Sybil Nelson's Blog, page 6
April 6, 2012
F is for Angela Fristoe
Born in Northern Canada, Angela grew up on the Canadian prairies amid dreams of becoming the next Dian Fossey or a world famous flight attendant. Those, however, were never meant to be. Instead, she moved to Texas and then eventually beautiful Colorado where she divides her time between her family, writing and her other job, teaching.Angela was the winner and double finalist in Romance category of The Strongest Start 2010 Contest hosted by TheNextBigWriter.com. Songbird, published by Little Prince Publishing, is Angela's first novel.<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=pristheg..." style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
What are people saying?"Songbird is a beautiful story about growing up, loving, and moving past tragedies. Dani is a realistic character who is constantly struggling to put the horrific memories of her past behind her. She loves her best friend Reece, but she can't separate him from the image of her dead brother. It takes a former foster brother and a series of mysterious calls for her to take a step into the present. The characters are wonderfully written and I cried a number of times, realizing that the situations Dani has been in are not as uncommon as people would like to think."
"Dani's story may seem like another troubled foster kid at first, but the deeper you read into her life the more you see how unique and special she is. This is an engaging story of a young woman who has witnessed terrible things and experienced heartbreak and pain no one should ever have to face, but her strength gives her a chance to make her life into something more than another link in the chain of addiction and abuse. Along with all of that, Songbird weaves a beautiful tale of love and romance. But like the rest of Dani's life, love won't come easily for her. The struggle she goes through to find out who she is and who she belongs with kept me reading just as much as the mystery. There was sadness in Songbird, but it was tempered by hope and love. Songbird was a fantastic read with so much depth that it stayed with me long after i finished the last chapter."
What are people saying?"Songbird is a beautiful story about growing up, loving, and moving past tragedies. Dani is a realistic character who is constantly struggling to put the horrific memories of her past behind her. She loves her best friend Reece, but she can't separate him from the image of her dead brother. It takes a former foster brother and a series of mysterious calls for her to take a step into the present. The characters are wonderfully written and I cried a number of times, realizing that the situations Dani has been in are not as uncommon as people would like to think."
"Dani's story may seem like another troubled foster kid at first, but the deeper you read into her life the more you see how unique and special she is. This is an engaging story of a young woman who has witnessed terrible things and experienced heartbreak and pain no one should ever have to face, but her strength gives her a chance to make her life into something more than another link in the chain of addiction and abuse. Along with all of that, Songbird weaves a beautiful tale of love and romance. But like the rest of Dani's life, love won't come easily for her. The struggle she goes through to find out who she is and who she belongs with kept me reading just as much as the mystery. There was sadness in Songbird, but it was tempered by hope and love. Songbird was a fantastic read with so much depth that it stayed with me long after i finished the last chapter."
April 5, 2012
E is for Elysabeth Eldering
Ms. Eldering is the award winning author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad (JGDS), 50-state, mystery, trivia series. Her stories "Train of Clues", "The Proposal" (available as an ebook), "Tulip Kiss" (available as an ebook), and "Butterfly Halves", all placed first, second, or runner up in various contests to include two for Armchair Interviews and two for Echelon Press (Fast and ... themed type contests). Her story "Bride-and-Seek" (available as an ebook) was selected for the South Carolina Writers' Workshop (SCWW) anthology, the Petigru Review. Ms. Eldering makes her home in upper state South Carolina and loves to travel, read, cross stitch and crochet. When she's not busy with teenaged children still at home, working her full-time job as a medical transcriptionist or participating in virtual classroom visits, she can be found at various homeschool or book events promoting her writing.
Her State of Wilderness has 5 stars from 7 reviews.
Some of her other books:
Finally home is a fun, clean read for younger teens. It has mystery and a little paranormal. Kelly is a thirteen year old who has to go against her father in order to save an old historic house. The problem is, Kelly's father gets paid to demolish old house. Find out what happens in this 56,000 word novel. Here is what people are saying:
"I have read this book and though it was written as a YA book, I found it a great read, well- written, and will keep you turning those pages. It reminded me of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. Would highly recommend this book and hope to see more from this author."
"Thirteen-year-old Kelly wants to save the old houses her father is supposed to tear down. She has managed to do it once before. Now, in her new neighborhood, she feels compelled to do it again.
This is a fun story about a young girl finding her way in life. The paranormal twist adds mystery and suspense to this young adult drama.
I enjoyed Kelly's spirited independence. I would have liked more development with the parents' characters and their relationship with Kelly. But, overall, this is a fun read that is great entertainment for young teens."
Her State of Wilderness has 5 stars from 7 reviews.
Some of her other books:
Finally home is a fun, clean read for younger teens. It has mystery and a little paranormal. Kelly is a thirteen year old who has to go against her father in order to save an old historic house. The problem is, Kelly's father gets paid to demolish old house. Find out what happens in this 56,000 word novel. Here is what people are saying:
"I have read this book and though it was written as a YA book, I found it a great read, well- written, and will keep you turning those pages. It reminded me of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. Would highly recommend this book and hope to see more from this author."
"Thirteen-year-old Kelly wants to save the old houses her father is supposed to tear down. She has managed to do it once before. Now, in her new neighborhood, she feels compelled to do it again.
This is a fun story about a young girl finding her way in life. The paranormal twist adds mystery and suspense to this young adult drama.
I enjoyed Kelly's spirited independence. I would have liked more development with the parents' characters and their relationship with Kelly. But, overall, this is a fun read that is great entertainment for young teens."
April 4, 2012
D is for Toni Dwiggins
From Toni:
I come from a family of writers: Dad was a newspaperman and wrote books about aviation, Aunt/Uncle wrote Westerns and Detective stories, Mom wrote a couple of B-movie scripts. Must be osmosis.
I've done magazine work, both fiction and nonfiction. I'm author of a US history text and contributed to texts in the sciences, including earth science. I've done tech-writing for the Silicon Valley computer industry. My techie experience hatched an idea that became my first novel, about an attempt to sabotage the nation's telephone system (INTERRUPT, published by TOR Books).
I went in a different direction with the Forensic Geology Series, taking mystery into outdoor adventure territory.
What are people saying?
"I was pleased to come across Badwater after hearing it mentioned on a writing forum. After sampling the first few pages I immediately recognized that Dwiggins knew how to weave a page-turning story. The plot at the heart of Badwater has elements of a technothriller, but the book avoids dumping too much information, instead doling out just enough background about geology and radioactive materials that I believed the characters (and by extension, the author) knew what they were talking about. In addition, there are some wonderfully nuanced characters, including the pair of forensic anthropologists, the villain, and a number of minor characters who Dwiggins deftly draws with a telling stroke or two.
Highly recommended."
"Badwater by Toni Dwuggins is a great read, a crisp, no nonsense crime story that is just plain hard to put down. In addition, the heroine is forensic geologist Cassie Oldfield who uses her scientific skill to detect and finally thwart the bad guys. With very, very few minor exceptions the science is accurate and well presented. This is no CSI, we can do anything fast, forensic science novel. It could be real life. Regretfully Cassie gets herself into becoming a victim as she relentlessly pursues the culprit. Even then her geologic knowledge helps to save the day. This is a great first crime story and we can all hope there will be many more. Ray Murray, author, Evidence from the Earth- Forensic Geology and Criminal Investigation."
D is for Leslie DuBois
Leslie has always had a love of books and writing. During her school years, she'd choose a different author each summer and devour their complete works. Riding public transportation from her low-income housing, she always dedicated Wednesdays to her library pursuits.
Leslie also spent her time jotting down poems and stories in her beloved notebooks. She even won a full scholarship to Washington and Lee University for one of her essays. Though her scholarship was for journalism, she soon lost confidence in her writing and ended up changing her major from English and Journalism to Mathematics and Music Theory.
During the years after college, while working as a math teacher at Georgetown Day School, Leslie never lost her love of words. She continued to devour novels in her free time. In all of her reading however, she began to notice that the novels she enjoyed most never contained any black female characters. This observation bothered her.
After years noticing the role models (or lack thereof) for black girls in the media, Leslie finally decided to pick up a pen and do something about it. While working as a math teacher at Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina, finishing her master's thesis at the College of Charleston, she began writing stories poems and novels that featured strong black women. She now attends the Medical University of South Carolina pursuing her Ph.D. in Biostatistics while caring for her husband and two daughters. She continues to write and, to date, has written twelve complete novels.
April 3, 2012
C is for Caedem Marquez
Caedem spends his time reading, writing and enjoying life. He has traveled to South America and over half of the states in the United States. One of his favorite trips was up Highway 1 in California.
He has made a 1,200 mile road trip on a whim, given his hand-made coat to a homeless man, saved a friend that was about to drown, and eaten 42 chicken wings in one sitting.
His greatest delight is meeting fans and sharing a laugh.
Fans are encouraged to visit his website at http://CaedemMarquez.com as well as send him a note at http://twitter.com/CaedemMarquez.
The Path Home has four stars from 9 reviews
Here is what people are saying:
"Although this story includes a romance, I wouldn't classify it as a "romance novel." It reads more like a timeless tale, filled with emotions and wisdom. It is the kind of story that weaves into your dreams and comes to mind throughout the day. It's lovely and actually makes you think about life and love and purpose. I belong to a couple of writers' groups and plan to recommend it to every writer I know."
"Great story! I love reading romantic stories and I have never read one involving a priest. Being a former catholic, it definitely peaked my interest. This is truly a lovely romantic feel good story and I enjoyed every bit of it. I look forward to reading more of this author's books."
"I just finished The Path Home and I still have tears in my eyes as I write this. This story covered many different types of love and portrayed them all very well. This book was surprisingly well written and edited, especially since it was free. The characterizations were done extremely well; I really felt like I knew and cared about every one of the people in the story. I didn't really expect to since nothing in the story is related to my life and I never met anyone like them (though I would like to). I really loved this story and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to read a story that will tug on their heartstrings and leave them with a warm feeling at the end."
He has made a 1,200 mile road trip on a whim, given his hand-made coat to a homeless man, saved a friend that was about to drown, and eaten 42 chicken wings in one sitting.
His greatest delight is meeting fans and sharing a laugh.
Fans are encouraged to visit his website at http://CaedemMarquez.com as well as send him a note at http://twitter.com/CaedemMarquez.
The Path Home has four stars from 9 reviews
Here is what people are saying:
"Although this story includes a romance, I wouldn't classify it as a "romance novel." It reads more like a timeless tale, filled with emotions and wisdom. It is the kind of story that weaves into your dreams and comes to mind throughout the day. It's lovely and actually makes you think about life and love and purpose. I belong to a couple of writers' groups and plan to recommend it to every writer I know."
"Great story! I love reading romantic stories and I have never read one involving a priest. Being a former catholic, it definitely peaked my interest. This is truly a lovely romantic feel good story and I enjoyed every bit of it. I look forward to reading more of this author's books."
"I just finished The Path Home and I still have tears in my eyes as I write this. This story covered many different types of love and portrayed them all very well. This book was surprisingly well written and edited, especially since it was free. The characterizations were done extremely well; I really felt like I knew and cared about every one of the people in the story. I didn't really expect to since nothing in the story is related to my life and I never met anyone like them (though I would like to). I really loved this story and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to read a story that will tug on their heartstrings and leave them with a warm feeling at the end."
April 2, 2012
Win a Kindle Fire!
Because you are so awesome, I'm giving you another chance to win a Kindle Fire! You can also win $50 in LPP books or a $25 Amazon gift card. This time the Kindle is coming from the publisher of Priscilla the Great, Little Prince Publishing. There are a ton of awesome authors there so you should definitely check out their website.
Little Prince Publishing is celebrating the 15k sales of author Sybil Nelson. There are tons of ways to enter the contest. One way to get extra entries is to buy copies of LPP books or leave reviews for LPP books. You can start entering on April 16th, but you may want to get ready by reading books now so that you can leave reviews when the contest starts!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
&amp;lt;a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&am... need javascript enabled to see this giveaway&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.
B is for Cliff Ball
From Amazon:
Lives in Texas, born in Arizona, is a Christian and is Baptist. Has a BA in English & History, pursuing a Certificate in Technical Communications. Has published 6 novels and 3 short stories. Won 3rd in high school for a short story I wrote in Creative Writing class for a young adult magazine. As a Christian, Cliff writes with his worldview in mind, so there's some conservative or Christian themes in his novels/short stories.
In order of original publication:
Out of Time - 2008
Don't Mess With Earth - 2009
The Usurper - 2010
Shattered Earth - 2010
Voyager and the Aliens - 2011
Dust Storm - 2011
New Frontier - 2011
Times of Trouble - 2012
www.cliffball.net
Blog: http://cliffballauthor.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter: @cliff_ball
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cliff.ball.au...
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
What are people saying?
"A fascinating premise. The altered-history speculation is always an intriguing way to go." Writer's Digest
"A cold-blooded, Clancy-esque political thriller; The Usurper is sure to entertain." Nurture Your Books.com review
"What impressed me the most was Ball's very accurate depiction of the power of indoctrination. In many ways it was a rather chilling view of what 'could have been'. If you like political thrillers then I highly recommend it." Reader review by Tracey Alley, author of Erich's Plea.
"The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?'" Heather D. - reader review on Amazon.
"I love the concept of this book and the ending caught me totally off guard. The Usurper is a quick read. There are many correlations with the real world that most of us can relate to. If only they had turned out differently." Reader review by J.C. Phelps, author of The Alex Stanton Chronicles.
"The Usurper is an attention-grabbing story and an eye opener on many levels. Although The Usurper is a work of fiction, many instances could be comparable to some going-ons in our world today. Ball indeed did a terrific job with his imagination." Review on Manic Readers.com
Lives in Texas, born in Arizona, is a Christian and is Baptist. Has a BA in English & History, pursuing a Certificate in Technical Communications. Has published 6 novels and 3 short stories. Won 3rd in high school for a short story I wrote in Creative Writing class for a young adult magazine. As a Christian, Cliff writes with his worldview in mind, so there's some conservative or Christian themes in his novels/short stories.
In order of original publication:
Out of Time - 2008
Don't Mess With Earth - 2009
The Usurper - 2010
Shattered Earth - 2010
Voyager and the Aliens - 2011
Dust Storm - 2011
New Frontier - 2011
Times of Trouble - 2012
www.cliffball.net
Blog: http://cliffballauthor.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter: @cliff_ball
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cliff.ball.au...
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
What are people saying?
"A fascinating premise. The altered-history speculation is always an intriguing way to go." Writer's Digest
"A cold-blooded, Clancy-esque political thriller; The Usurper is sure to entertain." Nurture Your Books.com review
"What impressed me the most was Ball's very accurate depiction of the power of indoctrination. In many ways it was a rather chilling view of what 'could have been'. If you like political thrillers then I highly recommend it." Reader review by Tracey Alley, author of Erich's Plea.
"The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?'" Heather D. - reader review on Amazon.
"I love the concept of this book and the ending caught me totally off guard. The Usurper is a quick read. There are many correlations with the real world that most of us can relate to. If only they had turned out differently." Reader review by J.C. Phelps, author of The Alex Stanton Chronicles.
"The Usurper is an attention-grabbing story and an eye opener on many levels. Although The Usurper is a work of fiction, many instances could be comparable to some going-ons in our world today. Ball indeed did a terrific job with his imagination." Review on Manic Readers.com
April 1, 2012
A is for Anne Marie Novark
Anne Marie is a Texas girl, born and raised. Romance is her passion. She loves to read and write about men and women falling in love, overcoming life's obstacles, and living happily ever after. She writes spicy contemporary novels, usually involving a cowboy or two, as well as Regency historicals.Married to her high school sweetheart, Anne Marie and her husband spend their leisure time working (actually playing) in the yard and renovating their 1956 custom-built house on a one-acre lot in the middle of the city. They have two grown children, three white rabbits, two mischievous cats, and one sweet puppy dog.Visit Anne Marie at www.annemarienovark.com.
What are people saying?
"This is a story of romance in the Jane Austen fashion rather than steamy romantic fiction. Mismatched partners and misunderstandings are unravelled as the story develops.
The characters - even the secondary figures - are engaging and the story develops with pace and twists to keep your interest."
"Ms. Novark has woven a tale of trust betrayed and loved denied. Damien is called to help his childhood friend recover from a devastating war injury, but doing so brings him face to face with Alexandria. He learned from his mother that women were unfaithful and untrustworthy. So what is he doing falling in love with his best friend's sister? Alexandria has loved Damien as a brother for most of her life, but a fateful kiss when she was seventeen turned their relationship on its head. Now, ten years later, they must face the fact they can never turn back the clock to the way things were. But can they face the future alone? A very sweet Regency that I highly recommend."
March 31, 2012
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
[image error]
For my A-Z challenge, I am attempting to feature one Indie Author a day corresponding to the letter of the Alphabet. This will help me in a couple of my challenges. I'm not promising to read all of the books I post about in April, but at least it will help me get ideas about what to read while helping to highlight some little known authors. See you tomorrow for author number A ... or letter A or ... whatever.
For my A-Z challenge, I am attempting to feature one Indie Author a day corresponding to the letter of the Alphabet. This will help me in a couple of my challenges. I'm not promising to read all of the books I post about in April, but at least it will help me get ideas about what to read while helping to highlight some little known authors. See you tomorrow for author number A ... or letter A or ... whatever.
March 22, 2012
Cutest Fanmail Ever!
I got a really cute email from a fan and I just thought I'd share:
i want the fifth book to come out now plz. im having a prissy fit. im under my covers with the laptop so my parents dont see. they allow me to contact u but its past my bedtime, so im writing secretly. ok bye now
Adorable. Anyway, book 5 is with the editor now. And it should be out in late April or early May! Get excited!
i want the fifth book to come out now plz. im having a prissy fit. im under my covers with the laptop so my parents dont see. they allow me to contact u but its past my bedtime, so im writing secretly. ok bye now
Adorable. Anyway, book 5 is with the editor now. And it should be out in late April or early May! Get excited!
