Island Girl Virtual Book Tour June 2011

Island Girl

Join Lynda Simmons, author of the literary fiction novel, Island Girl (Berkley), as she virtually tours the blogosphere June 6 – 30 2011 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Lynda Simmons

Lynda Simmons Lynda Simmons is a writer by day, college instructor by night and a late sleeper on weekends. She grew up in Toronto reading Greek mythology, bringing home stray cats and making up stories about bodies in the basement. From an early age, her family knew she would either end up as a writer or the old lady with a hundred cats. As luck would have it, she married a man with allergies so writing it was.

With two daughters to raise, Lynda and her husband moved into a lovely two storey mortgage in Burlington, a small city on the water just outside Toronto. While the girls are grown and gone, Lynda and her husband are still there. And yes, there is a cat – a beautiful, if spoiled, Birman.

When she’s not writing or teaching, Lynda gives serious thought to using the treadmill in her basement. Fortunately, she’s found that if she waits long enough, something urgent will pop up and save her – like a phone call or an e-mail or a whistling kettle. Or even that cat just looking for a little more attention!

Her latest book is Island Girl.

You can visit her website at www.lyndasimmons.com or connect with her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/LyndaMSimmons and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lynda-Simmons-Author/149740745067442?.

About Island Girl

Island Girl What Would You Do If You Were Told You Had Alzheimer’s?

Island Girl is the emotionally riveting story of a 55 year old mother, Ruby Donaldson, fighting to reunite her family as she struggles with the diagnosis of early on-set Alzheimer’s.

Ruby refuses to let the disease control her future, but first she must find a way to convince her older daughter Liz to grow up and come home; to take her place as head of the family thereby securing the future of their home on the Island, and ensuring that Liz’s younger sister, Grace, will be cared for in the only place that is safe for her.

But there are good reasons why Liz and Ruby have been estranged for years, and Liz can only wonder why she should forgive her mother a lifetime of sins just because she’s sick. Does Alzheimer’s grant Ruby instant immunity, a moral get-out-of-jail-free card?

Ruby always thought she’d have a lifetime to make things right, but suddenly time is running out.

Read the Excerpt!

The Grey Falls
“Ruby, put the scissors down.”
I turned, saw Mark in the doorway. “I can’t,” I told him. “I have work to do.”
“No you don’t. We’re going canoeing, remember?”
“I can’t go anywhere now. I have clients. Grace can’t handle this alone.” I looked around. “Where’s my notebook? I need my notebook.”
“I don’t know about the notebook,” Mark said. “But I do know that Grace is doing okay on her own.”
“Okay? Okay? Mark, look around. She’s make a mockery of everything.” I turned to the woman in the chair. “What’s your name?”
“Ruby it’s me,” she said. “Joanne from Algonquin Island.”
“Of course you are.” I swung around to the women on the couch. “The rest of you. . .I don’t know. I’ll figure something out. But right now I need my goddamn notebook.”
Mark put his hands on my shoulder. “Ruby, give me the scissors.”
Maybe it was the way the silence pressed in on me or the looks on the faces all around me. I don’t think I’ll ever know what stopped me, what me come back to the moment. But for some reason, I was acutely aware of what I had just done.
My daughter was outside, crying. My best friend was on the verge of it herself and my clients, women I’d known for years, women I considered friends, were staring at me as thought they’d never seen me before. They were right. They hadn’t. This was the Ruby. Big Al’s girl. And she was down by more than a few points.

Here’s what critics are saying about Island Girl!

“Simmons exhibits an exquisitely deft understanding of the extraordinary difficulties that unite a family, and her portrayals of the three women, told in alternating first-person chapters, enable satisfying connections with each.”

— Publisher’s Weekly

“. . .emotionally moving. . .elegantly written and insightful.”

— RT Reviews

“…a page turner that will both satisfy and enchant its readers.”

— Winnipeg Free Press

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Island Girl Virtual Book Tour Schedule

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books kk Monday, June 6

Interviewed at Cafe of Dreams Book Reviews

Years ago, I used to fantasize about being rich and famous and seeing my name in lights. Being a realist, I named my dog Instant Fame and my cat Outrageous Fortune, and since I finally had fame and fortune, I could move on to other, more realistic fantasies – like being on the best seller list. That is one I still truly enjoy!”

Tuesday, June 7

Guest blogging at The Book Faery Reviews

“I love writing. Always have. It’s who I am, it’s what I do. And if the time comes when no one wants to buy what I’m selling, I’ll still write, still keep putting words on the page as long as that imagination is alive and well. I know I’m lucky to have a familythat understands and loves that about me, because I don’t know how the story would have turned out if they’d been written differently.”

Thursday, June 9

Lynda Simmons - Blogcritics Interviewed at Blogcritics

“When I’m researching a book, I have a reason to squeeze through the locked gate of an abandoned old house so I can peek in the windows, or ask my doctor about the feasibility of a murder I’m working on, or call up a perfect stranger who happens to work in the same field as my character, and talk my way into spending a couple of days with her so that I get the details of her workday right. How can you not love that?”

Friday, June 10

Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz

“I have a Facebook page for myself as an author and a Twitter account, but I have to admit that I struggle with what to write.”

Monday, June 13

Interviewed at Beyond the Books

“I went mainstream with Harlequin/Silhouette. At that time, self-publishing was referred to as Vanity Press, and gave a writer very little credibility in the market. I’m still not convinced it’s the route to go with fiction because marketing is hard enough when you’re with a mainstream publisher. It can be mind boggling when you’re the only one on your team.”

Tuesday, June 14

Interviewed at Virginia Beach Publishing Examiner

“When I finished,” she added, “she asked me to send three chapters which I did.  Then she asked me to send the whole manuscript which I did.  Then she asked me to sign a contract which I happily did!”

Wednesday, June 15

Book reviewed at Wakela’s World

“Lynda Simmons created such a wonderful touching story.   When I finished reading it, I felt like I was emotionally drained because I was right crying and laughing along with the characters.”

Thursday, June 16

Interviewed LIVE at Blog Talk Radio’s A Book and a Chat

Friday, June 17

Guest blogging at Life in Review

“I admit it, I love audio books. Love listening to a story unfold while I’m racing around the house performing mundane tasks.”

Monday, June 20

Book review & Book Giveaway at Celtic Lady’s Reviews

“I found myself laughing and crying through the book. I loved it and give it 5 stars. A must for the lover of women’s fiction.”

Tuesday, June 21

Book review & book giveaway at Good Girl Gone Redneck

Wednesday, June 22

Interviewed at The Writer’s Life

“Island Girl has been described as everything from a difficult read, to this summer’s must-read. The only common denominator is the emotional reaction this book elicits in a reader. You might love Ruby, or you might hate her, but the one thing you will never be is indifferent!”

Book reviewed at My Random Acts of Reading

Thursday, June 23

Guest participant at Literarily Speaking Book Panel

Friday, June 24

Book reviewed at Taking Time for Mommy

Monday, June 27

Guest blogging at Just Another Book Addict

Tuesday, June 28

Book reviewed at Just Another Book Addict

Wednesday, June 29

Book review & book giveaway at My Book Retreat

Thursday, June 30

Book reviewed at Dan’s Journal

Guest blogging at The Book Bin

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Lynda Simmon’s ISLAND GIRL VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 will officially begin on June 6 and end on June 30 ’11. Please contact Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife(at)gmail.com if you are interested in hosting and/or reviewing her book or click here to use the form. Thank you!

If you would like to book your own virtual book tour with us, click here to find out how!

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