Let’s Salute the Week
Happy Easter Everyone!
The cross in the middle is for Jesus and two thieves on either side. All of should be like the one thief who asked and was granted forgiveness!
The weather here in Colorado has been very interesting, normally April is the second snowiest month of the year. Not really this year, but I will say that the soil is drinking in the all of the moisture it can get.
This week I will be posting several book reviews by a few of my favorite authors, I hope that you like them as much as I did. Some of the books have been out for a few years, while others will be released in a few months.
In addition, I will be catching up with my social media skills and the writing skills. I really appreciate the fact that the number of followers have been growing and declining over the past few months, it makes my heart warm.
It is Easter, the time that our Lord died so that we could be wiped clean and enter Heaven. I hope everyone has a good week and great Easter!!!!
Blog tour: Gone Without a Trace by Mary Tojussen
Synopsis
Gone without a Trace is a thriller about a woman whose boyfriend has disappeared. However, no ever really disappears, some people just leave. However, when all of your boyfriends belongings have disa
ppeared, he hasn’t been to work for weeks and for some reason no one knows this person. Did he ever exist?
From the marketing email:
How far would you go to find the one that got away?
From the imprint that published Fiona Barton’s instant New York Times bestseller The Widow and Clare Mackintosh’s global phenomenon I Let You Go, comes Mary Torjussen’s GONE WITHOUT A TRACE (Berkley Trade Paperback Original; 978-0-399-58501-2; April 11, 2017; $16.00)—an electric, compulsive thriller about a boyfriend’s unexplained disappearance, and its corrosive effects on the woman he left behind.
In GONE WITHOUT A TRACE, young professional Hannah returns from work to find her live-in boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house. Every call she ever made, every text she ever sent, every photo of him and any sign of him on social media have vanished. It’s as though their last four years together never happened. As she struggles to get through the next few days, with humiliation and recriminations whirring through her head, she knows she’ll do anything to get answers. Where has he gone? Why has he left?
Then the messages start—cryptic and creepy texts and videos—and Hannah realizes that someone is watching her every move. And there are signs that someone has been in her house.
As her search for Matt progresses, Hannah treads further into madness and obsession—and the only way out is to come to terms with the one shocking truth she just can’t accept. . .
For anyone who has ever asked “Was it something I did?” GONE WITHOUT A TRACE brings to chilling light the doubt, fear, and obsession that can lie dormant in our most intimate relationships.
Mary Tojussen
Book Review and 4.2 stars
I am a big fan of Disappeared on Investigation Discovery. It really amazes me that people just pick up and leave. No one sees them, they have literally faded into the great big world. Some disappear because they want to , some have help and others just go . . away. . for ever. In this book, this man is just gone and what is worse no one acknowledges his existence. The book will keep you wanting to read more and find out what happen.
Book Review: Green House Mystery Series by Wendy Tyson
Wendy Tyson is the author of the Greenhouse Mystery Series, the first of which, A Muddied Murder, was released in spring 2016 and Bitter Harvest which will be released in 2017.
Synopsis
Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family’s organic farm and café, where she expects to find peace and tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, Pennsylvania.
A Muddied Murder (Book 1)
Megan’s goat goes missing, then it rains to hard and her fields are muddy, she can’t get any her business permits, and re modelling and sprucing up her family’s Colonial-era farm takes the majority of her savings.
When Megan doesn’t think things she will get any worse, she and the veterinarian discover the zoning commissioner’s body in her barn. Guess who is the number one suspect? Now in addition to all of her other problems she need to find a killer before that killer strikes again.
Book Review equals 4.2 stars
This book is well written and I did enjoy reading it. But it didn’t quite get 5 stars because it followed the formula a cozy mystery to a tee. I think that Ms. Tyson has a great series on her hands and it will get better.
Bitter Harvest (Book 2)
Megan Sawyer has lived in Washington Acres a year and the café has become a hotspot for localse The veterinarian is making house calls, (hint, hint, nudge, nudge) All is going well and just as Oktoberfest is about to start, the town’s pub owner is killed. However, Megan is the one who thinks it is more than an accident
Book Review and 4.5 stars
I did like this book a bit more and think that Ms. Tyson has written a great sequence to the Muddied Murders. You will enjoy the book!!
Upcoming book in Fall (2017) Seeds of Revenge
Why use a pseudonym?
Definition
A pseudonym is defined as “A pseudonym or alias is a name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which can differ from his or her original or true name (orthonym). Pseudonyms include stage names and user names (both called screen names), ring names, pen names, nicknames, aliases, superhero identities and code names, gamer identifications, and regnal names of emperors, popes, and other monarchs.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym.)”
Authors who use a Pseudonym
I have read several authors who write under different names because they want to write different series. Here are just a few authors who have used a pseudonym:
A.A. Fair aka Ernie Stanley Gardner
Anthony North/Aaron Wolf aka Dean Kootnz
Clive Hamilton aka C.S. Lewis
Nora Roberts aka JD Robb
Mary Westmacott aka Agatha Christie
Richard Bachman aka Stephen King
But . . . Should you use a pseudonym?
This is a good question. Nora Roberts used a pseudonym because she was such a prolific writer and wanted to stretch her creative muscles. Ann Rice who wrote the Vampire Chronicles, wanted to write a new genre as well, she wrote a couple of erotic books. Jayne Anne Krentz said the reason she used a pseudonym was to find a name that provide to be the most successful as far as a author.
But should you use a pseudonym? Well, it really depends on your reason for using a pen name. There are good reasons and bad reasons:
Good reasons:
- Your writing could interfere with other aspects of your career
- You have a history of failures
- You have the same name as a famous writer
Bad reasons:
- No one will respect me because I am a ________.
- I don’t want anyone to know I am writer.
- I’d like a name that reflects my inner self.
Remember that using a pseudonym is different that legally changing your name. This is a name that goes on your work. Sometimes it is on your contract and you need to have an understanding with your bank so that you cash your checks.
It is not a bad thing to use a pseudonym, however you need to have good solid reasons for using one on your work.
Book Review: Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mysteries Series by Barbara Allan
Barbara Allan is the joint pseudonym of acclaimed short story writer Ba
rbara Collins (Too Many Tomcats) and New York Times bestselling mystery novelist Max Allan Collins (ROAD TO PERDITION). They have joined forces to write Trash ‘n’ Treasures to write about Brandy Borne and Her mother Vivian. I have to wonder which author defined Vivian. The story is very interesting and very enjoyable.
rbara Collins (Too Many Tomcats) and New York Times bestselling mystery novelist Max Allan Collins (ROAD TO PERDITION). They have joined forces to write Trash ‘n’ Treasures to write about Brandy Borne and Her mother Vivian. I have to wonder which author defined Vivian. The story is very interesting and very enjoyable.
Antiques Swap
It happened at Serenity’s swap meet, right after Brandy Borne and her ever-more-eccentric mother Vivian finished shooting the pilot for their very own TV show, Antiques Sleuths.
Vanessa turns up at each and every meet when Brandy Boone and her mother go to purchase material for their reality show. Sure, Vanessa was furious that she caught Brandy in Wesley’s emb
race. However, now with a new murder in their world, now Brandy–along with her notoriously nosy mother and their sleuthing shih tzu Sushi–are determined to dig for the whole truth.
Book Review and 4.3 stars
I liked the book, but I don’t like Vivian, she is just a little to out there for me. However, Vivian does have a way of lightning up the story a bit. I strongly encourage you to read the book, it will definitely keep you entertained.
Antiques Frame
Brandy Borne and her interesting mother, Vivian have a hit reality TV series, Antiques Sleuths. But another “hit” enters the picture, after a rival bidder becomes a one-woman show at their televised auctions—and it’s the estranged wife of Brandy’s police-chief beau, Tony! When I say she is always around she is always around.
Brandy’s mom—her daughter, Brandy, is now wearing basic jailhouse orange— and Vivian is working overtime to help resolve this situation. Brandy and Vivian race to solve the problem. They are aided only by Sushi, their loyal shih tzu, and police dog Rocky, the wacky mother-and-daughter sleuthing team must learn the killer’s identity.
Book Review and 4. 4 stars
There is one thing about this series that I haven’t been able to understand: that is do Brandy Borne and her mother like each other. My thought is that they do like one another, but I also 
think tha they need each other to keep their world from crashing down. I think most people will enjoy this book. They characters remind me of people I meet everyday.
Let’s Salute the Week
April!
This is the month that I swear doesn’t know what it wants to do as far as weather is concerned. One day it wet, one day it is snowing, one day it is windy and one it ha all of the weather in the world.
This week will be a interesting week, it will be full of differenting days and lots of work on my end.
Gratitude
I have learned that I need to be grateful for what I have, which includes a husband, two adult children and an extended family. My brother, my sister, and myself are all nearing our 30 year anniversary. Fact is my brother and sister have already arrived and we will be there this summer.
I have job that pays me money. It is in an area that I kind of like, but truth be told I would rather be developing curriculum material.
My children are alive and well.
My husband takes care of us.
Finally, we have the means to take care of ourselves.
Next Steps
The best thing to do is find the thing that makes you the most happy and find a way to make a living from it.
Definition of E-book: A Kindle
I like my Kindle.
My husband bought it for me for Christmas when they were first sold. I gave that one to my Dad and upgraded ever since that one. NO one paid me to write this post!
I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, the Kindle came to every medical appointment. I would read it while I waited, and I waited a lot. It was a lot easier to wait with the Kindle than it was to wait with two children. Now I have a small version of the Kindle.
However, I can put my Kindle app on my iPad and my Mac. My books come with me wherever I go and when I get tired of reading (Gasp!, yes tired) the book saves my place, saves my book and lets me set up an audio so that I fall asleep listening to my story. It was wonderful.
There are a lot of people who want the feel of the book between their hands as they read their book. They want to mark their book, touch the pages, and have it with them at all times. I get that! It’s probably one of the reasons I journal on paper and my Bible for devotion and reading; it is still a hardback.
However, I would like to point out that reading is still a hard skill for many people to master and the literacy rate is still low for older generation. The Kindle has an audio component that will help people enjoy a story without stumbling through words.
There are more e-books out there, but I like the Kindle. I still bring it to my doctor’s appointments.
Java Jive Mystery Series by Caroline Fardig
Carol Fardig mystery series which is published by Random House is based on two people who have known each other off and on, but have always worked together in a coffee-house. Except now, the coffee house has included murder in their mix.
Death Before Decaf
Synopsis
Juliet Langley’s music career has crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, now she is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Now her personal life is in ruins. Juliet packs up and moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. The place is burning money, the staff is has declared open warfare, and Juliet finds one unlucky employee dead in the dumpster out back on her first day.
The corpse and Juliet had just had a huge fight over the health code. The other employees are not impressed with Juliet and have no problem selling her as the number one suspect in the murder. The is a stranger who’s asking a lot of questions, and now Juliet in hot water. What is a girl to do when her luck is currently all bad.
Book Review plus 4.1
The book is good and it definitely follows the cozy mystery formula. However, I liked Juliet, the main character the fact that she has a good friend who is willing to help her out, even if the rest of the staff isn’t quite on board. The story also incorporates my favorite drink: coffee.
Mug Shot
Synopsis
Former musician Juliet Langley has been working hard at the coffeehouse owned by her best friend, Pete Bennett. IN addition, Pete’s girlfriend, Cecilia Hollingsworth, is organizing the annual Holiday 5K Race . This year, Java Jive has a booth right at the finish line, which is where. . . Juliet stumbles over Cecilia’s dead body on the morning of the race.
Pete is arrested for Cecilia’s murder, Juliet sets out to clear his name. Juliet goes undercover and enter Nashville’s high society to find any hidden skeletons in Cecilia’s closet. Pete’s bond is paid for by Juliet, but Juliet needs to hang onto her temper and find out who killed Pete’s girlfriend.
Book Review plus 4.3
The story was good and I glad to see more of a relationship between Juliet and Pete. It is a great read and wonderful second book in the story. It is a must read
A Whole Latte Murder
Juliet’s personal and professional luck has taken a turn for the better. She has a boyfriend, great looking, detective Ryder Hamilton continues to simmer, and business at Java Jive is booming. However, Ryder has been promoted to homicide and Juliet is concerned about the type of people he will encounter, not to mention then the safety issue.
Juliet finds Chelsea dead, a missing college student and her involvement puts a strain on Ryder’s first homicide case. Now one of her’s and Peter’s employees went missing. Now what is happening and what will the end result be?
Book Review and 4.4 stars
This is a whole bunch of trouble for everyone connected and what happens at the end will be a surprise to them all. However, it is sad and it kind of reminds me of the episodes of Disappear I watch, the ending . . . well I guess you will just have to read the book.
Brew or Die 
Juliet Langley is officially one of Nashville’s licensed private investigators. Her best friend, Pete Bennett, isn’t worried that it will interfere with her job at Java Jive, he’s concerned about the amount of trouble she will find. In addition, he would like her to re-enter the local music scene.
However, one of Java Jive’s baristas, Shane, asks Juliet to look into the suspicious death, when she died on the job. He thinks that her party-planning colleagues are up to something criminal—and will do anything to keep it quiet.
In addition, Juliet will need to bridge her differences with her ex. Detective Ryder Hamilton. Now what happens?
Book Review plus 4.2
I will be honest, I didn’t like the fact that Juliet got her P.I. license. I liked her status as a coffee store manager. My opinion. The story did work, it kind of brought together elements that I was glad to see occur, but I wish Ryder had another police job. Yet, Yet, Yet . . . I liked the story and worked well!
All of these books were provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in return for my honest review of the books.
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