Debra L. Martin's Blog, page 304

Review: UNFINISHED WORK OF ELIZABETH D. by Nichole Bernier

5 of 5 stars



What if everything you knew about your best friend was a lie? This is the situation that Kate Spenser finds herself when her best friend, Elizabeth Martin, dies in a tragic plane crash leaving behind a husband and 3 small children. Agonizing over the loss of her friend, Kate is surprised when she receives a letter from Elizabeth's lawyer. Elizabeth has left Kate all of her journals with a simple statement of "Start at the beginning."



The story follows two story lines, Elizabeth's journal entries and Kate's impressions and reactions to them. There was so much about Elizabeth that Kate never knew and she begins to re-examine her own life and marriage. The author does a phenomenal job of inviting the reader into both Kate's thoughts and Elizabeth's writing. I was totally absorbed in the story and as I read further, was more and more surprised at how rich and deep the story had become. It makes you think about your own life and how people would remember you if you died unexpectantly.



"The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D" is a stunning debut novel for Nichole Bernier.The characters of Kate and Elizabeth are both complicated and well-fleshed out as they struggle with their own identities of career woman vs. stay-at-home mom. Fans of women's fiction will thoroughly enjoy this story. Highly Recommended.



An advanced copy of this book was provided by Goldberg McDuffie, NYC and Crown Publishing Group.

Disclosure Policy: http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html

Interview with David Darracott

Can you give us a
brief overview of your latest book?



Internal Security
is a suspense/thriller story about a struggling reporter who finally gets a
crack at the big-time story he’s always wanted. To him it seems to be the scoop
of a lifetime until he learns that reporting the truth might cost him his life—but
failing to report the story might cost his nation its soul.




Did you try the
traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?

I spent too many hours of my life chasing the traditional
literary and New York way of doing things, and it was largely wasted.  That is a world of personal connection,
not a level playing field.  Once
you get there, it’s like arriving at an empty station.




It took me a long time to realize that the New York route
means you sacrifice too much control of your work, your ownership rights, and
too much of the earnings that should be yours.




Do you belong to a
critique group? Have they helped improve your writing?




After trying several groups, I eventually founded my own
writing group called North Atlanta Writers, which is small and personal.  It is very helpful in providing
feedback on the major choices and direction of a work.  We don’t tell each other how to write,
just how we respond as readers.




What factors
influenced your decision to self-publish to Amazon?

I’m excited there is finally a real alternative.  I sought the New York houses and
avoided regional ones for a long time, because I thought distribution by the
large houses was the only way to get read widely.  But doing it that way eats time—years in fact.  We all have only a finite amount of it,
and I got tired of wasting time on them. 
I’ll never waste another hour writing a fruitless query letter or
waiting months, or even years, on responses from people who already have too
much of a good thing on their plate. 
The sheer lack of professional courtesy offered by the traditional route
is enough to drive any self-respecting writer into the Amazon camp.




Did you hire an
editor to review your manuscript before publishing?

Fortunately I have a close group of knowledgeable friends
who help me edit work, probably with more attention and care than I could get
from hiring someone else.




What have you learned
during your self-publishing journey?

The sweet sense of relief that comes from controlling your
own affairs is tremendous.  Taking
control of your own career and making decisions for yourself, rather than
submitting that control to others is liberating in a way that brings an
exhilarating freedom.  I’ve never,
in my entire life, gained anything from allowing corporations to control my
destiny.  I’ve only made steps
forward by taking them myself. 
Many years ago, self-publishing was a wasteland, because you were denied
distribution.  Today, it’s the Fertile
Crescent.




Besides Amazon, are
there any other sites where your books are for sale?

B&N Nook & Smashwords.




What kinds of
marketing [twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for promoting
your book(s)?

I’m not there yet, but soon I’ll employ twitter and
facebook.




Do you find it
difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing
your next book?

Of course.  
Like most writers, marketing is a chore to me.  Writing is where I want to spend my time.




What advice would you
give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?

Accept what you can do with it and what you can’t.  Your options with the big houses, and
even many of the small ones, are not very good.  You’ll have to give up a great deal of self-determination to
get them to pay attention to you. 
And all you’ll get for that is a few inches of a few bookstore shelves
for a few weeks. 




Make the choices and take the steps you need to take to
advance your own work—and don’t cede those decisions to someone else and assume
they’ll act in your best interest. 
They won’t.




What’s next for you?

Another novel, Wasted,
that will be out by the end of the year. 
It’s a very different book from Internal
Security.

Review: FIGURES IN SILK by Vanora Bennett

2 of 5 stars

I am a fan of historical fiction and when I saw FIGURES IN SILK in the bargain pile, I grabbed it. From the description on the back book cover, I thought I'd be enjoying the story about two sisters, but I was sorely disappointed. The book focuses mainly on Isabel who we first meet as a 14-year-old sheltered girl from a wealthy family and her fears about being forced into marriage with Thomas Claver. In the first scene she is praying/sobbing in church when she meets a "hard" stranger with a "wolfish" smile. She is instantly captivated by him and so begins her decade plus affair with Dickon (aka Richard, Duke of Gloucester). When she agrees to share a meal with him, it feels unbelievable that an innocent girl with no worldly experience would agree to do this.



Isabel goes on to marry Thomas Claver and her life is set on a path of silk merchants. There are some good parts in the book especially Isabel's determination to find her place in the Claver household when her husband is killed after only two weeks of marriage. I was rooting for her at this point in the book, but the endless descriptions of silks, fabrics and the intricacies of the silk trade were boring and I ended up skipping pages at a time.



The author clearly misses the mark in not focusing more on the sisterly relationship of Isabel and Jane. I actually thought Jane's story was quite interesting, but there were only snippets of how she became the mistress of King Edward, survived being arrested as a witch and imprisoned in Ludgate Prison. Even with this turn of events, Isabel remains enamored with Dickon/Richard and
never once believes that he has done despicable things to become King. For such a smart business woman, Isabel can't seem to connect the dots.



Another point where the reader must suspend belief is throughout the book both sisters are having affairs for 10+ years, but neither one ends up having a child. That seemed totally unrealistic along with the scene involving the arrest and execution of Lord Hastings. For this one scene only Richard is portrayed as the "mad" king. It was totally out of character with how Richard had been portrayed throughout the story. The ending of the book seemed contrived and not satisfying at all. I didn't care what Isabel did. This book could have been a fresh take on Richard III's rise and fall during the War of the Roses, but it falls short on so many levels that I cannot recommend it.

Quick read for the weekend, LOVE BY CHANCE

The time for this short story in the Kindle Lending Library is coming to an end. It will be FREE today and tomorrow (June 1 & 2)  so grab it while you can. It's a sweet little romance. Happy Reading!







Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Chance-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B007PFY69E

Review: GENTLE WIND'S CARESS by Anne Brear

4 of 5 stars


Isabelle Gibson is a young woman who knows the pain of loss. When her father deserts the family, Isabelle, her sister, younger brother and mother are forced into a workhouse. A life full of drudgery is not for the gentle and weak of heart and Isabelle loses her mother and sister to this harsh life. Determined to save herself and her brother from this life of suffering, she agrees to marry a farmer, Len Ferrell. What she doesn't know is that she has just condemned herself and brother to a life far worse than the one they had left at the workhouse.  When Ferrell abandons her after a robbery gone bad, Isabelle must dig deep to find the strength to run the tenant farm. She meets the landlord, Ethan Harrington, and for the first time in her life, finds someone who treats her with respect. Their feelings grow into a tender love, but it comes with a high cost.



The author does a very good job of letting the reader into Isabelle's mind as she struggles with feelings of abandonment and her fierce determination to provide her little brother with a better life. She is a strong female character who is not diminished by the male characters, Ethan and Ferrell, in the book. I found myself totally immersed in the story, always waiting for the second shoe to drop. Could Isabelle have finally found someone who loves her deeply? Or is their newfound love destined to bring disaster to everyone Isabelle loves?



Without putting in any spoilers, I read this book in 2 sittings. It was that good and kept my attention throughout. Readers of women's fiction will definitely enjoy this story of a strong young woman who must face seemingly impossible odds to save herself and her little brother from a life as beggars in the streets.



I received an advanced copy of this book from Knox Robinson Publishing.

Interview with Jayce Grayson

Can you give us a
brief overview of your latest book?

XIANNE: A COMEDY OF
CULTURES: VOLUME ONE is basically a sci-fi novel about where our evolving
culture will have taken us in about 300 years. Seen in microcosm among the
relatively few characters in the story—aboard Captain Tom Duncan’s
interplanetary luxury yacht/freighter, Xianne—
I try to explore the repercussions of our growing “porn culture” upon
interpersonal relationships of the future, keeping in mind that by then many of
today’s taboos will have completely disappeared, just as those from 300 years
ago have in our day. I certainly would like to inspire serious thought, but
there is so much potential humor in the subject that the book has also been
described as a “futuristic romantic comedy”. I’m happy with that.




Did you try the
traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?

No. Despite the general consensus that “indie books” are not
worth reading, I wanted to bypass all of the delays and entanglements that
greet a first-time author when trying to break in to traditional publishing. I
also know—from having read them—that there are many traditionally published
books that aren’t worth reading, either. Certainly, an indie author should feel
a responsibility to his readers to produce a professional-quality book—and by
that, I don’t mean the subject of the
material. (Readers will like almost anything that they’re interested in, and avoid
themes that do not interest them.) I
mean the format—the look—of the book.
It’s up to the author to go the extra mile and make sure that it’s edited
properly, that words are spelled correctly, that punctuation meets acceptable
standards, etc. The bad rap that indie books have received is a direct result
of certain writers just flinging their words down and paying for publication,
seemingly without even proofreading the manuscript! Everyone can tell a story,
but not everyone can write one.




What do you feel has
helped improve your writing?

That’s easy. Reading.
The only reason I have a desire to write is because of the many wonderful books
I’ve read in my life. We all have our favorite authors, and actually studying
how they write is of great benefit. Of course, I’m greatly indebted to every
teacher of English that I had, and I’ve found that paying attention to how a
sentence rolls off the tongue can make all the difference in the presentation
of my story.




What factors
influenced your decision to self-publish?

Well, if you’ve looked at a copy of something like THE WRITER’S
MARKET, it doesn’t take long to discern that the traditional publishing houses
aren’t interested in “unknowns”. They want authors who have been previously
published—and don’t even think of not
having an agent! The “slush pile” for unsolicited manuscripts is fast going the
way of the dinosaur. YOU HAVE TO KNOW SOMEBODY. I didn’t. Plus, I realized that
with the nature of my subject matter, I’d probably come up against overwhelming
obstacles anyway. Indie publishing allowed me to keep complete control of my
material, avoid the middlemen, and it expedited the publishing of my book. I
know of an author, right now, whose book was completed a couple of years before
I began writing XIANNE, and he is still wrapped up in a traditional
publishing house’s red tape. 
Publication for his book is tentatively set for early 2013. This is not
a unique case—it’s one of the most prevalent gripes that writer’s have.




Did you hire an
editor to review your manuscript before publishing?

I didn’t, and I hope I don’t fall into the very category of
writers that I was criticizing earlier. No, I did it myself, relying on my own
education and the practice of rewriting at least three times. As well as the
extensive reading I’ve done in my life. I’ve always tried to pay as much attention
to how an author writes as I do to what he writes. And, of course, there
are many variations of style.




What have you learned
during your self-publishing journey?

Truthfully, that it was easier than I thought it would be. Also,
that, once resolved to publish your book, you must ignore those who parrot the
“party line” that your book isn’t as good as those from the traditional
publishers. They don’t know that, if they
haven’t read it! Knowing what I know now about the process, I’m amazed that
these famous authors, who have already amassed their fortunes, actually remain
with traditional publishing houses. They’re established, we know their names,
and we’ll buy anything they
write—They could save themselves a lot of the misery that I hear them relating.
Publish yourself.




Besides Amazon, are
there any other sites where your books are for sale?

At Infinity Publishing’s site, buybooksontheweb.com.
Alibris, Barnes & Noble, several other of the web-based bookstores—just
enter XIANNE into the search engine
of your choice!




Do you find it
difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing
your next book?

A little—and to the detriment of marketing this one. I’ve almost completed the 2nd
(and most sweeping) revision of the 2nd volume of XIANNE, and I find that I’m far more
interested in that than in making sales of the 1st one. I think that
it’s important, as an indie author, to be resolved in your mind that you aren’t
likely to become a millionaire. It would be nice, if it happened, but I’m not
driven by that. For me, it’s the getting of my ideas down, getting them
published, and in feeling a sense of pride in what I’ve accomplished. I think
that may be the dividing line between indie authors and traditional authors.
Don’t get me wrong—I’d love a big, fat cash advance from a traditional
publisher, and I’d probably even compromise what I write about—until I had enough
money to have my own way and/or return to indie publishing!




What advice would you
give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?

Really, what I’ve already mentioned. Take responsibility for
producing a professional-quality book—pay someone if you have to. I’ve seen
indie books that looked as though they were written by illiterate authors—perhaps they were. Writing a book is more than
just telling a story. Even a bad
story can be made better by a good delivery. Those English classes were
important! And then, don’t expect to get rich—great if you do—but don’t publish yourself with that as your goal. And finally,
if you’ve written a good book, and you know it, disregard the naysayers. I’ve
paid good money for novels from respected publishing houses that were grave
disappointments to me. Everyone won’t
like your novel, but everyone won’t
hate it, either.




What’s next for you?

XIANNE: A COMEDY OF
CULTURES: VOLUME TWO. Hopefully, by early 2013. (No deadlines, either.)
There will be four volumes; the third is complete, and I’m roughly halfway
through the writing of the final volume. After that, I’ll definitely be ready
for a change of subject.

Was Merlin from the planet Otharia?

At least that's what Dave and I are proposing in our Rule of Otharia books. The Arthurian legends of Merlin the Magician and the Lady of the Lake are steeped in mystery and legends. How was Merlin able to do those incredible feats that he's credited with? One answer could be that he wasn't from Earth, but from the distant planet, Otharia. He was a powerful telekinetic and along with Vivienne (Lady of the Lake) who in her own right was a powerful empath, they were able to awe the primitive people with their "magic."



There is a link between the distant planet of Otharia and Earth. Here's the prologue for book 1, QUEST FOR NOBILITY. It will explain how Merlin and Vivienne came to be on Earth in the first place.
















AD




With bloody
sword in hand, Reaver looked over the scene of the massacre.  It did not sit well with him, what he
had done, but he was loyal to his commander.  The orders had been simple: kill them all, and so he had
done his best.  Now, with most of
the killing done, he had time to reflect.

May the gods have mercy on our souls.

***

The Telkur duty
telekinetic looked up as the unauthorized portal started to form. He checked the
coordinates and was shocked to see that the incoming portal was from the planet
Earth. That off-world expedition was not due to check in for another month.

“What the...”

Before he could
finish his sentence, two bloodied men staggered through the opening.

“We’ve been
attacked,” the first man said. “All is lost.”

More men and
women stumbled through the portal with varying degrees of battle wounds. The
duty telekinetic was stunned. Earth was a primitive planet, but from all the previous
indications, its people were peaceful.

Snapping out of
his shock, he opened a comm link directly to the Duke of Telkur.

“Sire, we have
trouble at the portal station. Some of the expedition members are back and are
badly wounded.  Please come
immediately and bring the healers.”

***

The gavel banged
and the Master Clerk read the declaration.

“Let it be known
that, from this day forward, off-world travel to the planet Earth is
prohibited.”

Duke Rael Telkur
sat unmoving in the Grand Council chamber room. The decree was final. There
would be no more travel to Earth. He had lost a fortune financing the ill-fated
expedition.  It had required four
10K crystals powering the portals to transport the hundred-plus explorers and
their supplies.  Normally, a 10K
crystal would provide a duchy with more than three years of local planetary
travel.  But more importantly than
the crystal expense, he had lost fifty loyal men and women to brutality.  Only five of his expedition team had
made it back to Otharia, but they all subsequently died of their wounds.  The Vogdo team members had fared only
slightly better; a mere ten of their men returned. 

Rael glanced
down the table to where his partner in this venture, Duke Jaks Vogdo, sat
stone-faced. There was nothing more to be done.

Jaks looked at
Rael and nodded.  You naive fool, Rael.  If only you knew the truth.

Jak’s duchy was rich in crystal
mines located within the Sharellian Mountains.  Everyone believed the crystal veins were bottomless, and the
Vogdo family thought the same until the veins started to dry up.

Fate and fortune had shone favorably
upon Jaks Vogdo when mineral-rich Earth was discovered. He eagerly agreed to form
an alliance with Rael to explore this strange new world. They would share
expenses for the exorbitant cost of off-world exploration and divide any
potential riches evenly.  

At least that was the plan, but
greed has a way of eliminating alliances even among friends. Blinded by
unimaginable wealth, Jaks had no compunction about turning on his partner and
ordering the massacre of the Telkur team members.

“The crystals must be shipped back
here without a trace,” Jaks told his man on Earth.  “I’ll open the portal from Earth directly into my mines and
transfer the foreign crystals unseen. 
No one will ever know the truth.”

***

“I told
you this would work,” Merlinius Telkur said.

His
partner Vivienne shook her head at his boasting.  She hated this planet Earth.  They had been running for days from the Vogdo hunting party
and she was at the end of her patience. 
Their 10K traveling crystal was gone and they had no way to return to
Otharia or even contact them to let them know what had transpired here.  There were so few of the Telkur
expedition that had escaped the initial attack, and now they were stuck on this
primitive planet. 

“Save
your breath, Merlinius,” Vivienne shot back.  “Just concentrate on holding your shield until those
bastards out there leave and we can get out of here.”

 “I know that,” Merlinis replied,
exasperated at Vivienne’s curt command. 
“You make sure your own shield holds.  If they detect our life signs, this ruse will be for nothing
and we’ll have to run again.”

Vivienne
sighed heavily.  At the moment, she
didn’t know which was worse: Merlinius’ bravado, or being stranded on Earth
with a band of Vogdo killers outside the cave hunting them.




***

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formally known as Decoration Day and commemorates all men and women, who have died in military service for the United States. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day and it is traditionally seen as the start of the summer season.



Memorial Day started as an event to honor Union soldiers, who had died during the American Civil War. It was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead. After World War I, it was extended to include all men and women, who died in any war or military action.


The current name for this day did not come into use until after World War II. Decoration Day and then Memorial Day used to be held on May 30, regardless of the day of the week, on which it fell. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. This meant that that, from 1971, Memorial Day holiday has been officially observed on the last Monday in May. However, it took a longer period for all American states to recognize the new date.



Whatever you decide to do on this 3-day weekend, say a prayer and a "thank you" for all of the US military personnel who are serving around the world to keep us safe.



I'll be back with a new blog post on Tuesday, May 29th. Have a great weekend and stay safe!

Review: ANGEL FIRE by Valmore Daniels

4 of 5 stars



Avenging angel or murderer? This is the choice you need to make in ANGEL FIRE. The book opens with Darcy Anderson being released from prison after serving a ten-year sentence for manslaughter. This immediately captured my interest and is an excellent opening that kept me turning the pages. Why was she in prison? Who did she kill? The rest of the story focuses on Darcy as she tries to go home and blend in with the good townsfolk of Middleton. Unfortunately for her, people remember her as the girl who killed her parents in a horrific house fire. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Sheriff and her ex-husband Barry will not let the past rest and relentlessly confront her at every turn.




As the story unfolds, Mr. Daniels skillfully reveals more details about Darcy and what really happened on the night her parents were killed. Is she a "fire bug" as some call her or does she have an other worldly power to bring forth intense fire at will? The secondary characters are nicely fleshed out and I especially liked her Uncle Edward, a stern no-nonsense kind of guy. Darcy's inner turmoil as she comes to grips with her power is portrayed quite well by the author. Throw in a love interest with a strange power of his own and it's hard to put the book down.




I don't want to put any spoilers in the review, but suffice it to say, this is indeed an intriguing read. Whether you love her or hate her for the things she does, this book will keep you thinking long after you've finished reading. Does the end justify the means?

Interview with Jaidis Shaw

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Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book?

Destiny Awaits is my debut paranormal romance novel and I’m so excited to be
able to share it! It follows the life of Alayna Scott who decides to move to
the small town of Juniper Grove after the tragic accident that claimed the
lives of her parents. After the move, she catches the eye of a vampire and
through a series of events, is brought into a world that she never knew
existed. Jayden, her super sexy neighbor and love interest, will risk
everything to ensure her safety and make sure that she is the one by his side.




Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e.
querying agents/publishers?

I decided with Destiny Awaits that self-publishing was
the route to go so I did not try to get it traditionally published. I am not
opposed to traditional publishing and if the opportunity presented itself I
would consider making the switch but I just went with self-publishing because I
have been working on it for so long and wanted to get it out. I also like the
control that self-publishing provides.




What factors influenced your decision to self-publish
to Amazon?

I have talked with several
authors and have heard numerous stories on both the good and bad aspects to
self-publishing to Amazon. I just felt as though going with Amazon was the
right choice for me and I needed to try it for myself so I could form my own
opinion about it. So far, it has been a positive experience with great results.





Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript
before publishing?

Yes. I believe that having a
professional editor go over your manuscript is necessary and should always been
done before publishing. Readers deserve to have a clean story and shouldn’t be
distracted with poor editing.




Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your
books are for sale?

Currently you can only buy
the eBook version of Destiny Awaits
on Amazon because I enrolled it in the Kindle Select Program. After it
completes the required time frame, I may consider having it available at
different sites. It really all depends on the results.




What kinds of marketing [twitter, facebook, blog,
forums] are you involved with for promoting your book(s)?

I am active on several
different sites in order to promote not only my book but my blog as well. Sites
like Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads, various forums and NING groups are great
ways to spread the word and reach new readers. I would say that Twitter,
Facebook and my blog Juniper Grove are the sites where I am most active.




Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between
marketing your current book and writing your next book?

It is difficult to promote
my current book and work on upcoming projects. A writer really needs to find a
balance because you can’t slack promoting currently published projects or
readers will lose interest but you can’t spend all of your time promoting or
you will never get new work out. Personally, I usually have certain days of the
week that I spend only on promotion and other days I focus only on writing and
it seems to work out well.




What advice would you give a new author just entering
into the self-publishing arena?

I would strongly encourage
any authors who are considering self-publishing to talk with other authors who
already have experience with it. Having close author friends that I know and
trust helped me tremendously along my own self-publishing journey.




Do you belong to a critique group? Have they helped
improve your writing?

I currently do not belong to
any critique groups but am considering joining one. I do have a few close
friends and beta readers that I discuss my work with that have helped me. It’s
important to have people take a look at your work and offer an honest opinion
so that you can make it the best it can be.




What’s next for you?

I am currently working on
book two in the Juniper Grove Chronicles series. It will take a closer look at
one of the minor characters in Destiny
Awaits named Violet as she struggles with finding a balance between being a
rare shifter and life as a senior in high school with boy troubles.




Also, I have begun work on a
new paranormal suspense/thriller series that I am super excited about! It will
be for a more mature audience because it will contain a few elements that aren’t
suitable for YA. Book one is tentatively titled The Stager and it follows the life of an assassin who uses her
special ability to get revenge.




I can be found at the
following places:

Juniper Grove: http://junipergrove.net

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5556095.Jaidis_Shaw


Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Jaidis-Shaw/e/B0070OE758/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_3


YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/JaidisShaw


Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJaidisShaw


Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/#!/JaidisShaw











Author Bio:



Jaidis Shaw currently
resides in a small town located in South Carolina with her husband and her beautiful
daughter. With a passion for reading, Jaidis can always be found surrounded by
books and dreaming of new stories. She enjoys challenging herself by writing in
different genres and currently has several projects in the works.

When not reading or writing,
Jaidis fills the position of Book Tour Coordinator for Nurture Your Books™,
maintains the Juniper Grove blog and loves encouraging her daughter to let her
imagination run wild.