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Book Review For ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1) - by Geoff Nelder

ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1) - by Geoff Nelder
Alien Retrograde Infectious Amnesia Today, Jack caught a bug at work. He catches a bus home. By the time he disembarks in the desert town of Rosamond, all the other passengers and the driver have fuzzy heads. Jack had caught an amnesia bug, and it’s infectious. Imagine the ramifications: The passengers arrive home, infecting family; some shop en route infecting everyone they meet. The bus driver receives more passengers giving them change for last week’s prices and today’s amnesia. Some passengers work at the power plant, the water treatment works, the hospital, fire station. All shut down in weeks. One man, Ryder Nape, realizes what’s going on, but can he persuade friends to barricade themselves in a secluded valley, hiding from the amnesia bug? 
“Geoff Nelder inhabits Science Fiction the way other people inhabit their clothes.” — Jon Courtenay Grimwood “Geoff Nelder's ARIA has the right stuff. He makes us ask the most important question in science fiction--the one about the true limits of personal responsibility.” —Brad Linaweaver Robert J. Sawyer calls ARIA a “fascinating project.” “ARIA has an intriguing premise, and is written in a very accessible style.” —Mike Resnick
ARIA Voted best science fiction novel of 2012
Cold Coffee Press Book Review For ARIA:
Left Luggage (Volume 1) - by Geoff Nelder
Let me answer the first question that came to my mind when the book ‘ARIA: Left Luggage’ arrived. The word ARIA has its roots in Italian meaning air.
Science Fiction as a genre literally is in a world of its own because human beings are obsessed with how to destroy or alter all of humanity by a single threat. It is rare that we find an author who can approach this kind of fiction from a new perspective, but Geoff Nelder has a truly unique concept.
As the first chapter begins the reader is introduced to Nelder’s large cast of characters like Vlad, Jena, Dan, Abdul and Antonio. His quantity of characters almost overwhelms the reader at first, but each has a role to play in this ordeal. The variety of solid, believable interpersonal relationships like the between Ryder Nape and his fiancée Teresa are essential as the world is threatened with massive memory loss by an alien virus. ARIA begs the intriguing question that as people lose their memories what is so important to their lives they must make a note of it to read when they wake up each morning?
The year is 2015 and there is never a dull moment as the reader joins the crew of “the shuttle, Marimar, in orbit approaching the International Space Station” and follows the science at the Dryden Space Laboratories at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the NASA Goddard Labs in Maryland. Travels to London and to the Anafon Valley in North Wales. Follow the viral repercussions to the Chester Zoo in UK, Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and to Banff National Park in Canada.
The author caused this reader to ask how the world would handle such a virus if brought back to Earth from an exploratory mission, who on earth might be immune, and what secrets could NASA and WHO be keeping from us? That is what good science fiction does. It captures the readers’ imagination and takes us to places that we believe are impossible, but somewhere in the dark corners of our minds we recognize that there is a slim probability.
Cold Coffee Press endorses ARIA: Left Luggage - by Geoff Nelder (volume one in the ARIA series) as a science fiction, action filled fiction that has already won the coveted Preditors & Editors Readers Poll for best science Fiction novel of 2012. Please consider purchasing and reading the whole ARIA series (available at Amazon): ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1), ARIA: Returning Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 2) and ARIA: Abandoned Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 3).Reviewed by Cold Coffee Press on September 26, 2014. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

Book Excerpt For ARIA: Left Luggage
Amazon Customer Reviews Amazon Print Purchase Link
Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Barnes and Noble Print Purchase Link Nook Purchase Link
Author and Co-Author Geoff Nelder’s Published Books
ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1)
ARIA: Returning Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 2)
ARIA: Abandoned Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 3)
Dimensions
Escaping Reality
Extreme Planets: A Science Fiction Anthology Of Alien Worlds (Chaosium Fiction)
Exit, Pursued By A Bee
How To Win Short Story Competitions
Hot Air
Author Geoff Nelder’s Website
Author Geoff Nelder’s Blog Author Geoff Nelder’s Twitter
Related Links:
Authors Database
Wikia
Facebook for ARIA Trilogy
Goodreads
Cold Coffee Café Author Geoff Nelder Cold Coffee Press Author Geoff Nelder

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Geoff Nelder

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Geoff Nelder
Geoff Nelder is a freelance writer living in Chester, UK.
A former high school teacher of geography and information technology, he has had non-fiction books published on microclimates in the UK along with several articles in academic journals such as Weather, Geographical Magazine and the Times Educational Supplement. Geoff is a part-time journalist contributing humorous travel accounts to Cycling World.
He has had short stories published and won a commendation for a story in the Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Competition. He won first prize in the Cafe Doom short story competition in 2005. Besides his 2005 released humour novel, Escaping Reality, published by Brambling Books, he won an award for mystery thriller, Hot Air, published by a Dutch Arts Academy in 2009, and a Science Fiction block buster, ARIA: Left Luggage is published by LL-Publications. Double Dragon Publishing published Geoff's Exit, Pursued by a Bee science fiction in 2008. An urban fantasy, Xaghra’s Revenge is in the hands of the Rebecca Pratt Literary Agency.
Geoff has worked for publisher BeWrite Books and for Adventure Books of Seattle. He has been a freelance editor of novels and short stories for several years. Geoff is the 2009 & 2012 short-fiction judge for the Whittaker Prize.
*************************Interview:
What makes you proud to be a writer from Chester, UK? I was proud to be a school teacher who wrote stories in the evenings, but I can’t say I’m as proud to be a writer. It’s fun, hard work sometimes, frustrating when some publishers or booksellers don’t appreciate your art as much as others, and it’s rewarding when readers say how much they enjoy your stories.
What or who inspired you to become a writer? Tibor Fischer writes off-the-wall literary fiction that drew me back into writing. I’ve always been a writer from childhood but Fischer’s The Thought Gang is so much a celebration of words that I had to try and emulate him. I did that with my humorous thriller, Escaping Reality, but it was Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s science fiction that allowed my settings and characters to have no boundaries.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? My first published jokes and comedy scripts were for my school friends to perform on stage when I was 15. A year later and the local college magazine published my articles and comedy pieces. It didn’t seem a big deal to me then because my dad, in his spare time, was an artist for a science fiction magazine and his friend, our neighbour, was a writer and editor of that magazine, Sidereal. I grew up with writers, editors and illustrators. Only later in writing groups did I discover talented writers who’d never been published and realized how lucky I’d been.
Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? LEFT LUGGAGE was the obvious title because the story starts with the discovery of a silvery suitcase lodged in the struts of the International Space Station. So the title came after the concept but before the writing.  Then it became clear that this was the first in a series and so the series name ARIA was prefixed. ARIA: Left Luggage became the title. Maybe a mistake as it is too much a mouthful. ARIA stands for Alien Retrograde Infectious Amnesia because the case contained a substance that once exposed caused the world’s population to contract infectious amnesia (which doesn’t exist in reality thank goodness).
Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? ARIA: Left Luggage is a medical mystery (genre one) in the context of science fiction. Readers who dislike science fiction express surprise that they enjoyed Left Luggage. No aliens, no shoot ups in space, no robots, just an alien virus affecting life on Earth. Readers have to wait for Book two to encounter the aliens. I love writing science fiction because of the way it allows us to escape the confines of Earth but I enjoy writing thrillers, fantasy and humour too.
What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book that you are seeking promotion for?
As I puffed, riding my bicycle up a steep Welsh hill 5 years ago I had an original idea. What if amnesia was infectious? Then what if no one was immune. I researched like crazy for 4 months to discover a) there was no known medical event of infectious amnesia, and b) that the concept – especially with retrograde amnesia (lose say a year’s worth per day backwards) – hadn’t been used in published stories, nor on TV or film. It took a year to create the first 100k draft. I showed and discussed it with SF luminaries such as Charles Stross, Robert Sawyer and Mike Resnick, who all endorsed it.
What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? An important part of my writing is peer critique. I belong to the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) Critique Group and you can see me wince in agony to open emails with copies of my work with the errors highlighted, then at the end the critter might say how much they enjoyed it and looking forward to the next instalment. Brilliant. I expect you want me to say how receiving praise from readers is a reward? Of course it is. Recently too when I scribbled some stories for infants and their beaming faces glowed at me.
Have you had a negative experience in your writing career? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? Interesting question. I’ve had negative vibes from a teacher who didn’t like my style, but balanced up by another who loved it. It disturbed my early writing career to be told by a content editor that I must ‘expunge my thats' and by others since who berated my Tell, use of filter words, adverbs and pleonasms. I’ve learnt from those stings and improved.
What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? Receiving royalty payments is an endorsement in real terms and helps to finance writing retreat stays, new computers and postage to keep sending more stories to more publishers. The most rewarding is when I worked for a season as the administrator for a small press publisher – BeWrite Books. Wow, I learnt so much about protocols, methodologies, handling printing companies and the ins and outs of contracts. It’s helped me understand when talking to potential publishers of my own work.
Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? Negative but interesting have been my experience with literary agents. The first was a woman based in Scotland. She lauded my Left Luggage and sent it to several mainstream publishers after which I heard nothing. I don’t mean she passed on rejections. I mean she stopped writing and emailing me. I phoned her office and a man said he was living there now after she’d moved out. He knew not where but gave me the landlord’s number. He said she’d done a moonlight flit on her rent and he’d discovered nearly a hundred packages all over her flat including up a staircase. Mostly unopened. He opened several to find they were book manuscripts. He moved them to the basement where they probably remain, yellowing and rotting. I did more investigation and found her living with her fiancé on a Mediterranean island. Apologies. I learnt to ask for references – other clients to chat to. Hence my current agent is real.
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? If you haven’t already, have your manuscript content edited (not just proofread) or at the least join a critique group.
Who is your favorite author and why? I’ve named Tibor Fischer. Another is China Mieville, whose lateral thinking takes something like a city, then superimposes another one in and on it such that the occupants of one cannot see those of the other. Clever stuff as in The City & The City.
Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? I awoke this morning with a headache. Not your usual hangover throbbing, or dehydration fuzziness, or even a migraine jabbing on just one side, but as if a worm had crept tweaking pain receptors, and triggering childhood smells of lime ice-lollies. Yet, that wasn’t the strangest discovery I made in bed. Cranking open my eyelids, I found a mass of red hair – not mine. A woman’s sleeping face faced me. I didn’t recognise her. Had we...? My hands groped downwards and found no pyjamas... I rarely get that lucky. I edged backwards re-groping for the side of the bed. Too late, her green eyes opened followed by screaming.Over coffee in an unfamiliar kitchen we found notes. We’d woken up like that before, many times. It’s what can happen when you have amnesia. I know because it happened to my mother. The above wasn’t really me yet it was, vicariously, because a main character in my ARIA: Left Luggage novel has amnesia and so does everyone else he meets. The damn thing is infectious. Worse, it’s retrograde so that he forgets a year’s worth of memories every week.
Please add questions and the answers to any questions that you believe your readers would like to know.
Q: Wow, is that the crux of the story?A: The nub of ARIA is how people behave, and sadly forget themselves to death when they have retrograde infectious amnesia. It doesn’t exist in reality – at least not yet, and not on Earth – thank goodness. Or, workers would forget how to make penicillin, insulin, clean water, food and electricity. They’d forget where their work is, what bus to catch home, what home? Kids who’d just learnt to write find they forget how to read, and soon, how to talk. Older folk fare better in that it would take over a year for them to forget 52 years of memories.
Q: Anything unusual from your research for writing ARIA?A: Often the research phase of a novel project is as rewarding as the writing. ARIA is released after a mysterious case is discovered on the International Space Station and brought to Edwards Airbase. I wanted the case to stick to the superstructure by an unknown method and fretted so much I found an email address of an engineer at NASA. He, Leroy Chaio, replied that the struts were very thin aluminium, which worried him because micrometeorites could punch holes and he was ON BOARD at the time! My agent reckons that email is a first for an author being helped from space.
How many published books do you have? 6 fiction, 3 non-fiction and several co-authored anthologies.



ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1) - by Geoff Nelder
Alien Retrograde Infectious Amnesia Today, Jack caught a bug at work. He catches a bus home. By the time he disembarks in the desert town of Rosamond, all the other passengers and the driver have fuzzy heads. Jack had caught an amnesia bug, and it’s infectious. Imagine the ramifications: The passengers arrive home, infecting family; some shop en route infecting everyone they meet. The bus driver receives more passengers giving them change for last week’s prices and today’s amnesia. Some passengers work at the power plant, the water treatment works, the hospital, fire station. All shut down in weeks. One man, Ryder Nape, realizes what’s going on, but can he persuade friends to barricade themselves in a secluded valley, hiding from the amnesia bug? 
“Geoff Nelder inhabits Science Fiction the way other people inhabit their clothes.” — Jon Courtenay Grimwood “Geoff Nelder's ARIA has the right stuff. He makes us ask the most important question in science fiction--the one about the true limits of personal responsibility.” —Brad Linaweaver Robert J. Sawyer calls ARIA a “fascinating project.” “ARIA has an intriguing premise, and is written in a very accessible style.” —Mike Resnick
ARIA Voted best science fiction novel of 2012

Cold Coffee Press Book Review For ARIA:
Left Luggage (Volume 1) - by Geoff Nelder
Let me answer the first question that came to my mind when the book ‘ARIA: Left Luggage’ arrived. The word ARIA has its roots in Italian meaning air.
Science Fiction as a genre literally is in a world of its own because human beings are obsessed with how to destroy or alter all of humanity by a single threat. It is rare that we find an author who can approach this kind of fiction from a new perspective, but Geoff Nelder has a truly unique concept.As the first chapter begins the reader is introduced to Nelder’s large cast of characters like Vlad, Jena, Dan, Abdul and Antonio. His quantity of characters almost overwhelms the reader at first, but each has a role to play in this ordeal. The variety of solid, believable interpersonal relationships like the between Ryder Nape and his fiancée Teresa are essential as the world is threatened with massive memory loss by an alien virus. ARIA begs the intriguing question that as people lose their memories what is so important to their lives they must make a note of it to read when they wake up each morning?
The year is 2015 and there is never a dull moment as the reader joins the crew of “the shuttle, Marimar, in orbit approaching the International Space Station” and follows the science at the Dryden Space Laboratories at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the NASA Goddard Labs in Maryland. Travels to London and to the Anafon Valley in North Wales. Follow the viral repercussions to the Chester Zoo in UK, Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and to Banff National Park in Canada.
The author caused this reader to ask how the world would handle such a virus if brought back to Earth from an exploratory mission, who on earth might be immune, and what secrets could NASA and WHO be keeping from us? That is what good science fiction does. It captures the readers’ imagination and takes us to places that we believe are impossible, but somewhere in the dark corners of our minds we recognize that there is a slim probability.
Cold Coffee Press endorses ARIA: Left Luggage - by Geoff Nelder (volume one in the ARIA series) as a science fiction, action filled fiction that has already won the coveted Preditors & Editors Readers Poll for best science Fiction novel of 2012. Please consider purchasing and reading the whole ARIA series (available at Amazon): ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1), ARIA: Returning Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 2) and ARIA: Abandoned Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 3).Reviewed by Cold Coffee Press on September 26, 2014. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

Book Excerpt For ARIA: Left Luggage
Amazon Customer Reviews Amazon Print Purchase Link
Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Barnes and Noble Print Purchase Link Nook Purchase Link Author and Co-Author Geoff Nelder’s Published Books
ARIA: Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 1)
ARIA: Returning Left Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 2)
ARIA: Abandoned Luggage (ARIA Trilogy Book 3)
Dimensions
Escaping Reality
Extreme Planets: A Science Fiction Anthology Of Alien Worlds (Chaosium Fiction)
Exit, Pursued By A Bee
How To Win Short Story Competitions
Hot Air
Author Geoff Nelder’s Website
Author Geoff Nelder’s Blog Author Geoff Nelder’s Twitter
Related Links:
Authors Database
Wikia
Facebook for ARIA Trilogy
Goodreads
Cold Coffee Café Author Geoff Nelder Cold Coffee Press Author Geoff Nelder

Cold Coffee Press Book Review For Dobyns Chronicles: A Boy Becomes A Man – by Shirley McLain

Dobyns Chronicles is a captivating celebration of the life of Charlie Dobyns. His life began in northeast Texas near Bonham, on the Red River. His Cherokee mother and cowboy father strove to survive on their river valley ranch. Tragedy ended this way of life for Charlie in 1888. Follow him through Chickasaw Territory and on to McAlester in eastern Oklahoma.
This is a story of a changing way of life and adaptations made to survive. Charlie's strong passion for life and dignity equipped him for survival as he raised his siblings with, likeability and dignity. It’s a story of loss, misfortune, hard times and heartbreak, but also love, determination, kindness, joy and spirituality.
Follow Charlie’s life through the adventures that shaped the man he became, and that of his family for generations.
Genre: Historical Fiction*************************
Cold Coffee Press Book Review For Dobyns Chronicles:
A Boy Becomes A Man – by Shirley McLain
‘Dobyns Chronicles’ starts out with a picture of an Indian Territory Map which I especially enjoyed looking at. This story gives the reader a true taste of what life was like in the 1890’s. The setting is in Chickasaw Territory, North East Texas and in Eastern Oklahoma.
Turning the page from this map to chapter one, line one, the reader is struck with “OLD AGE IS hell, but it’s something all of us have to go through” and shortly thereafter another line that reads “You never know what road life will lead you down. Pa told me when I was a little boy, “You just have to take a deep seat and hang on for the ride.” He sure told the truth.”
Vivid story telling with beautiful old lines like “the heavens opened up and let loose with one of those toad soakers” draws the reader into the time period. Truer than life characters that pull at the reader’s heart strings as their lives show the harshness and simplicity of times gone by. Shirley McLain’s characters like Charley have a strong sense of family, friends, community and faith which carries him from youth to being the matriarch of a large family leaving behind an incredible legacy.
Life in the 1890’s is based on survival off the land and animals like the pigs that provided food such as “crackling corn bread out of the fried cracklings”. This story will remind the reader what travel was like in horse draw wagons that took days to complete 85 miles. Days gone by with the children had three sets of clothes, work/pay clothes, school/street clothes and our Sunday best. Old time remedies like mudpacks to keep the mosquitoes off and the use of Indian herbal medicine. A time when death was only an arm’s length away due the circumstances of the times. A story of a young boy who is forced to become a man, a time when wages were $20.00 a month and a time where horses, buggies, trains, trolleys and carpetbags were of importance. Your will read great conversations, family letters and experience home, heart, love and a home birth produces a son that makes one man’s world complete.
Story telling is an art form and Shirley McLain is an artist. If you have any sense of history and/or had grandparents or someone older tell you stories than this book will make your heart skip a beat and your mind to go in places where it hasn’t been in while. This amazing family chronicle brought back memories for me growing up with an older generation that kept me spell bound by their stories. I have often thought as a society we have lost the art of storytelling. Shirley McLain has brought encouragement back to my soul. She did her historical research and has family stories of her own no doubt cleverly woven into this story. 
Cold Coffee Press endorses ‘Dobyns Chronicles: A Boy Becomes A Man’ - by Shirley McLain  as an inspiring historical fiction that will send chills up and down your spine, keep you glued to the pages and remind you of an era gone by that must not be forgotten. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
Amazon Look Inside Book Excerpt Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Other Purchase Link
Author Shirley McLain’s Published Books
Dobyns Chronicles
Shirley’s Shorts and Flashes
The Tower
Verses For My King
Author Shirley McLain’s Website
Author Shirley McLain’s Blog Cold Coffee Café Author Shirley McLain
Cold Coffee Press Author Shirley McLain

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Shirley McLain

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Shirley McLain
California-born Oklahoma raised, author Shirley McLain is a retired RN, enjoying her retirement in Sapulpa, Oklahoma writing poetry, short stories, and novels. She has seen much, not only in her travels but in her survey of the human heart as a nurse, and she comes to this historical fiction novel DOBYNS CHRONICLES with a sound sense of appreciation of the terrain of Texas and Oklahoma, the durability of the pioneer men and women about whom she writes, and a special appreciation for Native American history.
Shirley has a strong love of family both past and present.  She is married to a wonderful man who spoils her and she loves it.  She has two grown children, six grandchildren and twin great-grand sons. Her wish is to pass on this love of family and the land to her family, as it was passed down to her from her mother.
Shirley also has a fur family of four dogs and three cats.  Andy is a Cocker, Angel a teacup poodle, Booker is a Yorkie, and Gus is a Pug/Shih Tzu She says it's like living with a house full of three year olds. Two of the cats have been bottle raised and all three are short haired "whatever's." There's never a dull or lonely moment. Someone is always into something.
*************************Interview:
What makes you proud to be a writer from Oklahoma? I love my state with all of its varied nuances. It changes from one day to the next. I love sharing little things about the area where I live in my writing. It keeps me grounded and draws me into the stories more. Even if I don’t mention the state by name it is also in my writing somewhere. I do have pride in my state and being able to share it with others.
What or who inspired you to become a writer? My mother was my inspiration. I have always been a reader and I did a lot of writing growing up and I enjoyed it.  My mother gave me a lot of encouragement along the way. My most recent book ‘Dobyns Chronicles’ was thanks to my mother and her stories.  Story telling was one of her most favorite things to do, especially towards the end of her life. She inspired me then and still does even though she is no longer with me here on this earth.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? When I retired from being an RN after 32 years, I woke one morning with it on my mind that I was going to write a book. I got up, had my breakfast and set down in front of the computer and started writing. I didn’t stop until I’d completed my first book, “The Tower.”
Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? As I explained in the previous question, my mother raised my sister and myself on stories or her life and the lives of people of around her.  Those stories had a great effect on me and the writing I have done.
Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? I come up with a title before I usually write anything. That’s not to say it doesn’t get changed a couple of times along the way, but usually my first choice is what wins.
Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? I don’t have a particular genre that I write it. I write whatever my muse leads me to when I sit down to write. My first book was a young adult fictional mystery, my book of short stories has different genres from love stories to fantasy and horror.
What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book that you are seeking promotion for? My mother was my spark and growing up with the stories about my great-grandfather, Charley Dobyns. I knew for many years that somehow I was going to tell his story.
What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? I think the most rewarding experience has been coming up with something and creating a work that I think people will enjoy. It’s very satisfying also when something you have been working on for many months is finally ended and you get that print copy in your hand.
Have you had a negative experience in your writing career? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? I can’t say I have had a negative experience with my writing.
What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? Getting a book into the hands of people who really enjoyed the story.
Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? The only negative experience I had was after I published my first book. I was very unhappy with the publisher but what I learned was that I didn’t know anything about how that industry worked. The more I read and asked questions helped me understand how business is done.
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? If you have an urge to write, don’t let negative conversation in your head talk you out of it. If you sit down and let go you can write. Don’t worry about dotting I’s or crossing T’s, just let the story flow from you. The tweaking can be done later.
Who is your favorite author and why? I would say Diane Gabeldon. She is such a vivid writer and her words draw me into the story. I am very fond of her ‘Outlander Series’. It covers many different genres. She is very eclectic as I am.
*************************


Dobyns Chronicles: A Boy Becomes A Man – by Shirley McLain
Dobyns Chronicles is a captivating celebration of the life of Charlie Dobyns. His life began in northeast Texas near Bonham, on the Red River. His Cherokee mother and cowboy father strove to survive on their river valley ranch. Tragedy ended this way of life for Charlie in 1888. Follow him through Chickasaw Territory and on to McAlester in eastern Oklahoma.
This is a story of a changing way of life and adaptations made to survive. Charlie's strong passion for life and dignity equipped him for survival as he raised his siblings with, likeability and dignity. It’s a story of loss, misfortune, hard times and heartbreak, but also love, determination, kindness, joy and spirituality.
Follow Charlie’s life through the adventures that shaped the man he became, and that of his family for generations.
Genre: Historical Fiction
*************************


Cold Coffee Press Book Review For Dobyns Chronicles:
A Boy Becomes A Man – by Shirley McLain
‘Dobyns Chronicles’ starts out with a picture of an Indian Territory Map which I especially enjoyed looking at. This story gives the reader a true taste of what life was like in the 1890’s. The setting is in Chickasaw Territory, North East Texas and in Eastern Oklahoma.
Turning the page from this map to chapter one, line one, the reader is struck with “OLD AGE IS hell, but it’s something all of us have to go through” and shortly thereafter another line that reads “You never know what road life will lead you down. Pa told me when I was a little boy, “You just have to take a deep seat and hang on for the ride.” He sure told the truth.”
Vivid story telling with beautiful old lines like “the heavens opened up and let loose with one of those toad soakers” draws the reader into the time period. Truer than life characters that pull at the reader’s heart strings as their lives show the harshness and simplicity of times gone by. Shirley McLain’s characters like Charley have a strong sense of family, friends, community and faith which carries him from youth to being the matriarch of a large family leaving behind an incredible legacy.
Life in the 1890’s is based on survival off the land and animals like the pigs that provided food such as “crackling corn bread out of the fried cracklings”. This story will remind the reader what travel was like in horse draw wagons that took days to complete 85 miles. Days gone by with the children had three sets of clothes, work/pay clothes, school/street clothes and our Sunday best. Old time remedies like mudpacks to keep the mosquitoes off and the use of Indian herbal medicine. A time when death was only an arm’s length away due the circumstances of the times. A story of a young boy who is forced to become a man, a time when wages were $20.00 a month and a time where horses, buggies, trains, trolleys and carpetbags were of importance. Your will read great conversations, family letters and experience home, heart, love and a home birth produces a son that makes one man’s world complete.
Story telling is an art form and Shirley McLain is an artist. If you have any sense of history and/or had grandparents or someone older tell you stories than this book will make your heart skip a beat and your mind to go in places where it hasn’t been in while. This amazing family chronicle brought back memories for me growing up with an older generation that kept me spell bound by their stories. I have often thought as a society we have lost the art of storytelling. Shirley McLain has brought encouragement back to my soul. She did her historical research and has family stories of her own no doubt cleverly woven into this story. 
Cold Coffee Press endorses ‘Dobyns Chronicles: A Boy Becomes A Man’ - by Shirley McLain  as an inspiring historical fiction that will send chills up and down your spine, keep you glued to the pages and remind you of an era gone by that must not be forgotten. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
Amazon Look Inside Book Excerpt
Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Other Purchase Link
Author Shirley McLain’s Published Books
Dobyns Chronicles
Shirley’s Shorts and Flashes
The Tower
Verses For My King
Author Shirley McLain’s Website
Author Shirley McLain’s Blog Cold Coffee Café Author Shirley McLain Cold Coffee Press Author Shirley McLain

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Kaylin McFarren

 Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Kaylin McFarren
McFarren is a rare bird indeed. Not a migratory sort, she prefers to hug the West Coast and keep family within visiting range. Although she has virtually been around the world, she was born in California, relocated with her family to Washington, and nested with her husband in Oregon. In addition to playing an active role in his business endeavors, she has been involved in all aspects of their three daughters' lives - taxi duties, cheerleading coaching, script rehearsals, and relationship counseling, to name but a few. Now she enjoys spending undisciplined time with her two young grandsons and hopes to have many more. 
Although Kaylin wasn't born with a pen in hand like so many of her talented fellow authors, she has been actively involved in both business and personal writing projects for many years. As the director of a fine art gallery, she assisted in furthering the careers of numerous visual artists who under her guidance gained recognition through promotional opportunities and in national publications. Eager to spread her own creative wings, she has since steered her energy toward writing novels. As a result, she has earned more than a dozen literary awards and was a 2008 finalist in the prestigious RWA® Golden Heart contest. 
Kaylin is a member of RWA, Rose City Romance Writers, and Willamette Writers. She received her AA in Literature at Highline Community College, which originally sparked her passion for writing. In her free time, she also enjoys giving back to the community through participation and support of various charitable and educational organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
FUN TIDBITS: She is proud of the fact that her great aunt Bessie B. Cordell, an evangelistic missionary during WWII, was instrumental in opening an orphanage in Tientsin, China and also wrote two published novels, Precious Pearl and Blossoms of the Flowery Kingdom, documenting her dangerous, harrowing experiences.
She keeps a glass of wine close by while writing love scenes, Kleenex on her desk while writing heart breakers, and has been known to empty a box of chocolates when she's completely stumped.
A consummate "pantser" and perfectionist, she writes and edits as she goes, and uses photographs of models and actors from tabloid magazines to visualize her characters.She loves her husband of 40 years dearly. However, if Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom came knockin', well... their marriage just might be put to the test.
**************************Interview:
What makes you proud to be a writer from Oregon? A lot of talented writers come from the Northwest and it's great to be included among them at workshops, conferences and on bookshelves.
What or who inspired you to become a writer? I kept journals for a number of years and when my father died after a lengthy battle against cancer, I realized that telling my story about my journey to find faith and forgiveness could bring closure not only for me but also for readers face with the same difficult choices in their lives.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? After completing Flaherty's Crossing in 2009, I elected to submit it to a number of literary contests and when it kept winning first place awards, I came to the conclusion that it deserved to be published.
Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? My environment, cultural immersion, passions, and relationships continue to play a role in my storytelling and the types of books I like to write. 
Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? I actually come up with the title to each of my books as soon as I determine what the storyline involves and how it will impact my characters. I love the idea of having a double meaning that readers can interpret for themselves, appreciate and later understand.
Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? The books I write include romantic suspense stories in third point of view. This genre keeps the pages turning and makes for an entertaining read. I enjoy dropping my characters into difficult situations, making them struggle against all odds then demonstrating their growth while fighting their way back.
What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book that you are seeking promotion for? Buried Threads is the culmination of years of travel and exposure to the Asian culture. The "light bulb" or inspirational moment came after speaking to a Buddhist monk and finding myself enlightened by his ability to view a person's past lives and predict the future with amazing accuracy.
What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? I would have to say the awards, great reviews and kudos that come with it, which motivates and encourages me to write more.
Have you had a negative experience in your writing career? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? Everyone receives a negative comment on Amazon and that becomes disheartening for any author, but my most negative experience came from signing with the wrong agent. She was extremely well-known and so enthusiastic about my writing that I was on a high for months. Then she came to me one day and wanted to completely change my plot, eliminate characters and emphasis a romantic angle in order to expedite the sale of my book. The only way to avoid the destruction of a great story was to walk away and end our relationship, which is exactly what I did. This book ended up as being selected as a Golden Heart finalist and went on to win numerous awards. It is currently under consideration for a movie by a production company in Los Angeles, so it seems I did the right thing.
What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? There's nothing like seeing your book on store book shelves. It gives your writing credence and makes your feel like a viable writer. But more than that, in regard to a rewarding experience, I would have to say that the letters I receive from readers telling me that Flaherty's Crossing encouraged them to contact people in their lives, forgive and more on with no regrets is truly beyond amazing. Time is simply too short to fill it with hate and knowing that I've changed a life by sharing my personal experiences and beliefs is the ultimate reward. 
Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? As with most writers, there's always the rejection letter to contend with and move past. I've had my share and came to the conclusion that it's part of the game and becomes a learning experience. Everyone is not going to fall in love with your voice or the complexity of your story but that should never keep a writer from moving forward and allowing themselves to be heard. The way I avoided focusing and spending all my energy on finding a publishing house and staying in their good graces was to create my own rules and set my own timelines as an independent, self-published author. As a result, I actually finding more opportunities to promote and market myself...and I love it!!
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? Never lose sight of your aspirations or be discouraged by what critics, authors or the general public might say. If you have a story inside your heart that needs to be told, cut open a vein and let it flow. 
Who is your favorite author and why? I love Jodi Picoult books are my favorite because they delve into current issues, include memorable lines and characters, tend to be controversial, and make me think and analysis my own beliefs. 
Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? I would just like to remind readers that every dime earned from the sale of Flaherty's Crossing benefits cancer research at Providence Hospital, which I like to call Kaylin's Cause. More information is available at: http://www.flahertyscrossing.com/cause.php

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  Buried Threads - by Kaylin McFarren
A disturbing prophecy sends a treasure hunting duo on an urgent race to rescue a country in Kaylin McFarren's heart pounding new novel, Buried Threads. Full of erotic suspense and wild adventures, this is one trip that readers will never forget!
Rachel Lyons and Chase Cohen work together as the successful owners of a treasure hunting company. But a seemingly simple assignment--to track down a priceless gem that is believed to be buried in a shipwreck deep within the Sea of Japan--takes a startling, and dangerous, turn.
Faced with a monk's dark prophecy that a natural disaster will soon strike Japan, killing millions, Rachel and Chase must embark on the mission of a lifetime in order to uncover the three cursed samurai swords that can avert the catastrophe. 
Chaos ensues as their adventure takes them from shark infested waters and creepy caves to haunted hidden tombs and a confrontation with Yakuza gang members. Time is running out as the prophecy's day of reckoning draws near. Will Rachel and Chase succeed before disaster strikes?
Buried Threads has received the following awards: 2014 Reader Views Readers Choice Awards - 1st Place for Romance; 2014 Pacific Book Awards - 1st Place Adventure Category; 2014 Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media's Great Beginnings Contest - 1st Place Paranormal Mystery; 2013 Chanticleer Clue Awards - 1st Place Steamy/Action/Thriller; 2014 National Indie Excellence Awards - Finalist, Best Cover Design; 2014 eLit Awards - 1st Place Mystery/Suspense/Thriller; 2014 eLit Awards - 2nd Place for Best Book Trailer; 2014 Global Ebook Awards - Gold Medal (1st Place) in the New Adult Fiction Category & Bronze Medal (3rd Place) in the Best Book Trailer Category; 2014 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal in the Fiction - Adventure Category.
**************************
  Book Review For Buried Threads - by Kaylin McFarren   When the mysterious, beautiful Japanese woman with a sword peering from the black sheen of the front cover of ‘Buried Threads’ - by Kaylin McFarren arrived, the silent beckoning began.
I always know when I am reading a well-researched, well written action-adventure, mystery, romance novel when the plot enters my night dreams. Although I didn’t read book one in the series ‘Buried Threads’ stands well on its own. The author knows how to take a great plot, create believable characters, hold the reader in suspense and spin the tale with mastery.
Unfamiliar with Japanese culture (beautiful customs, geishas, ancient rituals), especially the underbelly of the Japanese society, warlords, and unseen paranormal conflicts the reader will learn a great deal while experiencing writing in its truest art form.
A treasure hunt for lost artifacts that are embedded with precious stones that are not only priceless, but hold a curse that once stood for a “Prince’s valor, wisdom, and benevolence”.
What would a fast moving, suspense filled, heart beating adventure be without the dangerous, unpredictable interpersonal relationships that leads to attraction, trust, mutually mind blowing sex and true romance? ‘Buried Threads’ is all that and more.
Compassion and greed, life and death, fear and resolution, mission and accomplishment, struggle and survival, gratitude and faith are all aspects of this story that can only be summed up as spectacular. Cold Coffee Press endorses multi-award winning ‘Buried Threads’ - by Kaylin McFarren as the action-adventure, mystery-suspense romance-thriller that it is. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Barnes and Nobles Purchase Link Author Kaylin McFarren’s Published Books
Buried Threads
Flaherty's Crossing
Severed Threads Threads Series Book 3 Titled Banished Threads - is undergoing final editing and will be available in December.
Author Kaylin McFarren’s Website
Author Kaylin McFarren’s Blogs
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylinmcfarren
https://www.goodreads.com/kaylinmcfarren
https://www.facebook.com/kaylin.mcfarren
https://twitter.com/4kaylin
Cold Coffee Press Author Kaylin McFarren Cold Coffee Cafe Author Kaylin McFarren

Cold Coffee Press Book Review For Buried Threads - by Kaylin McFarren

 Book Review For Buried Threads - by Kaylin McFarren
When the mysterious, beautiful Japanese woman with a sword peering from the black sheen of the front cover of ‘Buried Threads’ - by Kaylin McFarren arrived, the silent beckoning began.
I always know when I am reading a well-researched, well written action-adventure, mystery, romance novel when the plot enters my night dreams. Although I didn’t read book one in the series ‘Buried Threads’ stands well on its own. The author knows how to take a great plot, create believable characters, hold the reader in suspense and spin the tale with mastery.
Unfamiliar with Japanese culture (beautiful customs, geishas, ancient rituals), especially the underbelly of the Japanese society, warlords, and unseen paranormal conflicts the reader will learn a great deal while experiencing writing in its truest art form.
A treasure hunt for lost artifacts that are embedded with precious stones that are not only priceless, but hold a curse that once stood for a “Prince’s valor, wisdom, and benevolence”.
What would a fast moving, suspense filled, heart beating adventure be without the dangerous, unpredictable interpersonal relationships that leads to attraction, trust, mutually mind blowing sex and true romance? ‘Buried Threads’ is all that and more.
Compassion and greed, life and death, fear and resolution, mission and accomplishment, struggle and survival, gratitude and faith are all aspects of this story that can only be summed up as spectacular. Cold Coffee Press endorses multi-award winning ‘Buried Threads’ - by Kaylin McFarren as the action-adventure, mystery-suspense romance-thriller that it is. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
*************************
Book Description: A disturbing prophecy sends a treasure hunting duo on an urgent race to rescue a country in Kaylin McFarren's heart pounding new novel, Buried Threads. Full of erotic suspense and wild adventures, this is one trip that readers will never forget!
Rachel Lyons and Chase Cohen work together as the successful owners of a treasure hunting company. But a seemingly simple assignment--to track down a priceless gem that is believed to be buried in a shipwreck deep within the Sea of Japan--takes a startling, and dangerous, turn.
Faced with a monk's dark prophecy that a natural disaster will soon strike Japan, killing millions, Rachel and Chase must embark on the mission of a lifetime in order to uncover the three cursed samurai swords that can avert the catastrophe. 
Chaos ensues as their adventure takes them from shark infested waters and creepy caves to haunted hidden tombs and a confrontation with Yakuza gang members. Time is running out as the prophecy's day of reckoning draws near. Will Rachel and Chase succeed before disaster strikes?
Buried Threads has received the following awards: 2014 Reader Views Readers Choice Awards - 1st Place for Romance; 2014 Pacific Book Awards - 1st Place Adventure Category; 2014 Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media's Great Beginnings Contest - 1st Place Paranormal Mystery; 2013 Chanticleer Clue Awards - 1st Place Steamy/Action/Thriller; 2014 National Indie Excellence Awards - Finalist, Best Cover Design; 2014 eLit Awards - 1st Place Mystery/Suspense/Thriller; 2014 eLit Awards - 2nd Place for Best Book Trailer; 2014 Global Ebook Awards - Gold Medal (1st Place) in the New Adult Fiction Category & Bronze Medal (3rd Place) in the Best Book Trailer Category; 2014 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal in the Fiction - Adventure Category.
Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Barnes and Nobles Purchase Link Author Kaylin McFarren’s Published Books
Buried Threads
Flaherty's Crossing
Severed Threads Threads Series Book 3 Titled Banished Threads - is undergoing final editing and will be available in December.
Author Kaylin McFarren’s Website
Author Kaylin McFarren’s Blogs
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylinmcfarren
https://www.goodreads.com/kaylinmcfarren
https://www.facebook.com/kaylin.mcfarren
https://twitter.com/4kaylin
Cold Coffee Press Author Kaylin McFarren
Cold Coffee Cafe Author Kaylin McFarren

Cold Coffee Press Book Review For ‘Lynx’ - by Connie Vines

 Cold Coffee Press Book Review For ‘Lynx’ - by Connie Vines
‘Lynx’ sets a warm, romantic tone for book one in Connie Vines’ Rodeo Romance Series. This is short, easy, lazy afternoon read. With strong characters like Lynx, Rachel, Dan and Charlene the Rodeo small town country environment breeds friendships, excitement, danger, attraction, reluctance and full blown passion.

As a reviewer I read many genres and this was my first Rodeo romance. To my surprise this short story and colorful characters kept me turning the pages and refilling my coffee cup.

The fact that Connie’s father is from Texas and she spent summers in the Texas panhandle as a child is interesting. Her father rode broncs in amateur rodeo events while in high school. I’d like to imagine that the Texas setting is probably is some ways kin to the author’s real home environment set in the “quirky suburbs of Southern California” where she lives with her husband “in a butter-yellow house shaded by mimosa and magnolia trees”.

‘Lynx’ is a romance with a couple of Texas recipes thrown in for extra spice. This first book in the Rodeo Romance Series was selected as the H.O.L.T Medallion Finalist and the Orange Rose Finalist. Only time will tell us where the series will go and how many hearts will be won or lost.

Cold Coffee Press endorses ‘Lynx’ (book one) in Connie Vines’ Rodeo Romance for the romantic and young at heart. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
*************************Book Description: With a dangerous reputation for taking chances and tempting fate, rugged cowboy Lynx Maddox had one goal in life—to win the coveted Silver Buckle rodeo championship. But when he sets eyes on lovely Rachel Scott, he becomes determined to capture her as well.
Rachel traveled the circuit with her famous rodeo rider dad until his fatal accident in the arena. Now, she wants nothing to do with that world—or the men who risk their lives for one brief moment of glory. But her attraction to Lynx becomes too powerful to deny….and his unexpected gentleness too seductive to resist.
Genre Contemporary Romance 
Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link
Amazon Kindle Purchase Link
Barnes and Noble Purchase Link

Author Connie Vines’ Published Books
Brede (Rodeo Romance Book 2)
Lynx (A Rodeo Romance Book 1)
Ride A Wild Heart/Summer Magic (Double Delights #22)
Whisper Upon The Water

Author Connie Vines’ Website
Cold Coffee Café Author Connie Vines
Cold Coffee Press Author Connie Vines

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Connie Vines

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Connie Vines
Award-Winning author, Connie Vines lives deep in the quirky suburbs of Southern California in a butter-yellow house shaded by mimosa and magnolia trees with her husband.

Connie has published over one hundred fiction and nonfiction articles, seven genre novels and educational student activity books. She has also ghost-written two literary novels and one screen play. Under the pseudonym of Addison Murray, Connie published with Kensington/Zebra where her romance novels were translated into more than ten languages.

Connie has been a member of Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America since 1986. She has also served on the executive board of the International Chapter of Romance Writers as Vice-President, Secretary and Newsletter Editor of the YA Writers' National Network, and is currently the President of The GothRom (Gothic Romance) Chapter of Romance Writers.

Taking full advantage of her nomadic childhood, Connie weaves her regional and international experiences into her novels and novellas.

Watch for: "Rand" Book 3 in her Rodeo Romance Series, her Cajun anthology, "Gumbo Ya Ya--for women who like romance Cajun" and her novella (set in SoCal), titled: "Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow".

***************************Interview:
What, or who, inspired you to become a writer? Since my father was career military, our family relocated frequently.  This contributed to my being a very shy and quiet child; and is also the reason I am very observant.  To be a writer one needs to cultivate an awareness of the world that is more than visual.  There must be an instinctive ‘knowingness’ which I believe is the author’s voice.  As for inspiration, I come from a family of ravenous readers.  I also knew my family tree was peppered with writers, composers and musicians.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published?  While I had always desired to be a writer, I became a focused writer about 20 years ago.
Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and why?  Yes, I believe my environment and upbringing did play a major role in my desire to be a writer.  I recall asking for a filing cabinet as a birthday gift when I turned eight. 
Do you come up with your title (s) before or after you write the manuscript (s)?I come up with a title before I begin my novel.  Usually, it’s a terrible title (a college professor stated the title came first), and I change it numerous times.  When I near the final act of the novel, I come up with my final title (the one my characters like).
Tell us why you write the genre (s) that you write?  I began writing children’s fiction and nonfiction when my children were young.  I then branched out into YA/Teen historical fiction, and later, woman’s fiction.  During this time I also published nonfiction articles on writing as a craft and worked part-time as an acquisition editor for an independent Christian publishing company.  I also did a short stint as a ghostwriter.  I can’t pinpoint why I write in a specific genre.  It is more of a case of the ‘the story finding me’.
Tell us your most rewarding experience while in the writing process?I love to conduct research (like you hadn’t already guessed!) and (as strange as it seems) I like to interview people.  However, even though most writers won’t admit it, typing: The End is the best part of the writing process.
Tell us your most negative experience while in the writing process?  Sometimes a story just won’t come together.  My first four novels were all published with only very minor revisions, the fifth novel is saved on a CD.  I don’t know if I will ever go back and rework the storyline.
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors?Never stop studying your craft.  Always, always enjoy life!  It isn’t all about publication, it’s about the journey and making friends.  Become involved.  I have served on numerous boards of the years, and am currently serving as president of GothRom (writers of romantic Gothic fiction) Chapter.  I also judge writing contests on a local and national level for adults and young adults.
Who is your favorite author and why?  Me (just kidding).  Oh, there are so many: Charlotte Brontë.  I can’t count the number of times I read Jane Eyre; Robert Lewis Stevenson; Charles Dickens; Rudyard Kipling.  As for contemporary authors: Charlaine Harris’ The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries are a fave of mine.  I recall the 1st book being a Book of the Month selection—I was forever hooked after reading the blurb!
Is there anything else that you would like to share with us?  My writing has received recognition: The H.O.L.T. Medallion(Honoring Outstanding Literary Talent), The Orange Rose for Published Contemporary Romantic Fiction, The International Romance Writers’ Award for Excellence.  As well as: Fool For Love (Virginia Romance Writers) and First Impressions for Paranormal Fiction (Tampa Romance Writers), and Colorado Gold (Rocky Mt. Fiction Writers).  My YA novels: The Dream Real Award, Independent e-Book Award; Frankfurt E-Book Award (Bill Gates), finalist and National Book Award, nominee.
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Lynx (A Rodeo Romance Book 1) – by Connie Vines
With a dangerous reputation for taking chances and tempting fate, rugged cowboy Lynx Maddox had one goal in life—to win the coveted Silver Buckle rodeo championship. But when he sets eyes on lovely Rachel Scott, he becomes determined to capture her as well.
Rachel traveled the circuit with her famous rodeo rider dad until his fatal accident in the arena. Now, she wants nothing to do with that world—or the men who risk their lives for one brief moment of glory. But her attraction to Lynx becomes too powerful to deny. . . and his unexpected gentleness too seductive to resist. . .
H.O.L.T. Medallion Finalist, Orange Rose Finalist, Colorado Gold 2nd Place,Fool for Love 2nd Place, and Award of Excellence Winner.
Previously published as "Ride a Wild Heart"Reviews:“Connie has a wonderful gift for making her characters come alive for her readers. A must read!” 4 ½ Roses --romance.comHighly Recommended. Written by a gifted writer—a worthy addition to anyone’s book collection.” Under the Cover Reviews.“Kiss-Ass heroine!” Reader’s Review @ Author’s Den“Instant action/Sizzling attraction! This book kept the pages turning, and a box of tissues close at hand.”“A rare find. A must read!” Word Museum.
Genre Contemporary Romance  *************************
Cold Coffee Press Book Review For ‘Lynx’ - by Connie Vines
‘Lynx’ sets a warm, romantic tone for book one in Connie Vines’ Rodeo Romance Series. This is short, easy, lazy afternoon read. With strong characters like Lynx, Rachel, Dan and Charlene the Rodeo small town country environment breeds friendships, excitement, danger, attraction, reluctance and full blown passion.

As a reviewer I read many genres and this was my first Rodeo romance. To my surprise this short story and colorful characters kept me turning the pages and refilling my coffee cup.

The fact that Connie’s father is from Texas and she spent summers in the Texas panhandle as a child is interesting. Her father rode broncs in amateur rodeo events while in high school. I’d like to imagine that the Texas setting is probably is some ways kin to the author’s real home environment set in the “quirky suburbs of Southern California” where she lives with her husband “in a butter-yellow house shaded by mimosa and magnolia trees”.

‘Lynx’ is a romance with a couple of Texas recipes thrown in for extra spice. This first book in the Rodeo Romance Series was selected as the H.O.L.T Medallion Finalist and the Orange Rose Finalist. Only time will tell us where the series will go and how many hearts will be won or lost.

Cold Coffee Press endorses ‘Lynx’ (book one) in Connie Vines’ Rodeo Romance for the romantic and young at heart. http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

Amazon Customer Reviews Amazon Print Purchase Link Amazon Kindle Purchase Link Barnes and Noble Purchase Link

Author Connie Vines’ Published Books
Brede (Rodeo Romance Book 2)
Lynx (A Rodeo Romance Book 1)
Ride A Wild Heart/Summer Magic (Double Delights #22)
Whisper Upon The Water

Author Connie Vines’ Website

Cold Coffee Café Author Connie Vines

Cold Coffee Press Author Connie Vines

Book Review For English: A Comprehensive Course: Grades 7 to 9 – by Kathi Wyldeck

Book Review For English: A Comprehensive Course
Grades 7 to 9 – by Kathi Wyldeck
Comprehensive English (grammar, spelling, punctuation, reading comprehension, conversation and writing) is exactly what a student will learn. This book is designed to teach students between Grades 7 and 9, advanced ESL pupils, students in Grades 10 to 12 who need revision of basic skills and teenagers and adults interested in learning or need a review of advanced grammar. This book is designed for individual learning, classroom and home school environments.
This reviewer is particularly impressed that the author has included several sections for special needs: ESL pupils (a large choice of conversation topics is offered), students wanting more writing practice (extra topics are set), unconfident spellers (a phonics summary is provided), pupils keen to read more books (a book-list is included) and for parents and tutors (dictations and answers are supplied).
Author Kathi Wyldeck grew up in Sydney, Australia, won a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Sydney, studied Science and worked as a clinical and research technician at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, before becoming a full-time mum to raise her three sons (served as Cub Scout Leader). After returning to work, she switched careers and became a general education tutor to children, teenagers and ESL adults. Kathi has taught a variety of subjects, but developed an interest in the teaching of grammar and writing skills.
Cold Coffee Press is familiar with and endorses Kathi Wyldeck’s educational books. The content, detail and clarity are worth the small monetary investment. Her sixteen educational books All You Need to Know About Grammar, English For Everyone: Book One and Two, English – A Comprehensive Course: Grades 3 to 5, 5 to 7, 7 to 9, Essential English Book 1, 2 and 3, Everyday Spelling and Grammar, Family Games, Games For Fun: Fitness and Learning, Grammar and Vocabulary Games for Children, How to Write - Writing Lessons for Middle School, How to Write an Essay, and Writing Practice Workbook can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and Lulu.
September 2014 – Cold Coffee Press: http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
************************* Amazon Customer Reviews

Amazon Print Purchase Link

Amazon Kindle Purchase Link

Barnes and Nobles Purchase Link

Nook Purchase Link

Lulu Purchase Link

Kathi Wyldeck’s LuLu Website Fun, Fitness & Learning Books Purchase Link
Cold Coffee Café Author Kathi Wyldeck
Cold Coffee Press Author Kathi Wyldeck

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Kathi Wyldeck

Kathi Wyldeck grew up in Sydney, Australia, won a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Sydney, studied Science and worked as a clinical and research technician at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, before becoming a full-time mum to raise her three sons.
After returning to work, she switched careers and became a general education tutor to children, teenagers and ESL adults. Kathi has taught a variety of subjects, but developed an interest in the teaching of grammar and writing skills.
Having been a Cub Scout Leader while her children were young, she also has a natural love of games - indoor, outdoor, active, quiet and educational - and this love has flowed through to writing three games books ("Family Games", "Games for Fun, Fitness and Learning" and "Grammar and Vocabulary Games for Children").
Her first two grammar books were published by Pascal Press in Australia ("All You Need to Know About Grammar" and "Everyday Spelling and Grammar") and these became best-sellers. Since then, further books on Comprehensive English ("English - A Comprehensive Course: Grades 3 to 5; 5 to 7; 7 to 9" and "English for Everyone - Books 1 and 2") and Writing Technique ("How to Write an Essay" and "How to Write - Writing Lessons for Middle School") have become popular on the international market.
Kathi has a love of reading, and writes as a hobby. Other interests over the years have included skydiving, hot-air ballooning, hiking, surfing, travelling, astronomy and photography. She thanks you for taking an interest in her work.
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Interview:
What makes you proud to be a writer from Australia? I'm proud to be a writer not so much because of where I come from, but because of the fact that my educational books are different from other books of this genre in my country. I like to feel that my books are unique and offer something that the others don't. I wrote most of my books in Sydney, Australia, but have written a few more since moving down to Tasmania, the beautiful island-state of Australia.
What or who inspired you to become a writer? I'm surprised that I have become a writer! I never planned it that way! The stimulus that pushed me into writing educational books was the disappointment I felt when my three children went through school, and received a very mediocre education in the modern school system. Compared with when I was at school, the curriculum has been "dumbed down" here, and I would describe the Australian education system as indoctrinating and fact-free! I started by wanting to write a book that my own children could learn from, so that they could receive the grammar, spelling, punctuation, writing and general knowledge that the school system was no longer delivering.
When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? At first, I wrote just for my three sons and a few English as a Second Language (ESL) students whom I tutored after school. The lessons and exercises that I wrote down, I then compiled into a manuscript, and after about a year of success with these notes, I wondered if any publisher would find them useful. I started to send my manuscript to various educational publishers, and after about nine months, a very well-respected company offered to publish this first book. I was overjoyed, of course, and thrilled to see it hit the best seller list for an educational book. It has remained a top seller, even eleven years after first publication. This book was called "All You Need to Know About Grammar", by Pascal Press. A short time after this book hit the shelves, the company invited me to write a second book, which also became a hit. It was called "Everyday Spelling and Grammar". It was after the success of these first two books that I started to think that maybe I should write some more! That's when I became a writer.
Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? My upbringing played an enormous role in my decision to write educational books. I was fortunate enough to attend a very good school which was rigorous in its teaching, and turned all its pupils into independent, knowledgeable, hard-working young adults. We left school feeling like walking encyclopaedias! We had the facts at our fingertips, a love of learning and the confidence to know that through our own hard work, we could teach ourselves anything in the future. We were made to write enormous quantities of work at school, and we were all so used to writing that it just flowed effortlessly. With a love of factual knowledge and a confidence that I could write well, becoming a writer was easy, all thanks to my schooling.
Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? Pascal Press chose the titles for my first two books, but when I became an independent publisher with Lulu, I was glad that I could choose my own. Because my books are educational, my titles do their best to explain what the books are about. They are just clear, simple titles - nothing fancy about them.
Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? My main genre is "Education". Most of my books are comprehensive English books, created to suit a wide ability range of students, from ESL learners and those having trouble with the basics, to intermediate and more advanced students who needed harder work and greater challenges. Each chapter of these books contains grammar, reading comprehension, spelling and dictation, vocabulary, conversation and writing exercises, with booklists and answers at the back. My main titles in this category are the series entitled "English - A Comprehensive Course" for Grades 3 to 5; Grades 5 to 7; Grades 7 to 9. My other genre is "Games". Having raised three boys, and also having been a Cub Scout Leader for many years, I have a natural love of games. As a Cub Scout Leader, I wrote a book of games for my Cubs, mainly to help me in programme preparation. My first two games books "Games for Fun, Fitness and Learning" (suitable for big groups of children at Cubs, school, church or childcare centres) and a similar book called "Family Games" (for small family groups and home-schoolers) consist of three sections: games just for fun and fitness; life skill games; educational games. The third book in this games genre is "Grammar and Vocabulary Games for Children" which is a big hit with school teachers and home-schooling families, especially in USA and Britain. After a lesson has been given on the topic, the children are given the chance to consolidate their learning by enjoying the fun and active games in this book that test their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in a play-as-you-learn format.
What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book that you are seeking promotion for? "English - A Comprehensive Course: Grades 7 to 9" is my most recent work. It is the final in the series of three books, and it just seemed natural that this title would be the best one to promote. It is selling well on Amazon and Lulu, and is also available as a Kindle book, although I would recommend the paper version if I wanted to study the book with ease. I do love Kindle books for novels, but for educational books, I think the paper version is far superior and much easier to use.
What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? The most rewarding experience, I think, for any writer is the pleasure of knowing that people actually enjoy what is written and want to buy their books! I often wonder who has bought my books. What sorts of people are they, where do they live, what do they do, and why do they like the books? I would love to be able to meet the people who buy my books one day.
Have you had a negative experience in your writing career? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? Yes, I have had two negative experiences in my writing career. A Korean company had signed a contract with me to publish two of my books and then they went broke! They did not honour the contract and I received no compensation. A reputable American publisher of academic books signed a contract with me, but then pulled out when they decided that some of the games in my book (even though tried-and-tested, and much-loved by children and parents alike) were too risky to publish due to fears of litigation due to injury. The particular game in question involved adults teaching children how to light a match safely, striking away from the body, how to peel a potato and how to thread a needle. The publisher was concerned that a parent might sue if the child got burnt, cut or pricked! Surely the best way for children to learn practical skills is by doing them themselves with adult supervision. As for avoiding problems like these with publishers, they have the power and the money, and the author doesn't, so I think we can be very vulnerable. Even if you read the contract carefully, the publishing company has the upper hand.
What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? Definitely my most rewarding experience was the acceptance of my first book for publication by Pascal Press and then the invitation to write a second book. Good royalties flow in every six months, and it feels fantastic!
Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? I write books on grammar, a subject that has not been taught in Australia in any detail since the early 1970's. After that time, the idea of creativity and skills-based, practical learning became fashionable, and rigorous, academic studies became politically incorrect! In fact, in the state where I lived, any teacher who was caught teaching grammar as a separate subject could be fired! The excellent school where I was taught was told that if it didn't stop teaching in a rigorous, academic style, it would have its government funding withdrawn! As a result, Generations X and Y in Australia have suffered greatly from lower standards of literacy and numeracy. This is why I chose to write books that can help students who have missed out, and are still missing out, on formal English training. The negative experience I have been subjected to in my publishing journey involved having my manuscripts reviewed during editing by Generation X school teachers who had never learnt grammar themselves, and wanted me to remove topics such as the subjunctive mood, which they considered much too difficult for students to handle! They told me that the subjunctive mood was no longer used! I considered that I was being judged by an inferior!
What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? If you are trying to publish a book through a conventional publishing house, be prepared for plenty of rejections of your manuscript before you get lucky. This is a normal part of the process. Keep trying and eventually you might achieve success. If you are an independent publisher, make sure you thoroughly edit your work for mistakes, and do not release your book onto the market until you are certain that it is perfect.
Who is your favorite author and why? I have many favourites - Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Koestler, Douglas Adams, George Orwell and Richard Adams come to mind as great writers whose books I have enjoyed.
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Book Review For English: A Comprehensive Course: Grades 7 to 9 – by Kathi Wyldeck
Comprehensive English (grammar, spelling, punctuation, reading comprehension, conversation and writing) is exactly what a student will learn. This book is designed to teach students between Grades 7 and 9, advanced ESL pupils, students in Grades 10 to 12 who need revision of basic skills and teenagers and adults interested in learning or need a review of advanced grammar. This book is designed for individual learning, classroom and home school environments.
This reviewer is particularly impressed that the author has included several sections for special needs: ESL pupils (a large choice of conversation topics is offered), students wanting more writing practice (extra topics are set), unconfident spellers (a phonics summary is provided), pupils keen to read more books (a book-list is included) and for parents and tutors (dictations and answers are supplied).
Author Kathi Wyldeck grew up in Sydney, Australia, won a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Sydney, studied Science and worked as a clinical and research technician at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, before becoming a full-time mum to raise her three sons (served as Cub Scout Leader). After returning to work, she switched careers and became a general education tutor to children, teenagers and ESL adults. Kathi has taught a variety of subjects, but developed an interest in the teaching of grammar and writing skills.
Cold Coffee Press is familiar with and endorses Kathi Wyldeck’s educational books. The content, detail and clarity are worth the small monetary investment. Her sixteen educational books All You Need to Know About Grammar, English For Everyone: Book One and Two, English – A Comprehensive Course: Grades 3 to 5, 5 to 7, 7 to 9, Essential English Book 1, 2 and 3, Everyday Spelling and Grammar, Family Games, Games For Fun: Fitness and Learning, Grammar and Vocabulary Games for Children, How to Write - Writing Lessons for Middle School, How to Write an Essay, and Writing Practice Workbook can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and Lulu.
September 2014 – Cold Coffee Press: http://www.coldcoffeepress.com
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Cold Coffee Café Author Kathi Wyldeck

Cold Coffee Press Author Kathi Wyldeck