Cynthia D. Toliver's Blog
April 30, 2024
Interview and Giveaway
7:00 pm EST
6:00 pm CDT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gS_n...
June 30, 2020
Where the Lost Wander – Review
I was immersed in this book from the beginning. The prologue hooked me and pulled me to its painful but satisfying end. This novel made me do all the things great books do. Think. Feel. Wonder. Laugh. Cry. Reflect. I was invested in the characters. I cried at every loss and celebrated at every triumph. Where the Lost Wander is a work of fiction made real by the depth and rawness and emotion of the writing. Amy Harmon painted a picture as vivid as any depicted by the artist portrayed in the novel. I didn’t want to put this book down and when it was over, I didn’t want the story to end. It haunts me still.
December 31, 2019
Persistence Pays
There are some challenges in this writer’s life, but writing isn’t one of them. Writing is exhilarating! Creating characters, worlds, stories fuels my inner fire. Even this little snip of a blog stirs my creative being.
Marketing however forces me to go beyond my inherent need for quiet and solitude. One thing I have learned from observation however is that persistence pays. I watched one author use social media over and over again to proclaim how great her books were. I finally took the bait and I wasn’t disappointed. Her persistence paid. Her series is really entertaining and she spoke her success into existence over and over again.
You can always learn from others. If you aren’t experiencing the success you crave, don’t give up. Keep writing. Find and join groups who are doing what you do. Watch, listen, learn. Persist!
October 14, 2019
Excuse My Dust
I haven’t been active on this blog in over a year. A lot has transpired. I am trying to find my rhythm in the midst of change but I will write again. I was looking at my last post and in the middle of it is this random line that I am pretty sure I didn’t write. It was basically an odd, misplaced statement with a link to a product I don’t even endorse. I should monitor my web presence more often. Anyone reading that would question my motives. I am just about writing and reading. If I plug anything it will be about books and writing and it will be something I believe in. So excuse my dust. I am in the midst of cleaning up.
February 24, 2018
Glory Over Everything Beyond the Kitchen House
As February wanes to a close and with it Black History month, I have closed the book on Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom. I had wanted to read the sequel since reading Mrs. Grissom’s novel, The Kitchen House. The book sat on my Kindle for some time and for some reason, I had not been able to dive into it. Fortunately I found a hardbound copy to add to my book collection. Once I opened the book, I read it to its satisfying end and hope Mrs. Grissom will continue to shed light on the era through the stories of Pan, Kitty and Belle. It is indeed a compelling read and although fiction, through Mrs. Grissom’s research and striking prose, the stark reality of antebellum society, its strict encumbrances and the cruelty of its institutions, not the least of which is slavery, ring loud and true.
February 15, 2018
Lest We Forget
As an author of historical fiction, I try to infuse realism and possibility into my characters, settings and plots. I dare not leave it all to the imagination. I am driven to discover and write about life in this country before I was cognizant enough to know or care about more than the clothes on my back and the food in my belly. Enumerable true and untold stories pepper our past. How did my ancestors survive and thrive through slavery, the Civil War and its aftermath, the backlash of Jim Crow, segregation and institutionalized discrimination? To satisfy my curiosity, I browse bookstores, libraries, and online resources for gems:
Vintage publications like the Farmer’s Almanac and Sears Catalogue,
The slave narratives from the Federal Writers Project
Little known Black history facts from blackamericaweb.com,
Isabel Wilkerson’s chronicle of the southern black migration, The Warmth of Other Suns
So many generations have come and gone. The stories must not die with them. We preserve history so we will not forget. I celebrate all who shed light on those dark yet hopeful years.
February 1, 2018
The Writer’s Shelf
Over the years I have collected a number of reference books. As my reference shelves expanded, so did my craft. I studied, I wrote, I attended conferences, I met with other writers and exchanged feedback.
As time passed, I grew more confident in my pursuits. My writer’s network has grown from local to international and is almost exclusively online, but I still love a good reference. Beyond the typical thesaurus, dictionary and style books are books detailing a period in time, psychology books, historical perspectives on real people and events, atlases, compilations of newsprint and a vintage Sear’s Catalogue. There is no definitive reference. What’s relevant depends on what you write. I write better fiction, because I read truth.
What’s on your shelf?
January 16, 2018
Earth to Centauri – Alien Hunt
The year is 2118. The First Journey from Earth into interstellar space has been successful, but the explosive secret carried aboard Voyager 1 will have grave consequences.
As Captain Anara and her crew returns to Earth aboard their faster than light spaceship Antariskh, civil war breaks out on the world they have just left behind. A cryptic message warns her of the dispatch of mercenaries to Earth. Their mission – unknown but deadly. She may have just days to prevent unimaginable carnage on Earth and stop the outbreak of interstellar war.
Her crew and the National Investigation Agency or NIA, engage in the greatest undercover search for the mercenaries in the streets of the megacity. As they race against time to uncover the plot, a traitor is unmasked and Anara herself comes under suspicion. She must use every ounce of her resourcefulness to protect 30 million people and one unique innocent life.
Immerse yourself in an edge of the seat thriller on a realistic future Earth and geek out on the technology just a few decades away from today.
Releasing in December 2017
Read the prequel Earth to Centauri – The FIrst Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RYBF3D
December 26, 2017
The Long Road to Publication – by Anna Belle Rose
Years and years ago, actually decades ago, I was a stay-at-home mom for a bit, with my then youngest child who would not fall asleep at nap time. Over time, I realized that while he wouldn’t sleep, he would sit in his crib for a bit each afternoon, listening to Yanni at the Acropolis, looking at story books, and I could sit and write. And write I did. I wrote and wrote and wrote over many months. By then, my youngest was talking, and he somehow understood that Mommy was writing a book, and he kept nagging me to keep going. And I did.
Fast forward many years, and I’d keep opening the word file of that first novel, print it out, edit and revise, and eventually send it out to a few agents. Rejections would come in, and I’d put it away for a while, then that same son would poke at me again, and the process would start all over again. During this same time, I also started several other novels, and kept working on them in the same way. All of them were contemporary romances, heavily linked to life in Vermont, and all have gloriously happy endings – I mean, who doesn’t love a happily ever after?
Finally, late in 2016, I decided I needed to either get serious about writing, or give it up for good. So I pulled those two complete novels out again, and hired incredible professional editors to go at them. Then I started submitting them to a few agents, and a couple publishing houses that didn’t require representation by agents. And on June 13th, a publishing contract arrived on the novel I wrote first, The Phone Call. And on July 13th, a contract arrived for my second, That One Small Omission. And joy of joys, on December 4th, a contract was offered on my third, More Than I Can Say.
On October 11, 2017, That One Small Omission was published in e-book and print versions, and on December 12th, The Phone Call will be published. The joy and excitement I feel each time I look at my mantle and see my first published novel is an emotion that I think only other authors can understand!
Amazon link to That One Small Omission: https://tinyurl.com/yb5bc2ux
Amazon link to my author’s page: https://tinyurl.com/y8uzgxeh
July 27, 2017
Sweet, Sweet Ending
If you enjoy clean romances chock full of cowboys, feisty females and kids, you’ll love Back in the Saddle. The story is strong, the characters complex and likable, the conflicts believable and the ending satisfyingly sweet. Author Ruth Logan Herne satisfied my palate with this delectable story and bonus recipe. What a sweet ending!
The airy cherry cake recipe was a sweet bonus. I love to bake, but seldom do. This recipe got me back in the kitchen.
The story was over but I couldn’t wait to cut into this delectable treat.
What a great way to end a story and my day.
