Book Review, Giveaway & Bonus Scavenger Hunt: Finding Emma by Steena Holmes

Posted on June 28, 2012 · 5 Comments

Finding Emma
by Steena Holmes
Pub. Date: April 8, 2012
Source: Free review copy from WOW (Women on Writing) Book Tours for participation in a blog tour

*****

About the Book

Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere. She’s the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it’s never Emma.

Because Emma’s been missing for two years.

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan’s husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan’s life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families’ lives.

My Thoughts

Megan is battling the worst nightmare of every parent – the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter, Emma, from outside her home. It happened so fast. Megan had to do something inside her house, another daughter forgot to latch the door, and Emma walked outside and was never seen again. Two long years go by and Megan refuses to stop looking for her daughter. She sees her everywhere; every golden-haired child with curls gives her pause. Many awkward, humiliating, and anguishing moments follow when she confronts the child – and realizes it is not her Emma.  Her relationship with her husband and her other two daughters is almost nonexistent and severely strained. But she cannot stop. What if the one time she does not look is the time she could have saved her daughter?

Parallel to Megan’s story is the story of Jack and Dottie and their granddaughter. I fell in love with the character of Jack. He will do anything for his wife, who is beginning to battle dementia, and his granddaughter, who is the light of his life. But how does this elderly couple connect with Megan and her family?

Finding Emma is a heartwrenching story. Megan’s emotions are transparent on the page. Her fractured familial relationships are agonizing to read. Will this family ever find healing or a sense of closure? At 149 pages (PDF copy on my iPad), this is a very quick read and I guarantee you will not be able to put it down until you know the outcome (I couldn’t!). The only minor quibbles I have with this book are with the editing, especially toward the end. There were some proofing things that must have missed the editing process. As I said, they are minor, but it always bugs me when I see them in books (it is the nature of my day job to proof things, so I think I am over-sensitive to it!). It definitely did not detract from my enjoyment of the book and I would read more from this author in the future. I absolutely recommend this book to others.

Word of the Day: Tilt-a-whirl

*****

About the Author

Author of the new heart wrenching story “Finding Emma“, Steena is a woman who believes that ‘in the end, all things succumb…to the passions of your heart’. Steena’s life revolves around her family, friends and fiction. Add some chocolate into the mix and she’s living the good life. She took those passions and made them a dream come true by pouring her heart into each of her stories.

Proceeds from each book will be donated to The Missing Children’s Society of Canada – an organization dedicated to reuniting families. Visit www.mcsc.ca for more information.

Author’s Website: www.steenaholmes.com

*****

Scavenger Hunt – Hunt for Words and Win Prizes!

Emma has invited all of us to the carnival for a Scavenger Hunt!

We’re on the hunt for all things related to carnivals.

At each stop along our Finding Emma tour there are clues. These might be words hidden in a guest post or a “word for the day” at the bottom of a book review. Each time you find a word submit it on Steena’s Scavenger Hunt page. http://www.steenaholmes.com/wow-scavenger-hunt/

Each entry equals one ticket to win.

Please enter only one “clue” per entry. Each entry earns another chance to win.

Prizes:

First Prize: Work with a Bestselling Author! Our Grand Prize winner will help create a character for Steena Holmes’ next book!

Second and Third Prize Winners will each receive a signed copy of Finding Emma and a journal.

Contest runs June 4 – July 7. Open to U.S. and Canada. In the case of an international winner, the prize will be an eBook copy of Finding Emma. Three winners will be chosen at random. Winners to be announced on July 9th. Winners will be posted on Steena Holmes’ website and notified by Steena Holmes via email.

For even more fun, visit the Carnival Board on Pinterest. Steena (and Emma) love the Carnival. Come see their pictures of favorite memories of summer fun and fairs and pin up some of your own! (Hint…the pics will give you a clue to the word for the day).

Link for Scavenger Hunt on The Muffin
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2012/06/emmas-scavenger-hunt.html?tw_p=twt

Link to Steena’s tour launch on The Muffin
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2012/06/steena-holmes-author-of-finding-emma.html?tw_p=twt

*****

Book Giveaway

Thanks to WOW Tours and the author, I have one (1) PDF or MOBI (Kindle) copy of Finding Emma to give away to a lucky reader!

Rules:

1. Please fill out your name and email address in the contestmachine widget below.
2. The giveaway will end on Thursday July 5 at 11:59pm EST.
3. One winner will be selected and contacted at the e-mail address provided in the contestmachine widget.
4. Failure to respond to my notification e-mail will result in forfeiture of your prize and another winner will be selected.
5. Please ensure that you can read either a PDF or MOBI (Kindle) version of this book before  you enter this giveaway. IT IS NOT FOR A PRINT COPY. The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere as long as you can read one of these electronic versions of the book.

 

*****

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Crazy Fabulous, Giveaway Tagged With: , , , , ,

Review: Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days by Mari L. McCarthy

Posted on May 25, 2012 · 6 Comments

Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days
by Mari L. McCarthy

Buy Here

Synopsis:

Journaling, like any writing adventure or exercise program, tends to be cyclical—there are the times when you can’t wait to get-to-it and times when you can’t get started. Mari has the fix! It is her new e-workbook Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days.

In this workbook Mari addresses the most common roadblocks we come against in our journaling practice, from writer’s block and lack of time to finding motivation and silencing our inner critic. Whether you are new to journaling or need to climb out of a slump these seven days of writing prompts will get you moving in the right direction.

My Thoughts:

I am a wanna-be journaler. I love journals. I love pens. But putting the two together has always been a challenge for me. There is something so frightening about penning my innermost thoughts where someone might find them and find out how crazy I really am! There is also that part of journaling that is so freeing, too. The ability to dump everything; to work through a problem by writing it out; to discover things about myself that I did not know were there. So, I go through stages of wanting to journal. I even bought an app for my iPad that is password-protected thinking that would encourage me to journal more. It hasn’t.

Mari McCarthy is a journaling therapist (how cool is that?!) and in her short seven-day workbook she tackles the seven mostly common obstacles for people who are starting to journal. She captured my attention from the second paragraph. I felt like she was speaking directly to me:

“Have you ever tried journaling before? If so, think about the reasons you may have stalled in the past. Do you have a hard time fitting it into your busy schedule? Do you battle writer’s block every time you sit down to write? Or do you go through fits and starts with journaling, writing every day for a week, then abandoning your journal for months at a time?”  –p. 3

Yes. Yes. Yes.

The workbook is designed to be done over the course of one week. On each of the seven days, Mari explains one of the obstacles to journaling and ways to overcome it. For example, she offers advice for combating writer’s block and finding time to write. Journaling prompts provide a starting point for the beginning journaler.

I really enjoyed Mari’s book and I am looking forward to working through it in depth in the very near future. There is a lot of great information for the beginning journaler or the tried-and-gave-up journaler (me) with great prompts to get you started writing immediately. Mari also offers a Start Journaling and Change Your Life Challenge (next one is June 4-10) and a forum for journalers to connect for support and inspiration.

I would definitely recommend this book to those looking to start journaling and need a bit of creative inspiration. It is a great resource.

*****

About the Author:

When Multiple Sclerosis robbed her right side of strength Mari decided to teach herself to write with her left hand. She gained more than strength, she found herself–buried talents, hidden baggage, and a way to heal herself from the inside out.

Now a certified Journal Therapist, Mari shares her knowledge and experience with others by teaching them how to find their own strengths and talents and use them to solve problems and achieve goals.

Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Therapy Specialist, founder of Create Write Now and Journaling for the Health of It™. Mari offers guidance, counseling and encouragement to writers through her many journaling eBooks and in private Journaling Jumpstart consultations.

Website: http://www.createwritenow.com/

Blog: http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/

*****

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Author Pesi Dinnerstein

Posted on January 30, 2012 · Leave a Comment

LOOKING FOR GOD IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
by Pesi Dinnerstein

As anyone who has read my book — or even seen the title — would suspect, I love parables about lost keys; and the following is one of my favorites:

A policeman sees a man frantically searching for something beneath a street light and stops to see what’s going on. The distraught man explains that he has just lost his only set of keys. The policeman takes pity on him and offers to help. After a thorough but fruitless search, the policeman finally asks the man if he can remember exactly where he was standing when he dropped his keys. Without hesitation, the man points to the parking lot across the street.

“But if you lost your keys on that side of the street,” the bewildered policeman

asks, “why are you looking for them on this side?”

“Well, why not?” the man replies, “The light is so much better here.”

And that pretty well sums up my spiritual journey.

I’ve spent most of my life searching for God where the light was brightest—only to discover that He seems to prefer meeting in the dark.

My vision of a spiritual experience has generally tended toward the beautiful and serene: a meditative walk by the ocean, a quiet evening with an inspiring book, a communal gathering of fellow seekers. But sometimes it takes a bit more discomfort to create a real opening. And although I prefer the gentle approach, I can see that sweetness and light don’t always get you there.

In fact, one of my most profound breakthroughs occurred during a near-violent, middle-of-the-night encounter with piles of dirty laundry that had followed me halfway across the world. (See Chapter Eight of A Cluttered Life.) This was all the more ironic because I was certain that my clutter represented the single greatest obstacle on my spiritual path—and, here, it turned out to be the catalyst for a major shift in my relationship with God.

Apparently, it doesn’t take a life-and-death crisis or a weighty challenge to bring about transformation. If anything, those extreme situations often produce a level of spiritual contact that’s nearly impossible to sustain when things returns to normal. More often, it’s those humbling slices of everyday life—the moments when we feel overwhelmed, confused, vulnerable, unable to cope—that create real and lasting change.

In my case, an unsettling confrontation with my clutter was all I needed to push me past my own limits. Once we reach that breaking point and recognize that we’re no longer in control, the door to spiritual possibility flies open. After all, if we’re not running the show anymore, Someone higher and wiser hopefully is. And that’s the light I’m looking for.

***

About the Book:

A Cluttered Life:  Searching for God, Serenity, and My Missing Keys
by Pesi Dinnerstein
Publication Date: August 2011
Publisher: Seal Press
ISBN: 978-1580053105
311 pages

A Cluttered Life tells the story of Pesi Dinnerstein’s touching, quirky, and often comic search for order and simplicity amid an onslaught of relentless interruptions.  When a chance encounter with an old acquaintance opens her eyes to the extent to which disorder has crept into every corner of her existence, she begins a quest to free herself of the excess baggage she carries with her and finds—to her great surprise—that the answers she has spent a lifetime searching for lie within her own piles of clutter.

Dinnerstein’s battle with chaos takes her on an odyssey of self-discovery that leads from the mess spilling out of her closets and the backseat of her car to the more subtle forms of disorder in her everyday life and, finally, to the most hidden expressions deep within herself.  In the end—with the help of devoted friends, a twelve-step recovery program, and a bit of Kabbalistic wisdom—her struggle with the things of this world is transformed from a distraction along the way into its own journey of healing and personal growth.  At turns insightful, unsettling, and wildly funny, A Cluttered Life describes how one woman found her true self—and spiritual clarity—while trying to make sense of her muddled world.

Purchase the book from Amazon (I will receive a small commission if you click through my link and make any purchase at Amazon. I do appreciate your support.)

***

About the Author:

Pesi Dinnerstein (a.k.a. Paulette Plonchak) has written selections for the best-selling series Small Miracles, by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, and has contributed to several textbooks and an anthology of short stories.

Dinnerstein recently retired as a full-time faculty member of the City University of New York, where she taught language skills for close to thirty years. She has been an aspiring author and self-acknowledged clutterer for many years, and has spent the better part of her life trying to get organized and out from under. Despite heroic efforts, she has not yet succeeded; but she continues to push onward, and hopes that her journey will inspire others to keep trying as well.   

For more information visit www.aclutteredlife.com and www.sealpress.com.

***

Giveaway:

The giveaway has ended. The winner is: Louis U! Congratulations!

***

Filed Under: Blog Tour, Guest Post Tagged With: , ,

Blog Tour: Guest Post with Karen Wojcik Berner, author of Whisper to a Scream

Posted on January 11, 2012 · 4 Comments

Revisiting the Classics
By Karen Wojcik Berner

Thank you so much, Jennifer, for inviting me to guest blog. I am excited to be here.

Are you longing to revisit the Classics you read back in school? Or, maybe you never read them, opting instead for Cliff’s Notes and regret your most unfortunate decision?  Do you ever wish you could take the time to appreciate them through the eyes of an adult?

That is the impetus behind the Classics Book Club, which brings together the characters in my series, The Bibliophiles. They all yearn for literature with a capital “L.” The first meeting takes place in my debut novel, A Whisper to a Scream (The Bibliophiles: Book One).

Each of the series’ six novels will include two book club selections, which will be discussed by the characters and thematically linked to the various stories.

If you would like to read along with The Bibliophiles, I have a page on my website (www.karenberner.com) detailing what they are studying. Also included are food and beverage suggestions, because, after all, that is a big part of book club meetings as well, right?

Here are ten novels I studied in school that are on my to-read list again. See if they match any of yours.

  • Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. James Joyce changed the writing style as Stephen Dedalus ages, something I am not sure I noticed when I was younger.
  • The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s commentary on Jazz Age society still resonates in the twenty-first century, perhaps a little too well.
  • To the Lighthouse. Virginia Woolf is a writing god. Period.
  • Pride and Prejudice. Just as one can never gaze at a beautiful painting for too long, one can never revisit a masterpiece too often.
  • Moby Dick. Our discussions on Moby Dick during my junior year of high school solidified my wanting to study literature in college. The symbolism! The epic tale! I was a detective searching for clues Herman Melville left, little morsels of cognizance to tantalize his readers.
  • Jane Eyre. Many people love Emily’s Wuthering Heights, but I prefer Charlotte Brontë’s tale of more subtle attraction.
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde conceived a great concept with this story, one I would like to read again now that I am in my forties, to see how my interpretation has changed.
  • Middlemarch. I am always up for a “study in provincial life,” as the subtitle reads.
  • Sense and Sensibility. Yes, I snuck in another Jane Austen novel, but, what can I say? I am an unabashed Janeite.
  • The Scarlet Letter. This is a powerful tale. On a side note, I always thought Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale would make a great couples Halloween costume.

How about you? What are some of the novels you would like to revisit?

***

About the Book - Whisper to a Scream

Annie Jacobs has dreamed of the day she would become a mother since the first time she held her Baby Tenderlove doll. Unfortunately, biology has not cooperated with her plan, and she finds herself dealing with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility instead of picking out baby names.

Across town, stay-at-home mom Sarah Anderson is just trying to make it through the grocery store without her toddler hurling a box of rice at a fellow shopper. She is exhausted from managing the house, a first grader and a toddler, all without any help from her work-obsessed, absentee husband.

A Whisper to a Scream is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal  of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.

Just Thought You Should Know:

A Whisper to a Scream is Book One of a series called The Bibliophiles. The second book in the series will be released in February 2012. Stay tuned!

***

About the Author

Karen Wojcik Berner lives a provincial life tucked away with her family in the Chicago suburbs. If it was good enough for Jane Austen, right? However, dear Miss Austen had the good fortune of being born amid the glorious English countryside, something Karen unabashedly covets, so much so that she majored in English and communications at Dominican University.

Like the magnificent Miss Austen, Karen could not help but write about the Society that surrounds her.

A booklover since she could hold one in her chubby little toddler hands, Karen wanted to announce to the world just how much she loves the written word. She considered getting a bibliophile tattoo but instead decided to write about the lives of the members of a suburban Classics Book Club. The series is called, of course, The Bibliophiles.”) When she isn’t reading, writing, or spending her time wishing she was Jane Austen, Karen spends her time can be found sipping tea or wine, whichever is more appropriate that day, and watching Tim Burton movies or “Chopped,” her favorite foodie TV show.

***

Filed Under: Blog Tour Tagged With: ,

Review: Hospice Tails by Debra Stang

Posted on December 8, 2011 · 1 Comment

Hospice Tails – The Animal Companions Who Journey With Hospice Patients and their Families
by Debra Stang
Publication Date: May 2011
Publisher:  Booklocker.com, Inc.
Source:  I received a free copy of this book for my participation in WoW Blog Tours.  All opinions are my own.

Hospice Tails shares the stories of those without voices. This books tells the stories of fourteen pets and the role they played when their loved one was ill or dying. The stories range from sad to touching to downright hysterical. There was King, who had the hospice nurses very nervous. Until they realized he was a lap dog in a pit bull’s body. Jasper and Jackie, Amazon parrots who put on a daily concert for their owner, even on the last day of his life. As an Alzheimer’s patient’s world shrunk Washington, a golden retriever, became the only “person” he recognized. This book is ideal for animal lovers as well as those who are caretakers—either as a profession or for a loved one.

My Thoughts:

At less than 100 pages, this short book documents the stories of fourteen hospice patients as they battle through illness and death; but more than that, these short vignettes show us how their animal companions impacted their lives.  There is little room in each of the stories for more than a glimpse of how each of these animals affected the patients, but the glimpse was heartrending.  Some stories are funny, some a bit bizarre, and others downright tearjerkers (have that box of tissues handy!).  I found myself crying more for the animals who were losing their beloved masters than for the humans who were passing on!  The author is able to capture the essence of the human-animal relationship is such a profound, but succinct way.  This book is continued proof for me that animals just “know” and “get” us humans, if that makes any sense.  I think animal people will know what I’m talking about!

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone in the medical field, those who love animals, or those who are just looking for a quick, heartwarming read.  I think I read it in just over an hour, with a couple of interruptions, so it goes pretty quickly, but will definitely cause you to love on your pet when you are done!

About the Author:

In addition to her parents and two sisters, Debra’s family includes four cats. The current crew includes a grouchy nine-year-old named Achilles; an orange tabby and alpha male named, appropriately enough, Alexander, and a black and white long-haired cat with attitude named Leroux. Then there’s the foster cat named Pumpkin. Of course it all started with a three-month-old brown-and-gray tabby named Calypso who had strong feeling about most people. And not warm fuzzy feelings. Calypso even had the dubious honor of being banned by not one, but two vets.

When not caring for cats or writing, Debra spent many years as a social worker. She worked with AIDS patients, emergency room patients, and those with Alzheimer’s. Her final years as a social worker were spent with hospice patients. Although some would view that as a depressing job Debra chose to view herself as a catalyst helping people make their final hopes and dreams come true. Sometimes it was making up with a family member after a decades long feud or leaving behind the stress of the office to reconnect with another aspect of their personality.

Debra took a clue from her patients and recently decided her writing – for years a part-time career – couldn’t wait any longer. Worried she would become one of those people who would one day say, “I wish I had…” she handed in her resignation and is now living her dream as a full time writer.

Debra Stang’s website:
http://www.debrastang.net/
Debra Stang’s blog:
http://debrastangfreelancewriter.typepad.com/

***

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