Penny Estelle's Blog, page 7

Henry Anderson stops by Penny's Tales!

Good morning everybody!  Today I have the talented Henry Anderson visiting with me.  He talks a bit about his life and his book, The Mouth.  Let's get started, Henry.....


1. Tell us all about yourself and what makes you tick and what do you like doing when you aren’t writing!
I enjoy painting and reading. And archery occasionally. I think that about covers it.
2.  Tell us about where you live!
I live in the English countryside.
3. If you could travel anywhere in or out of this world, where would it be?
Out of this world would be fantastic! I’ve always wanted to visit Mars. Probably because I enjoyed Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars books when I was younger and also Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Martian Chronicles’. If space travel isn’t an option I’d like to visit the North Pole. Or South – I’m not fussy.
4. If you could do anything in this world to make a living, other than writing, what would it be – money being no object?
I worked for a while as a Jackaroo (a kind of farmhand) in Australia. That was probably my favorite job. It was hard work though.
5. What’s you favorite weekly TV show?  Why?
I have so many favorite shows. I usually binge on them. I was quite taken with the first series of ‘True Detective’ last year. I’m still traumatized from HBO cancelling ‘Deadwood’.
6. Have you ever met anybody famous?
I sat next to the English theatre director Peter Brook at a dinner party once. As well as being a fascinating talker he was also a very attentive listener.
7. Now, Tell us about your book?


The book is about a teenager whose family is killed and hometown burned down. His only chance of survival is to travel through a device called “The Mouth” that opens doors into other worlds – one of which is our world. It’s an adventure story that I’m hoping will keep readers hooked from the start.
8. Where did you come up with the idea for your story?
I day-dream a lot! Sometimes ideas land on your head like a small still- smoking chunk of meteorite out of a clear sky. With “The Mouth” I had an image of a boy fishing by a river in a ruined town. He looks up when he hears the rumble of tanks in the distance.
9. What is your biggest pet peeve about writing?
I love most things about writing. Historical research can be quite time consuming, I suppose. On the plus side it’s rewarding and it does give you lots of ideas.
10. Where can people find you? (give all your links)
My website  https://henryandersonbooks.comMy blog https://henryandersonbooks.blogspot.c... Amazon Author Page http://author.to/henryanderson
11. Most important – where can we buy your story?
Buy “The Mouth” on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Mouth-Henry-Anderson-ebook/dp/B01JAIXH0W

Blurb:
When sixteen-year-old Jack's hometown is burned down and his family killed his only chance of survival is to travel through a device called “The Mouth” that opens doors into other worlds.He must do the impossible—find the world that gave his enemies their extraordinary power and travel to a place known simply as “The Maximum.”The Mouth is a gritty science-fantasy adventure about hope, resolve, and finding the courage to carry on fighting even when all seems lost.

Teaser.......
The forest was a dark line ahead of them. Badger disappeared into the woods. A bullet smacked into a window frame by Jack’s feet. He climbed up a heap of rubble and jumped into the treeline. Birch saplings broke his fall. Soon he was sprinting amongst the old, broad- leaved trees of the Weald. The noise behind him died away.
His boots crunched on frozen leaf mould.
Two notes from a horn sounded in the air. Badger stepped out from behind the bulbous trunk of an old beech tree. “What was that?” said Jack.
“Death.”
Sweat steamed from Badger’s hair.
He said, “They won’t want to do us straight off. Those fellers like to take their time.” “What can we do?” “When I was a kid, my old man used to lay something on the ground to put them off the scent, like wild garlic. Or a blood trail. The dogs like blood, you see.” Jack pulled a string necklace out of his jumper. A key hung from it. “I know a place near here where we can hide,” he said.

Best Selling Author Kit Morgan is in the "Hot Seat"!

I am so very excited to have the talented, best selling author, Kit Morgan in the hot seat today.  She answers some questions about herself, her life, and her new book - Mail-Order Bride Ink - Dear Mr. Turner. 





Tell us all about yourself and what makes you tick and what do you like doing when you aren’t writing!  What makes me tick, eh? Well, a peaceful country setting like the one I live in! I live in a little log cabin in the woods on a creek and often write on a bench creek sides! Music also fuels the muse and when I’m writing under Geralyn Beauchamp, I write my time travel/science fiction books entirely to music. I’ve done quite a few of Kit Morgan’s westerns this way too, but mostly the other. In my spare time (when I actually have any) I do love to travel to historic places and of course READ!
2.  Tell us about your family – married?   Kids?   Where you live!  I’m single (been divorced   for 17 years) have three grown children, no grandchildren yet in case you were wondering, and live in the great Pacific Northwest!
 If you could travel anywhere in or out of this world, where would it be? Can I say my own fictional towns and worlds? No? All right, if not those places then I’d love to tour Europe one day! 
If you could do anything in this world to make a living, other than writing, what would it be – money being no object? Playing in a symphony. I was an opera major with a flute minor so the musical heart still beats strongly!
What’s you favorite weekly TV show?  Why?  I don’t watch TV  
Have you ever met anybody famous?  Yep! Several famous folks. 

Now, Tell us about your book? Mail-Order Bride Ink is a brand new series. Dear Mr. Weaver was the first book in the series and Dear Mr. Turner the second. Both books visit familiar faces and places for current Kit Morgan readers, and introduce new readers to my world. Dear Mr. Turner takes place in Clear Creek, Oregon. A town full of quirky characters who welcome a Southern Belle into their midst to marry one of their own, Eli Turner. He’s the younger brother of Tom Turner, a character who readers have watched grow into a man and marry. What his poor younger brother Eli doesn’t know, is his Southern Belle mail-order bride is on the run from her family. Her father wants to force her to marry someone she detests to save their plantation. After a few days in Clear Creek, she’s wondering if she should’ve stayed and married the cad. The little western town is as far from her life in Savannah as one can get, so the book is a fish out of water story, but also teaches the heroine values she paid no attention to while living in the gentle south. Throw in a few outlaws, a little action, and some unexpected surprises, and you have a fun read!
Where did you come up with the idea for your story? Oh gads, I have no shortage of ideas! I used to do relationship coaching, so the goal is to tackle one typical relationship issue in each book. What I do then is build a story around that issue.
What is your biggest pet peeve about writing? Getting interrupted while doing it!
Where can people find you? (give all your links) Just go to my website, all my other social links are there. www.authorkitmorgan.com
Most important – where can we buy your story? Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KUJ96SM#nav-subnav

Blurb:  Mail-Order Bride Ink! Mischief, Marriage and Mayhem, these brides have something to write about! Mrs. Pettigrew, of the Pettigrew Mail-Order Bride Agency sees to that! She likes to hear from all her brides and loves a happy ending. But to ensure her brides get one, she does things to help love along. Sometimes, however, those things don’t always go as planned…
Dear Mrs. Pettigrew,
I made it to Clear Creek without incident. Unfortunately, my intended was unable to meet me at the stage as he was otherwise engaged in being shot at by bloodthirsty outlaws! He, of course, was shooting in return, but that’s not the sort of excuse a bride wants to be told! I hope I made the right decision in coming here. My life as a Southern Belle of Savannah is quickly fading, my hope with it. I don’t know if I’m the right sort of bride for this Eli Turner. He’s everything a southern gentleman is not. I’m everything a woman of Clear Creek is not! Are you sure this is going to work? Speaking of work, the women here expect me to do a lot of it. I knew there would be some involved, but I had no idea life on the prairie could be so hard. I did, however, manage to bake my first pie without burning it, or the house down, with it. A small achievement and I hope the first of many. I’ll need many more to survive this place! IF I survive … Write me as soon as you can!
Sincerely, Pleasant Comfort
Eli Turner's older brother Tom had been happily married for the last six years and had a couple of children to boot. Now it was Eli's turn, but was he ready? He was just a simple deputy after all with an even simpler house to call home. What did he have to offer a bride? Especially the one he got! His mail-order bride wasn't anything like he expected and probably wouldn't survive life out west. What's a man to do with a swooning female?
Pleasant Comfort hadn't planned on getting married, least of all to a man she had no say about. So when her father tries to marry her off to the despicable Rupert Jerney just to save himself from financial ruin, she does what any self-respecting Southern Belle of Savannah would do. She hightails it out of Georgia! But doing so as a mail-order bride might not have been her first choice.She wasn't made for roughing it without servants, a cook, and six older brothers to look out for her. What's a Southern Belle to do when the women of Clear Creek get a hold of her and have other ideas?

It's Everybody Reads YA Sunday - Billy Cooper's Awesome Nightmare

Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare
Billy Cooper’s seventh grade class has been given a last minute, weekend assignment.  They must all draw a piece of paper out of a box and do an oral book report on the person or event that was drawn.  Billy draws the name, William Tell, whoever that is.
            He has a full weekend planned, but figures he will do a quick computer search and will be able to skate through on the assignment, still having plenty of time for his busy weekend.
            His outlook changes when he finds himself in the fourteenth century, standing in front of William Tell’s house.  Billy’s twentieth century style and lingo has William Tell thinking the lad a little unbalanced, but asks him if he would like to go along with him and his son to the town of Altdorf.  It is here; Billy learns just who William Tell is and why he is a legend.
Small teaser……Billy turned to William, “Dude, it’s a hat….a stupid hat. Really? Go to jail? You don’t even have to bow all the way,” he whispered, “just bend a little and call the guy a jerk under your breath.”“I am a free man. I will not bow to a hat!” William stated loudly.A booming voice rang out behind them. “Your disrespect for me will not be tolerated and you will be punished!”William turned to see the Governor and several guardsmen behind them. “We do not live in Altdorf. I knew nothing of your proclamation. Still, you expect people to bow down to an empty hat?”“Oh crap,” Billy muttered.“What is your name?” Gessler asked.“William Tell.”“I have heard of you, Tell,” Gessler said, looking down from his horse. “Your skill as an archer is known far and wide.”Tell did not respond, but Walter was quick to pipe up. “That is true. My father is the very best archer in all the lands!”“Bro, ix-nay on the alk-tay,” Billy whispered.“I am not an unreasonable man,” Gessler sneered. “I will make you a proposition, Tell. At fifty paces, your son will have an apple placed on his head. If you shoot if off successfully, you may go. If you miss, or you refuse, you both die!” Amazon
http://museituppublishing.com/booksto... Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare is Book One of the Wickware Sagas.  There are four more stories of students in Miss Wickware’s history class that find themselves transported back in time to meet the object of their school reports.Ride of a LifetimeFlash to the PastBumped Back In TimeFrom Riches to RagsCheck them all out at…http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/our-authors/55-our-authors/authors-e/146-author-19
http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XB
The Wickware Sagas also comes in a printed version with all five stories!http://www.amazon.com/The-Wickware-Sagas-Penny-Estelle/dp/1499179502 

SPOTLIGHT - Natalie Silk and her new story, Snowfall's Secret

Thanks in advance for reading about me:
My current work is Snowfall’s Secret.  It’s a about a girl from another world who must live like any other tween on Earth (and she suffers from amnesia).  Of course, she learns to enjoy shopping at the mall with her very own debit card and has a few secrets. At its core is the message that everyone has value and has something special to share. 
 
The story was inspired by a dream I had when I was twelve.  I saw five monks standing in a semi-circle.  They were all wearing a triangle-shaped pendant with a red stone in the center.  One of the monks looked at me and said, “You’re not ready,” and I woke.  I had subsequent dreams of a girl with a pendant to the one the monks wore and I wrote them all down. 
My favorite character to write about (funny how that turned out) was a secondary one to the story:  Mrs. Margot Greenfield. I based her on a favorite childhood teacher.
By the way, my favorite genre to write is science fiction.  Surprise!  Just kidding. 
My focus right now is science fiction for girls; but I’m still playing around with a short story that’s alternative history to give myself a mental stretch.  I have this irrational fear that the last thing I finish writing will be my last.  I wonder if I’m not alone.
I’m pretty ‘old school’ when it comes to my writing habits.  The first thing I do is buy a brand new hand-sized spiral notebook and use it to write the basic story that’s mostly action punctuated here and there by dialogue.   The little notebook helps me believe that I’m accomplishing so much.  I then use my trusty laptop to write the second draft that looks as if I threw words down to see what sticks.  The technical term I like to use is word hurl.  Each subsequent draft looks a little more refined than the previous one.  I then use the little spiral notebook to make notes and jot down ideas for the story.I began writing when I was ten and back then we didn’t have home computers.
I’ve been asked advice by aspiring writers.  I’m very, very flattered.  But let me tell you, I’m still an aspiring writer. My advice is simple:  don’t ever, ever (and I mean ever) give up.
Buy Linkhttps://www.amazon.com/Snowfalls-Secret-Natalie-Silk-ebook/dp/B01KII53EQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1471373749&sr=1-1&keywords=Snowfall%27s+Secret+by+Natalie+Silk#nav-subnav


Please reach out to me on:Facebook  Natalie Silk, Authorhttps://www.facebook.com/Natalie-Silk-Author-313822162074307/?fref=tsTwitter @natalieasilkhttps://twitter.com/natalieasilk
My websitewww.nataliesilkauthor.comAmazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Natalie-Silk/

Everybody Reads YA Sunday - Ride of a Lifetime

Ride of a Lifetime
Jim Abernathy is the new kid at Langdon Middle School - and a bully.  With the death of his mother, and his father having to work two jobs, Jim has been on his own for the last year.  In that year, Jim has become a bitter and brooding young man. A new job in Phoenix is just what Jim and his dad need for a new start. 
Miss Wickware, and all the students in her history class, get a dose of Jim’s surly attitude the second he walks through the door. Everyone holds their breaths when their teacher and Jim go nose to nose.  Miss Wickware wins the first round.
The class must draw historical subjects out of a box and present oral reports on whom or what they have drawn. Jim draws Sybil Ludington.  “Great, a woman” His words are dripping with sarcasm.  “Real exciting!”
Jim’s ideas about women in history take a whole new turn when he walks out of class and into the Eighteenth Century and the life of Sybil Ludington.

Excerpt
“These aren’t my clothes. Where are my clothes?” His voice grew louder with each word.
The girl stood and took a few steps back. Her eyes were wary but there was concern in her voice. “Please, you may have hurt yourself when you fainted. Maybe you shouldn’t be dancing around.”
“I’m not dancing around. What the heck is happening…?” He stopped talking and his head snapped back around to her. “Faint! I didn’t faint! Only sissies faint!”
http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Wickware-Sagas-ebook/dp/B00D91Z1JM
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ride-of-a-lifetime-penny-estelle/1115530815?ean=2940016766348
http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/our-authors/55-our-authors/authors-e/146-author-19


I write for all ages, from the early reader to adults.  My books range from pictures books for the little ones, to fantasy, time-travel adventures for ages 9 to 13. I also write adult stories, including a family drama and contemporary, paranormal and historical westerns romances, under P. A. Estelle.
I was a school secretary for 21 years.  My husband and I moved to our retirement home in Kingman, AZ, on very rural 54 acres, living on solar and wind only.  
More about my books can be found in the following links:
www.pennystales.comwww.pennyestelle.blogspot.comhttp://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBYhttps://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=82www.facebook.com/pennystaleswww.pinterest.com/pennyestellehttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5820078.Penny_Estelle- Goodreadshttp://www.twitter.com/pennystales

SPOTLIGHT - New Beginnings by the talented Iris Blobel

The story is set in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, the most southern state in Australia. A most beautiful place. I went there a few years back and imagined how it would be to live in this city, how to adapt as a "non-local", and bit by bit I wrote the story of two sisters moving there. Obviously, I added a little romance into the story as well – so I added Mark and Zach.This is the second edition of NEW BEGINNINGS. The story is now a bit sexier and has also received another edit.
Literary Chanteuse's review: "This author has a way of endearing her characters and it is easy to fall in love with them. An intriguing story with emotion, love and hope."Sharon's review: "This was a very enjoyable read and it left me wanting just a little bit more. I highly recommend it."
"Other people have to fight battles in their life as well."
~~  New Beginnings ~~ (2nd Edition) by Iris Blobel

AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/2a1BSJ7AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/29FTb4BAMAZON AU: http://amzn.to/2a9yKgW

♥♦♥  SYNOPSIS ♥♦♥

The chance to start life all over with the help of a stranger.
Twenty-two-year-old Sophie Levesque has been guardian to her eight-year-old sister Mia since their mother's death a few years ago, and it hasn't been easy. Luck comes their way when they inherit a small house in Hobart. Problem is, though, they don't know and have never heard of Clara Bellinger, the testator. Settling into their new life, Sophie is still afraid it's all a mistake.
Mark O'Connor, attorney in Hobart and the bearer of the good news for Sophie and Mia, curses himself for the lack of information about the testator. However, researching the questions gives him an opportunity to see Sophie again, and the more time he spends with the two, the more he realizes that his life is missing something. And it's not his casual lover Linda.
But then there's Zach, Sophie's sexy neighbor from across the road… and a very good friend of Clara's.
Will unraveling the mystery unravel Sophie and Mark's promise of a future?


♥♦♥ MEET THE AUTHOR ♥♦♥IRIS BLOBEL
Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.
Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.
Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.

Social Media Links:Click here to subscribe to Iris' NewsletterFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/IrisBlobelTwitter: https://twitter.com/_iris_bGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067254.Iris_BlobelInstagram: https:/www.instagram.com/iris_blobel/

SPOTLIGHT - Victoria Pinder and her wonderful book, Secret Crush

Pre-Order Here:  http://amzn.to/2aIojRn
 
For some, joining the FBI is a long-term goal. For billionaire John Morgan, joining the Bureau is a stepping stone to proving his father is culpable for his sister’s death. After his estranged father dies, John is forced to return home and face the ghosts of his past. That proves to be more difficult than he could have ever imagined.
Alice Collins lives a peaceful life. As a farmer’s daughter, she knows what it’s like to work hard for what you want. After losing her best friend under inexplicable circumstances, her world viewpoint shifted until her small town sensibilities convinced her to attend Mr. Morgan’s funeral.
Soon, the past and the present collide and Alice is caught in the crosshairs. John comes to her aid, complicating matters for both of them.
Can a handsome billionaire on a vendetta truly fall for a small town girl or does he have something else in mind? Can a small town girl, if she gives her heart to him, ever fit of the House of Morgan?
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/HfCdG_xtlfY

Short Blurb:John leaned against the wall and let the throngs of people pass. Alice followed suit, standing next to him as she sipped her wine. "I assumed he was taking over. Did you want that job?"John's entire body jumped as if she'd slapped him. "Hell no."She gulped her sip fast. She kept saying the wrong thing. Inside his blue eyes was a kaleidoscope of emotion. Alice remembered that he used to be kind. She rubbed her lips together. "Then who cares?"He drank his wine and scanned the room. After making the rounds with his gaze, he took in her entire figure with an intensity that made her knees weak. "What is it you do, Alice?""Collins Organic Farm." She brushed her brown bob behind her ear. "I work for my family. What is it you do?"Again, his blue eyes flashed as if lightning was in his stare. She watched him, hypnotized. "I work in real estate.""Liar." She tilted her head. He definitely didn't work in real estate. She crossed her arm around her chest. Without another word, she waited for the fallout of her remark.His eyebrows quirked in shock. Then his dimples appeared. "What do you think I do?"She met his smile with her own. "Professional bad boy and poker player. It's what I always thought."He chuckled. "I played football."She nodded. A moment of silence clung in the air as she sipped her drink. Then she said, "I went to your games in high school, but I also remember how you set up more than a few poker games. You always read people correctly."His sexy smile lit the room and her skin melted, literally fused into itself. "I remember that. You cheered with my sister, and I played you, too."


Author Bio:Victoria Pinder grew up in Irish Catholic Boston before moving to the Miami sun. She’s worked in engineering, after passing many tests proving how easy Math came to her. Then hating her life at the age of twenty four, she decided to go to law school. Four years later, after passing the bar and practicing very little, she realized that she hates the practice of law. She refused to one day turn 50 and realize she had nothing but her career and hours at a desk. After realizing she needed change, she became a high school teacher. Teaching is rewarding, but writing is a passion.
During all this time, she always wrote stories to entertain herself or calm down. Her parents are practical minded people demanding a job, and Victoria spent too many years living other people’s dreams, but when she sat down to see what skill she had that matched what she enjoyed doing, writing became so obvious. The middle school year book when someone wrote in it that one day she’d be a writer made sense when she turned thirty.
She’s always been determined. She is amazing, adventurous and assured on a regular basis. Her website is  www.victoriapinder.com.
Member of Florida Romance Writers, Contemporary Romance, Celtic Hearts and Savvy Authors.
Get a FREE Novella as a Thank you Gift here: http://victoriapinder.com/returningforvalentineshorttimeoffer
 

Everybody Reads YA Sunday! Hike Up Devil's Mountain

An abandoned house, a magic stick, and the school bully, is all it takes to turn the lives of three boys upside down.  Their only hope lives on top of Devil’s Mountain.  The question is, will they survive the hike?



Excerpt from Hike Up Devil’s Mountain
Jason was getting closer to Andy.  His voice hissed through his teeth.  “You must think we are some kind of stupid.  We aren’t like the hicks who live in this town and if you think we would even begin to believe some story about an old witch who lived here, then you better think again!”  Jason pushed Andy hard against the wooden cabinet.
            Andy shut his eyes waiting for the first blow.  Nothing happened.  He squinted open his left eye and saw Jason’s head cocked to one side, trying to see behind Andy’s back.  “What have you got there, Andy Pandy?”
            Uh oh, the glowing stick.  Andy wasn’t about to give that up.  “Nothing,” he told him, trying to back away but there was no place to go.
            “Oh I think there is something,” Jason sneered.
            “It’s mine!” Andy shouted.  “You will have to do your worst if you think you are taking this from me!”
“No problem,” Jason said, lunging forward.  Andy tried to fake him out, pretending to run one way and then the other.  That didn’t work.  That never worked!   Jason grabbed Andy’s arm that held the stick and tried to grab it.  Something was going to break, and Andy wasn’t sure if it would be the stick or his arm.  They both fell and were rolling on the floor.  Andy knew he was losing this battle.  No matter how hard he held on, he could feel his new-found treasure start to slip out of his grasp.
            “Jason, stop it!”  Danny shouted.  “You’re acting like a big dumb toad!”
            “Yeah…you’re … acting… like…a…toad!” Andy gasped between each word. 
            The stick exploded into a flash of light and then the fight was over.  Andy jumped up, trying to fill his lungs with air.  What happened?  Danny came running over to where Andy stood.  “Where’s Jason?”  Andy couldn’t answer because he couldn’t catch his breath.  Danny yelled, “Jason, where are you?  Quit messing around!”
            His chest still heaving, Andy stammered, “I don’t know.  I . . . don’t know what just happened.”  
            They both looked to the floor.  Under one of the boxes was what looked like a pair of pants.  “Jason!” Danny hurried to lift the box.  No Jason — just his pants.  Lying close by were his nice Nike shoes, socks and a short distance away was his shirt.  “What did you do?” he yelled at Andy.
            “Nothing!  I didn’t do anything!  I . . . don’t know!”  Andy had no answers.  
            Danny tried again.  “Jason,” he screamed his name.  “Where are you?”

http://goo.gl/sqR59


I write stories for the very young clear up to the young at heart.  Picture books to romance novels! More about my stores and myself can be found at the following links.  Stop by anytime.  I love visitors!http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBYwww.pennystales.comwww.pennyestelle.blogspot.comhttps://twitter.com/Pennystaleshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5820078.Penny_Estellehttp://www.facebook.com/pennystaleshttps://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=82

Ken and Anne Hicks work magic with this new kid's (or adults) book Stone Faces

Where do ideas come from?
Anne and I have loved visiting the beach together for as long as we have known each other (around 47 years).

One of the reasons we enjoy it is the unexpected nature of the beach. Twice a day the tide comes in and the tide goes out, depositing and rearranging shells, driftwood, beach glass, stones and stone on the shore. We walk the edges of the water for miles and find all sorts of things to admire. A walk after a powerful storm is especially fun.



For the last fifteen years or so, we have visited the beaches of Cape Cod, which have a wonderful selection of stones with an amazing variety of shapes, colors and textures. At one point, we even made some necklaces and sculpture with the stones and sold those items at several shops on Cape Cod. 


We also began to look more closely at the stones themselves and saw pictures in the stones. Sometimes the images suggested faces of people or animals. Sometimes they were seascapes or landscapes. As we became more and more interested, we began to photograph the stones and we have displayed the photographs in libraries on Cape Cod and have published a book called Picture Stones that is available on the iTunes bookstore.
  http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id710107094

One day during our stroll, we saw a stone that immediately struck as having the shape of man laughing. 


 The name “Mr. Happy Man” came to mind. Soon afterward, a story began to take shape in our minds of a young girl named Alice who finds such a stone on the beach and learns that the stone can talk (as can his stone friends).  These stones help Alice learn about herself and survive a difficult time in her life when her parents are getting a divorce.  The name of the book is Stone Faces and it is has been published by MuseItUp Publishing in digital format and paper.


So where do ideas for our books come from? They can come from anywhere and everywhere.
Here are some links to purchase:
MuseItUp: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/now-available-in-ebook/stone-faces-1054-detail
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H445B7Q#nav-subnav
 If you would like to learn more about our books:
Our Blog: www.randh71productions.com/blog

Our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Kenneth-Hicks-and-Anne-Rothman-Hicks-622272714477979/ 

It's Everbody Reads YA Sunday!

The Wickware Sagas
Something is just not right in old lady Wickware’s seventh grade history class. Weird things are happening and rumors are flying.  Students are finding themselves back in time, face to face, with some famous legends and heroes. 
Word on the street points to Miss Wickware, herself!  Is she a witch with magical powers?  An alien with a grudge against kids?   Maybe just a sweet old lady with a few tricks up her sleeve?
The million dollar question is how do kids of today end up in centuries gone by, and more to the point, how do they get home?
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wickware-Sagas-Penny-Estelle/dp/1499179502Printed version

The Wickware Sagas contain five short stories about a seventh grade classroom that has to draw a name out of a box and then do an oral report on that subject.  These students are less than thrilled about the assignment and when they land back in time, up close and personal with their drawn subject, they fear they won’t find a way home.


Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare, Book 1 of the Wickware Sagas
Teaser  Billy turned to William, “Dude, it’s a hat….a stupid hat.  Really?  Go to jail?  You don’t even have to bow all the way,” he whispered, “just bend a little and call the guy a jerk under your breath.”“I am a free man.  I will not bow to a hat!” William stated loudly.A booming voice rang out behind them.  “Your disrespect for me will not be tolerated and you will be punished!”William turned to see the Governor and several guardsmen behind them.  “We do not live in Altdorf.  I knew nothing of your proclamation.  Still, you expect people to bow down to an empty hat?”“Oh crap,” Billy muttered.“What is your name?” Gessler asked.“William Tell.”“I have heard of you, Tell,” Gessler said, looking down from his horse.  “Your skill as an archer is known far and wide.”Tell did not respond, but Walter was quick to pipe up.  “That is true.  My father is the very best archer in all the lands!”“Bro, ix-nay on the alk-tay,” Billy whispered.“I am not an unreasonable man,” Gessler sneered.  “I will make you a proposition, Tell.  At fifty paces, your son will have an apple placed on his head.  If you shoot if off successfully, you may go.  If you miss, or you refuse, you both die!”


http://amzn.to/1xIwH8e
Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare is the first story in the Wickware Sagas.  Others involve Molly Pitcher, Sybil Ludington, Francis Scott Key, and the Orphan Trains. As history and I were never friends in school,  I can’t express enough how much I learned when researching these legends in history!  It’s been fun and educational writing the Wickware Sagas!


Flash to the Past http://tinyurl.com/pnq79sw


Ride of a Lifetime http://goo.gl/iqtkS


Bumped Back In Time http://www.amazon.com/Bumped-Back-Wickware-Sagas-ebook/dp/B00FGDS9MM


Riches to Rags http://tinyurl.com/p2ves24