Reviews!

I am still having a difficult time concentrating on reading a book, I hope to get back into it at some point. Still doing book promotions just not reviews Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time. I appreciate all of you. Kathleen Kelly July 2024

07 June 2019

Permission to Eat by Libby Parker, MS, RD Book Spotlight!

Eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes. No matter where you’re struggling on the spectrum of food behaviors, you are likely stressing yourself out about what the “perfect” answers are to making you feel good in your body again. It’s time to put down those calorie counters and end the trendy weight-loss diets! (Put down the keto shake...drop it!)
Permission To Eat is a practical guide for recovery from eating disorders in college and beyond. The book gives readers specific tools for all genders to break up with their disorder, including action-based worksheets and journal prompts, knowledge of medical complications and what to tell medical professionals, personal stories from the author and others who have been through eating disorders, and most importantly—hope for full recovery.

This book will help you discover how to:
Drop the guilt around eating and create a better relationship with food so that you can get on with the more important things in life. 
Know what information to tell health professionals so that you get the best care. 
Understand what some complications of your disorder can be, and how to reverse or stop them from happening with actionable tips. 
Handle it when your treatment team asks you to cut back on the exercise. 
Find peace with food and give yourself permission to eat intuitively. 

After reading Permission to Eat, you’ll feel the freedom to eat at any restaurant you want, to pick up any food that looks good, to get to know yourself, and to start loving your body instead of shaming it. Filled with nutritional information and glowing motivational messages, this book is sure to guide you toward trusting your body and taking the first steps toward long-lasting recovery.
About the Author
Hi, I'm Libby, and you have probably been poking around
my website seeing what I do - AWESOME!

As you are aware by now, I am a Registered Dietitian (RD),
or "nutrition expert" (see what it takes to become a RD HEREwho loves helping people re-learn how to eat intuitively.
I recently finished my Master's Degree in Nutrition Science,

and working on my
​"Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian"

credential through IAEDP. I just published an
​ED recovery book for college students -
"Permission To Eat" - and am in the process of adopting a child! 

Uff-da! I'm tired! (and originally from Minnesota).

Besides helping people have a better relationship with food,
​some of my favorite things to do are: sing 
(I use a lot of song lyrics in my everyday conversations), dance, act
(yes, I'm a musical theatre geek, and hope to someday perform on Broadway!),
read novels, 
run (first, and probably last, full marathon in 2015),
and drink café au lait (with a berry scone, preferably).

LIBBY PARKER IS
NOT YOUR AVERAGE NUTRITIONIST

I am a, Master's level, Registered Dietitian (or nutrition expert),
and I work with college students, young adults, and performers
​who are struggling with disordered eating behaviors.
I help people to understand their eating behaviors
​so that they can form a healthy relationship with food.

Great Summer Reads Day 5!




E. C. Jackson began her writing career with the full-length play Pajama Party. For three and a half years she published the Confidence in Life newsletter for Alpha Production Ministries, in addition to writing tracts and devotionals. 

Teaching a women’s Bible study at her church for eleven years naturally led to her current endeavor of writing inspirational romance novels and teen and young adult fiction. Her mission: spiritual maturity in the body of Christ through fiction.


~ Facebook ~ Amazon ~
  

Love at first sight. It’s every girl’s dream. 

But Tara Simpkins is finding out it’s not as easy as it seems. Is this truly the man God sent to be her husband, or is she just desperate to escape her loneliness? The recent loss of both parents has left her reeling, and close friends don’t think she’s in any position to make major life decisions. 


She and her new-found love are convinced they can live happily ever after in the home of their dreams. His family thinks he’s moving way too fast and might disappoint the kind-hearted woman he’s fallen head over heels for. And then there’s Leah. Leah is supposed to be part of his past, but what if she decides she’s his future? 


Tara’s match made in Heaven may be over before it truly begins.


Q&A With the Author:


1.   Tell us about things you enjoy — what you do for fun or personal satisfaction besides writing?

a.     I am an avid reader and enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles. Contrary to upcoming answers, I like a lot of alone time.

2.     When did you first realize you were an author?

a.     I’ve enjoyed penning stories since elementary school. The spark to write grew along with me, and unlike other ideas I’ve had, no obstacle I encountered quenched the desire.

3.     Have you done anything writing-related, but besides actually writing your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?

a.     Years ago, I wrote and produced the play Pajama Party, which was adapted into the young adult book Pajama Party: The Story, a companion book to A Living Hope. Knowing that people enjoyed what I wrote kept hope alive. There is something heartening in other people appreciating what you do.

Also, The Certain Hope audiobook and hardcover version are due in March. Audiobooks on my other books will come in spring. It seems that each item I added to my repertoire encouraged me to branch out further. When I added hardcover versions to my book format is a prime example. 

4.     What is the thing you struggle with the most while writing? And how do you defeat it?

a.     I read a lot of regency romances and have to resist the urge to have my contemporary characters speak with formal dialogue. Each character draws me into their story and stymies writer’s block. I haven’t ever experienced it. May it never come.

5.     What is the “message” of your writing? 

a.     “The Write Way: A Real Slice of Life” is the slogan on my website and Facebook author page. If every person reading my book feels connected to the characters, my job is done.
Spiritual maturity is the message. In my opinion, spiritual maturity teaches us how to weather life’s storms and thrive with the victory. Realistic characters with everyday problems is the goal with each book.

6.     Are your characters/stories/scenes, etc. based on anything in real life?

a.     For me, observing human nature is a part of true living. So, fully developed characters have found a place inside each story. I love to write about everyday life. Those little decisions we overlook can have long-reaching consequences.




To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 




Murder, She Uncovered (Murder, She Reported Series) by Peg Cochran Book Tour and Giveaway!


Murder, She Uncovered (Murder, She Reported Series) by Peg Cochran

About the Book

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series 
Alibi (May 28, 2019) 
Print Length ~230 Pages Digital 
ASIN: B07H1X2RT9
An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.
Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane—also known as the Long Island Express.
At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.
The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible—someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden. . . .

About the Author

Mystery writing lets Peg indulge her curiosity under the guise of “work” (aka research). As a kid, she read the entire set of children’s encyclopedias her parents gave her and has been known to read the dictionary. She put pen to paper at age seven when she wrote plays and forced her cousins to perform them at Christmas dinner. She switched to mysteries when she discovered the perfect hiding place for a body down the street from her house.
When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, cooking, spoiling her granddaughter and checking her books’ stats on Amazon.
A former Jersey girl, Peg now resides in Michigan with her husband and Westhighland white terrier, Reg. She is the author of the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series (written as Meg London), the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Lucille series, the Cranberry Cove series, and the Farmer’s Daughter series.

Author Links: 
Website – http://www.pegcochran.com/ 
Newsletter Sign Up – http://www.pegcochran.com/newsletter-signup.html 
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pegcochran 
Twitter – https://twitter.com/@pegcochran 
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5352603.Peg_Cochran 
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peg-cochran 

Purchase Links: Amazon B&N Kobo 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 28 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
May 28 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
May 29 – Defining Ways – SPOTLIGHT
May 29 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
May 29 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW
May 30 – The Cozy Pages – REVIEW
May 30 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
May 31 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
June 1 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
June 1 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
June 3 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
June 3 – Readeropolis – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 4 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
June 4 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 5 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
June 5 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
June 6 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST
June 6 – eBook Addicts – REVIEW
June 7 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 8 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
June 8 – Kelly P’s Blog – SPOTLIGHT
June 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 9 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
June 10 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
June 10 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW

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Forms of Things Unknown by Elizabeth Ireland Book Spotlight and Q&A! @rararesources @EbethIreland



Forms of Things Unknown

Recently returned to Chicago after a successful tour of Hamlet, Lillian Nolan is awakened in the dead of night by a strange voice. She is shocked to learn that well known and admired actress, Louise Hawthorne, has fallen to her death from the sixth floor of the Tremont House. Was it an accident? Did she jump or was she pushed? Louise’s former lover, and the main suspect, pleads with Lillian to uncover the truth and clear his name.  

In the process of learning to trust her intuitive abilities, Lillian attempts to find balance between relying upon her gift and uncovering the truth in her own way. But the menace of death pursues her and soon her own life is at risk. When she finds herself in a trap from which she cannot escape, her only hope of survival is to call upon the metaphysical world.

 Forms of Things Unknown is based on an actual event which occurred in June of 1876 in Chicago. It is the third standalone book in the Backstage Mystery Series.  

THE BACKSTAGE MYSTERY SERIES

 Life upon the wicked stage can be deadly. 

Set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age, the Backstage Mystery Series stars Lillian Nolan, an unconventional member of Chicago’s upper class who dreams of a career of fortune and fame in the theater. Talented and ambitious, she possesses a hidden skill which she is extremely reluctant to use—the ability to communicate with those who have died and now live in the world of “The Beyond.”  

The series chronicles her adventures in which she continually becomes enmeshed in solving mysteries which often require her accessing the realm of the paranormal. Filled with an incredible cast of characters—factual, fictional, and sometimes non-physical—who either help or hinder her quest for the truth, the stories take place during a period considered to be the golden age of both acting and spiritualism in America. 

Purchase Links:




Author Bio 

Elizabeth Ireland discovered her passion for theater early. After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in Theater, she accepted a teaching position in a vibrant performing arts department at a college in northern Illinois. For ten years, she taught, directed and ran front-of-house operations. American Theater History—particularly that of the 19th century—has always been of particular interest to her. 

She has been a quarter-finalist and a semi-finalist for the Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Two of her screenplays have been optioned, but remain unproduced. Her nonfiction work, Women of Vision: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives, was published in 2008. Her work has also been published in a collection of paranormal short stories, Paramourtal: Tales of Undying Love and Loving the Undead. She lives in metro Atlanta with her ever-patient husband, and two quirky dachshunds. 

Social Media Links –  


Forms of Things Unknown – Book Three The Backstage Mystery Series By Elizabeth Ireland Q&A
.
 Is it true that anyone can be a writer? 

Yes and no. I believe anyone can sit down and write something in a coherent fashion—for instance, journal writing. But does that make them a writer? There is talent and craft involved in the writing process as well as development of that talent and dedication to that craft. Not everyone wants to or can make that kind of commitment. Those that do are writers. 

Did any of your books get rejected by publishers? 

Of course. Rejection is part of the process. Writing is a creative process and an art form after all and each person who encounters it will have an opinion. But you can’t take that rejection personally—which is, of course, easy to say, hard to do. When you have written something that is very personal—your creative piece of work—and now someone rejects it, it is very difficult. You have to understand that rejection comes from a lot of different reasons. If you can’t let that go and keep going on, then writing is not for you. People are going to have an opinion on your work and you just have to know that a certain percentage of them are not going to like it and move on. 

They say books die every time they are turned into a movie; what do you think? 

I believe a really well-made film based on a book encourages the audience to read the actual book. It is important to understand there is a significant difference between a book and a movie. The former is meant to be read and the later is meant to be seen. Making a movie is a whole other creative process and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. While a lot of people are involved in creating a book, there is only one writer. In making a movie, it’s a totally collaborative process. The writer is only one of the people involved in the movie. I think there have been a lot of successful movies that have been made from books—the Harry Potter series, for example. While the movies could not encompass everything in the books (which was part of the reason the last book was divided into two movies) they were all true to the books, and really honored the story. Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Hunger Games series are other movies that were true to the book as well. 

Is writing book series more challenging? 

It is in the sense that it is a long term project. With a single book, you finish it and are done. With a series, it’s a much longer commitment. I enjoy writing the series for the very reason I get to create character arcs over the long term and really tell their story and flesh them out. It is challenging because it is important to keep things fresh and new—and to let each book be a complete story so the reader can pick up any book in the series and feel that they have enjoyed what they read and only read another one if they want to.

How did it feel when your first book got published? 

It is a wonderful feeling to have a book you have written in your hands. While electronic books are a wonderful thing—and I have a library of them—there is nothing in the world like having the three dimensional print book in your hand and on your shelf. It makes the whole thing much more real.


Midheaven By Ken Kuhlken Book Spotlight!


ISBN-10: 1719585776
ISBN-13: 978-1719585774
Publisher: CreateSpace
August 14, 2018, 286 pages
Genre: Christian fiction

Also available for Kindle


Midheaven, Ken Kuhlken’s first novel, was originally published by Viking Press. The haunting story, set in and around the exquisite Lake Tahoe basin, is told through the mind of a precocious seventeen-year-old torn between her quest for God and her love for a man. In the early 1970's, high school senior Jodi McGee turns from drugs and boys to Christ, but soon thereafter falls for her English teacher. As a result, tragedies test her will, her faith, and her sanity. 


Anne Tyler, as Chair of the Ernest Hemingway Award selection committee, wrote, "The pace, clarity and assurance of Midheaven made it a pleasure to read."

From Kirkus Reviews: "Kuhlken has, with Jodi, created a character new to us--the born again adolescent who’s in-the-know--and he provides her with grit and honesty."



Novelist Andy Straka commented, "Midheaven is one of those rare gems of a novel that sneaks up on you and nestles in your soul. I especially enjoyed the setting and character development. The sun-dappled mountains and cold water beauty of Lake Tahoe hold too many secrets for a teenage girl to bear. Jodi is a character you won't soon forget."

Ken Kuhlken

Some of Ken’s favorites are early mornings, the desert in spring, kind and honest people, baseball and other sports played by those who don’t take themselves too seriously, most kids, and films he and his Zoe can enjoy together.
He reads classic novels, philosophy, theology, and all sorts of mysteries. On his blog, he offers some hard truths and encouragement about living as a writer.
He has long been the author of novels, stories, articles, poems, and essays. Lots of honors have come his way, including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship; Poets, Essayists and Novelist’s Ernest Hemingway Award; Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel and Shamus Best Novel; and several San Diego and Los Angeles Book Awards.
Though he advocates beer in a video, he actually prefers Scotch.
He also posts regularly on his own blog, and sort of preaches for Perelandra College.
Excerpt
 My name is Jodi. I live alone on the western slope of the Carson Range, five miles up the mountain from the highway between Incline and South Tahoe. Each morning I climb the hill and watch the tour boat make its turn toward Emerald Bay. It cuts a wake through the choppy water, surrounds itself in foam and sets a straight course southwest toward the peaks called Desolation. There the snow has stayed all summer, a dozen shades of red when sunset meets the fog from the lake. It will be there in the last days, when the earth is scorched and the rivers boil. And halfway up Mount Tallac is a cross of snow all through the year.
Charley's dad built this cabin where I'm hiding. It lies pinched between a hill and two mossy boulders and a row of second growth fir with a meadow beyond. Vines that begin on the hillside cover the roof and drape the southern window, which looks out on the meadow, and take second root between the granite stones in the path around the cabin.
The cabin is split pine and fir logs and scrap boards and windows Charley's dad salvaged and dragged up the mountain. It has a loft in one end where I sleep. The land is Toiyabe National Forest, but loggers have been here; they cut down the big trees years ago, all the way up to Marlette Lake, and the road has washes and fallen stumps only hikers can cross. In daylight I draw a tarp over the window so no one who might pass on the creek road can see the glass reflecting.
No one besides Charley will find me here.
A cast-iron stove and a mat on crates and plywood fill the end of the cabin near the door, opposite the loft. It's a small room, about fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. The floor is bare split pine with splinters, and the cracks in the wall have never been caulked. I fill them with rags and socks and cardboard but the wind always finds more entries.
Charley brought me a little girl's mirror with a pink frame and handle. Sometimes at nights I sit by the fire and stare at myself. Once boys thought I was pretty. My legs are long and my eyes are large and nearly black, so people used to notice them and not see that my nose is too thin and curls up too much at the end and that my lips are flat and wide and there is a gap between my two front teeth, which always made me slow to smile. I used to be tan but now I'm just dark; my skin is cracked and dirty and I never comb my hair. I should cut it off. I'm very ugly, but I don't care. No one will come up to see me but Charley, unless it's to capture me and lock me away wherever they put killers.



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