Pump Up Your Book: New Books for Review October 2011

Are you a book blogger who loves to read books?  You have come to the right place!  We are looking for qualified book bloggers to review our titles.  As these authors will be on tour in October, the deadline for inquiring is September 25.  Contact us by using the form below.  Thanks!

Karen Simpson will be touring in October and November with her contemporary speculative fiction novel Act of Grace.

Why would Grace Johnson, an African American high school senior, take a bullet to save the life of a Ku Klux Klansman named Jonathan Gilmore?

The question hovers unanswered over Grace’s hometown of Vigilant, Michigan. Few people, black or white, understand her sacrifice, especially since rumor has it years ago a member of Gilmore’s family murdered several African Americans including Grace’s father. Grace doesn’t want to talk about it, but the decision to speak is not hers to make. Ancestor spirits emerge to insist, in ways Grace cannot ignore, that she bear witness to her town’s violent racial history so that all involved might transcend it.

With hindsight made telescopic by the wisdom found in African American mythology and the book The Velveteen Rabbit, Grace recounts a story of eye-for-an-eye vengeance that has blinded entire generations in her hometown. Faced with the horrific crimes that have disfigured her life, Grace wonders if in the end, she can do as the spirits have asked and lead Mr. Gilmore, the town of Vigilant and her own soul on a journey toward reconciliation, redemption and true grace.

320 pages

You can visit her website at: http://karensimpsonwrites.com/

M.E. Patterson will be touring in October and November 2011 with his contemporary fantasy/supernatural thriller, Devil’s Hand.

316 pages

You can visit his website at www.devils-hand.com.

Mary Ann Loesch will be touring in October 2011 with her paranormal fantasy, Nephilim.

Tattoo artist Nathan Ink is more than he seems. An angel living in secret on earth, he forces his clients to face their flaws by tattooing images of their sins on their bodies, but this glimpse into the soul often results in his clients’ deaths. Although Nathan avoids the other angels, when they ask him to keep an eye on Faye, a nephilim being stalked by another of her kind, he reluctantly agrees.

The angels have kept Faye in the dark about her stalker, but to keep her close to Nathan, they’ve tasked her with investigating the high mortality rate of Nathan’s clients. Despite her distaste for his methods, she finds herself fighting a growing attraction to Nathan, and discovering he’s not a rogue after all forces her to question her own mission. When Faye learns her stalker is another nephilim who intends to use her to breed a new race of hellish beings, teaming up with Nathan may be the only way to prevent a genocide.

You can visit her website at www.maryannloesch.com.

161 pages

Please note that this book is only available in ebook format. Please let us know whether you need the file for Kindle, Nook or PDF. Contains strong language and violence

Davis Aujourd’hui is touring in October 2011 with his humor novel, The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude.

Are you ready for a class in Advanced Holiness for people from all walks of life? Then, perhaps you’re ready to take a trip to the Have A Heart convent in Bucksnort, Wisconsin. There, you’ll meet a nun you’re not likely to forget – Sister Mary Olga Fortitude.

The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude is a satire with a spiritual message, but there’s a lot of hanky panky going on here. Sister Mary Olga is an irreverent nun who has some unique spiritual views that differ from those of the Pope. She’s a great believer of “to each, one’s own.” She also loves her Marlboros and her bourbon. Just don’t let the Reverend Mother in on her secret. The next class in Advanced Holiness may be canceled.

Here in Bucksnort, you’ll meet a zany cast of all-too-human characters. There’s a lot of secret-keeping going on here, but Sister Mary Olga will be sure to deliver the goods in order to provide you with good and bad examples of holiness.

The Reverend Mother is a former prostitute. The convent’s chef is a gay cowboy. Priscilla Bunhead is the town busybody who opens some other closet doors. She, along with the other folks on Dinkledorf Drive, serve up examples of what not to do.

One thing’s for sure. These characters will lighten your load and help you to not take life so seriously. Get ready for non-stop laughs!

John Milton Langdon is touring in October 2011 with his historical fiction, Telegraph Island.

Step back in time to the Victorian age. The industrial revolution in Britain is in full spate and electronic communication is in its infancy. Based loosely on fact author John Milton Langdon weaves a tale of romance and adventure on the high seas and in the Orient.

Jason Smiley Stewart — My Life Story describes the life of an average man. Although he is born in humble circumstances, he shows how a combination of perseverance and intelligence aided by a little good fortune, can help any child overcome the disadvantages of a lowly birth status and poor education.

In Telegraph Island, the second of four novels chronicling the life of Jason Smiley Stewart, the young man’s continuing adventures are described. He has his share of failure and success but once again demonstrates that his poor origins are no bar to fame and fortune when he leaves the life of a sailor to join the communication revolution.

278 pages

You can visit his website at www.jmlangdon.com.

Greg Messel is touring in September with his fictional book, Illusion of Certainty (Yorkshire Publishing).

The Illusion of Certainty follows two parallel storylines. Marc is a successful businessman who seems to have everything—a great job, a beautiful wife, a house in an upscale neighborhood of Portland, Oregon and two great kids who are preparing for college. But something is not right. Marc is unsettled by the sudden change in his wife, Aimee, who seems distant and unhappy. What’s going on with her?

The second storyline involves a successful young attorney, Alexandra Mattson. Alex, as she is called by her friends, meets a handsome young cop, Sean, during an unexpected crisis in her neighborhood. Sean and Alex seem made for each other and begin to merge their futures in a world of uncertainty.

The only certainty in life is that we will face uncertainty. Despite all fo the technology and controls available in the modern world, sometimes the only comfort comes from the human touch.

452 pages

John Banks is touring in September and October 2011 with his literary fiction novel, Glorify Each Day.

Glorify Each Day is a darkly comical novel depicting the consequences of violence in modern American life. It tells many stories. Tommy “Teach” Morrison, the novel’s main character, tells the story of his relationship with his childhood friend Charles – a story of a horrible misunderstanding and a story that Tommy can never retell. It tells the story of Tommy and Cait, a story of shared love and shared jokes, but a story that Tommy has doomed to end unhappily.

Glorify Each Day is the story of how Tommy becomes Teach, a man on a mission and on a quest for redemption – instructor extraordinaire (at least in his own mind) who must become the protector of all the ill-fated youngsters put in his charge. It is the story of Teach and his father, a crusty, foul-mouthed abuser of everyone around him and proof that nuts don’t fall very far from the tree.

Glorify Each Day is a story about storytelling and the many different ways to tell a story – stories about Teach’s students; about superheroes, Jesus, races, raps, rapes; about a young woman who learns how to forgive her father, another young woman who learns how to forgive herself, and another young woman who learns that she doesn’t need anyone’s forgiveness. And these are stories that Teach should be able to learn something from, too, stories that shine a light on lives disfigured by violence and loss.

293 pages

Visit John’s website at www.819publishing.com.

Phyllis Schieber will be touring in August and September with her literary fiction novel, The Manicurist.

The Manicurist is the story of Tessa Emanuel, a young woman who is engulfed by vivid images of the past. When Tessa is a child, both parents allegedly die in a car accident. However, the body of Tessa mother, Ursula, is never found. Tessa is obsessed by memories of her mother, whose battle with mental illness made Tessa’s childhood a secret world of intrigue and betrayal. Now married with a daughter, Tessa must come to terms with her own identity as a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories and a gift of clairvoyance that threatens to dismantle her life. At times she wants to escape this “gift,” but eventually she uses it discreetly in her work as a manicurist—where a peculiar client changes her future forever. Mysterious and compassionate, The Manicurist is a spellbinding novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knot of her life.

325 pages

You can visit her online at www.phyllisschieber.com.

Tamara Elizabeth is touring in September and November 2011 with her self-help/motivational book, Fabulously Fifty and Reflecting It!: Discovering My Lovable Me (Trail Blazing Press May 2011).

This is my story, a story of a woman who has discovered how through my reflections, the truly fabulously lovable me; the authentic me that I was born to be. I have moxie like the trail blazing women of the 20’s.

Today I am a confident, lovable courageous woman who realizes that fairy-tales don’t always have the ending of children’s books, but they can have the ending and continuation of what we truly want and believe. I have sass, courage, spunk, determination and attitude.

This book is the result of hard work and perseverance on a self love journey. It is the reflection of my life and from these reflections I have created a workbook for you, the readers, to assist you on your own journey to find the most authentic loveable you. I am your voice. I speak as you. I have been where you have traveled. I have finished licking my wounds and jumped back into the ring. I am MOXIMIZED!

My reflections shared are not to place blame on anyone in my path, for I take responsibility for my reactions to every challenge I have come across in my life. I just want you to understand that I have walked in your shoes and have never given up. You can restart your life at any time you want and still succeed in whatever you desire. This is not always easy but if it was then the journey wouldn’t be quite as exciting. “Easy is never fun” – to quote my fabulously delicious self love coach.

So I invite you into my world and to reflect upon your world. Enjoy the journey – I promise you it will be the most fabulously wonderful ride of your life.

124 pages

You can visit her website at www.moximize.me.

Richard Blunt will be on virtual book tour September and October 2011 with his latest fantasy novel, Lucas Trent: Guardian in Magic.

A clearing deep inside a forest, somewhere near Luton, England. The place looked perfect for a quiet camping night, or as a place for romance, but right now it was not. Who were those twelve strangers? A group of rowdies, six strong, on one side of the place and a group of regular teenagers, also six strong on the other. Tension was in the air. None of the people moved very much, they kept their distance. Words were exchanged, strong statements, but no real threats, no gestures. Then suddenly… A knife… Thrown by one of the rowdies, aimed at one of the teenagers. A straight hit, directly into the shoulder. A cry. The teenager drops to his knees. And the rowdie already has another knife ready.

The situation looked hopeless for the teenagers, they for sure would run away now. But hold on, three of them step forward, guarding the others. They will for sure not stand a chance.

The next knife comes flying, aimed at one of the defenders. He pulls up his arms, cries, but not in pain, the knife is not there yet…

Silence falls on the clearing. What was that? The knife had just stopped in mid air and dropped to the ground a second later. A mishap? An illusion? Or pure luck?

Another one of the rowdies charges towards the teenagers. She looks twice the size than any of them. But wait, something is wrong again. How did she end up on the ground? Tossed through the air, as if she was hit by a rocket. And now. The teenager pushing his friend out of harms way. Look at his speed. Thats not normal either.

What’s going on there? Who are those people? Is this trickery? Or is it magic?

Follow the story of Lucas Trent and his friends and find out for yourself…

268 pages

Visit his website at www.lucastrent.com.

Patty Friedmann will be touring in October 2011 with her YA fiction novel, Taken Away.

When Summer Elmwood’s hot, bedraggled, exhausted family arrives unannounced at the door of her aunt’s elegant Houston house, her mother explains. “We’ve had a disaster. Not the hurricane, a real disaster.”

It is one week after Katrina laid waste to the Elmwoods’ hometown of New Orleans, and like most residents, they were too close to the tragedy to see its scope. Besides, they were coping with a possible tragedy of their own, and only because their city has closed down have they evacuated. Summer’s baby sister disappeared the day the storm hit.

Two-year-old Amalia Elmwood had open-heart surgery three days before the storm, and in the chaos—breaking windows, loss of power, rising water, departure of doctors and nurses—Amalia has disappeared from Intensive Care. The Elmwoods find themselves helpless to find her in an abandoned city.

When her parents start to suspect Summer—who aches for some positive attention—might be the culprit, Summer musters all her resources to track her sister down. With parents who don’t like technology, she must sneak to use computers and cell phones, but with the help of a friend, Haydn Glade, who also is exiled in Texas, she picks up clues that the FBI ignores and eventually figures out what happened. Haydn, whom she “would be in love with if I didn’t love him so much,” seems a much more romantic boy in Texas. Summer has to decide how much.

413 pages

You can visit her website at www.pattyfriedmann.com.

Lilian Duval is touring in October 2011 with her mainstream fiction novel, You Never Know: Tales of Tobias, an Accidental Lottery Winner.

What happens when an ordinary person becomes extraordinary?

Tobias starts out in life much the same as any of us—not rich, not poor, with imperfect parents and unlimited ambition. When he’s twenty years old, his future is altered in irreparable ways after a tragic car accident pushes him down a new path. The once-promising anthropology major is forced to abandon his dreams in order to care for his orphaned, brain-damaged younger brother.

In his late thirties, Tobias works in a bookstore, trying desperately to make ends meet to support his family. His daily grind only reinforces the sadness that broken dreams and bad luck bring in their wake.

How many times have you heard someone say, “If only I won the lottery?”

When Tobias finds he has won the Mega Millions lottery, his unimaginable bad luck seems to have changed into unimaginable good luck … or has it?

Over peaks and valleys, this uplifting journey will challenge the limits of luck, life, and what we value most.

Find out more about the complications of Tobias’s friendship and rivalry with his best friend, Martin; the effects of all this bad luck and good luck on his marriage; and the struggles of his brother, Simeon, once a talented cartoonist, in … You Never Know.

354 pages

You can visit her website at www.lilianduval.com.

Chen Lizra will be touring in October 2011 with her travel/memoir My Seductive Cuba.

Enough books have been written about Cuba to fill an entire library, but few take the approach Chen Lizra does with “My Seductive Cuba.” Deeply personal and always engaging, Lizra — an Israeli-born dance instructor and entrepreneur now living in Canada — fuses history and politics with her real-life experiences among the people of this often-visited but little-understood island. The result is a moving portrayal of Cuba on the verge of historic change. Packed with practical information on where to go in Cuba, what to pack and the best ways to get there, “My Seductive Cuba” also helps readers ferret out persistent opportunists while finding Havana’s best reggaetón, flamenco, jazz and salsa clubs. A glossary of Cuban slang and a description of the Santería religion — along with a vivid chapter titled “Getting Possessed” — makes Lizra’s humorous travel guide even more compelling. This is one book you won’t want to be without, even if you don’t plan on going anywhere!

328 pages

You can visit her website at www.myseductivecuba.com.

Please note that this book is only available in ebook format. Please let us know whether you need the file for Kindle, Nook or PDF.

Memoir author Nemo James will be touring the months of September and October with his book, Just a Few Seconds.

Just A Few Seconds is a story of one man’s experience in the music business. It is an amusing and true story of a successful freelance musician whose gigs ranged from private parties to the very rich and famous to the roughest London pubs where playing the wrong song at the wrong time meant the difference between life and death. He takes more twists, turns and knocks than a mouse trapped in a pinball machine but the ending shows how the road to success can lead us down the strangest and most desolate of paths. If you are looking for the usual rock star memoirs full of sex drugs and rock and roll then this book is not for you, but if you are interested in a unique insight into the music business that reads like a thriller then this book won’t disappoint.

Visit Nemo James at his website www.nemojames.com.

Terrell Dunnum with be touring with his Christian, motivational, poetry book, While There is Still Time during September and October.

God always sends messengers to warn his people before a special event. He sent Noah before the flood. He sent angels before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He send John the Baptist before the arrival of Jesus Christ.

In the same way God spoke to Noah and John the Baptist, he has spoken to Terrell Dunnum. Terrell had released the Lord’s messages into a book of poetry that will bring hope and healing to all who read it.
While There is Still Time is filled with poetry that is enjoyable both for its messages and its unique rhythms and rhymes. The poetry in While There is Still Time will touch all people, whether saved or unsaved. The lost will be drawn back to God, the weak in faith will be strengthened, and all readers will find encouragement and inspiration.

You can visit his website at www.whilethereisstilltime.com.

Dr. Mitchell Gibson will be touring in September and October with his book Nine Insights For A Happy and Successful Life.

The Nine Insights is a book that is designed to be a guide for those who wish to rise above the suffering and confusion that so often marks this path of existence. As a medical professional, the Creator has given me thousands of profound moments of transformational insight. I began keeping notes on these insights and stored them away in a journal that over time, became the basis for this work. From time to time, I shared these insights with friends, family, clients, and colleagues.

Simple in their presentation, profound in their scope, The Nine Insights are meant only as a reference. Each chapter presents one insight as a unique entity. The stories and vignettes that support each insight are in large part based on my personal clinical experiences. From time to time, I have included a number of famous stories from history that help to outline the deeper perspectives of some of the insights.

I invite the reader to share these insights with others. I hope to provide a little light in a world where millions feel isolated, empty, and without hope. The Nine Insights came from the Creator. I believe that they are his way of reminding each of us that we are unique and special to him in ways that we cannot even imagine.

186 Pages

You can visit his website at Tybro.com

Multi-published, award-winning author Marilyn Meredith is touring during the month of October with the latest installment in her Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, Bears With Us.

A burglar turns out to be a bear and Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her pastor husband, Hutch, chase the bear out of the house. This is their first encounter with a bear and the occupants of the home, an elderly couple and their daughter—and it isn’t the last.

A bear turns up at the school, at a restaurant, an apple orchard and two more homes. That is only part of what Tempe is called to handle. A teenager’s suicide, a mother who doesn’t like her daughter’s boyfriend, a wandering senior with a strange form of Alzheimer’s, and a long ago love affair keep Tempe hopping.

220 pages

Visit Marilyn online at http://fictionforyou.com/

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