M.M. Hudson's Blog, page 35

That One Spooky Night by Dan Bar-el #countdowntohalloween2021 #review

This is three short stories all in comic form. Each story fits with the next one to make a complete book. The characters also tend to show up in subsequent stories as well.

The main premise of the book is about that one spooky night, of course the reader knows it is Halloween, and what happens. The book opens up with a teaser summary. That was truly fun and refreshing to see within a book.

The stories in brief summary:

1. A girl wanting to be a witch for Halloween runs into a real witch. She gets to live the life.

2. A set of rambunctious twin boys dress up a sea monster hunters. Dad is exhausted after the outing. They then end up fighting real sea monsters in the most unlikely place. (Note: I liked this one in particular because I have twin brothers. The twinning thing...oy!)

3. A set of girl friends go out in various cutesy costumes. Once away from home, they change into scarier costumes and frighten other kids. They soon find themselves at a house of other "girls" who are not exactly who they think they are.

 I loved the story lines and the artwork. The characters all are a bit obnoxious in their own ways. The artwork is consistent in Halloween-ish colors and have an old school comics flair. Even though this book is not overly scary...aka a young child could read it... it holds its own merits and a book any kid or adult would love.

4  pumpkins!

Disclosure: I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

October: #Reviews , #Spotlights and a Whole Lot More #2021 #CountdowntoHalloweenBlog #countdowntohalloween2021

 Photo Credit

 Hello my fellow friends and Blogger readers. October has arrived and I am as always eager for this month. I have been busy putting together "spooky" and not-so spooky Halloween/Fall reads. This month includes many spotlights but quite a few reviews too. Many of them also have giveaway attached so, make sure to check them out and enter if you want.

The horror!
Artist unknown to me.

In case you did not know. I along with a guy by the name of Dex, host a Halloween Countdown all month long. If you are blogging Halloween or the macabre and would like to sign up for it, do so before Sunday, October 3rd. This blog as well as many, many more are seen every year. It is fun!

 Go HERE to sign up.

I hope you enjoy this month with me! It starts...NOW!

~Michelle

A Child Called You by JD Wise #review #giveaway #picturebook

 

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Genre: Children's Picture Book

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Winner of a Mom’s Choice Award

This book is about you! That’s righttt, it is about YOU! You can love others for who they are by showing them kindness without judgement. The first book in the Kindness is for Everyone series, this book will teach you that celebrating our differences is the true expression of kindness the world needs.

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JD Wise is a West Virginian-born author who believes that the world can be changed for the better, by one person, one time, doing the right thing.

“Just think what would happen if we all did that,” said Wise.

Wise is happily married to the love of his life. Together, they have four wonderful children, who are the true inspiration for the book.

MY REVIEW HERE

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- 1 winner each!

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Guest post by Lorie Lewis Ham, author of One of Us #mystery

 

I want to welcome my guest author, Lorie Lewis Ham, who is here to tell us about how she comes up with character names for her book, One of Us. Take it away. ~Michelle

To find out more about Lorie and her book visit her:

Website – https://www.mysteryrat.com/

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N 

Where Character Names Come From

By Lorie Lewis Ham

 

I love coming up with names! In our home, I am usually the one who comes up with the pet names—including when I ran a small pet rescue—and that was a lot of names. Our current pet names are Lestat, Huey, Phoebe, Xander, Willow, Sam, Dean, Merlin, and Sidney. It is also one of my favorite things to do when writing a book.

 

My character names have come from many different sources. One name from my first series was an interesting one that I found on a tombstone in our cemetery, Hunter Edgington. I have used first or last names of favorite fictional characters, favorite actors, and mash-ups of names from people I know. Sometimes, a name will just pop in my head ready to go. The name of the main character in my first series was a name that I had wanted to use for our first child, but had gotten a definite no on from my husband—Alexandra. I named Alexandra’s daughter Jessica, after Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. Their last name, Walters, was my Grandma’s maiden name.

 

My new book, One of Us, features Roxi Carlucci. She is a part time private detective and podcaster who moves to the Tower District in Fresno when her life is in need of a reboot. I try to find names that fit with the character’s personality as much as possible. I had been playing with story ideas for her character for so long that I can’t remember how I landed on Roxi—but it fits. It’s fun and tough like she is.

 

Her last name, Carlucci, has a history. One of the first characters I ever created was Stephen Carlucci. Stephen is Roxi’s cousin. When I was in my early twenties, my brother and I liked to write mystery parties for our friends—they were full-blown scripts with unique characters for every guest to play. Stephen was one of those characters. Stephen’s family is connected to the Mafia, so I knew his last name needed to be Italian. One day while driving to the coast for a vacation, we passed a street sign with the name Carlucci—right then I knew that was Stephen’s last name. Now it is Roxi’s too!

 

The origins of some of the other names in One of Us include Nathan Gilmore (Nathan Fillion—one of my favorite actors, and Gilmore Girls), Lucas Shum (Luke from the days of Luke and Laura on General Hospital, and another favorite actor, Harry Shum Jr.), Humphrey Clark Halliwell (Clark Gable, Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl, and Halliwell from Charmed). Most of the other names in the book just came to me as I was writing the character—somehow, I just knew that was their name. Those include Chloe, Teresa Moran (okay, her last name came from Sherlock Holmes), Tabitha, Alec Dunne, and Walt Wood.

 

Even the pet names in One of Us have similar inspirations—Merlin the pet rat (King Arthur), Dan the black cat (that one is a surprise), Bogie the Dachshund (Humphrey Bogart), and Watson the Pit Bull (that one is obvious).

 

Right now, I am starting to work on book two in the series, so I am looking for inspiration for some new names. I may need to take a walk in the cemetery to see if I can find some more ideas. Or perhaps there are some names from the British Mystery TV shows I have been binging during the pandemic that I could use. I hope you will consider reading One of Us and getting to know all of these characters.

#Review: A Child Called You by JD Wise #series #inclusive #picturebook

Synopsis:

This book is about you! That’s right, it is about YOU! You can love others for who they are by showing them kindness without judgement. The first book in the Kindness is for Everyone series, this book will teach you that celebrating our differences is the true expression of kindness the world needs.

My review:

This is a sweet rhyming book that is completely inclusive of other cultures and abilities. It is a refreshing take on how if we work together we can make a better world. 

I enjoyed the illustrations by artist Rachel Novel who brought bold and colorful pictures to make the book in its completion. I had to laugh at the page where a Mom is upset with her daughter. The hair flaring everywhere I could totally relate to.

There is a page that is "political" in nature and children reading the book would not understand the illustration for it at all. However, any adult who might be reading the book to a child would certainly get the message. This was by far intentional but could have been something else too.

Another page had children playing under a rainbow parachute. Again something I can relate to from my childhood. However, the message to adults is loud and clear. It adds to the overall message of inclusiveness and kindness which is what the books is ultimately about.

If I could mention one thing, it would have been to add more "abilities" to the book other than the "token" person in a wheel chair. There are many people, including myself, that have different "abilities." What about the deaf child? The blind child? An autistic child? It would have been nice to see one of these children playing with the other kids.

Overall, I truly liked this book and will be interested to read other books that are to come in this series. 

4 stars.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author. The views expressed here are 100& my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

About the author:

JD Wise is a West Virginian-born author who believes that the world can be changed for the better, by one person, one time, doing the right thing.

“Just think what would happen if we all did that,” said Wise.

Wise is happily married to the love of his life. Together, they have four wonderful children, who are the true inspiration for the book.

The Spiricom and A Scandal at Crystalline by Roslyn Reid #giveaway #spotlight #paranormalmystery #bookseries

 

An Early Mystery Book 2

Genre: Paranormal Mystery

She was killed on their wedding day…but he couldn’t let her go .

Tall, handsome Dr. Spencer Py was a well-respected environmental scientist…until a limo crash killed his new bride Melanie and left him in a wheelchair. He is racked with despair over his failure to save her until the fateful night he discovers plans on the internet for the Spiricom, Thomas Edison’s electronic device for communicating with the departed. Determined to be united with his beloved Melanie, he builds the device—never imagining his unexpected results would draw an unsuspecting James Early into the scariest case of the Maine detective’s life.

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A Scandal at Crystalline

An Early Mystery Book 1

Chandler Hammond’s wife says he and his hot Iraqi girlfriend skipped out of their Maine town of Finderne with his company’s millions. But his sister thinks his wife murdered him and hires detective James Early and his teenage son Tikki to find the truth. A Scandal at Crystalline follows them through an intriguing maze of unexpected encounters: financial shenanigans, two beautiful women who were sleeping with each other (and with Chandler Hammond), a police psychic, and a runaway kid in a remote mountain cabin. But things turn dark when their investigation forces them to consider the unimaginable—the sinister side of raku pottery.

**Only .99 cents!!**

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Amazon best-selling author Roslyn Reid's first mystery, A Scandal at Crystalline, debuted to almost a dozen five-star reviews on Amazon. It reveals the sinister side of raku pottery and kicks off a series of quirky mysteries set in Maine, featuring Black private detective James Early and his teenage son Tikki. The Spiricom, second book in the series, debuts in September 2021.

Reid lives with her corgi, Great Pyrenees, and husband in Downeast Maine, where she gardens, lifts weights, and hikes. A former model, she contributed to Llewellyn's annual almanacs for several decades and has written for a few of the local newspapers. She is a member of the Author's Guild, has a blog on Goodreads, an author page on allauthor.com, a LinkedIn account, and several boards on Pinterest. You can follow her on Bookbub, or on Twitter as @the_moonshadow.

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Fall Into Fantasy: 2021 Edition #anthology #multiauthors #spotlight

 

Fall Into Fantasy: 2021 Edition

Genre: Mixed Fantasy Anthology

with stories by:

Shane Porteous “Gathering Genocide”
Barend Nieuwstraten III “Hearthshare”
Alex Minns “The Concealed Witness”
Andrew P. McGregor “Demon Dave: Dinner Time”
Joanne Blondin “Astounding Performances”
James Pyles “Theo Klaggorn, Private Detective”
Anstice Brown “Beneath The Roots”
J. C. Pillard “Three Drops In The Snow”
Linda M. Crate “Flight Of The Fae”
Matthew McKiernan “The Each-Uisge”
Jabe Stafford “Dead Next Door”
Clarissa Gosling “The Genie Of The Ring”
R. A. Clarke “The Brightening”
R. A. Meenan “Some Things Remain”
Marsheila Rockwell “Play It Again, Sem

Fall Into Fantasy returns with 15 tales spanning the breadth of fantasy. From captive dragons to a magical war, Demons and circus performers, fairies and ghosts, dwarves and genies, even a typical day in the life of an earthworm. Don’t miss a single entertaining, exciting tale.

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Can't get enough Fantasy? Check out the other Fall Into Fantasy sets! 

Fall Into Fantasy: 2020 Edition

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Fall Into Fantasy: 2019 Edition

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Fall Into Fantasy: 2018 Edition

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Fall Into Fantasy: 2017 Edition

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Banned and Challenged Books Week Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2021 #ReadBannedBooks

  Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us. 

That is the theme for this year's banned and challenged book week. Every year since 1990 the American Library Association has collected and listed banned books for that year. Below, I have listed the top 100 in the last decade. (resource ALA, 2021)

No doubt you have read all or some of these books or have them on your shelves, not even realizing that the books have been challenged or outright banned. We all do not have to like what others read. Fortunately, we have the freedom in this country and some others, to read what we want. 

Take some time this week and read at least one of the books on the list. Talk about it. Visit your local library to see what events they have for the week. Comment to me about your own thoughts. Take some action by visiting the ALA and getting some ideas of what you can do. 

I will be reading, will you?

~Michelle

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman AlexieCaptain Underpants (series) by Dav PilkeyThirteen Reasons Why by Jay AsherLooking for Alaska by John GreenGeorge by Alex GinoAnd Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter ParnellDrama by Raina TelgemeierFifty Shades of Grey by E. L. JamesInternet Girls (series) by Lauren MyracleThe Bluest Eye by Toni MorrisonThe Kite Runner by Khaled HosseiniHunger Games by Suzanne CollinsI Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica HerthelThe Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen ChboskyTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeBone (series) by Jeff SmithThe Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsTwo Boys Kissing by David LevithanA Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill TwissSex is a Funny Word by Cory SilverbergAlice McKinley (series) by Phyllis Reynolds NaylorIt's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. HarrisNineteen Minutes by Jodi PicoultScary Stories (series) by Alvin SchwartzSpeak by Laurie Halse AndersonA Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyBeyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan KuklinOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckThe Handmaid's Tale by Margaret AtwoodThe Hate U Give by Angie ThomasFun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison BechdelIt's a Book by Lane SmithThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienWhat My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya SonesA Child Called "It" by Dave PelzerBad Kitty (series) by Nick BruelCrank by Ellen HopkinsNickel and Dimed by Barbara EhrenreichPersepolis by Marjane SatrapiThe Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav PilkeyThis Day in June by Gayle E. PitmanThis One Summer by Mariko TamakiA Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl by Tanya Lee StoneBeloved by Toni MorrisonGoosebumps (series) by R.L. StineIn Our Mothers' House by Patricia PolaccoLush by Natasha FriendThe Catcher in the Rye by J. D. SalingerThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonThe Holy BibleThis Book is Gay by Juno DawsonEleanor & Park by Rainbow RowellExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran FoerGossip Girl (series) by Cecily von ZiegesarHouse of Night (series) by P.C. CastMy Mom's Having A Baby by Dori Hillestad ButlerNeonomicon by Alan MooreThe Dirty Cowboy by Amy TimberlakeThe Giver by Lois LowryAnne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo AnayaDraw Me a Star by Eric CarleDreaming In Cuban by Cristina GarciaFade by Lisa McMannThe Family Book by Todd ParrFeed by M.T. AndersonGo the Fuck to Sleep by Adam MansbachHabibi by Craig ThompsonHouse of the Spirits by Isabel AllendeJacob's New Dress by Sarah HoffmanLolita by Vladimir NabokovMonster by Walter Dean MyersNasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette WinterSaga by Brian K. VaughanStuck in the Middle by Ariel SchragThe Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal1984 by George OrwellA Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessAlmost Perfect by Brian KatcherAwakening by Kate ChopinBurned by Ellen HopkinsEnder's Game by Orson Scott CardFallen Angels by Walter Dean MyersGlass by Ellen HopkinsHeather Has Two Mommies by Lesle´a NewmanI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouMadeline and the Gypsies by Ludwig BemelmansMy Princess Boy by Cheryl KilodavisPrince and Knight by Daniel HaackRevolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology by Amy SonnieSkippyjon Jones (series) by Judith SchachnerSo Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima WatkinsThe Color of Earth (series) by Tong-hwa KimThe Librarian of Basra by Jeanette WinterThe Walking Dead (series) by Robert KirkmanTricks by Ellen HopkinsUncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S BrannenYear of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Pineapple Circus and Pineapple Cruise by Amy Vansant #Spotlight #giveaway #CozyMysteries #bookseries

 

Pineapple Circus

Pineapple Port Mysteries Book 13

Now in the center ring... murder!Newly-minted private detective Charlotte Morgan, resident orphan of the Pineapple Port 55+ community, discovers she might not be an orphan after all. Stunned by the news, she distracts herself with a cat burglar who left a smear of make-upped whiskers on a sliding glass door, and a path straight to "Clown Town" a retirement community for retired circus performers. When a fortune-teller doesn't see her own death in the cards, Charlotte's burglary becomes a murder investigation!

Charlotte's neighborhood moms, Mariska and Darla, can't help with this one. They're busy infiltrating an underground golf cart racing ring, led by a shady operator and her toady sidekick...

When another circus performer falls victim to the Big Top Killer and Stephanie goes missing, Charlotte finds herself walking a highwire of danger...this killer isn't clowning around!

WARNING! Fans of the series will be particularly shocked by the breathless ending! (though every book can be read as a standalone).

Pineapple Port Mysteries by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Amy Vansant, is a funny, clean, and gore-free small-town, female amateur sleuth series, but with all the pulse-pounding excitement of a detective thriller.

**On Sale for $2 off right now!!**

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Pineapple Cruise

Pineapple Port Mysteries Book 14

When Mariska trades the brisket she won at “Meat Bingo” for three tickets on the new Gulf Voyager cruise ship, she, Darla and our detective Charlotte enjoy a ladies cruise to Key West. But when passengers start dropping like anchors, they find themselves afloat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico...and a murder mystery.

Charlotte notices the victims were all sitting at their assigned dinner table...does that mean they're next?

Fans of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None will love this cruise-bound caper!

**On Sale for $2 off right now!!**

***Check out the rest of the Pineapple Port Mysteries – some are on sale!!***

Pineapple Lies – Get it FREE Sept. 2, 7, 14
Pineapple Beach House – Only .99c Aug 30 -Sep 5
Pineapple Turtles - Only .99c Sept. 18-24
Pineapple Puppies – Only .99c Sept 20-26
Pineapple House Hunter – Only .99c Sept. 30-Oct. 6
Pineapple Jailbird – Only .99c Sept 10-16

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Mystery Readers love The Pineapple Port Series:

"Amy is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend all of her books. No matter what genre she writes in, she manages to create books that demand that the pages be immediately turned to find out what happened because you really care about the characters."  ~  Dianne Harman, USA Today and Amazon Chart #1 Bestselling Author

"Too much!! Wow! I don't think I've had so much laughter and fun in a cozy mystery ever! " - Amazon Reader ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Mysteries usually aren't my genre, but Amy does a great job in adding twists, turns and - of course - her humor to every page. For a person like me who finds it hard to pick up a book and keep turning the pages, the fact that I tore through this book from start to finish and am looking forward to the next one speaks volumes." - Author, Rodney Lacroix ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"More than once, I found myself laughing out loud while reading through the story. The character development is good, the humor is unforced. All around, an excellent, lighthearted mystery that I would absolutely recommend." - Amazon Reader ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"One of the best surprise ending I have read.." - Amazon Vine Voice Reader ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"An unlikely friendship and romance develop with moments of levity and hilarious laughter. More than once, I found myself laughing out loud while reading through the story. The character development is good, the humor is unforced. All around, an excellent, lighthearted mystery that I would absolutely recommend." --- Amazon Vine Voice Reader ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Amy Vansant has written over 20 books, including the fun, thrilling Shee McQueen series, the rollicking, twisty Pineapple Port Mysteries, and the action-packed Kilty urban fantasies. Throw in a couple romances and a YA fantasy for her nieces... Amy specializes in fun, exciting reads with plenty of laughs and action -- she tried to write serious books, but they always ended up full of jokes, so she gave up.
Amy lives in Jupiter, Florida with her muse/husband a goony Bordoodle named Archer.

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Sand and Shadow by Laurisa White Reyes #spotlight #sci-fi #horror

 

Sand and Shadow

Genre: SciFi Horror

★Winner of the Houston Writer's House Competition★

Seven Survivors.

One Monster.

Nowhere to hide.

Mission Specialist Adán Fuentes awakes from cryo-hibernation to discover that most of his fellow crewmates are dead and the shuttle Carpathia is not where it’s supposed to be. Surrounded by a vast barren landscape, he and the other survivors wonder how they can accomplish their mission, to establish a home for future colonists.

When an unseen creature attacks them, the Carpathia’s crew must turn their attention to surviving and solving the true purpose behind their mission.

Inspired by the 50’s sci-fi flick FORBIDDEN PLANET, SAND AND SHADOW plumbs the depths of the human psyche and the power of its influence. As the Carpathia’s crew’s secrets and flaws are revealed, readers may find themselves compelled to examine their own dark places.

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Laurisa White Reyes is the author of sixteen books. Her middle grade novel THE STORYTELLERS won the 2015 Spark Award from The Society of Children's Books Authors & Illustrators (SCBWI) and her young adult novel PETALS received the 2017 Spark Honor Award.

In addition to writing, Laurisa also is the founder and Senior Editor of Skyrocket Press, which publishes quality fiction and non-fiction for a variety of readers. She also teaches English composition at College of the Canyons in Southern California. To subscribe to Laurisa's monthly newsletter, visit her website at

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