P.D. Workman's Blog, page 128
March 11, 2016
Limited time promotion – children’s classics Dave Dashaway
I have a lot of promotions coming up in March and April! This is the first.
The Kindle version of The Complete Aerial Adventures of Dave Dashaway is on for $0.99 for a limited time only. Whether you are a homeschooler looking for classic adventures for your middle-grade boys, or a connoisseur of the Stratemeyer Syndicate’s series such as The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and The Hardy Boys, the Dave Dashaway series is for you!
Come fly away with Dave Dashaway!
Armed only with his wits and a cheerful nature, Dave Dashaway is quick to make friends and pursue his dream of flying an airship. Dave and his friends face smugglers, sharks, a hidden city, saboteurs, and villains of all kinds.
Read all five of Dave’s adventures, brought together in the same book for the first time:
Dave Dashaway Young Aviator
Dave Dashaway and His Hydroplane
Dave Dashaway and His Giant Airship
Dave Dashaway Around the World
Dave Dashaway, Air Champion
This Workman Classic Schoolbook edition contains:
• An exclusive map of Dave’s journey around the world
• Background/Introduction
• Biography
• Footnotes
• Vocabulary and Comprehension/Extension questions after
each chapter
• Discussion Questions suitable for students or book clubs
• Extension activities
Brought to you by the same minds as Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys, “Books for Boys” by Roy Rockwood are great for homeschoolers using classic literature studies such as Charlotte Mason or Thomas Jefferson Education. Spellings have been standardized to U.S., but the language has not been abridged or dumbed down. Short, fast-paced chapters keep students engaged.
Appropriate for middle-grade readers.
March 8, 2016
Excerpt from Dying to Read
I am 53,618 words into the first draft of Proxy. Should be done late this week or early next! Then Camp Nanowrimo starts April 1!
Intersexion was released last week! Have a look. I am very excited about this one.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules at Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along!
I am on a mystery/detective kick! I am currently reading a cozy, Dying to Read by Lorena McCourtney, first book in the Cate Kincaid Files. I have just started, but have run into a number of engaging characters, so it shows promise! My teaser:
“But surely she wouldn’t leave knowing the Whodunit ladies would be here at noon. Unless she forgot, I suppose.”
“Or got a better invitation from Radford.” Doris gave the name an inflection that was not complimentary. “She’d dump us in a minute for Radford.”
Lorena McCourtney, Dying to Read
Cate Kinkaid’s life is . . . well, frankly it’s floundering. Her social life, her career, her haircut–they’re all a mess. Unemployed, she jumps at the chance to work for her PI uncle, even though she has no experience and no instincts. After all, she is just dabbling in the world of private investigating until she can find a “real” job.
All she has to do for her first assignment is determine that a particular woman lives at a particular address. Simple, right? But when she reaches the dark Victorian house, she runs into an hungry horde of gray-haired mystery readers and a dead body. This routine PI job is turning out to be anything but simple. Is Cate in over her head?
March 5, 2016
New book release! Intersexion hits the market
Intersexion is now live at Amazon! Pick up your Kindle or paperback copy now. This is one of those stories that just grabbed me by the throat and demanded to be written. The idea, the cover, and the story all just came together like a tidal wave, and it bumped another book out of its way on my publication schedule.
What are others saying about Intersexion?
—My heart went out to Taylor as he dealt with abuse and rejection. I had a hard time putting down the book because I couldn’t wait to see what happened.
—This book definitely had an impact on me, and I’m still thinking about the issues.
—I think this kind of story needs to be told right now.
—I applaud you for creating such a book that was so near to my heart and one that could and did make me forget daily life.
Here is a teaser, and the synopsis follows:
“I got kicked out,” Taylor eventually offered. He watched for her reaction, as if afraid it might be the wrong answer and she would yell at him or kick him out. Another sign of abuse. The black eye and the cut over his cheek would heal. But he would carry that worried, wary attitude with him for much longer.
Award-winning author P.D. Workman brings you a compelling and thought-provoking tale of human growth, compassion, and understanding.
Taylor is a teen teetering on the edge of a steep precipice. Disowned by his family, living on the street, battling abuse and prejudice, he struggles to discover who he really is and how to carry on with life.
The last person you would expect to touch him is Roz, whose foremost identity is a Christian wife and mother. But her world is about to be shaken. Through all that happens, Roz understands she has to be there for Taylor, knowing he is only one step from despair and self-destruction.
By the author of Ruby, Between the Cracks, a winner of the Top Ten Best Books for Teens 2015 award, Intersection will challenge your deepest beliefs about identity.
March 1, 2016
Excerpt from Magisterium
I am 31,745 words into the first draft of Proxy.
And Intersexion is going to be released soon; sign up for my mailing list to be the first to hear!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules at Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along!
I just started Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch yesterday. It is a sci-fi/fantasy novel with a striking cover. Holly Black, who I’ve previously excerpted, also has a Magisterium book/series, so don’t mix them up! My teaser:
He hadn’t always been like this; her father had been a promising builder once—had done a lot of the work that led to the invention of the sleek glass tablet in Glenn’s hand—and was supposed to have gone on to do big things, but, like everything else, that went away one night ten years ago. Since then he’d produced nothing, choosing instead to chase ideas down the strange dark alleys that only he could see.
Jeff Hirsch, Magisterium
On one side of the Rift is a technological paradise without famine or want. On the other side is a mystery.
Sixteen-year-old Glenn Morgan has lived next to the Rift her entire life and has no idea of what might be on the other side of it. Glenn’s only friend, Kevin, insists the fence holds back a world of monsters and witchcraft, but magic isn’t for Glenn. She has enough problems with reality: Glenn’s mother disappeared when she was six, and soon after, she lost her scientist father to his all-consuming work on the mysterious Project. Glenn buries herself in her studies and dreams about the day she can escape. But when her father’s work leads to his arrest, he gives Glenn a simple metal bracelet that will send Glenn and Kevin on the run—with only one place to go.
February 23, 2016
Excerpt from Surface Tension
I have finished the first draft of EDS and started on Proxy! 10,000 words in…
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!
My excerpt today is from Surface Tension by Christine Kling, the first book in the Seychelle Sullivan Suspense series. Kling builds a great picture of life on the water in Floria. I am engrossed in solving the mystery and finding out whether Neal is really dead and who is involved in the murders.
I’d met Jeannie in a Winn-Dixie in the frozen-food aisle when one of her boys pitched a box of frozen waffles at my backside as I bent down to reach for a can of orange juice. Jeannie was totally unfazed by the incident. She just flashed me a boys-will-be-boys smile and introduced herself. She gave me her card. Later, when Red died and I needed a lawyer, I gave her a call.
Christine Kling, Surface Tension
Years ago Seychelle Sullivan had the chance to save a person’s life. But on that summer night in Florida, lost in a world of teenage resentment and loneliness, Seychelle was not able to feel any pain but her own. Today Seychelle captains her father’s forty-six-foot salvage boat out of Fort Lauderdale’s New River. But she’s never escaped that one moment when she could have made a difference and didn’t.
On a steamy Florida morning Seychelle is answering a Mayday call launched from the five-million-dollar Broward yacht called Top Ten. Racing her fiercest competitor for salvage rights, Seychelle has a personal stake in this rescue: Her former lover, Neal Garrett, is the yacht’s hired skipper. But being the first to reach Top Ten leads to a bloody payday. A beautiful woman has been stabbed to death onboard. And Garrett is nowhere to be found.
While the police treat her as the prime suspect, Seychelle begins to unravel a tangled plot centered on a strip club where “all the girls are tens on top.” Seychelle is connecting human predators with innocent victims, and a mystery on land with a mystery buried deep beneath the sea. Now, to find out what really happened to Neal Garrett, Seychelle must retrace his last steps, through two murders and a horrific crime wave, to a final confrontation with someone who may want to kill her . . . or be her salvation.
February 16, 2016
Excerpt from Defy
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!
I am really enjoying Defy by Sara D. Larson, a young adult fantasy adventure. Full of sword fighting, magic, and unexpected twists, it is a fun read.
Death was once nothing more than a game to us, back at home, when we were children and we practiced for hours every day with sticks instead of swords. Back when I was still Alexa, instead of Alex, Marcel’s twin brother and member of Prince Damian’s personal guard.
Sara D. Larson, Defy
Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king’s army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can’t prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.
The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect?
February 9, 2016
Excerpt from White Heat
One week in on the first draft of EDS. 32,000 words so far.
Still waiting on making my special announcement, but it’s coming… Be sure to watch here or subscribe to my mailing list so that you don’t miss it. I am very excited…
If you are a Spanish reader, the Spanish translation of Don’t Forget Steven is a kindle freebie right now!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!
Like my book Questing for a Dream, White Heat by M.J. McGrath is about modern Canadian Aboriginals. Get immersed in their culture and challenges while following Edie Kiglatuk as she tries to track down a killer and unravel the intrigue surrounding the murder. Be prepared for some language (not just the tongue-twisting aboriginal words) and for the depressing realities of alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, and poverty among our aboriginal peoples.
‘I swear, the shot came out of nowhere.’ Taylor’s voice was querulous and high-pitched. Something flickered across his face, a momentary despair, and, as if sensing the implausibility of his observation, he repeated it. ‘Nowhere.’
M.J. McGrath, White Heat
Half Inuit and half outsider, Edie Kiglatuk is the best guide in her corner of the Arctic. But as a woman, she gets only grudging respect from her community’s Council of Elders. While Edie is leading two tourists on a hunting expedition, one of them is shot and killed. The Council wants to call it an accident, but Edie and police sergeant Derek Palliser suspect otherwise. When the other tourist disappears, Edie sets off into the far reaches of the tundra for answers.
A stunning debut novel, White Heat launches a formidable new series set amidst an unforgiving landscape of ice and rock, of spirit ancestors, and never-rotting bones.
February 2, 2016
Excerpt from James Patterson’s Unlucky 13
The first day of February, which according to my production schedule, means day one of a new book! I started the first draft of EDS today and am just about 6,000 words in.
I will have an announcement to make in the next few days. Be sure to watch here or subscribe to my mailing list so that you don’t miss it. I am very excited…
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!
I am currently reading Unlucky 13 by James Patterson, a Women’s Murder Club mystery. James Patterson is one of the most prolific writers of our time. He received the 2015 Literarian Award: he is a “passionate campaigner to make books and reading a national priority. A generous supporter of universities, teachers colleges, independent bookstores, school libraries, and college students, Patterson has donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarships with the purpose of encouraging Americans of all ages to read more books.” And his books are an incredibly fun read!
David Katz, the young man who had driven the Jeep, had been doing postgrad work in psychology. Besides being shattered, his parents were completely dumbfounded by their son’s unexplained and tragic death. They hadn’t even the slimmest guess as to why David and Lara had been killed.
James Patterson, Unlucky 13
San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is loving her life as a new mother. With an attentive husband, a job she loves, plus best friends who can talk about anything from sex to murder, things couldn’t be better.
Then the FBI sends Lindsay a photo of a killer from her past, and her happy world is shattered. The picture captures a beautiful woman at a stoplight. But all Lindsay sees is the psychopath behind those seductive eyes: Mackie Morales, the most deranged and dangerous mind the Women’s Murder Club has ever encountered.
January 30, 2016
Reading List: Young Adult Fiction About Sexual Abuse
In the past three months, I have written the first draft of the next two books in the Between the Cracks series, and I am poised to write two more books in a yet-unpublished series over the next six weeks. All researched and outlined and ready to start on Monday, February 1st. I wrote the first book last February, so it’s only fitting!
The time has come to post the next reading list in my series on abuse in young adult literature. This series is comprised of four parts:
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Neglect
Mental/Psychological Abuse
I have been putting this list off for a while, because sexual abuse is an uncomfortable topic. It’s hard to talk about, to read about, and to write about. There are a few popular books out right now that focus on sexual abuse, and it is a topic I have explored a number in a number of my books.
My books that include main characters who are or have been sexually abused:
Ruby, Between the Cracks (all of the Between the Cracks series revolve around the impact of sexual abuse, I am only listing the first here.)
If you asked Ruby, she’d tell you she’s happy with her life. She’s tough and independent and doesn’t depend on anyone else. The road that has led her here has not been easy, and she’s blocked a lot of it from her memory.
But things aren’t as rosy as she would have everyone believe, and the road ahead of her is filled not only with gangs, drugs, and depression, but other challenges that Ruby hasn’t even imagined.
Deviation“You’re a good kid, Henry.”
Everyone knew that he was a good guy; geeky, responsible, hard-working. Henry has had a lot to deal with in the past. Now, as he should be focusing on his schooling and preparing himself for the future, he is hindered by abuse, the challenge of raising his baby brother while dealing with his mother’s deep depressions, and the return of a ghost from the past Henry has tried his best to forget.
But it seems that Henry can’t avoid the nastiness of life. As hard as he tries, it’s one more disaster after another as his life spirals out of control.
Can Henry escape the darkness, or is he doomed to be consumed by it?
Raised to a life of crime, Sandy is a teenage prostitute, junkie, and con artist. She always joked that her Da taught her a trade, that it hadn’t hurt her to be brought up like she was.
But things keep getting more complicated, more dangerous, and Sandy doesn’t want to admit even to herself that she longs for an honest, normal life.
Even when she tries to change, things don’t go smoothly. Sandy’s past keeps interfering with her new relationships. In the end, if she and her family don’t pull together, Sandy will not be able to escape yet another ghost of her past. Do they have what it takes for her to change her life completely?
He never told what went on behind closed doors. But this time, he can’t remember.
Things never have been easy for Steven. He accepts that, and just makes the best of things. He might not have parents or a happy home. Or enough to eat most days. But at least he has a couple of loyal friends who stand by him and help out when they can. At least he has school, someplace he can go to escape the abuse.
But just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did.
Steven is accused of murder. But that isn’t the worst part. The really bad part is not even knowing if he did it.
“I don’t plan on getting in any trouble.”
Tamara had thought that when she got out of juvie, things would be easier. But before long, it seems like her life is spiraling into chaos.
If she can’t prove to her probation officer that she is innocent of the allegations against her, she’s going back to prison, and Tamara just can’t let that happen.
The other books that I have picked out are:
SpeakThe first ten lies they tell you in high school.
“Speak up for yourself–we want to know what you have to say.” From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
Some BoysSome girls say no. Some boys don’t listen.
When Grace meets Ian, she’s afraid. Afraid he’ll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn’t be the first to call her a slut and a liar.Except Ian doesn’t reject her. He’s the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He’s the one who gives her the courage to fight back.
He’s also Zac’s best friend
Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself—before it’s too late….
An edgy, realistic, and hopeful novel about a teen survivor of sexual abuse who uses self-harm to cope.
Kendra, fifteen, hasn’t felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can’t remember the most important detail – her abuser’s identity. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts; aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it’s her only way of coping. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who’s becoming a friend and maybe more. But the truth about Kendra’s abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. SCARS is the unforgettable story of one girl’s frightening path to the truth.
January 26, 2016
Excerpt from Hounded
In case you missed it, I released Michelle, Between the Cracks #3 last week! And today, I have an author interview posted on Danielle Lincoln Hannah’s site about the Between the Cracks series. (And incidentally, I just finished draft one of Ronnie, Between the Cracks #5 on Friday.)
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!
Hounded is the second book I have read by David Rosenfelt in the Andy Carpenter series. A wealthy Defense Attorney who rescues dogs and is married to a private investigator, Andy Carpenter is a funny character who always has something to say. These books always have me laughing out loud.
We get back to the house, and Laurie is waiting for me downstairs. “Ricky is up in his room,” she says.
“Ricky has a room?”
She nods. “The one next to ours. I’m sorry we didn’t talk about this before, Andy, but I knew you wouldn’t refuse Pete.”
David Rosenfelt, Hounded
Andy Carpenter isn’t sure what to think when he gets a mysterious phone call from a good friend, policeman Pete Stanton, asking him to drop everything, drive to an unfamiliar address, and bring his girlfriend, Laurie Collins. He certainly isn’t expecting to show up at a crime scene. But that’s exactly where he arrives—at the house where Pete has just discovered the body of ex-convict Danny Diza. Upstairs are Danny’s now orphaned eight-year-old son and basset hound. And that, Andy discovers, is why he and Laurie were called to the scene—Pete wants them to take care of the boy and the dog so they won’t get thrown into the “system.” This is already asking a lot, but soon Pete needs another big favor from Andy. Pete himself has come under suspicion for Danny’s murder, and he needs defense attorney Andy to represent him…and to find out what really happened in Danny’s house that day.
