Review of The Seven by Sean Patrick Little

The Seven by Sean Patrick Little

ISBN 13: 978-1608440665

Dog Ear Publishing, LLC (August 19, 2009)

Buy on Amazon:

Kindle $1

Paperback, 14.36

About the book:

Chosen for their unique DNA profiles and taken from their homes as children, seven teenagers have endured a decade of experimentation, surgeries, and gene-splicing as part of the world-changing project of a geneticist bent on creating the next evolution of man. As a result of the experiments, each of the seven is imbued with the potential for a different superhuman ability. As they near adulthood, the experiment finally begins to show results, but the effects are worse than any of them could have predicted. When an attempt to escape the lab goes horribly awry, the seven are forced to face down the paramilitary army of the syndicate that founded the experiment that created them, or lose the only family they have left: Each other.

My review:

I sat next to Sean at a book fair and purchased The Seven. I finally got around to reading it over the last few days and honestly looked forward to the time I spent in his world. The characters were well-rounded, heroic, and full of wonderful teenaged angst despite the things they were going through.

Each character gradually comes into his or her own as the genetic manipulation of scientists and the government attempt to reprogram humans (or subjects/experiments) in weaponized creatures in a mad plot to...

For those who love all the fantasy and sci-fi YA stuff of genetic manipulation (and even more scary-real every day), X-men, and all that funky stuff--you'll love these kids and how they put their brave on. I agree, could have used another proof-read, but hopefully you'll go ahead and do that soon, and put up another revised edition.

About the Author: 

Sean Patrick Little lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, although he considers Mount Horeb, Wisconsin his home. He likes progressive rock music and comic books. If you buy him a diet Cherry Coke, he'll thank you for it.

Review of Inked by Dawn Kunda

Inked by Dawn Kunda

January 2014

ASIN: B00I7VS1ZA

Buy on Kindle: 3.99

BookStrand Romantic Mainstream Suspense

About the Book: 

Guns and sex make Mary go round... CIA agent Mary Reiss whirls with anxiety as she's teamed with the man of her nightmares. She doesn't need a man. She only needs her job. CIA agent Cal Guevin nearly got her killed, and she doesn't want that option repeated. Cal remembers the gunshot. He remembers the burning kiss. They were both perfect. The shot was meant to kill, yet he interfered and Mary lived. The kiss...the kiss left them to hide behind their badges until now. Apprehension builds as he needs to trust himself to save Mary again. Agents Guevin and Reiss lead an operation in Cairo to infiltrate terrorists. The imminent danger reignites their fiery past, yet they have difficulty understanding each other's idea of romance as they attempt to outmaneuver the deadly terrorists and double agents. With their identities leaked, they debate who to trust. Should they trust each other? Can they?

My review:

Whew—lots of action and sizzling romance in foreign places, not to mention nuclear weapons and gun-runners and informants and back-stabbing…

Agent Mary Reiss protests when she’s put on a mission to Cairo with her nemesis, an operative she’d worked with on a former mission. This one was supposed to be easy—get into the bad guy’s compound and get one little piece of intel. The other team that’s been in place would do the rest. Only the mission goes badly wrong right from the start. Mary is branded right off the bat—the inked from the title—as the property of Roman Chenzira, and that’s only the start of her struggle to stay alive…and in control. Her mission partner, Cal Guevin, isn’t making things easier. They not only have to figure out how to extricate themselves from a double-cross, but fight their feelings.

For those who love action-packed, wild romance in exotic settings, Inked won’t disappoint. Lovely twist at the end.

Special deal for WWA Book Camp events in May

Wisconsin Writers Association

A Writer Resource Since 1948

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 4, 2014

Novelist, journalist John DeDakis to speak at Cedar Valley Center

WEST BEND, Wis. – Acclaimed thriller writer and TV journalist John DeDakis will share his writing secrets in an informative presentation, “Creating Order from Chaos: Stay Organized Writing Your Novel,” which will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 21 at the Cedar Valley Center & Spa northwest of West Bend.

In response to requests, DeDakis’ presentation and two events the following Thursday afternoon are now open for public participation. These informative presentations are part of the six-day Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp that begins Sunday May 18 and runs to Saturday, May 24, a unique workshop for writers of all genres to focus on their individual works-in-progress guided by an experienced staff of published novelists, editors, and literary agents.

To get a taste of what the Bookcamp offers, the public is invited to these specific events:

– John DeDakis PowerPoint presentation, “Creating Order from Chaos: Stay Organized Writing Your Novel,” 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 21.  $35 reservation; $45 at the door.

– Guest Speaker Cherie Burbach, freelance author, columnist, poet, on building a writing career, 1 p.m., Thursday, May 22, and

– Panel Discussion and Q&A on “Today’s Blossoming Publishing Market: Traditional Agent/Publisher, Small Publisher, Self-Publishing, Opportunities on the Internet,” 2 p.m., Thursday, May 22. Featuring panelists John DeDakis, mystery novelist SJ Rozan, editor Philip Martin, novelist Lisa Lickel, and Cherie Burbach. $35 reservation to attend both Burbach presentation and panel discussion; $45 at the door. Noon Lunch, $10 reservation; $15 at the door.

– Package deal: Includes Wednesday Night DeDakis Presentation, Thursday Breakfast & Lunch, Thursday Burbach Presentation & Staff Panel Discussion/Q&A = $170.

Cedar Valley Center & Spa is located at 5349 Highway D in northwest Washington County.

Co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Writers Association and the Chicago Writers Association, the Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp provides hands-on advice and one-on-one guidance for writers developing or polishing a book-length manuscript in any genre. The N-I-P Bookcamp receives additional support from Creative Co-Sponsor Diana Schramer, Write Way copyediting LLC.

For information, application details, reservations: Dave Rank, N-I-P Bookcamp Director, pres@wiwrite.org, 262-717-5154, www.novelbookcamp.com,www.facebook.com/NIPBookcamp.

Posted by morainewriters at 3:33 PM   

Review of My Father's Keep by Ed Abell

Review of My Father’s Keep by Ed Abell

Create Space, Jan 2014

www.wisconsincounsciousness.org

ISBN: 9781494367381

Ebook 4.49

Pbook 10.16

Buy the book  - Amazon

Barnes and Noble

An Inspiring Journey of Forgiveness and Promise-Keeping

At once a trek to the highest peak on Earth and the deepest place of the heart, My Father’s Keep captures the experience that all adult children share: the pain and suffering of growing up in the chaos of alcoholism and the dogged belief that they can—and must—somehow save their afflicted parents from their torment. As that child, Ed Abell vows that one day he and his father will see the Himalaya together—a vow he kept twelve years after his father’s death.

My Father’s Keep is a story of hope for healing of our most complicated family relationships through understanding, compassion, and forgiveness, peace for ourselves despite our inability to save our loved ones from the ravages of addiction, and strength for the arduous yet enriching journey.

My review:

There is so much more work involved in forgiveness than simply saying the words. 

Acceptance is a part of forgiveness that involves empathy, but to truly understand you must experience and survive the experiences that necessitates the forgiveness. Abell shares this gift of forgiveness through an incredible journey that is both a loving tribute and a triumph of a gift to memory. 

This short book packs a full trip from childhood through marriage and family to the time when the author is finally ready to attempt a journey of laying his father's ashes to rest in a "place the Sirens could not win." A huge part of forgiveness also involves recognizing and savoring the good times with the bad of a lifetime of abuse--in this case, alcoholism--which colored the author's world. Although offering understanding, love, and forgiveness to his father while still alive, Abell never gave up believing he could put his father's ghosts to rest. This book is that journey.  

I applaud the author's beautiful, intelligent story of vulnerability and sacrifice. My Father's Keep is part memoir, part tribute, part caution to those of us who struggle to escape the effects of addiction. Abell says it well: love is action.

Lynne Carol Austin Reading May 2

Lynne Carol Austin will be reading from the Ten of Swords, on May 2nd, in Waukesha.

Lynne says: I will be published and released in August. Kathie Giorgio, All Writers Workplace and Workshop, is sponsoring four new authors who will be published this summer, at a reading at the First Baptist Church, 247 Wisconsin Ave, Waukesha. 7 pm. She will read also, along with poet Margaret Rozga. Free. I hope to see some of you there.

About Lynne: Her first book, Edith Ann Marie-The Sun is in My Heart, was written out of the memory of her loving relationship with her grandmother, Lena. In her book, Grandmother is the wise sage, offering sound advice when Edith Ann Marie has questions with her very concrete view of life. Sister adds a bit of drama, which is sometimes hard for Edith Ann Marie to understand.  Lynne complements the written word with her original artwork. All work is three dimensional, using hand-made paper, material, pastels and acrylics.

Lynne has been published in spiritual magazines in the Midwest throughout the 1990’s. She wrote a feature chapter in the book, The New Healers Minds and Hands in Complementary Medicine , by Dr. Barbara Stevens Barnum.” She has a story-telling C.D. called Earth Spirituality-Spiritual Storytelling.  She has lead spiritual retreats to Peru and the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. She has an alternative healing practice, the Gayatri Center for Healing, in Brookfield ,Wisconsin.

Lynne’s next book, Tell Me A Story, Mama-Little Berry and Mama Bear, is coming soon! Also watch for her children’s poetry book in the near future.

Lynne Carol Austin Author of Edith Ann Marie The Sun is in My Heart

 
Websites:
www.lynnecarolaustin.com
www.lynnecarolaustin.wordpress.com

Review of In the Comfort of Shadows by Laurel Bragstad

In the Comfort of Shadows

Laurel Bragstad

$3.99

$12.99

Orange Hat Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-1937165635

386 pp

December 9, 2013

buy on Amazon

From the publisher:

In the Comfort of Shadows is a story of family secrets and the love and romance often found hidden deep within sins of the past. The novel follows Ann Olson, a big city professor, who longs to fill in the empty pages of her childhood. Unfortunately the only man alive who knows the whole story is Emmett Pederson, her adoptive dad’s crazy, poor, hermit cousin who never married and still lives on his run-down farm in rural Wisconsin. Disregarding her sister’s objections, Ann stubbornly sets out to prove that Emmett is their “father unknown.” Once she gets over Emmett’s shabby clothes and missing teeth, she senses a surprising connection to him. That changes when she discovers Emmett’s WW2 diaries which reveal the truth about her Austrian-born birth mother. As Ann struggles to sort out the facts of her birth parents’ forbidden romance and her own adoption, she finds herself falling in love with a man who has heart-breaking secrets of his own.

Biography

Laurel Bragstad was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As the oldest of five kids sitting around the dinner table, she learned very early that family stories are often better than any drama, mystery, or sit-com on television--with enough secrets and distinct characters to fill a book.

 

These days, she teaches at Alverno College in Milwaukee and has an online course with Ed2Go/Cengage Learning. When she's not teaching, writing, or reading, you might find her digging in her garden (weather permitting), where she's either working out an assignment for her class or shaping characters and chapters for another novel.

 

My review:

Cleaning out the family closet is risky at best, heartbreaking at worst. All her life, Ann Olson barely contained her curiosity about her parentage after a disgruntled relative broke the news that Ann and her sister were adopted. Elise is content being the daughter of the only parents she knew, but Ann can’t let it go. After her father’s death, and now in her early fifties, divorced, and armed with an old letter, Ann sets off on a thinly-disguised sabbatical assignment studying family history’s effect on family relationships. First on the list is her own family, her father’s cousins. 

Bragstad’s novel is a charming, genteelly-paced novel set in rural Wisconsin, with all the typical flavor of “up north.” Her characters never quite go over the top and their lives are all-too-true to life. Frank and Betty, Ann’s hosts, are eager to help Ann unravel the mystery of her and her sister’s parentage. Ann’s chief suspect, the letter-writer Emmett, is an old man now, an incongruous mystery of assumed poverty and dementia. As Ann works through the cast of family characters who might be the birth father, she meets a helpful and compassionate gentleman, John Bennett, who soon becomes more than a friend. 

Picking through clues, packets of letters and the detritus of a lifetime in Emmett’s house is a peek through over fifty years of mistakes, lies, and secrets; angst, the gruesomeness and horrors of World War II. Ann must also sort out her own feelings and those of her siblings as the real story comes to light. Ulterior motives, family secrets and grumblings give Ann plenty to consider about her heritage and family relationships. 

Filled with both charming conversation and introspection, quotes like “…truth lays bare what is or was; but it can’t fix everything” stays with the reader. 

Told in third person solely from Ann’s view, The Comfort of Shadows is part voyeurism, part revelation. Lovingly told, engaging.

Hiking Barron County by Rob Bignell, speaking May 10 at the NW Writers Fest

Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Barron County
Rob Bignell

The new book Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Barron County, Wisconsin (Atiswinic Press) describes more than 40 trails in and near the county.

HUDSON, Wis. (April 28, 2014) – Atiswinic Press has released the first-ever comprehensive guide to day hiking trails in Barron County.

Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Barron County describes more than 40 trails in or surrounding the county. The book was released in paperback during late April. 

“Barron County boasts more than a hundred glacial lakes and trout streams, many of which have public trails,” Bignell said. “In parts of the county, you can hike where ancient hills that formed 1.7 billion years ago stand as a backdrop.”

Among the Barron County day hikes included in the book are the Cattail State and the Wild Rivers trails. Trails near Cameron, Chetek, Cumberland, Rice Lake and Turtle Lake are listed.

Interested readers can meet Bignell and purchase copies of the book on Saturday, May 10, during the Northwest Wisconsin Writers Festival at UW-Barron County in Rice Lake. Bignell will read from his novel “Windmill” (10-11 a.m., Commons), is a presenter in a breakout session about the business of writing (1-1:45 p.m., Ritz 202), and will man an author’s table most of the rest of the time (9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Commons), where he’ll meet with readers and sign their purchased books. 

The title also is available at Idlewild Outfitters, 1414 2nd Ave., Cumberland.

The book is dedicated to former Chetek resident Mark Gunnufson, who passed away in 2013, a year to the day the book was published in paperback. Bignell served in the Wisconsin National Guard with Gunnufson.

“We were best friends at basic training,” Bignell said. “Mark saved my butt from the drill sergeant’s wrath quite a number of times.”

What’s in the Book
“Day Hiking Barron County, Wisconsin” provides a plethora of information about each featured trail, including:
 Driving directions to the trail
 Where to park and find the trailhead
 Course the trail takes
 Scenic points to look for on the trail
 Wildlife and flora you might spot
 Interesting tidbits about the area’s geology and history
 Trailside amenities such as water fountains and bathrooms
 Best times to hike the trail

Following each featured trail are brief descriptions of other nearby day hiking trails.

“These trails are perfect for families with children or anyone who wants to spend just a couple of hours outdoors enjoying and discovering nature,” Bignell said. The trails run from a third of a mile to six miles in length, with most only a mile to three miles long.

In addition to Barron County trails, the book details those that are right across the county border in Polk, Washburn, Rusk, Chippewa and Dunn counties.

Day Hiking Barron County is one of six guidebooks in the well-received “Hittin’ the Trail” series. “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway” last month hit No. 1 on Amazon.com’s Travel>Midwest bestseller list for both paper and ebooks. “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Polk County, Wis.” spent 10 consecutive weeks on Amazon.com’s travel bestseller list last year while “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Grand Canyon National Park” reached the top 10. 

Day Hiking Barron County, Wisconsin is the second title in the “Hittin’ the Trail” series to be released as a paperback. Previously, titles were only released as ebooks for Kindle, iBook, Nook, Kobo and Sony Reader.

About the Author (photo: “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking Barron County, Wisconsin” author Rob Bignell and his son, Kieran, set out ona hike in California’s Mojave Desert.)
A long-time hiker, editor and journalist, Bignell is uniquely qualified to discuss day hiking, especially for

families. The author of eight other hiking guidebooks, including the popular “Hikes with Tykes” and “Headin to the Cabin” series, Bignell is an avid hiker, long-time editor, and Wisconsin native who’s been day hiking with his son, Kieran, for more than six years. Together they’ve scaled summits almost two miles high, crossed America’s driest deserts, and walked beneath trees soaring 15 stories over their heads.

Before Kieran, Bignell served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard and taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin. His newspaper work has won several journalism awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott (Wis.) Journal, which he served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. 

Bignell now lives with his son in Hudson.

Copies of “Day Hiking Barron County” also are available for purchase online in paperback and a variety of ebook platforms at Hikes With Tykes.

Book specs:
Publish date: April 22, 2014 Atiswinic Press
ISBN: 978-0989672368 (paperback); 978-0989672306 (ebook)
$5.95 (paperback) $0.99 (ebook)
Pages: 86 (paperback)

Website: http://hikeswithtykes.com/hittinthetrail_DayHikingBarronCountyWisconsin.html