Sandy Wolters's Blog, page 17

Sandy's Spotlight - Jenny Milchman, The Very Old Man

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
Jenny Milchman
Jenny Milchman I'm so excited to introduce author Jenny Milchman to the viewers of Sandy's Spotlight.  I read her short story, The Very Old Man, which is published in Lunch Reads Volume 1.  I was so impressed with both of the short stories in this book that I downloaded several different genres of short stories to my Kindle. 

Jenny will be talking about this short story in the video interview, but she has some fantastic news to share.  Her novel, Cover Of Snow, will be published in early 2013!  She shares her publishing journey with us in her video below. 

Jenny has a wonderful blog, Made It Moment, that I visit all the time.  I encourage authors and readers alike to stop by and visit Jenny and her guest authors there.  She has some really wonderful and inspirational author interviews posted.

Jenny has a wonderful project called, Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day, encouraging children's love of books and visiting bookstores.  When you have a moment, please click on the link and read about her wonderful work in this area.
The following is my May 4th, 2011, 5 star review:

The Very Old Man by Jenny Milchman
WOW! I want more! I want more! I want more! This story will have every mother on the edge of her seat and giving her husband a sideways look. This is the first short story I have read in years and I enjoyed it tremendously. I am so intrigued. I'm not sure if what Denise was feeling was real or not. I want to know more about her marriage. Please, please think about making this into a novel. I would read it in a heartbeat.

Escape From Southern Point by Libby Sternberg
I'm so angry at the groom I could spit. I loved this short story. It's so true about wanting to get away from the small town you grew up in. The interaction between the characters was wonderful. My heart bled for that poor bride and I stood up and cheered when she gave the groom what he deserved. You go girl!
Link to video interview on YouTube

Sandy's Spotlight - Rebecca Forster, Before Her Eyes

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
Rebecca Forster
Rebecca Forster I feel really fortunate to have Rebecca Forster back on my blog.  After reading her novel, Before Her Eyes, I am fast becoming her biggest fan, but, I assure you, not in the creepy Stephen King sense.  I have several of her other novels downloaded on my Kindle and ready to read.

A little about Rebecca in her own words:
"I love lawyers. I love cops. I love courtrooms and murder and mayhem.  But what I really love is a good puzzle so my world is filled with the suspense and thrills  found in a fictional court, and an interrogation room ; chasing down a clue, a witness or a victim.  Nope, I'm not a lawyer, haven't been a cop and I've never been arrested (but I did do a cool ride along), and I get a thrill out of the whole messy business of justice.  In each of my books, I  work hard to capture the excitement of a courtroom, the thrill of building a case that will convince a jury (or a reader) of guilt or innocence. Whether it's one of the Witness series thrillers or another of my Kindle, Nook or other e-reader books, I hope you'll find my books - well - thrilling!"
Before Her Eyes The following is my October 18, 2011, 5 star review:

This is the second book that I've read from Rebecca Forster. What can I say? She's done it again! I loved this book.

Rebecca Forster's novel, Before Her Eyes, draws you in from the very beginning and keeps building momentum. This book walks you beautifully through a murder investigation and the hunt for a missing woman. While following the investigation, we get insight into what the missing woman is going through in first person dialog that kept me intrigued throughout the book. I also really liked the back story for each of the characters, and how it affects them and others throughout the story Rebecca is telling. WAIT UNTIL YOU READ THE ENDING! There are some surprises in store. This is a must read.
Rebecca's Thrillers:
[image error] [image error] Rebecca's Romance:
[image error] Link to video on YouTube here

Sandy's Spotlight - Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer, Hairdresser to the Stars, A Hollywood Memoir

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer
Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer If you are a star stuck, old movie junkie, you have come to the right place.  Today's special guest author is Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer and her memoir, Hairdresser to the Stars, A Hollywood Memoir. 

Currently this book is only available in print, which is fine with me because there are some really amazing pictures of cinema superstars in it.  The very first thing I did when I got this book was flip from page to page just to get a look at all of those wonderful photographs.

A little about Ginger "Sugar" taken directly from her website:

"Her first book  a memoir  was published in 2002 – Hairdresser to the Stars, A Hollywood Memoir .  Hollywood film hairstylist, Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer  lived and worked with the most fascinating people in the world. She's heard their innermost thoughts.

This is her story about show business at it's most highly exciting times just before everything changed and what happened after that.

She worked for seventeen years with Natalie Wood and many years with Elizabeth Montgomery. Her story includes rare experiences with her favorites: Sean Connery; Tom Hanks; Tom Cruise; William Hurt; Robert Redford; Nick Nolte; Sir Laurence Olivier; James Mason; Gregory Hines and many more."
Hairdresser to the Stars The following is my October 4, 2011 5 star review:

Star struck!

I am not in the habit of reading non-fiction, but considering the fact that I'm a star struck, old movie enthusiast, how could I not love this book?  It is absolutely wonderful.  I'm sure there were many scandalous incidents that occurred on the sets of such movies as How The West Was Won, The Birds, McLintock!, The Boston Strangler, and on and on, but Ginger Sugar is lady enough not to repeat those in her book.  What she did was, tell you her impressions of the actors, directors and crew members she worked with, some of which are very pleasant, while others not so much, as well as tell the reader about life-long friendships with some of those infamous movie stars.  I'm not going to put any spoilers in this review because I had so much fun reading about how Ginger Sugar helped such stars as Robert Redford (great story) feel more comfortable, or why Natalie Wood always wore a large bracelet.

Another thing I really loved about this book was that it discusses Ginger Sugar's personal life - marriage and children - and how that side of her was affected by her career.  It is an honest account of her life's journey and the movie business.  This book also discusses following your dreams, even though they may not turn out as you expected.

If you are an old movie buff, I highly recommend this read. 
Books by Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer:
Sandy: Tell us a little about yourself, Ginger "Sugar".
Ginger "Sugar":  I am 77, born in Los Angeles, worked in movie business as a hairdresser for over 40 years.   In between a farmer in Appalachia, with nine foster kids. Went broke, went back to LA and then bought Snowvillage Inn in 1978 and began running that for 8 1/2 years.   Loved that.  Was writing a bit all along.  Opened a metaphysical bookshop in 1990 called The Jumping off Place and ran it for 4 years and then sold it to my manager. Then did Realty for a couple of down market years and then decided to become a writer.

My husband was a gaffer, lighting.  He retired in 2005 and wanted to live in the sun so we moved to Mexico. Ajijic where we lived for 15 months and then he died suddenly. So here I am back in California in Ojai, in a nice little house with my doggie Ramsey a Shiu Tzu and two new kittens.  I am pretty quiet now.  Just had my knee replaced. I lost the sight in one eye so don't drive too far. My heart is still in New England where I lived for 30 years, but it is good for me to be here where there is no ice in the winter.  Two daughters live here and two sisters. When getting old it is good to have someone who knows you close.  

I have been working with my youngest daughter on a TV series for THE INN and we have a pre pilot, a script and ideas for lots more scripts. We went to film in New Hampshire at the Inn we used to own.    We are also working on some other movie projects together.  This is so much fun.

I have always been an optimist. I am a devotee of Adi Da Samaraj and have been for 20 years. This is The Way of the Heart and a great focus of His Teachings are about remembering you are already happy.  Lots of studies with this and He changed my life for the very best.

Sandy:  When did your interest in writing originate?
Ginger "Sugar":  My interest in writing actually began 50 years ago when I went to work in Europe on The Great Race. Someone gave me a travel diary and I have had a journal ever since. I wanted to keep track of my life and thoughts.   When I lived in Appalachia I began sort of writing about my movie career.   I only had a word processor in those days. Then when I moved to the inn I kept on writing when I had time.   I also wrote other things too.  It took me so long, I was still living my book.  Finally in 1996 my husband was going to work on Mortal Kombat, Annihilation in Wales, London, Jordan and Thailand. I promised I'd finish my book if I could go. So I got a new lap top and off I went. I did finally finish my book and found a publisher.   First Xlibris where I could only have 10 photos. A year or so later I found a woman to publicize the book but instead she reedited it and we put in nearly a hundred photos and made it larger and I went to Infinity to have it published. It was so much better. The sad thing was that woman didn't know how to publicize.  But it was done anyway.  The book is all about my life behind the scenes of Hollywood as a hairstylist.  As one friend who read it said, "Now I know more about you than I ever wanted to know."

I wanted to inspire people to go for what they wanted to do in life. 

Sandy:  What is this books about?
Ginger "Sugar":  It is all about my life as a hairdresser in Hollywood and the people I worked with and a little afterward.  The Inn and more.

Sandy:  Was there a particular incident that persuaded you to write this book?
Ginger "Sugar":  No particular incident, inspired me to write, I just had all this stuff to share. My husband asked me once if I ever had an undeclared thought?  My answer was obviously no.

Sandy:  Do you have a specific writing style? Any quirks or superstitious routines you stick to?
Ginger "Sugar":  I would say it is easy to read. I am not a great writer but with my novel Flying into the Sun, my style had improved and is easy and fun to read.

Sandy's Spotlight - Barbara Ebel, Outcome, A Novel: There's more than a hurricane coming ...

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
Barbara Ebel
Barbara Ebel Today I am introducing you to author, Barbara Ebel and her latest novel, Outcome, A Novel: There's more than a hurricane coming ...   This book is available in all e-reader formats as well as print.  You are definitely in for a treat today, because Barbara will be speaking to you personally about her book in the video below.

Barbara has also written Operation Neurosurgeon: You never know ... who's in the OR , which is classified as a romantic suspense novel, as well as three children's books.

A little about Barbara in her own words:
"Let me introduce myself.  I am a physician-turned-author who sprinkles interesting, credible medicine into the background of my storylines.  However, that doesn't take center stage to my plots or vivid characters.
Another thread you will find in my writing is dogs.  There will be at least one four-legger as a main character, especially since I own a few and have made one a star in a children's book series called Chester the Chesapeake."
The following is my September 16, 2011, 5 star review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story of the ultimate gift.

I really enjoyed this book. There were several story lines that came together beautifully. This story is a testament to organ donation and the lives it can touch. From those who have lost a loved one, to those that are given the miracle of life through that devastating loss.

I really liked the characters, except one that shall remain nameless, as well as the intensity of the situations they find themselves in. The technical scenes in this book were written so brilliantly, that I would not be surprised to learn that the author, Dr. Barbara Ebel, was a trained pilot as well as an anesthesiologist. I came to really care about the characters in this book, and feel with them as well as for them. Okay. I'll admit it. I cried.

This book has something for everyone in it, even dog lovers. I'm not going to tell you anything about Whiskey/Putt-Putt/Sandy. I want this very touching part of the book to unfold for you as it did for me.

If you get a chance to pick up a novel, I recommend this book, Outcome, A Novel, by (Dr) Barbara Ebel. You will not be disappointed.
Novels by Barbara Ebel:
Children's books by Barbara Ebel:

Sandy's Spotlight - J. C. Allen, M.O.D.

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest author is
J. C. Allen
J. C. Allen I am excited to introduce you to author, J. C. Allen, and feature his book, M.O.D. available in e-book format at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.  M.O.D. is also available in print at Amazon.

This blog is a little different than what I normally prepare because it is much longer in content. 

J. C. Allen wrote me a letter, and I felt compelled to print it in its entirety.  As a mother of two daughters, I know that this letter will pull at any parent's heartstrings when they learn the reason behind J. C. Allen's inspiration for becoming an author.
The following is my September 3, 2011 5 Star Review:
More than just breathtaking - breath catching!

I just finished M.O.D. by J.C. Allen, and now I have to take a nap.  I'm exhausted.  M.O.D. sucks you in from the very beginning with fast paced action, and never lets you down.  There are many thrills to be had reading this book.   

Are you a techno-idiot like me?  If so, don't be afraid to read this book.  The details for hacking that are explained in the book, are geared to a techno-idiot character, so nothing is above the reader's head.  That pleased me very much, as it was a real concern of mine.

Who's the bad guy?  I wish I could tell you.  I must say, though, that by the end of the book, I was bouncing in my seat and cheering for the New USA.

This is a great read, and I highly recommend it!

M.O.D. A letter from J. C. Allen:
In September 2004, during a rather bitter divorce and custody battle (aren't they all) my ex-wife decided that since I had taken care of our two children their entire lives, and no court in the world would grant her custody, she would find a way to steal them.  And she did.  She set me up.

A year later, and a railroading Conrail would have been proud of, I was arrested and subsequently ground into pulp by our mighty legal system.  A decent lawyer required $125,000 as a retainer so I had to make do with a public defender, who would receive $3,000 from the government.  That was basically enough pay for him if I would plead guilty.  I was doomed.

"But I'm not guilty," I protested.  After he finished laughing he informed me that guilt is irrelevant; the prosecutors would make me guilty.  Of course, I was naive about our legal system (everyone who hasn't dealt with it is).  I was under the impression that the Constitution protected me.  Now I realize that a withered old piece of paper doesn't offer much sanctuary from a relentless prosecutor.  With no defense effort, and a blood-thirsty prosecutor who couldn't resist piling on lie after lie since she knew there would be no investigation, or resistance, I was summarily smacked around and plastered to the inside of federal prison.

I probably don't have to explain this, but some people still believe the United States is high on human rights, so I'll explain:  There's nothing in prison to do but exist.  The conditions are so bad that Nightline would do a two-week sob-story about the oppression of its citizens - if it were happening in China.  But it's the United States, so it's okay.  You have two options in prison:  socialize and get involved in stabbing and killing; or read and stay out of it all.  I read.  Roughly ten books a week.  Anything I could get my hands on (even romance and westerns if there were no other options).

During this time, I decided my story had to be told.  Now, for your reference, I barely passed English all through both high school and college.  Obviously, my English skills are adequate, and I'm (humbly) reasonably intelligent; I just wasn't interested in the subject - I'm a math and science kind of person.  So, when I wrote the first part of my story, which concluded with my train ride on the underside of the locomotive, I was shocked when my mother said something on the order of "WOW!  I had no idea you could write so beautifully!"  This praise, coming from a woman who has read literally thousands of books in her lifetime and has impeccable English skills, blew me away.  I sort of dismissed her praise as that of a mother for her son, by requirement, not inspiration because of my aforementioned lack of corroborating grades in anything literate.  Then a few others read my story and confirmed her assessment.  Again, I sort of dismissed this by the simple determination that "a good story is always more interesting than good writing."  Nobody cares how well a bad story is written, or how poorly a good story is written.  But more and more people kept insisting that it was both a great story and great writing.

At this time, I was only allowed phone conversations with my daughters, and being bored on the phone, we began discussing writing as well as other subjects such as reading and history.  They were equally thrilled about those subjects as I had been in school (not at all).  I was determined then to use this as an opportunity to get them involved in these dreadful topics.  I started  by trying to get my oldest daughter into history by bringing up some long-held misconceptions - and propaganda - about such hot topics as religion, government conspiracy, etc.  She was truly engrossed with some of the revelations.  Encouraged, I went on and on, until we got into the subject of reading.  "Reading is boring," she had said.  "Not if it's about something you are interested in," I told her.  Then she spontaneously came up with the idea: "It would be interesting to read something about kids my age going back in time to all these places and finding out what really happened."  And the "Chronicles of Time" was born.

I spent nearly a year researching four specific times we had found a mutual interest in: Ancient Rome, the Salem Witch Trials, JFK's assassination and Jesus' birth.  I based the characters on us, as well as some friends who had practically lived with us.  We created an adventure story that ended up some 1200-1500 pages long.  (We are currently trying to hack it into three parts, the first of which is nearly ready to be published.)

I read each chapter to my oldest daughter over the phone and the result was communication on the level I wholly recommend to any parent.  We were already close, but now we were partners on this story.  It had its own life.  Again, people complimented me on this story, and their praise blew me away.  I started trying to figure out then, analytically, why it was so enthralling, and came to this rather simple conclusion:  the characters were real, and their reactions were equally real.  It was intimate, unforced, spontaneous.  Real.  I realized then that I always had a fascination with how everyone reacts to things differently.  I used to study people, and I now apparently understand them well enough to make authentic characters.

After enjoying this story so much, I then wrote into a sci-fi space opera that was a little more believable.  In this story, there was no warping away in an instant halfway across the galaxy, but slow, steady, long, long, long hops between destinations to explore.  The story was more of a study of character - how people coped with the decades-long journeys and missions that their children would complete.  The first book, Generation-One, was again received with incredible praise and I started on a second one.  But by then I had a thousand unique ideas floating in my head.  I wrote three scathing, vicious stories in a series called "Guilty of Innocence" in which a psychiatrist frees an innocent man, then they take on all forms of corrupt government to free other innocents from the grinder in everything from injustice to exploitation.  I was just plotting out the fourth in this series when MOD hit me like a ton of bricks.

MOD was the easiest book for me to write, it had everything I know in it: computer hacking, government distrust, and debate of ethics involved in both.  Mind you, I never really edit anything.  I don't use outlines, I don't go back and insert paragraphs – I write in one long stream.  I wrote MOD in about ten days, total.  No editing.  This was the reason we decided to release this story first:  it was basically finished.  It took longer to get it from paper to digital copy than it took to edit it.

After MOD, I went back into another epic young adult novel - Edge of Knight - about a boy destined to save the world with his new-found magical powers,  I'm working on Episode 5 now.

I then wrote another long, deep novel about a man trying to put his life back together after 14 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.  Then one about the future of literature and what happens when the last original ideas are gone.

All of my novels have a deep, personal connection.  I don't adhere to any rules because I don't want to write a generic story!  At this time, I've written 20 novels in roughly four years, and my mother - who works full-time as well as caring for my daughters - can't possibly keep up with publishing them as fast as I write them.  I hope to keep the Edge of Knight series going to its conclusion, and Chronicles of Time and the Guilty of Innocence series indefinitely (I want to see how long I can do them without turning into a Keebler elf), and I have a sequel planned to MOD as well as a few millennia worth of Generation One's relative drift through virgin space.

I use writing to pass time that I shouldn't be serving, but would still trade a thousand best-sellers for that time back.  I wish to be able to become a success at it, however, for the sole purpose of providing my daughters with at least a sliver of the wonderful life they deserve - a life they had before a few vile, ruthless, unscrupulous people stole it from them.  In a perfect world, I would be exonerated and compensated for the crimes committed against me (and all those involved in convicting an innocent man would be punished).

But I now have no faith in our legal system doing the right thing.  Ever.  When they freely admit, "Yes, you're innocent but we followed proper procedure in falsely convicting you, therefore you get to stay in prison for a couple decades," something is very, very seriously, wrong.  You and I don't stand a chance against this type of power.  This loathing of such tyranny is very evident in my writing, as you can see in MOD.  In reality, I'm reduced to writing as a desperate attempt to make the best of a horrible situation for myself, my family and friends, by using my fantasy of a just world to create stories.

Sandy's Spotlight - Scott Nagele, Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest is author
Scott Nagele
You are in for a treat today!  I am so excited to introduce you to Scott Nagele, author of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane.  Scott has also published two other books to date, Wasted Moons and A Smile Through A Tear.  We are going to focus on Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane today.  I must say that I felt so good after reading this book, and realized it was because it had been years since I had laughed as hard as I had while reading this wonderful book.

The following is my August 18, 2011 Five Star review:

I'm still basking in the afterglow of the best laugh I've had in years.
I'm just going to say it. Temp: Life In The Stagnant Lane by Scott Nagele was the funniest thing I've ever read. I started laughing on the first page and didn't stop until I finished the book. No, wait, that's wrong because I'm still laughing about it. Several times I had to put my Kindle down and reach for a tissue because I was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face and I couldn't see to read. If you are looking for laugh out loud, bust your gut funny, this is the book for you.

Another thing I really loved about this book was the way it was written. I felt as though I was sitting in my living room with a good friend and he was telling me funny things that had happened to him. I encourage everyone to download a sample of this book. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. Once you've started reading it, you won't be able to hit that "Buy now with 1-Click" button fast enough.

A little about Scott Nagele:
Scott Nagele A long beginning.
I started writing my first novel when I was 12. I finished writing my first novel when I was 32. It was a different novel, slightly better than the one began 20 years prior, but still the work of a writer with a long way to go.

The current mile marker.
To date, I have written six novels, a YA book, and many short stories. Some are published; some are not. I have had a handful of pieces accepted by literary journals; some of them have actually made it to publication. But as far as big agents, or big publishers, taking an interest in my work, well, I'm in the same boat as nearly everyone else on this ocean. That is the boat that drifts from rejection to brush-off and back again. Rather than becoming discouraged, I've spent my energies in the past several years investigating avenues for self-publishing (including ebooks). There is no golden ticket here, but there is hope, which is the single morsel a writer needs to carry on.

Scott's Books:
Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane Scott's Inspiration Behind the Writing of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane

I'm always impressed when I hear a writer talk about the inspiration for their book. Often, their stories are so touching that they make my spine tingle or bring a tear to my eye. That is to say that they would bring a tear to my eye if I weren't such a manly man who doesn't allow such things to happen.

Whenever I hear these great stories of inspiration, I think about what it was that inspired me to write Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane. I have to think about it for a long time on account of no soul-stirring story rushing to mind right away. It's kind of like asking an eight-year-old what inspired him to stuff a firecracker into a hornets' nest. It's complicated. The eight-year-old might not be able to put the web of sound reasoning behind his actions into words, but in his heart, he knows there was a good reason why it had to be done.

Writing Temp was just something that had to be done. Nobody else was doing it, so I stepped up and took the hornets by the horns. That's just the sort of stand-up guy I am.

Like Gary Gray, the protagonist of Temp, I have worked as a temporary employee, as a retail manager, and as a non-essential employee in the halls of academia.  As anyone who has this combination of life experiences will tell you, if you can get them to stop crying long enough to say anything,  you can't take the work personally if you want to hold on to any sense of self-respect.

A lot of crap rolls downhill at temporary workers, people on the front lines of retail sales, and folks at the lower end of higher learning. This crap can easily make you want to cry; if you want to survive, you learn to laugh. So I guess, my inspiration for Temp is all the people I have known who were put in a position to cry, but laughed instead: the survivors.

Gary Gray and his girlfriend, Gwen, are emblematic of the survivors I have known. They choose to laugh when it might be easier to just break down and cry. You can beat them down, but you can't make them quit, and sometimes you can't even convince them that they are actually fired. Such people deserve to have their stories told.

There are a handful of nasty characters in Temp. These are the ones rolling the crap down the hill. People sometimes suspect that they know who my inspiration for one or more of these characters is, but in truth, they are composites of different people I have run into, and afoul of, in my various lives.

I like to think that the nasty folks in Temp are kind of fun and interesting. None of the crap rollers I have known in real life are either of these. This alone should be proof that my characters are not based on any individual from real life. The real, live crap rollers might be fun to impersonate for a couple minutes at the company Christmas party, but after two minutes of pretending to be them, you just want to take a scalding hot shower and go cry yourself to sleep somewhere. Inspirationally speaking, they are just the many corpses from which one builds his fictional Frankenstein, in hopes that Frankenstein will be much more interesting than the sum of his parts.

So there, in a cracked nutshell, is the story of the inspiration behind the writing of Temp. To sum up, well, see, I kind of had this firecracker, and there was this hornets' nest, and, well, it's complicated.

Doesn't it just bring a tear to your eye?

Sandy's Spotlight - Rebecca Forster, Keeping Counsel

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's special guest is author
Rebecca Forster It is my pleasure to introduce you to Rebecca Forster.  I am so excited to feature Rebecca's novel, Keeping Counsel, because it was one of my favorite reads this year.  Keeping Counsel is a legal thriller, psychological suspense and so much more.

If you are anything like me, once you find an author that you like, you want to read everything they've written.  You are in luck because Rebecca is the author of nine thrillers and nine romances, both contemporary and suspense. 

The following is my May 18, 2011, Five Star review for Keeping Counsel:

WOW! Hold on. Let me catch my breath. This author was able to reach down and relay the workings of a freakishly twisted mind to such a degree that it's frightening. I was on the edge of my seat while reading Keeping Counsel. Just when you think the bad guy can't do anything worse, he does. This book is so good you won't be able to put it down. THIS IS A MUST READ.

A little about Rebecca Forster
Rebecca Forster My world is filled with suspense and thrills and usually they're found in a fictional courtroom. Though I'm not a lawyer, I am fascinated by the law. In each of my books I try to capture the excitement of a courtroom, the thrill of trying to piece together puzzles that will convince a jury of guilt or innocence. Whether it's one of the Witness series thrillers or another of my Kindle, Nook or other e-reader books, thank you for letting me be a part of your reading. Rebecca's Thrillers:
Rebecca's Romance:

Sandy's Spotlight - Sylvia Massara, The Soul Bearers

Sandy's Spotlight
Today's Special Guest is Author, Sylvia Massara
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Sylvia Massara.  To date, she has written three novels, Like Casablanca, The Other Boyfriend, and The Soul Bearers.  Sylvia also works tirelessly to promote indie authors on her video blog, The Lit Chick Show.  I have had the opportunity to read two of her books, and I enjoyed them so much that I wanted to share them with everyone.

Today, Sylvia is going to tell us about her novel, The Soul Bearers, and she is going to give away three free e-book copies of this book from Smashwords to three randomly selected people that leave posts or comments.  (Technically speaking, that means I will be drawing three names out of a hat.) 

Make sure you leave your e-mail address in the post, or if you prefer, you can send me your e-mail address via the "Contact Me" tab after you leave a post, so Sylvia can notify you if you win.  The drawing will be held on Friday, August 5th.

The following is my review for The Soul Bearers:

Review by: Sandy Wolters on July 21, 2011 :  FIVE STARS
In The Soul Bearers, Sylvia Massara was able to make the reader feel the character's emotions. Everything from rejection of family because the character needs to be himself, resolving long ago memories of horrific child abuse, to the loss of a very dear loved one.

The reader gets a glimpse into these three people's lives, all broken in their own way, and then the reader gets to see the transformation when they become more than just close friends, they become each others family and learn what unconditional love truly is.

This was one of the most heartfelt books I have read to date. Be prepared for a roller coaster ride with this book. The author has the ability to make the reader feel as though they are there with the characters, feeling both their pain and joy. I loved this book.

This is a must read.
Sylvia's Biography:
Sylvia Massara has been writing since her early teens and has written a number of plays, screenplays and, most recently, novels. Massara lives in Sydney, Australia.

Although a multi-genre writer, one of Massara's favourite genre is romance/chick lit, and she has a soft spot for chicks who are on the cusp of 40 and beyond. Yes, chicks still date after 40! To prove this, she wrote "The Other Boyfriend" (loosely based on her own life experience while she briefly lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong). Just recently, Massara released a third book, a romance/chick lit novel entitled "Like Casablanca", this is a cross between internet dating and Rick's Cafe (also loosely based on her life).

Massara has also written a general fiction drama, "The Soul Bearers", a story inspired by real life events and filled with hope and inspiration when overcoming life's obstacles and learning to live and love again.

Massara is the creator and host of The Lit Chick Show, a literary blog run as a mini-TV show that features authors of all genres plus special guests and bits and pieces about anything literary.

Currently, Massara is working on a mystery series whose protagonist is a spunky and wiseass chick—and she's 48! Older women have much more fun.