and adoptive families right now. I even spoke about how these stories fit under my participation for seeking out more diverse literature as part of the national campaign for #WeNeedDiverseBooks.
What I hadn’t realised is the author penned the story Pay It Forward which became a bonefide motion picture! My whole focus on this book prior to the blog tour was the prospect of what I would find inside the pages and how the author would choose to focus on the harder hitting moments within. Her previous works are unfamiliar to me, and although I am aware of the film, I have not seen it. How lovely then, I came to know her through an Indie release focused on a non-traditional family!?
From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a story of the heartbreak and healing power of family. New to a small town, Jackie and Paula envision a quiet life for their kids: a young adopted son and two teenage foster children, including the troubled Star.
However, they quickly butt heads with their neighbor, Clementine, who disapproves of their lifestyle and is incensed when Star befriends her spirited horse, Comet. Haunted by past tragedy and unable to properly care for Comet, Clem nevertheless resents the bond Star soon shares with the horse. When Star disappears with Comet, the neighbors are thrown together—far too close together. But as the search for the pair wears on, both families must learn to put aside their animosity and confront the choices they’ve made and the scars they carry.
Plumbing the depths of regret and forgiveness, The Language of Hoofbeats explores the strange alchemy that transforms a group of people into a family.
Acquired Book By: Whilst my path crossed originally with Mr. Tag through my participation of his blog tour via Cedar Fort Publishing & Media (on behalf of “How Much Do You Love Me?”), we have continued to stay in touch since the tour ended. What I found most fascinating about his historical fiction debut is how soul stirring the narrative was depicted against the backdrop of war and the timelessness of his approach to etch a story out of our collective emotional hearts. I was very moved by his multi-cultural characters and of a story taken straight out of history and World War II. Thus, when I was approached to receive his Science Thrillers Trilogy in exchange for an honest review, I was most delighted indeed! To be honoured with the chance to read his science fiction based on science fact thrillers would enable me to see a new dimension of his writing style and voice!
I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Paul Mark Tag, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Dr. Victor Mark Silverstein is a Jewish African-American whose background is as unusual as his personality. He lives a privileged life as the Naval Research Laboratory's preeminent meteorologist and scientist. But beneath the facade of a self-centered, arrogant personality lies a seething, vulnerable man whose secrets have plagued his sleep since 1982. That's when he discovered the truth about what happened to his girlfriend, Sylvia.
In the year 2007, his nightmares become a reality when weather satellites detect an environmental aberration. Memories from college at Penn State -- and their accompanying heartbreak -- push their way back into Silverstein's life. Only he knows the root cause of the phenomenon and its scientific basis -- and the mastermind behind it all.
This fast-paced thriller spans the globe: from the Suez Canal and Christmas Island to Istanbul, Turkey; to Monterey, California and Washington, DC; and finally to Bermuda. Silverstein and his feisty female assistant, Dr. Linda Kipling, begin a desparate and harrowing pursuit for the truth and for those responsible. With time running out and the environmental catastrophe unfolding, they must survive a terrifying ride through the eyewall of a hurricane. The final showdown pits good against evil and intellect against loyalty. Along the way, Silverstein finds peace and becomes reacquainted with a faith he abandoned long ago.
Paul Mark Tag graduated with degrees in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University and worked for the Naval Research Laboratory as a research scientist for over thirty years before retiring to write fiction. For years prior to retirement, and the following year exclusively, he honed his skills writing short stories. These have been published in StoryBytes, Potpourri, Green’s Magazine, and The Storyteller, as well as The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy.
In 2005, Tag published his first thriller, Category 5, which took advantage of his knowledge of meteorology and weather modification. Prophecy and White Thaw: The Helheim Conspiracy followed Category 5, with White Thaw tackling global climate change, a topical subject these days. With his historical novel How Much Do You Love Me? Tag has switched genres. He lives with his wife, Becky, in Monterey, California.
I have oft wondered why there isn’t more talk about modifications and protocols to augment the severity of natural disasters as we have seen played in science fiction modules. Weather modification has been a hearty subject for a long time, but I was always drawn to the natural disaster films which attempted to either clarify the issue in layman’s terms or give a plausible example of what could happen if we start to monk about with natural systems we have no business altering by artificial means. The theory within the novel Category 5 is hugged close to my own thoughts and musings on the topic at large; if you could find a way to interject a change of severity and course of a storm whilst it is already in-progress and growing in strength. It is plausible because anyone who has stood outside during a severe weather occurrence starts to denote a few things in the atmosphere; the least of which is the changing colours of the sky itself, but moreso, the change of ambiance of the time of the occurrence itself.
I have observed there is a stillness when your outside observing weather as it occurs; hurricanes by far have the worst calm within the eye whereas the calm center of a tornado is daunting on a different level completely. Both the eye and the center of both storms do have one particular thing in common: they are fair warning of what is coming next. If we start to use science to control what is naturally occurring and thereby has it’s own cycle of influence on the natural world, are we then able to justify the results if the outcome is less than equal to the projected end results? Sometimes what you beg trouble for is far worse than living through what has already arrived.
Part of me is curious of what is not understood and cannot be explained; climate and meteorology have always held strong influences on me (where I live notwithstanding) and a part of this might stem from my great-grandfather whose fascination with electricity was directly linked to his curiosity about lightning. If only I could travel back in time to speak to him about his own observations and what he gleamed by staring down the bolts of pure electricity as they lit up the evening skies and gave a shuddering start to the extreme weather of his era.
When they started to talk about ocean temperatures I nearly chuckled to myself — I still remember flying over the Gulf for the first time and noticing the differences in both density and colourations of the ocean’s surface. Part of me mused if the variations had anything to do with temperatures as much as the depth of the particular portions I was flying over; as that is one observation you cannot gleam standing on the ground. Flying reveals a lot about our world as the juxtaposition increases the mind to accept the larger view more to scale than when we are looking down rather than sideways or up. The ocean sciences (from oceanography to geophysics to geothermal plate tectonics) were a keen interest of mine whilst growing up. Naturally I would evolve into appreciating every sub-field inter-related to Environmental Science, Climatology, Meteorology and Natural Weather or Disasters such as Snow Science, Vulcanology, and Glaciology. Tag has written a novel a science geek like me is overjoyed to have found existing in science fiction! It is a thread of theory combined with real-life plausible scenarios which have the most direct impact on mass causality and aftermath; a warning of a tale about the temptations of where science can lead man to technology that can offset the balance of order and chaos.
There is a point in the story where Silverstein is mentioned as studying forensic meteorologist – giving me a bit of pause as I was most intrigued at that designation. (the forensic sciences are another thread of interest of mine) I was curious if this is what Paleoclimatology was originally called or if the forensic side of meteorology is a sub-field exploring a completely different branch of data. Considering climate and weather are generally studied separately, I found it quite fascinating to see this inside the novel. Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Each of us who joyfully blogs about books will find at times, even our best laid plans to host concurrent blog events can sometimes become a bit hard to juggle when our personal lives intercede on the time we had scheduled to devout to the events themselves. I found myself in this particular pickle last Sci Fi November, but this year, I felt I had shifted a few things around to where I had more hours to give and thereby could redeem myself from what I could not put together last year. Suffice to say, a few unexpected issues arose the least of which were a knock-out of my internet connection by a severe lightning storm and a broken toe of which looked far worse than the injury itself yet gave me enough wincing pain to forestall my blogging.
I was able to jump dive into the #RRSciFiMonth chat at the very tail-end of the conversation, whereupon I happily enjoyed speaking with Ms. Czerneda, Asti, Ana, and Rachel Noel (@Silelda & Purple Owl Reviews)! It was during this part of the convo, I expressed my desire to carry forward into December the posts I was unable to contribute during the last fortnight of SFN: 2014! I was happily surprised to find others were in agreement; November for whichever reason had become a bit of a quagmire for a lot of us, and I was not the only one wanting to extend the celebrations!
*I received a bit of a surprise whilst getting the link for Rachel Noel’s blog! (read: 2014 Thanks) I have always appreciated the randomness to my conversations with Rachel Noel on Twitter & I had always meant to expand our connection by visiting her blog. To see my name listed as a part of a note of gratitude of whom gave her the most joy and support in 2014 was simply an unexpected blessing to discover. Our lives touch each other in ways we do not always realise have an impact that gives us all a boost when we need it most. I can attest the same in return!Read More
Tonight I am happily welcoming Ms. Eide to my blog, as our paths originally crossed whilst watching the First Season of “When Calls the Heart” on Hallmark Channel. I was joyfully thrilled to support a series of heart-warming drama and inspiring story-lines as I readily became caught up in the joy of being a “Hearties” girl! Through my enthused and joyful tweeting on behalf of the series, cast, and crew, Ms. Eide and I started to cross paths with each other through the twitterverse. It was through this connection to each other, she had reached out to me to see if I would be interested in reading her debut novel “Like There’s No Tomorrow” for which I was happily excited about learning more about!
I have always been drawn into inspirational fiction stories where the cast of characters not only endear you to their lives but they have a wonderful uplift of spirit attached within the heart of where the novels lead you to go as a reader. I believe this is one reason I have always read between markets of Inspirational & Mainstream Fiction — in order to capture a well-rounded selection of classical and contemporary writers who knit heart and soul into the backbone of their releases.
I was thankful I could converse with Ms. Eide ahead of posting my thoughts on behalf of Like There’s No Tomorrow, not only a chance to explore the back-story of how the novel was created but to get to know a follower and chatter of mine from Twitter! I am including her in my showcase for #IndieWriterMonth as she is published by a small independent publisher: Ashbury Lane Publishing. You can read the full story of how this Indie Pub began and how it is run by a mother-daughter team, but what interested me is how beautiful of a job they did with the cover art for Like There’s No Tomorrow as much as the arrangement of the book in print; from the back-cover copy to the typography they picked for the text of the novel itself. I was quite impressed by the way in which they packaged the book and how they highlighted both the story and the author.
To me, Indie Publishers are the publishers who operate outside the Major Trade market, are independently run, owned, and support publishing those writers who want to have the flexibility and the freedom which indie pub affords those who want to maintain their creative liberties. Throughout November, it is my pleasure to highlight the writers who are choosing alternative avenues towards being published, such as Ms. Eide and who are releasing stories outside the Major Trade market.
The small press branch of publishing are creating beautiful opportunities for readers to read stories that otherwise might not have become published and available in print. Likewise, most writers cross-release their stories in ebook & print formats, but for me, novels will always remain read in print.
Book Synopsis:
Like Theres No Tomorrow is an amusing yet tender love story about two kind, single caretakers, two quirky, old Scottish sisters bent on reuniting, and too many agendas. Its a tale of family, fiery furnaces, falling in love, faith, and the gift of each new day.
What if loving means letting go?
Scottish widower Ian MacLean is plagued by a mischievous grannie, bitter regrets, and an ache for something hell never have again. His only hope for freedom is to bring his grannie’s sister home from America. But first, he’ll have to convince her lovely companion, Emily, to let her go.
Emily Chapman devotes herself to foster youth and her beloved Aunt Grace. Caring for others quiets a secret fear she holds close to her heart. But when Ian appears, wanting to whisk Grace off to Scotland, everything Emily needs to protectincluding her heartis at risk.
About Camille Eide
Camille Eide writes heart-tugging tales of love, faith, and family. She lives in Oregon with her husband and is a mom, grammy, church office manager, bass guitarist, and a fan of muscle cars, tender romance, and Peanut M&Ms.
As you debuted as a short story author, what do you feel is the best part about releasing your first debut novel? Do you find that you appreciate writing one style of story over the other or enjoy each equally?
Eide responds: Since my first book, a Christmas novella, released only as an eBook, the best part of releasing a full-length novel is the ability to hold the book in my hands! I enjoyed taking a break from full length stories to write the shorter one when the opportunity arose, and it was gratifying to see a story come together in such a short time – in one month instead of nearly a year. But at this point in my writing journey, I feel a full-length story is where my heart is. It allows for deeper exploration of each character’s heart and soul, allows for a little more complexity of conflict and some interesting subplots. And of course, more room for those kooky secondary characters who try to take center stage.
Letters & Correspondences play a role in the story “Like There’s No Tomorrow” – did you have a moment in your life where the exchange of letters inspired this thread of narrative? Why do you think today’s world is so focused on immediate responses when taking time to compose our thoughts on paper and inside a card gives the receiver the benefit of hearing our innermost thoughts?
Eide responds:Unfortunately, we are so used to quick responses that leave so much unsaid, and tone and so much is lost. There is a true story that inspired the letter-aspect of the story. My Norwegian friend’s sister met my American brother when she visited the US, and when she returned home, they began corresponding and married soon after. Of course, their correspondence was via email, but the idea of a couple getting acquainted by letter rather than face to inspired this story. I wanted to use letters for this setting instead of email (at first) because it provided a better look at the type of bond between the two elderly sisters. Since I happen to appreciate the “voice” that comes through in a person’s written words, I wanted Emily to “know” Ian through his written voice, his word choice, his subtle wit, etc. I find the written word (fully formed thoughts and dialogue) fascinating and think it’s becoming a lost art form.
Scotland is a classic setting for a Romance, how did this curiously attractive locale stitch itself into your heart when you chose it for your story?
Eide responds:First off, it made best sense that both countries in this story should be English-speaking, which narrows the field a bit. And yes, Scotland is a very attractive locale. I suppose it’s a place I’ve longed to visit. So setting a story there allowed me to visit it the next best way—via research—while crafting and dreaming up the story.
I was most appreciative to see that you included a story about Foster Care and Foster Children inside “Like There’s No Tomorrow”. I was curious if you based Emily Chapman on someone you knew in real-life who was dedicating their lives to fosters?
Eide responds:The home where Emily works, Juniper Ranch Group Home, is the setting for my second book coming May 2015, Sandcastles in Snow. By the time I put Emily to work there, I was already planning the second story which focuses on Sue Quinn, the home’s director. Juniper Ranch was inspired by a real group home. The idea for Sandcastles in Snow came to me after I received a Christmas letter (see, some people still write them!) from my niece who was a live-in counselor at a similar foster group home for teens. Her heart for kids with diminishing prospects for adoption touched and inspired me to write about a place where unwanted kids lived, run a woman who sympathizes because her own history of abandonment. It’s a painful subject, one that I wanted to bring into the light with the hope offered in the Psalms. Read More
The Language of Hoofbeats
Category 5
