Carolyn Haines on Writing Strong Women Blog Talk Radio!

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Sylvia Dickey Smith

Attention all southern mystery fans! Check out Carolyn Haines’ interview on author Sylvia Dickey Smith’s “Writing Strong Women” blog talk radio! These are two charming women who really know their stuff about writing, southern culture and girl power! Listen to the podcast.

Carolyn Haines

From Sylvia’s Blog Talk Radio: Catch up with Carolyn Haines and learn why she chooses to write strong women, and where her inspiration comes from.

“A lot of people ask me how I started writing about the Mississippi Delta. My hometown, Lucedale, is way down in the Southeast corner of the state. That section is called the pine barrens, and it lives up to its name. Pine trees are a cash crop, and thousands of acres were once owned by the big paper companies. It’s a world very different from the Mississippi Delta.”

Die for Me by Amy Plum

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After losing her parents in a car wreck, Kate Mercier must leave her happy Brooklin home to live with her artsy grandparents in Paris. Drowning in the depths of despair, she immerses herself in books and Parisian art. Unlike her sister, who distracts herself with boyfriends and club-hopping, Kate spends her days at a local café re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Every day is the same…that is until she she meets Vincent.

Tall, dark and mysterious, he’s everything a brooding  teenage girl dreams of. Even though Kate refuses to let herself feel love for anyone ever again, she can’t help but give in to his advances. And just when the walls around her heart begin to crumble, she discovers that his world is surrounded by the one thing that scares her the most: death.

In this new spin on YA paranormal romance, this talented author offers up a supernatural being that I have yet to encounter: A revenant. Vincent and his band of pseudo-siblings are undead beings who are forced to sacrifice themselves over and over again to save the lives of innocent people.

With two star-crossed lovers – drawn to each other and miserable with despair when apart – it sounds like Amy is taking a page from  Stephanie Meyer’s playbook. However, our fearless leading lady isn’t too quick to sacrifice her humanity and put her family members in danger for a boy she just met.  But alas, unrequited love conquers all, and Kate decides to take the plunge.

I would also like to add that there are no weird subhuman babies with werewolf boyfriends involved, which is a big plus in my book. I may not win any popularity contests by saying this, but really Stephanie, what were you thinking when you came up with Renesme?

But I digress…if you are a fan of atmospheric paranormal love stories, check this one out. I’m interested to see what happens next when Vincent and his brethren face off with their evil counterparts, the Numa. Unlike the heroic revenants, the Numa’s goal is to wreak havoc on the City of Lights – and possibly the world over – by taking the lives of others.

Addendum: The Hollywood Game

Sometimes when I’m reading a good book, I like to play what I call the “Hollywood Game.” Like a literary casting agent, I handpick a celebrity who best fits the descriptions of the characters. 

While reading Die for Me, I couldn’t help but envision Ty Borden (the cute ranch hand in Heartland) playing the part of Vincent. With his shaggy mop of dark hair skimming over his forehead, chiseled features and dark eyelashes, this relatively unknown actor really fits the bill.

 

 

As for the leading lady, when I saw the book cover depicting a waiflike girl with long wavy hair, I instantly pictured Shanae Grimes (90210) playing the part of Kate Mercier. What do you think? Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?

In My Mailbox: The Pig and Me by Lindsay Frucci

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Back when I started Weight Watchers (which by the way is the best diet out there!) I had to severely restrict all of my most favorite sinfully delicious treats – including chocolate brownies. It was incredibly hard – dare I say almost impossible – to swap out a sugary confection for a piece of fruit. But thanks to No Pudge Brownies, I didn’t have to go cold turkey! So you can imagine my excitement when the creator of these delectable treats offered to send me her new book! Even if you’re a skinny-minnie who can eat fat-laden goodies without permanently gluing a stick of butter to your hips –  this book is a great read for anyone interested in inspiring stories about fearless women who rise up and conquer in defiance of adversity – Ya Ya sisters!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren.

Here’s a synapsis:

When a personal bankruptcy robbed her family of financial security, Lindsay Frucci decided the way back to marital and family bliss was to start a business that would make gobs of money. Out of the mantra “there must be something I can do” and a passion for fat-laden, fudgy brownies that made it hard to zip her jeans, an idea was born: healthy brownies for the masses. In a leap of faith borne on the wings of innocence and naiveté, she founded No Pudge! Foods, Inc., and began an epic journey of unexpected personal growth and discovery. Frucci owned No Pudge! for ten years, and when she sold it, her Fat Free Fudge Brownie Mixes were sold in every major grocery chain in the United States. The fairy tale is an enviable, business success story. The reality is the story of a woman who was raised hearing “you can’t” and found, to her surprise and great satisfaction, she could – and then some.

Fever Moon by Carolyn Haines

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Legend has it the loup-garou, a shape-shifting fiend with a human body and the head of a wolf, prowls the swamps of Louisiana looking for its next meal.

Sure, the concept of a flesh-eating Cajun werewolf may seem far-fetched, but for the people of New Iberia parish, the legend is something to be feared.

The story begins when Deputy Ramond Thibodeaux stumbles upon the gruesome scene of Adele Herbert, the town outcast, crouching over the ravaged body of Henry Bastian, a wealthy plantation owner.

In all the horrors he witnessed while fighting in the war, he’d never seen anything that chilled him so deeply.

“For one long moment he stood and stared at the woman. At what lay at her feet. At the blood glistening in the moonlight on her hands and face and the rivulets of it tracing the path of the rain along the dirt road. At the long, twisted ropes of intestines that had been pulled from  the savaged abdomen of the dead man.”

And so begins Haines’ chilling story of murder and mysticism in post-World War II Louisiana. With the townsfolk in a panic about the loup-garou on the loose, Raymond is determined to restore order. Although his neighbors believe the woman is a mythical were-creature, Raymond suspects she was set up.

Tormented by the atrocities of war, Raymond feels a strange connection to Adele. After the death of her twin boys and the suicide of her sister, she lost everything, including her sense of reality. Haunted by guilt and wartime flashbacks, Raymond knows his only salvation is to prove Adele’s innocence and possibly give her a chance to rebuild her life.  

When a child goes missing and Adele breaks loose, the town spirals into a frenzy. And Raymond is forced to seek out the killer before it’s too late. With some help from a mystical healer and the town mistress, Raymond pieces together the clues and discovers something far more sinister than a loup-garou is at work.

Will Raymond prove Adele’s innocence before the townsfolk burn her alive?  What twisted secrets lie behind the walls of the Bastion plantation home? You’ll have to read to find out!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Haines’ cozy Bones mystery series, but I love it when she takes a spin on the dark side! Just like James Lee Burke and Joe Lansdale, she has a real talent for creating a deliciously atmospheric Southern mystery filled with complex characters.  

Whether her books are dark and spooky or cozy and warm, Haines knocks it out of the ballpark every time.  Keep ‘em coming Carolyn!

Want to know about this talented author? Well then check out her Q&A.

In My Mailbox: Chihuahua of the Baskervilles

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I’m super excited to crack open this fun little mystery filled with adorable Chihuahuas, ghosts and quirky Scooby-Doo- like ghost-hunting travel writers! Since I’m a fan of mysteries involving quirky sleuths and their crime-solving pets, I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of enjoyment out of this book! Gizzy isn’t all too pleased about me reading two dog-themed books in a row, so I’ll have to make it up to him by reading a couple of Sophie Kelly’s Magical Cats Mysteries.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren.

Check out the summary from GoodReads:

When the glowing form of a beloved deceased Chihuahua appears, is it a ghost, or is someone teaching a dead dog new tricks – like murder?

Tripping Magazine is a quirky low-budget magazine that reports on travel destinations for believers in the paranormal. A few fake ghosts away from throwing in the towel, the Tripping staff get the tip of a lifetime when they get a call from Charlotte Baskerville, the rich founder of a clothing company for small dogs. Charlotte thinks that her Chihuahua, Petey, has come back from the dead, and she’s desperate for someone to come verify his appearances.

 The magazine’s three-person reporting team travels to Manitou Springs, Colorado, sure that the ghostly dog will be a work of fiction. But, when they arrive, they see evidence of Petey with their own eyes. And he’s not just floating by – he’s howling advice and spelling out threats with tiny paw prints. Is the ghost real, or is the whole phenomenon an elaborate ruse?

 The Tripping team must navigate the kooky world of coffin races, scheming husbands, and doggie fashion to solve the mystery – and get their story written at the same time. Uproariously funny and a great mystery to boot, Chihuahua of the Baskervilles is sure to leave you in stitches.

For more about this charming little mystery, check out Esri’s guest blog on Cozy Chicks.

Welcome to My Pity Party

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Well this sucks. I have been counting down the days until the Austin Teen Book Fest like a little girl waiting to get her Barbie dreamhouse on Christmas day. But just as luck would have it, I woke up this morning with a nasty cold-like virus.  Really?!?!  Why couldn’t this thing ravage my body during the workweek so I could legitimately stay home and watch Lifetime movies?  This is almost as bad as that hangover last Thanksgiving after I tried to drink my Uncle John under the table at the Broken Spoke.

So while I was chugging Nyquil and drifting in and out of consciousness, I missed out on hanging out with my fellow book blogger chums and meeting some fabulous YA authors.  I was especially excited about meeting Alyson Noel and Rosemary Clement Moore.  These are the books that I planned on having them sign today…life is so unfair.

Evermore by Alyson Noel
Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch.   Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen  Auguste . . .

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition.  He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets.  Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head.  She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is.  Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement Moore
Amy Goodnight’s family is far from normal. She comes from a line of witches, but tries her best to stay far outside the family business. Her summer gig? Ranch-sitting for her aunt with her wacky but beautiful sister. Only the Goodnight Ranch is even less normal than it normally is. Bodies are being discovered, a ghost is on the prowl, and everywhere she turns, the hot neighbor cowboy is in her face.

Oh well, at least I can still look forward to the Austin Book Fest this month. I’ll get myself a flu shot just to make sure I won’t be bedridden that day.

Gizzy’s Pick: Another Bad Dog Book by Joni B. Cole

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At first, Gizzy wasn’t too thrilled about me reading a bad-dog book, but when I told him the author’s adorable bat-eared Chihuahua only makes a couple of appearances in the book, he decided to let this one slide. So why is this book titled “Another Bad Dog Book,” you ask? Well, although the collection of personal essays is not centered around a mischievous mutt, it was inspired by the author’s love for her scruffy little rescue dog, Eli.

It all began one fateful day at the bookstore when Joni stumbled upon a slew of bestselling memoirs about bad dogs. She realized she, too, could land on the bestseller list by publishing her own “bad dog” story.

“As I sat in the bookstore’s café thinking about my dog and how much more fascinating he was than most celebrities, an idea started to take shape. I pushed aside the gossip magazines I had been skimming, retrieved a notepad from my purse and began to write.”

And so begins “Another Bad Dog Book,” a title that hits home with me –and judging from my fellow bloggers’ websites – a lot of other bookworms who share a passion for four-legged cuddle mongers and good writing.

From the pains of raising a surly tween, to coping with the realities of midlife, to dealing with eccentric parents, this book is filled with an array of funny and outrageously honest stories about life, love and neurotic behavior.

Here’s a taste of just a few of my favorite chapters:

The Boy of Summer:  In this essay, Joni journeys back in time to the summer of her high school junior year when she spent her days at the pool waiting for a sighting of her big-time crush, Dale Zug.  Lean and easy-going in his 501 jeans, he had the swagger of a cowboy and the brooding good looks of James Dean. Decades later, she finds him on Facebook and discovers that he’s more Jeff Foxworthy than James Dean.  A word to the wise, if you don’t want to shatter the illusions of your high school crush,  don’t “friend” him on Facebook!

Rest Home: As a daddy’s girl – and a big-time Murder She Wrote fan – this chapter really struck a cord with me.  While hanging out with her father in his private room at Garden Spot,  Joni observes all of the cheerful aspects of rest home life, like watching uninterrupted episodes of Murder She Wrote, taking a stroll down the cheerful halls adorned with colorful artwork, and letting others worry about cooking and cleaning. Although this chapter offers a humorous look at nursing homes,  Joni also writes about her love for her father, who after a massive stroke, drifts in and out of lucidity. She closes the chapter with a touching father-daughter moment when her father drifted back into his old self and reminded her of the father he used to be. Life is pretty fragile, and this chapter helped me realize that things cannot be left unsaid.

But Enough About Me:  In my line of work, I sometimes have to endure networking mixers. Aside from public speaking, there’s nothing I dread more than struggling to make small talk with complete strangers while awkwardly eating rubbery banquet food. My palms get sweaty just thinking about it! In this chapter, Joni struggles to strike up a conversation with two disinterested old bitties at a luncheon for women of the arts. Desperate to capture their attention, Joni launches into a long monologue about her work as an author and educator. While droning on and on about her book projects, writing workshops, and – eek! –sexual dysfunction,  she realizes that she can’t stop talking.  Since I have had a similar inner discussion with myself while inadvertently cornering a helpless victim at an obligatory social mixer, this part really had me in stitches.

“I have been in the position Marion finds herself in now, held hostage by the nonstop talker. First, you are transfixed by the torrent of words, the cluelessness, the solipsism of the speaker. Then you begin to attend to small, previously overlooked details: the number of times she blinks per minute, the pull of her earrings on her earlobes…You continue to feign attention, but your mind wanders: Do my bottom teeth show when I talk?

While reading this chapter, I laughed so hard, I began snorting in an unladylike fashion, which was rather awkward while sitting between two strangers on a plane.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every chapter in this book.  Joni has a knack for turning random situations  – like sitting in the nosebleeds at an American Idol concert – into hilarious and meaningful life lessons. After reading this book, I felt like I just spent a relaxing evening drinking margaritas with a best girlfriend.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Get it, read it, share it!

This book is scheduled  to be released on Oct. 11.  If you want to know more about this talented writer, check out her super cute website.

Under Attack by Hannah Jayne

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The dramatic cover, with a leather-clad huntress wielding a smoking gun in one hand and a Taser gun in the other, might suggest this book is about a kick-ass demon warrior on a quest to evicerate the forces of evil.  But don’t be fooled – this book is not what it  appears to be! And for me, that’s a good thing because I’m much more into fun and frothy urban fantasies involving quirky crime-solving sleuths and preternatural hotties. So if you, like me, enjoy characters like Sookie Stackhouse or Stephanie Plum, you’ll really get a kick out of Sophie Lawson, the leading lady in Hanna Jayne’s Underworld Detection Agency series.  

As a human immune to magic, Sophie is somewhat of an anomaly at the Underworld Detection Agency, a beurocratic office that helps paranormal beings blend into San Francisco society.  As the executive assistant to the agency’s director, she uses her magical force shield to her advantage while dealing with disgruntled trolls, vamps, weres and pixies. But after a brush with evil at – where else – Starbucks, she realizes her resistance to magic is no match for Satan’s Spawn.

On a quest to retrieve the Vessel of Souls, a mysterious artifact filled with the souls of the recently departed, Satan’s minion (in the form of Elle Woods) plans to tip the balance and control both worlds. And when she discovers Sophie is the key to finding  the divine vessel, all hell breaks loose – literally!

To save the world from Satan’s wrath – and to avoid dying a slow, painful death – Sophie teams up with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Alex, and her vampire best friend to find the vessel before it lands in the wrong hands. As they piece together clues, they unearth some dangerous secrets about Sophie’s family. And the closer they get to the vessel, the more they learn about her unusual ability.

As if being stalked and tortured by the devil incarnate isn’t bad enough – Sophie gets the boot from the Underworld Detection Agency after a new micro-managey director takes over. With no other prospects, she ends up working at a re-sale pants shop called People’s Pants. I don’t know what’s worse, having to save the world from an impending apocalypse or working at a store filled with polyester pants and embroidered capris. Ick!

Things really get complicated when Sophie discovers Alex, a fallen angel,  may have an agenda of his own. Should she trust him to use the vessel for good? Or is he just using her in order to restore his fallen wings? You’ll have to read to find out! But you’ll have to wait until it’s released on November 1.

Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Hanna Jayne’s new series. Sophie’s sassy first-person narrative is as charming as it is hilarious. She keeps the quips coming without overdoing it.  While the tone is generally light, there is an undercurrent of danger.  If you’re a fan of Molly Harper, Richelle Mead, or Charlaine Harris, you’ll love this new series. My advice: Get it, read it, share it!

In My Mailbox

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I don’t mean to brag, but my blog is pretty awesome. If you need more proof of my awesomeness, check out the award below. That’s right, I’m a shameless self-promoter and proud! Now that authors are taking notice of the wonderous glory that is Chick Lit Cafe, they are sending me review copies of their books. Impressed? You should be!

Now that I have sufficiently tooted my horn in the most obnoxious way possible, I would like to shine the spotlight on two books that recently arrived in my mailbox. Check ’em out!

Another Bad Dog Book by Joni B. Cole

From Goodreads: In this collection of twenty-eight essays, Joni B. Cole reveals a mastery at mingling low moments with high comedy; and social awkwardness with social observation. At once insecure and narcissistic, loving and wanting to be loved, Cole reveals (and revels in) what it means to be human, in a way that will make readers laugh and think at the same time. The title essay in this collection was inspired when the writer went to the bookstore and noticed all the bestselling books about adorably naughty dogs. At first resentful of these other authors’ success, she eventually realized she had her own “bad dog” story to exploit, in the form of her adorable, nine-pound dog, Eli, who won’t be contained by invisible fencing, and won’t let anyone pet the family cat in peace. Yet, from this huffish beginning evolved a sincerely heartwarming and hilarious story about love, longing, and the adventure of midlife. The collection includes “Strangers on a Train,” nominated for a 2011 Pushcart Prize

Under Attack by Hannah Jayne

From Goodreads: Sophie Lawson is a human immune to magic, which comes in handy for helping paranormal beings transition into everyday life. But fallen angel Alex Grace and his search for the Vessel of Souls is one curse she never saw coming. Suddenly an unexplainable string of killings and destruction has even San Francisco’s demons fearing for their immortal lives. And Sophie isn’t about to trust Alex’s all-too-vulnerable charm or his secret agenda. Now their hunt is revealing dangerous secrets about Sophie’s past, and a malevolent power hellishly close to turning one irreverent human into the ultimate supernatural weapon. . .