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Hi Everyone.
Mr Wonderful talked me into a trip to Biloxi. We had a great time and the weather was…HOT! We came home with more than we went with and that is always a good thing.
Woo Hoo…Another Threecon Sci/Fi novel by Carmen Webster Buxton. I have loved exploring the worlds she has created, so I am really looking forward to The Nostalgia Gambit. I love the creative cover and I wonder what…or who…the red pawn represents.
Carmen Webster Buxton comes up with some of the best, most unusual characters. Tychon Altair Damiano is the star in The Nostalgia Gambit. He doesn’t know who his father is, seeing his mother’s ‘career’ made it hard to figure out. He is a fence, dealing with stolen goods, and has spend some time in prison. His friends consist of hookers and thieves, until…
Carmen Webster Buxton writing has created a world of vast richness, with detailed glimpses into life on a planet of the future. I find it fascinating, getting lost in the detailed descriptions.
When I started reading, I thought, I know it will be good, but how can Carmen come up with something new and exciting. I am a blood and guts kind of girl. I love reading about serial killers, vampires and shapeshifters, but have found science fiction taking a larger piece of the pie than ever before. It’s because of authors like Carmen.
Threecon is like our United Nations, though there are no nations, only planets. To join, you must be a unified planet. One for all and all for one. The Palatinate, Kallisto’s ruler, was determined to join Threecon. Good for him. I’ve spent several novels visiting other planets and loving every minute of it. I find the Threecon world Carmen has created fascinating. Even more so the characters, and their interactions. They come alive on the pages, drawing me in, becoming involved in their life, as if they are real. I empathize and sympathize with them…at least most of them.
I loved The Nostalgia Gamibit by Carmen Webster Buxton, another unique and highly entertaining read!
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Far future science fiction: Tychon Damiano makes a living, of sorts, fencing stolen goods. He’s especially proud of dealing in items stolen from rich aristos. On the other hand, the hookers and lowlifes in Prime, the largest city on Kallisto, are his friends. They send him enough business to keep himself fed and clothed, and help him stay one step ahead of the law. And then one day Ty walks into the wrong bar and finds his life forever changed. Now he lives a life of luxury in a palace, with fine food on the table, servants to wait on him, and a virtual girlfriend on tap. There’s only one problem. Ty can’t leave.
ABOUT CARMEN WEBSTER BUXTON
Carmen Webster Buxton spent her youth reading every book published by Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein and Georgette Heyer. This combination of far-future worlds, alien cultures, and old-fashioned courting customs influenced her writing, especially in her ThreeCon series.
Carmen was born in Hawaii and experienced a peripatetic childhood, as her father was in the US Navy. Having raised two wonderful children, she now lives in Maryland with her husband Charlie, and a beagle named Cosmo. She writes science fiction (often including a romance, and mostly set in the far future), and the occasional fantasy.
Carmen has published many books:
WAKANREO SERIES Alien Bonds Alien Vows Alien Skies
HAVEN SERIES The Sixth Discipline No Safe Haven
THREECON SERIES (can be read in any order) The Nostalgia Gambit Saronna’s Gift Shades of Empire Tribes Worlds Apart
ALTERNATE HISTORY King of Trees
YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION Turnabout Drifters
FANTASY Where Magic Rules Bag of Tricks Hidden Magic
THE NAMELESS WORLD SAGA (coming in 2021) The North Edge of Nowhere Oaths and Promises
Carmen often blogs about ereaders, digital publishing, writing, and speculative fiction. Visit her blog to see what’s coming out next! To ask questions or to provide feedback on her books, send email to carmen.webster.buxton (at) gmail.com.
Book Title: Waiting in the Wings: How to Launch Your Performing Career on Broadway and Beyond by Tiffany Haas Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 273 pages Genre: Non-Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin Release date: April 23, 2019 Content Rating: G for everyone.
Book Description:
Tiffany Haas knows how to make it on Broadway. After 72 rejections in a row she finally landed a role in Broadway’s long-running smash hit Wicked and later became “Glinda the Good.” Now she wants to share her advice for starting and nurturing a career in the theater. Waiting in the Wings is the essential guide for anyone who wants to have a theatrical career, whether they’re complete newbies or already have some professional credits.
Based on everything she learned on her journey to New York, including 10 years on Broadway, Tiffany shares the information that you need to succeed in theater. Everyone’s path is a little bit different, but the principles for success are always the same. With advice on auditions, how to become the performer they want to hire, developing relationships with cast mates, finding a reputable agent, the importance of reputation, and the best way to shape and build your career, Tiffany covers every aspect of the business. You’ll learn what it takes to be successful and where to best spend your time and effort as you navigate the “great mystery” of pursuing musical theater.
In an industry that is famed for its insider secrets, Tiffany draws back the curtain, giving readers the knowledge and tools they need to follow their dreams. If you’re one of those people Waiting in the Wings for a big Broadway career, Tiffany Haas’s book is the one resource you need to land a big role, stand in front of those footlights and let it go!
A Virginia native, Tiffany is a talented Broadway performer, concert vocalist, choreographer, author, designer and passionate entrepreneur and former Miss Ohio. In addition to her impressive 10-year career as “Glinda” in the Broadway and National Tour production of Wicked, she was the dance captain for the Tony Award-winning Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone. She is the author of Waiting In The Wings: How to Launch Your Performing Career on Broadway and Beyond and Founder & Artistic Director of Destination Broadway, the premier musical theatre training program for young aspiring performers. Throughout the years, her evolving career has spanned Broadway, Symphony concerts, pageants, and sharing her many talents with others through teaching. Tiffany’s students can be seen on The Disney Channel, Sesame Street, National Tours, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, and are currently studying at some of the most prestigious conservatories and universities in the country.
Force of Nature Skye Warren & Amelia Wilde Publication date: September 6th 2022 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Carter Morelli survived a violent childhood and dangerous missions. After he emergency lands the small aircraft, he faces something even worse: having someone depend on him. Geologis June Porter wants to study rocks. She didn’t plan to be stranded on a deserted island.
They aren’t alone on the island. A man hides among the broad leaves. He’s almost feral, this man. But he provides them shelter and food.
There are secrets in his hidden cabin. Desire, too.
Carter doesn’t want to care about the bookish, beautiful June.
But he doesn’t like this strange man’s interest in her, either.
Simmering chemistry wars with the need for survival.
Will they be found before they give into temptation?
Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.
Amelia Wilde is a USA TODAY bestselling author of steamy contemporary romance and loves it a little too much. She lives in Michigan with her husband and daughters. She spends most of her time typing furiously on an iPad and appreciating the natural splendor of her home state from where she likes it best: inside.
Amelia is a USA Today best selling author from northern Michigan. Be her friend!
This second chance romance is full of twists and turns, emotional reunions, and drama perfect for anyone addicted to romance. Regan “Rae” Murphy has zero interest in romance and even less in love. One heartbreak in her life was quite enough, and she has no desire to get wrapped up in the sticky tendrils of love again. She thought she’d left all those messy feelings and entanglements in her past when she moved to Charlotte from Charleston, especially the devastatingly handsome portion of that past, who was wearing nothing but a towel when she walked out on him. His betrayal was the reason she left and is the reason she keeps her heart safely tucked away. But when her best friend, Kez, asks Rae to be her maid of honor, Rae reluctantly puts aside her own feelings about forever.
Love is in the air on Kez’s wedding day, and it smacks Rae right in the face when her ex, Van, appears-and he looks just as good in a tux as he did in a towel. For Kez’s sake, Rae agrees to bury the hatchet somewhere other than between Van’s shoulder blades. He makes it his mission to get Rae to hear him out-something she refused to do before she left him. The pull to listen is strong as the hope she’d buried deep within her starts to rattle its way free. Maybe everything between them hadn’t been one giant, intricate lie. But to get the chance to show Rae what they had was real, Van’s going to have to earn it. This second chance romance is full of twists and turns, emotional reunions, and drama perfect for anyone addicted to romance.
ABOUT E F DODD
A fan of all things Halloween, but terrified of scary movies. Lover of fresh flowers, with the notable exception of carnations. Don’t expect a woman to be flattered by the same flowers you paid $1.00 for back in junior high on Valentine’s Day. I’m a true romantic, which is to say I find flaws unexpectedly beautiful and think life is at its best during the in between moments you don’t find on FaceBook or Instagram. I’m lucky enough to share my life with someone who agrees reclaimed is better than new, antiques always trump contemporary and it’s a close call who should be saved first from a burning building – us, or our English Bulldog. I’m new to the writing game, but I love it and the respite it provides not just me, but also, I hope, my readers.
GENRE: Clean Contemporary Women’s
Fiction – Christian
BLURB
They
started out as strangers…but didn’t stay that way for long…
A devoted granddaughter
willing to do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. Strangers who meet during the worst of
conditions and become friends in the midst of chaos. Unexpected romance under the most unlikely
circumstances. A puzzling mystery with
its roots in historical events that took place centuries ago. And a storm that
hides an ominous purpose that could change all their lives forever.
Sara knows before she
walks into her grandparent’s home that her grandmother’s greatest fear will
never be the storm or the threat it poses but instead the unknown that lays
just beyond her front door. She knows too its cause and grieves that there is
nothing she can do to change it.
Throughout the years of
his career John has covered numerous battlefields including those that are a
result of nature’s unyielding tempest.
He fears this might be the worst one yet.
Mel didn’t expect to
spend more than a few days in the large house where they’d taken refuge. She figured the storm would pass by and then
they’d be off to their next assignment.
The last thing she expected was David Payne.
Despite the fact that
Lance was the bane of her teenage years, Tish knows that without the help of
her father’s assistant, that the trip to North Carolina likely would have been
a lot more challenging than it was. She’d been unequivocally terrified but his
presence gave her strength she didn’t realize she had. She wasn’t certain how she felt about that…or
him…or that he no longer irritated her the way he used to.
When Gary arrived at
his family’s home in the mountains of North Carolina, he’s relieved that Sara
and her grandparents along with their elderly friends are already there. But he
is unable to take an easy breath until Tish finally arrives with Lance…and is
not at all surprised at what he hears from Lance about their trip and the
potential dangers they’d just barely been able to avoid.
He’s determined to do
everything he can to keep their location safe…and unknown. Their knowledge,
skills, and ingenuity are their greatest defense. For a time they would have to
depend on themselves…it hadn’t take long to discover that the storm was never
their greatest threat…but what is could change all their lives for the
immediate future…or longer.
“If you enjoy uplifting and heartfelt women’s fiction, young and older heroes and heroines filled with courage and compassion as they share joys and triumphs, and united they face and overcome tremendous challenges and tragedy, this book is for you.”
NOTE: The book is on sale for
$0.99.
EXCERPT
“You didn’t know?”
John wasn’t about to pretend that he had no idea what she
was talking about.
“It was pretty obvious that Ben spent a lot of his spare
time with his nose in the books, but I figured it was towards a journalism
degree.”
He stared out into the darkness. He could hear the trees moving with the wind
in the distance but beyond that he couldn’t see a damn thing. “I had no clue about the rest of it.”
And that he knew was on him.
He’d never made the effort to learn more about the young man in all the
months that he’d been working with him.
“Grandma has a way about her. In the right situation, people talk to her
about things they usually don’t with anyone else,” Sara said quietly.
“Sounds like it,” John said as he thought about what he’d
heard. People lost loved ones over the
course of their lives. There was no
getting around that one.
But from what they’d just heard Ben had lost everyone. That wasn’t normal and he knew no matter how
well-adjusted Ben appeared, it couldn’t be easy no matter how long ago it had
been. He was only…John sighed
deeply. He didn’t even know how old the
kid was.
“It explains how good he is with Grandma and the rest of
them,” Sara said into the quiet that had again fallen between them.
AUTHOR Bio and Links
Jacie
Middlemann lives in Texas with her husband and a couple of cats who believe
they rule…and sometimes they do.
When she’s not
watching classic sitcoms or working on a needlework project for one of her
kids, she loves to read women’s fiction and sometimes a good mystery suspense.
Local authors: How a nice guy got into writing thrillers (Monterey Herald)
This wasn’t his first attempt at writing. Nor was this his first
book. Jack Erickson has been writing for more than 50 years, having
started as a speechwriter in the U.S. Senate. He also wrote freelance
for the Washington Post, Washington Star, and Washingtonian Magazine,
among others. And he’s now published four books in his Milan Thriller
Series, alone. Number four, however, “The Lonely Assassin,” just might
be his most menacing tale yet.
Who conceives of a story about a deadly assassin captivated by an Italian woman who ransacks his emotional baggage to the point where the reader almost feels sorry for him? Almost.
To see the entire article by Lisa Crawford Watson @ the Monterey Herald, GO HERE.
The Lonely Assassin by Jack Erickson was a frightening look at Putin,
Russia, Assassins, and those who end up being the target. The Prologue
was a recap of past assassinations ordered by Russian leaders. I was
familiar with most of them and believe it is not beyond possibility
today.
Komarov had been away from work at the bank for some time. When he
returned, he found some discrepancies in the work load that his friend,
Dimitri, had been covering while he was out for surgery.
Dimitri had been working at their Bern branch, where he was
laundering money for the Russian oligarchs. What happens when you steal
from them?
So much of The Lonely Assassin rings true, showing Jack Erickson’s
research and drawing from his real life experiences. The details of both
cultures, Russia and Italy, clash. Russia: cold, brutal. Italy: calm,
relaxing.
At times, I felt empathetic with Egorov, but then his true
personality would win out and I wished for his failure. He had been to
Italy before. He had immersed himself into everything Italy to prepare
for the assignment. He would take his time and enjoy not being in some
place like Russia, or Syria, where he had been before. He felt free, at
least for a little while. He would make the most of his time, eating,
drinking, seeing the sights, while hunting Dimitri.
Simona and Dario work for DIGOS and are assigned with keeping Dimitri
and his family safe. It will not do for them to be assassinated in
their country.
I wonder…how will it end? Well, I will tell you this…the ending
certainly wasn’t what I anticipated and I loved it. It’s hard for an
author to surprise me but Jack Erickson did a fantastic job of it. My
emotions covered the gamut. I twisted and turned with the characters.
I cannot think of one thing Jack Erickson missed, when writing The
Lonely Assassin. I found it surprising that I have never read any of his
many novels before this one.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Lonely Assassin by Jack Erickson.
5 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
A
Russian banker embezzles millions laundering money in Switzerland for
Russian oligarchs. He flees with his Italian wife to a remote location
on Lake Como near Milan, where their daughter lives.
Putin wants him dead and sends a GRU assassin to Milan to find and poison the banker.
But
Milan’s antiterrorism police, DIGOS, cannot locate the assassin, Vasily
Egorov, who is traveling with phony documents, carrying a vial of
poison, and speaking Italian. Unexpectedly, Egorov meets an intriguing
Italian woman who probes into his emotional life. On a dangerous
assignment, Egorov realizes he’s an assassin in a deep personal crisis.
ABOUT JACK ERICKSON
My interest in fiction, especially mysteries, started when I was
about ten years old and read my first Hardy Boys books, “Secret of the
Old Clock,” I think the title was. I saved up from mowing lawns and
running errands to buy every title I could. They were only $1.00 each,
but when you’re only making 25 cents an hour, it takes time to save
those nickels and dimes.
And then I discovered shelves of
exciting books at my hometown Andrew Carnegie Memorial library just two
blocks away from our middle class home in the Midwest. By that time I
was reading “The Saturday Evening Post,” “Collier’s,” “Life,” “Look,”
“Time,” “Argosy,” “True,” “Photoplay,” that my parents subscribed to
and others I can’t remember. Needless to say, I skimmed through them
all, and devoured short stories by John O’Hara, John Steinbeck, Ernest
Hemingway, Herman Wouk, and Earl Stanley Gardner.
I believe my
early interest in reading was a major factor in liking school. Writing
term papers was no big deal, and we all know how important that is at
university. I enjoyed the many choices available with a liberal arts
education and sampled liberally from science, history, languages, art
history, literature, and political science.
Those wide ranging
interests are probably a factor in the careers I chose, including
Russian specialist in U.S. government, legislative aide and
speechwriter in U.S. Senate, free-lance writer, former publisher (Red
Brick Press) and author of several craft brewing books in the early
days of the industry. My most recent career was in financial services
from which I recently retired to travel and write.
I’ve been
writing fiction, mostly mysteries and romantic suspense, and have
several projects that will be published in the next few months.
I’m always fascinated how people become readers and writers. I’d love to hear your stories how writing chose you.
I first saw the Mind Hackers series when a tour popped up for Dark Waves, a novella, by Amanda Uhl for Goddess Fish. I have Mind Waves, Book I, and Cross Waves, Book II, that I hope to get through before the Goddess Fish tour for Dark Waves, which is a companion novella.
Ever since I read about governments having paranormal research programs for real, books like the Mind Hackers series jump out at me.
Prologue: David has worked for CMU, the US government’s Cognitive Mind Unit for seventeen years. The mind hackers work as a team with a trainer. David and Meg infiltrate minds, implant thought and steal secrets. This is to be their last mission, but…
Grace meets David at a job interview. Though she didn’t get the job, David hires her to create one of her glass mosaics for his family’s lake cottage. To make sure she will commit to the project, he tells her House Trends would be showcasing the process.
In a way, it was creepy, the way he manipulated her right from the getgo. I sure wouldn’t like it, but she really does know what’s going on.
I love that she works with beach glass. I too have walked many beaches, looking for those treasured and rare pieces.
Since Meg’s death, David had been in seclusion, but now he has to confront his enemy. A mind blowing villain who is reckless, ruthless, determined, willing to sacrifice any who get in his way. A power hungry rogue hacker has his sights on him. Why? Is Grace in danger? What makes her special to both of them? Poor Grace…caught in the middle and doesn’t even know it.
A mind blowing villain who is reckless, ruthless, determined, willing to sacrifice any who get in his way.
I am loving Mind Waves. Terrifying. Hopeful. Sweet. I love all intrigue. Complex writing, yet so easy to read, flowing smoothly, yet rapidly drawing me in, wanting…no, needing to know what will happen next. How will it end?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Mind Waves by Amanda Uhl.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
If he can control her mind… Government operative David Jenkins is skilled at controlling his emotions. Feelings are lethal when your job is to infiltrate minds, erase and implant thoughts, and guard the nation’s intellectual capital. But even he can’t fight his strange attraction to Grace Woznisky. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect her from a madman intent on possessing both their minds. Neither suspect their dangerous enemy has a larger motive, and David may be Grace’s only chance for survival.
Can he control her heart? All freelance artist Grace wants is steady-paying work and to see her flighty sister to the altar. But after David offers her a job, she finds herself in the middle of a mental tug of war—one that has her reeling from nightmares and fighting for her life. She must decide: Are her growing feelings for her new boss authentic, or is she a victim of his mind-altering abilities?
ABOUT AMANDA UHL
Award-winning author Amanda Uhl has always had a fascination with the
mystical. Having drawn her first breath in a century home rumored to be
haunted, you might say she was “born” into it. After a brief stint in
college as a paid psychic, Amanda graduated with a bachelor of fine arts
in theatre and a master’s degree in marketing. Over the past twenty
years, she has worked as an admissions representative and graphic
designer, owned her own freelance writing company, and managed
communications for several Fortune 500 companies, most recently
specializing in cyber security. Amanda is an avid reader and writes
fast-paced, paranormal romantic suspense and humorous contemporary
romance from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. When she’s not reading or
writing, you can find Amanda with her husband and three children,
gathering beach glass on the Lake Erie shoreline or biking in Cuyahoga
Valley National Park. Visit her online at www.amandauhl.com.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Branwen OShea will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
They thought the biggest problem they faced was each other.
After Bleu, Rana, and their new friends narrowly prevent war between the star beings and humans, they hope the upcoming negotiation will secure the peace. Newly emerged from their subterranean haven, the Northern Haven humans are clearly not suited to Earth’s ice age, and require assistance from the enlightened star beings to survive long term on the Surface. But Commander Savas doesn’t trust the suspiciously kind star beings and their unexplainable abilities. When both sides reluctantly negotiate a joint mission to find the other Havens, Bleu must somehow cooperate with the manipulative commander to keep his friends safe.
As their team confronts unexpected dangers, Bleu and his teammates begin to suspect the star beings don’t know as much about the Surface as they claimed, while Rana is torn between remaining true to her nonviolent ways or becoming more human to survive. When an unnatural predator attacks, even the nearly all-knowing Kalakanya can’t explain it. Now the team must pull together or their new discovery will pull them apart, limb by limb.
Read an Excerpt
Savas grinned. “Think of it as research. They’re a new species. You’re doing field observation.”
“I don’t think she eats at all.” Atsushi frowned. “None of the Crowned Ones seem to. They go to the gathering hall to socialize.”
“You do realize that’s impossible, right? They’re alive. They need an energy source.”
“Kalakanya said she eats air or something.”
Savas snorted. “Well, be curious. Ask Kahali when you’re alone. Later, ask the others. We’ll compare answers.”
Atsushi grimaced. “They’ll know what I’m thinking. I don’t want to upset them.”
“No, you don’t.” If he had another Medicci device to block mindreading, he’d offer it to him. There must be something the boy could do to stay safe. A tiny, guilty voice rose within him at exposing the boy to the dangers of mind-control. No kid should go through that.
“What if you keep that chant Kahali taught you running in your head? Maybe then they won’t catch on?”
“Maybe.” Atsushi was silent. “I’m supposed to be chanting that all the time, but I’m horrid at remembering.”
“Then work on that.”
Atsushi nodded and then glanced toward the fire, where the star beings suddenly sang more loudly. “You still don’t trust them, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“But why? They’re so nice.”
“There used to be a fish that lived in the depths of the ocean. It evolved a beautiful light that shone magnificently in the darkness. Other fish would swim close, mesmerized by the beauty, feeling completely safe. And then the light-bearing fish would tear them to pieces.”
About the Author:
As a young girl, Branwen wanted to become an ambassador for aliens. Since the aliens never hired her, she now writes about them.
Branwen OShea has a Bachelors in Biology from Colgate University, a Bachelors in Psychology, and a Masters in Social Work. She lives in Connecticut with her family and a menagerie of pets, and enjoys hiking, meditating, and star-gazing. Her published works include Silence of the Song Trees, The Calling, The Cords That Bind, and The Chasm.
I got the idea and the motivation to start doing Tackling The TBR from All The Book Blog Names Are Taken. It has helped me to keep track of my reading shelf as far as current events and to tidy up my shelves. I feel better about my out of control TBR and have even knocked off a couple of those old ones that had been hanging around for years.
