November Book Review by Ted

Well, it's that time again. Another review is due. I must be slipping, but I've read a few good books in a row lately! If I say " The Silent Girl" does that ring a bell for you? How about "Ice Cold" or "The Sinner" ? Or what if I say "Tess Gerritsen"? Doesn't mean anything to you? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Didn't mean anything to me either. "The Chicago Tribune" says she makes Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft "seem like goody-two-shoes." Still never heard of her? What if I say " Rizzoli & Isles" ? Ring a bell?

Yes, Tess is the creator of the pair who TNT turned into a summer hit in 2010, returned this summer and are now scheduled to begin a " new season " in a couple weeks.

This month's book is called "The Silent Girl" and is placed in Boston's Chinatown and involves Detective Jane Rizzoli and M.E. Maura Isles. True to the transfer from book to movie, theatre or TV, the characters are a little different, but the "the name is the same".

The story begins with a tour in China town.

The tour goes down an alley and finds a neatly severed female hand on the ground in the middle of the alley. Throw in a dead detective who, though retired, had been investigating a 19 year old case of missing young girls, a group of people who receive letters on the anniversary of a massacre in a chinese restaurant and...oh, I forgot Ninjas and the legendary Monkey King!

You are Rizzoli and chasing a killer down an alley in the dark--suddenly the killer disappears and reappears silently behind you, knocks you down....a gun is pointed at your head...but then there is a whisper of wind and a thump, followed by a louder thump. You reach out and touch a pool of warm liquid, getting up, you feel a body and a head but they're not attached!
"What you must do," said Monkey, "is lure the monster from his hiding place, but be certain it is a fight you can survive." from "The Monkey King : Journey to the West." by Wu Cheng'en c. 1500-1582.
Oh, yes, my apologies to friends in Boston, but there is also the Boston gang boss and his flunkies. What other elements do you need to blend together for a novel you won't be able to put down? How well do you sleep at night after reading good, scary mysteries? Good luck if you dream about what you read...This would even make Alfred Hitchcock proud.
I'm off to find more copies of her other 13 books.

~Ted

October Book Review by Ted

Well, I missed my deadline this month. First time I think...I did do one the day it was due........plenty of excuses, but editors don't accept them do they??

This month is a different book. Name one of your favorite TV actors, find an unexpected book written by him, and then read it to see what it is. Now let's dissect this; one of my favorite actors: ICE-T of " Law & Order SVU". I was surprised to find it is his 4th book. Book titled " Kings of Vice", we have a master of Hip-Hop, a good actor with a co-writer ( Mal Radcliff ), and we have a master story-teller. It is a novel that has a good plot- after 20 years in prison, a former gang leader is out for revenge against his former lieutenant who tried to kill him and took over the gang when he went to prison. While in prison, he was befriended by an older man who taught him patience, strategy ( SP?), he comes back to avenge his wounding and reclaim his gang empire.
Add beautiful women, a scheming Parole officer, old friends, more firearms, car chases, flying bullets------I will be surprised if this is not made into a movie. It fits into today's genre of gangster and shoot-em-up movies.
Read it and enjoy with this caution: The use of Black- Street Language is very heavy! If this were written by a non-Black, it might be offensive to some. If you do not find this offensive, you can find it a well-written story. Honestly I hope to see another book in the near future by this writing pair.

As before, I want you to notice this is another case of a co-writer, ghost-writer, or whatever name is being used these days. It is an opportunity for writers to make a living while gaining a reputation as a writer. More surprises next month.......Ted

August Book Review by Ted

This month I left the frontier and cowboys and once again visit the world of Country Music. It is a strange place where people come from diverse backgrounds and because of a talent find themselves thrust into the spotlight, situations, and a world of broken dreams, broken marriages, broken families, drugs, and in many cases broken talent.
The Three of Us is the story of a woman who was born into the family of The King and Queen

of country music. George Jones and Tammy Wynette were the epitome of success and talent.......a couple who loved each other, but could not turn that love into a successful marriage. The ups and downs of show business careers mixed with too much alcohol and drugs along with the pressures of trying to raise a family just could not be handled by the two super stars.
Georgette Jones with the help of Patsi Bale Cox has crafted a story that is filled with joy, pain, and tragedy. Written in an easy to read style, this book - for the Country Music fan - is a must read. Coming from lives of poverty, propelled by talent the artists ride to the top and then the stress of success and the strain of continually preforming to maintain the top leads them through situations that they are not equipped to handle....False friends, bad managers, and users abound and the artists are lost to their fans, their friends, and their families.
Unable to cope, they drift from marriage to marriage and their children are left in confusing situations.
The book will lead you through situations of happiness (far too few) into the dark recesses of depression as Georgette attempts to cope with parents who are riding the roller coaster of fame and fortune and divorce and despair. Her life mimics much the same things that the parents experienced. Finally at the age of 40 she seems to be emerging and becoming a happy person able to face life and possibly claim her inheritance as the daughter of the King and Queen of Country Music.
If you choose to read this book, I would suggest you have a supply of your favorite tissues and a handy waste basket. It will, I think, cause you to look at your life and be thankful you were never in many of the situations Georgette faced and still does.
A word about her co-author. If you read these reviews, you'll remember on I wrote about Tanya Tucker several months ago. I want to repeat what I wrote then. There is a good field for the author who can develop a relationship with people of fame and fortune and " help" them write their story. Books about celebrities usually sell well, and give authors the opportunity to show their skills and open more doors to them in their career fields. Ms Cox has authored a book about "The Garth Factor" in country music and collaborated with Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker, Wynonna Judd, Ralph Emery, and Pat Benatar. That to me is the mark of a successful career covering the careers of the cream of Country Music.

June Book Review by Ted

I'm posting Dad's book review this week because I'm off for my last intensive residency for the SHU Master's Degree program. Yes! Graduation is June 26th. Woot. Okay, here's Dad:

Vanishing genre.............................. This morning the news from entertainment is about the death of actor James Arness----for 20 years he was Matt Dillon on CBS's "Gunsmoke." During this period there were as many as 10 weekly shows about the Old West and all the stories it spawned. That was before the plethora of TV channels and programs about a lot of nothing. It is almost as if we are now ashamed of this part of our history. So.......................... Let us return to the days of yester-year. From out of past comes the thundering hoof beats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost every child waited impatiently for the WJR ( Detroit ) syndicated show to begin the daily adventures of " the Masked Man of the Plains." This same period saw books-- paperbacks--by great Western authors like: Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry, Owen Wister,Walter Van Tilburg Clark, and Tony Hillerman. They were on all the books shelves in every bookstore, newspaper stand, and paperback rack. Movies were made from many of them and they spawned such heroes as: The Lone Ranger, Lash LaRue, The Cisco Kid, The Green Hornet! Wait, The Green Hornet!??? A western hero??? Well, for the uninformed, the Lone Ranger's last name was REED. His nephew Dan was in many episodes of the stories. According to the story of the Green Hornet (Bret Reed), his great uncle was the Lone Ranger! That might be worth knowing for a trivia question in a gathering of friends. However I digress. The Western today has about died. I think it is a pity! Another Western author penned this month's selection: "Other Men's Horses" by Elmer Kelton. This book is the eighth book in his nine-volume Texas Ranger series. The ninth, "Texas Standoff" is the

last in the series and the last of Mr. Kenton's books since he is no longer with us, having passed away in 2009. In "Other Men's Horses" Texas Ranger Andy Pickard is assigned what appears to be routine duty. Donley Bannister, a West Texas horse trader, has killed a thug named Cletus Slocum, who stole one of Bannister's horses. Pickard is ordered to find and arrest

Bannister and bring him to trial. WAIT a minute! A trial for someone who shot a horse thief in Texas!?!?!?!? The action gets heavy really fast as there are gunfights, spirited chases, outlaws who are bad but also good.....This book is indeed a "Return to the days of yester-year!" If you haven't ever read a Western or if you have but not in a long while, maybe it is the time for you also to "Return to the days of yester-year." This is a good place to start.

May Book Review by Ted

Well, as Nancy told you in her blog, we have moved to " God's Country" from the stormy plains of Kansas to the snowy, icy lakes of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Going home in a manner of speaking since both my wife and I were born and raised in Michigan, just not so far north. Or west either for that matter---we are now living in Iron River which is almost as far west as St. Louis, Missouri. I never thought about that until we actually were looking at maps. Anyway, we are settling in, including spending a day+ in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer.

Can you tell good fiction from bad fiction? If it is all fiction, what is the difference? As I told you before, I shop in bookstores and am often attracted by the title of a book. If the title catches my eye, I'll probably pick up the book and consider it. On my last trip to a book store, I saw a title " There's a Blond Sleeping in My Bed!" I had to quickly pick it up and check this out. Imagine my surprise when on opening it, I saw it was really "Goldie Locks and the Three Bears"!!!! Good fiction or bad fiction?

That little story was fiction and an attempt to catch your attention for this month's review: THE LAMPSHADE. You decide if it was good or bad. I bought The Lampshade ( A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans ) from a book club. Author is Mark Jacobson who has several other books to his credit. Being a history teacher among other things, I am also a person who had relatives in the Nazi concentration camps. Am I Jewish? Not that I have found proof of, though there is some family, word-of-mouth tales that say it may be. But I had cousins in Poland who were confined to Auschwitz --at least one died there and one was born there. They were Polish - professional people who were considered too important for the Nazis to allow to be free. So I am intrigued by all that the camps stand for. I bought the book and spent some time reading it. It took me a while to decide whether it was fiction or fact, but the pictures convinced me it was fact. For those who have no background about these camps, a brief, very brief, description: these camps were places of great inhumanity of man against man, based on the slightest whim of those in charge. The actual happenings numb the mind and I think that's one of the reasons (not necessarily the main one) for the denial of these happenings today. " WE CAN'T BELIEVE THEM TO BE REAL!" Surely they are propaganda, lies by the victors, etc. I have no doubt they existed; they were horrible; the stories are real....12 million died, half because they were Jewish (A religion, not a race). Therefore The Lampshade exists as a story and as a real thing. The fabric of the shade is skin--human skin.........It appears in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the author comes into ownership- in part- of it and sets out to learn the truth about it and what it is or is not. I stop here because: 1) I do not want to upset anyone. 2) I do not want to recommend for you to read it, unless you have a real reason to. It is not a work to entertain you. It is a piece for research, not curiosity. 3) I can not truthfully say the content is all fact or all fiction. I believe he tells what he was able to figure out about the lampshade, but there is no provable conclusion. Why review it? My excuse is, I read it. Someone took the time to write it and deserves the acknowledgement for his work. It took a lot of time and effort to research and write. I wish to acknowledge his ability and the fact that he did all that he did and then wrote about it. I, as you can tell, am still somewhat befuddled on how to describe it. I could not read it cover to cover, it took a couple weeks with pauses between readings............So if you are intrigued, read it...I'd be very interested in hearing about your reaction to it.

Next month hopefully a lighter offering.

April Book Review by Ted

I am writing this with a lot of mixed emotions. I keep telling myself I have to be objective with reviewing books, not subjective....It is difficult at times..This time very difficult!

A couple years ago, I read "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. It was 900 pages +/- and I found it very interesting. After all, I was a history major in college, donated my collection of over 50 books on Russian history to the local Junior College, and I read history books like a lot of people read novels. I have been fascinated by the building of about 13 gigantic, beautiful, still-standing cathedrals in Great Britain in a span of 200 years. I had the honor of visiting the Cathedral at Wells the last time I was in England. The book was great.

Then last fall I found a copy of his "World without End." I know the former was written in 1989 and the later in 2007---I told you my house has piles of books!( Not so much right now as we are getting ready to move and last week we drove to the local library and donated 12 bags {about 150 copies} of books for their fund raising book sale) It takes me time to get through them all.

All that said, I read this " latest" book - actually he has at least 1 newer out.

Well, to begin with I must attest to the fact that I like sex---I don't mind if I read about it---I understand that the world would not be as populated without it---but, in a book of 900 + pages, many trees would have been saved, at least 100 pages could have been saved, if the redundancy had been cut out. OK, we get it--the clergy both male and female were not true to their vows! The nobility were able to abuse their serfs and did frequently. Yes, men lusted after women, and women after men...That's how we keep the earth populated despite wars, plagues and other natural disasters. But sometime enough is enough.

Back to objectivity...Well- written, well-researched, entertaining, yes, all of the above. Far-reaching,I believe so...some of the story stretches things beyond the breaking point: 2 Sisters ( nuns) travelling from England to France following the King and the Black Prince to the Battle of Crecy ( English longbow annihilated the bulk of French Knights and changed the way wars were fought), dressing like men and traveling with the French army, then going back, meeting the King of England --and talking back to him, stretches the belief. I know it is not history, it is a novel---but shouldn't most scenarios be possible of belief? Women may find this fascinating ( "You go, girl! ) but in the 14th century, it is unbelievable and if done would have found her not just tried as a witch--but successful burned as a witch----As in Joan d'Arc.

There goes the subjective weighting in again. Would I read it again--probably, did I enjoy it--yes! Did he write well? Let me just say, I could not wait for the villains to get their just deserts, the hero and heroine just had problem after problem....

So ---will I read another book by Ken Follett...yes, I just hope is does not go 900 Pages!And it is not a book without end as the " World without End" seemed to be.

~Ted

March Book Review by Ted

I like to read biographies and am also interested in autobiographies. If you can find both about the same person, it is always interesting to see how many differences there are between how the person sees him- or her- self, and how others see him/her.

I am also good at finding books with JUMP OUT titles. That's why they have JUMP OUT titles....they grab you and hold your attention while you check out what the book is about. That said, I have a question: Do you know who Alison Arnold is?? I didn't know either, but if I asked you if you know Nellie Oleson, I'll bet a light went on.

CONFESSIONS of a PRAIRIE BITCH is an autobiography of Alison Arnold probably better known as Nellie Oleson from Little House on the Prairie (the TV series). I found it interesting reading, comical in places, sad in places and downright infuriating in others. Not a bad combination for holding the readers attention. Alison began life as the daughter of two Canadian actors, both not too successful in the beginning. Not an unusual start for most actors. Her dad was a homosexual who was not "out" because it was not heard of at that time. Her mother was consumed with career ambitions and really made the big time as cartoon voices for many including Casper the Friendly Ghost and Gumby.
I don't want to get bogged down in her story---read it for yourself, I think you will find it interesting. Let me just say that she has had a very unusual life from being a physically and sexually abused child ( age 6 ) to becoming an advocate for many causes such as Aids ( the actor who played Nellie's husband died of the disease ), battered women, abused children, the list is lengthy.
I leave it to you if it was well-spent money for the book ( don't think many libraries will have it ) and this quote from one of the shows ( also used at Michael Landon's funeral):

"Remember me with smiles and laughter,

Because that's how I'll remember you all.

If you can remember me only with tears,

Then don't remember me at all."

Alison, I'll remember you.

February Book Review by Ted

Well, it's Saturday and I just realized that I did not send Nancy a Book Review for February...Deadline is Monday so it can be on the blog Tuesday. Writers, do you have deadlines??? I'm not used to them, unless it is to make house and utility payments!

I will plead being too busy. We are preparing to leave Kansas where we have lived the last 35+ years. I don't think I will miss it. The last 2 weeks have been something else. Last Sunday in January was sunny and warm ( 55 F ), by Tuesday we were in a blizzard with 5 inches of snow falling sideways at 35 mph with gusts to 45+. Temp dropped to -1 F by Thursday morning. Then it warmed up into the 50s again by Sunday. Guess what! Tuesday it started to get cold and Wednesday it was snowing. It was almost falling straight down or as straight down as it gets in Kansas. By Thursday morning we were -17F and had 15 inches of new snow! Friday (yesterday) brought -8 in the morning and 48F by 5PM. Today we were in the mid 40's. By next Thursday we are expected to be in the 70s !

Anyway, this month I promised you a review of a book by my second or third favorite author. He is also a male author who writes books primarily for a male audience, but I think a female will enjoy then also. Bernard Cornwell lives on Cape Cod and writes and writes and writes. If my count is correct, this is his 46th book. I can say a couple things off the top: 1) This is a lot of writing. 2) This is a lot of books sold! 3) Some have been made into TV shows. Oh yes, and I have read every one of them.

There are 21 in the Richard Sharpe series alone. The BBC has made several of them into movies. They are real action stories.

I'll review his latest: THE FORT.... published in 2010. It is not one of the Sharpe series.The book is set in the Massachusetts Colony during the Revolutionary War ( 1779 ), the story tells of a battle in Penobscot Bay in what is now Maine. There was a small village of mostly loyalists living there and Britain decided to fortify the bay to keep the Americans from taking it and using it as a naval base to attack Canadian and British shipping.

The problem was the disjointed colonies were hard put to get troops and ships to build a fort. There was militia from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 1 regulation U S Navy Frigate, 20 or so privateers, Massachusetts Navy, Connecticut Navy, Indian tribes who all form a coalition to occupy the area . Well, by the time they finished making preparations, the British had landed a force and began to fortify the Bay.

It is interesting to know that basically all the heroes were the British and the villains are the Americans. The book is well researched--I even checked on some of the history-- and presented in a very readable "fiction" work. In fact, I started it and read right through until it was finished.

Interested in historical fiction? Not afraid to find out that one of our biggest heroes for the Revolutionary War was court-martialed for obstructing and then deserting the battle? Wonder how the colonists ever actually won our independence??? Well, the true story makes me wonder. But remember, one battle does not make a war.

Since I am a big fan, you know I will highly recommend reading this book. I don't want you to think I give him a blank check for writing...there were a couple of books several years ago that he wrote that I did not even finish. They bogged down and I lost interest. This will not happen if you read THE FORT...

Nov. Book Review by Ted Kozicki

SEX...............There, I've gotten your attention. After last month's title"HELL", I figured I'd need something great or greater to begin this one!

I did not choose the word at random, however. I want to remind or instruct you that there is sex in literature--books, stories, poems....... However, not the way you may be thinking. ( Well, yes, the way you are thinking, but that's not what I am talking about!) Those of you who write have an idea of who your expected audience is, and you write or should accordingly. What I am talking is the old basic: Masculine, feminine, and neuter ( I am torn between saying either or neither, but I won't). So fitting the work to the audience means you will write for a male or female reader, and believe me there is a big difference in the approach.

This ties in with the book I just finished: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. It is the first of a series she is doing called the Cousins' War. That is The War of the Roses for you English history buffs. The two factions of the Plantagenet family, the Lancasters and the York are fighting over control of the English crown. The next book, just out is called: The Scarlet Queen. So guess what color the roses are!

I read this with interest and anticipation since I am a history major and find this very interesting. In addition, Philippa has just earned a PHD in history so my expectations were high. I did not take into account sex. This book is written in the feminine. Since it deals with several major battles between the factions, with one or the other side winning or losing and holding the other's king captive, I was expecting long and bloody battlefield descriptions with the usual drinking and wenching along the way. That is a MASCULINE book.

Imagine my disappointment when I found it was more about seduction ( Elizabeth Woodville was a commoner- in a way) and King Edward was a renowned womanizer. She leads her family from being Lancaster supporters to the Yorkish side as she keeps the "Prize" just out of Edward's reach until he secretly marries her. In addition, there is a fantasy side with Elizabeth and her mother being descendants of a mythological half-woman/half-fish named Melusina. ( Which is a German legend ). As a battle is going to take place, they open a window at the Tower of London and breath out creating a massive fog that covers the battlefield and confuses the Lancaster forces who end up attacking each other and Edward wins a major victory. Merlin must be turning over in his grave!

So if you want to take this book as being a work of fiction which uses characters who really existed and interweaves a story with the audience being primarily female, it is a fun read....Yet I don't think most women would tell their family that they did not mind their husband pursuing most of the women in the country because "after all he is the king, and he always comes home to me."

If you are interested in learning more about the War of the Roses, the missing two princes in the Tower, and the last of the Plantagenets.......remember this is fiction, not a history book.

So I'll go looking for a more Masculine book for a review, so you can help understand the difference--I know you do, but it gives me something to write about.

Next month an older book, but it was made into a movie ( long ago- also ), but it is special to me which I'll explain next time.

Book Review Oct. 2010

Book Review by Ted Kozicki

To begin writing reviews of books, one should start somewhere and hope things get better. So I think if I begin with "HELL", things can only go up from there.

"Hell" is written by Robert Olen Butler and published by Grove Press. Copyright 2009.

While it is not necessary to have read Dante's " Inferno", be familiar with "Faust", it may be incumbent for the reader to have a knowledge of recent ( 20th Century ) Americana and satire to enjoy this detailed, funny, yet scary look at what may constitute hell.

Have you seen the movie " Network"? Are you a journalist, novelist, history major, avid reader of novels, husband, wife, lover,

hunter, politician.........then you are a part of this book. I found myself---I am the old person who is forced to learn technology as my never-ending punishment for all eternity while the technology continues to grow faster than I can learn.

The narrative is clear and fluent, descriptions are vivid, believable, and often not just entertaining but outright funny! Reading this right now during this time before the elections, I found it especially interesting.

I will try not to make everything I read a " Highly Recommended" selection......A lot are not, but this is my first in many ways.

Remember: We may very well be creating our own hell every day of our life.....Not reading "HELL" will not add to your hell, but maybe to your heaven-on-earth.

And now for something completely different...

As you all know, I'm in the middle of my Master's program and working on three novels and I've found I've had less, and less time to devote to reading books and watching movies to give you a monthly review. So, my father, Ted Kozicki, has offered to help me out by acting as the book reviewer on this blog once a month for the next couple of months. Without further ado, here's Dad in his own words:

Hello. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Nancy's father. Being a dutiful person and still interested in what my kids are up to, I read that she does not always have time for her reviews in her Crafts' Blog....So rather than see her drop it, I'm stepping up to help out.

I know what you are thinking.....great, what does he know? What does he read? What makes him a critic? All good questions which I'll try to answer. I am 70....been over the hill for a lot of years! I am a former school teacher.. I've taught English...well, that should have lost half of the readers! I've also taught science, drama, public speaking, history, government, K-12 Special Education, 4th grade math, religion, Latin, Spanish, and a few other things that people have been willing to pay me to teach. That probably lost half of those who were still reading!

So for the 2 or 3 that are still left, I'll continue. I am published.....poems in a local newspaper in Michigan which were later borrowed by several couples to include in their wedding ceremonies----no pay, but at least acknowledged! Wonder if they are still married? Some reports to the Federal Government about the research done with grants while a graduate assistant at Emporia State University....Again no pay, unless you count free tuition, office, and expenses while finishing my MS. A couple of Melodramas-----one performed in several venues around the county and SOLD to a publisher who now continues to offer it for performing. The others have yet to sell. So I am a PAID writer! I'm the one from whom Nancy gets her talent , if you've seen the picture, you can see the looks come from her mother!

What do I read? Just about anything someone is willing to write and someone is willing to print and sell. That being said, I do have things I like more than others. I have favorite authors. I have some that I will not read, or in some cases have not because I have no interest...I even read plays, poetry, history books, Annie Rice, Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall), Wilbur Smith ( EVERY book he has written), Ted Kennedy, Nancy J Parra ( had to put that in!)...You'll find out more as I do some of these.

I love theatre ( that high class theater)... I love Andrew Lloyd Weber...seen "Phantom" 7 times-twice in London ( Bragging)...Evita more than that (Nancy's mother refuses to go with me again)...Music... Country/Western .....early Rock/Roll...Jazz ( New Orleans), Blues ( Memphis), Opera ( No, the music not the woman with the talk show-- but she was great in The Color Purple).......

I'm not impressed with critics.....Heard a lot of definitions of what they are...fill in your own! "Whistle down the Wind" is my favorite A.L.Weber musical, critics hated it. I learned to dislike critics in college when I had to read a book ( which I might like ) and have the professor take it apart explaining what was wrong with it or what it was about.

That in a nutshell is who I am and where I am coming from. I will leave you with one thought that I impressed on my High School English students about Poetry:" There is only 1 person who knows what a poet meant by what he/she wrote, and most of them never told us. We are supposed to find what it means to us." Hope that gives you a reason to read what I write for her blog.

Thanks Dad!

Now that you know a bit about my playwright Dad, I will post his first book review tomorrow.

PS - a special thanks to my sister Mary who passed on the photos included in this blog.

Welcome Debut Author Linda Kage

It is my pleasure to host debut author Linda Kage on my blog this week. Linda's Young Adult book, The Stillburrow Crush released last Friday in electronic form and can be found in paperback at The Wild Rose Press, BN.com, and Amazon.com.
When Linda and I talked about doing this blog we decided it would be fun to interview her heroine, sixteen-year-old, Carrie Paxton and let her tell you a bit about her story. Here's Carrie:
Hi Carrie, welcome to my blog.

Thank you so much! It's an honor to be here. And between you and me, I'm glad you chose to interview me instead of Luke (unlike that traitorous author of mine, Linda Kage who interview HIM on her February 25th blog) because, honestly, it was MY story, not his.

Why don't you start by telling us a little something about yourself?

Sure. My name is Carrie Paxton. I'm a junior in high school and live in the very small, very unknown (okay, okay. It's fictional) town of Stillburrow, Kansas with my parents and---until very recently--my older brother, Marty. I'm the editor of the school's newspaper and very proud of that fact. My best friend is the biggest geek a body could meet. And up until a few weeks ago, I'd never been kissed (blushes). But I can't say that anymore!

You write for the school paper. What do you love about it? What do you hate? What would you change about it, if you could?

The Central Record. Ahh (that's me sighing with delight). I love pretty much everything about the school paper. I like being in control of where each article is placed (well, mostly in control. The townspeople would flip if I moved their precious sports section). I love writing every article--even the sports section. And I love the smell of the paper fresh off the press. Heck, I even love going around and passing out each edition. The most annoying part of the paper is some of the people I write it for. But come on, who really cares where the sports section goes, especially if nothing is happening in sports that week. Geesh. I agree with E.T. on that count.

Want to tell me about your brother Marty? I mean, you care about him, don't you? Even though he teases you something horrible. What would you wish for him if you could give him a wish?

A year ago--heck, a MONTH ago--I would've answered, "Marty's an idiot. It's practically mandatory to give back to him as good as he gives me in the teasing department. But since he's my brother, I guess I gotta love him." But these days, I'm more in the mind to say, "I love Marty, but since we're brother and sister, we simply MUST pick on each other from time to time--more often than not!" You see, everything changed that day in the cemetery when he turned to me and my parents for support. It made me realize how much I really did care for my big bro. And the fact that he was still worried about me being with Luke, even though he was suffering through his own crisis, was really very sweet, even if it was totally unnecessary. If I could give him anything right now, I would take away all his pain and suffering.

Stillburrow is a very small town with what you see as an obvious social order. How do you feel about that? Do you think it will ever change?

I'm gonna feel like I'm repeating myself, but....a month ago, I would've said, "Nope. This place will never progress into the twenty-first century." But, like in my Marty answer, things have really changed around here, or maybe I've just changed my perspective on things. I would've thought me being seen walking hand in hand with Luke Carter down the school hallways would cause a national scandal. But, honestly, no one flipped out. And now, after everything that went down with my brother and his tragedy, I think the entire town has been shaken up. Maybe the good citizens of Stillburrow will surprise me and band together, kind of like my family has done in the face of such heartbreak. We'll see.

Now the big question--Luke Carter, football quarterback, secret poet, crush worthy hunk--what's really going on there? And why, oh, why do you feel as if he is "above" you in status. I mean, you are a smart, sassy, strong young lady, Editor of the what is in essence the town's newspaper. Why is it so hard to believe he might find you interesting and attractive?

Ha! Thank you so much for the poet comment. He'll just LOVE that being exposed...again. I'm going to have so much fun teasing him. I just love teasing that boy. I think that's why we like each other so much. We both have a secret obsession with getting a rise out of other people, or maybe just getting out of each other. Whatever it is, it's pretty serious and I think it's pretty permanent too. Now that we're together, I can't imagine being away from him.

And onto the "I'm not worthy" question: Thank you so much for all your compliments about me. I've never seen myself the way you described me, and I probably never will. I'm just plain ol' me. But it's entirely too easy to see Luke as amazing. Maybe you just have to get within five feet of him to experience the sensation, but something about him simply takes your breath away. Even when I thought he was merely a pretty face, and I hadn't seen any of his hidden depths yet, he made my heart pound and my skin tingle. It's just easier to look past his faults than it is to look past my own.
Oh and between us- weren't you just a little jealous of his gift for poetry?

A little?! (SNORT). Try a lot. I still think it's totally not fair.

What do you feel about Linda Kage your author? If given the chance would you want to write her story?

Other than the fact that I'm still miffed she interviewed Luke and not me on her blog, I gotta like the woman. She honestly tried to keep herself out of MY story. She let me tell it my way, giving me the opportunity to spill my own opinions--not hers--and react however I pleased to everything. As a fellow writer, I respect that. And of course, I'd love to write her story. I'd love to write YOUR story, Ms. Parra. But that's just me. I like to write people's stories and find that hidden part inside them that makes them unique from everyone else.

Now for a few easy questions:
What is your favorite color?

Blue, like the color of Luke's eyes (SIGH).

Favorite hobby?

Writing. Wow, you really meant it when you said easy questions.

And most importantly, your favorite flavor of Lip Smackers?

Yikes. Hmm. I've never much been into lip smackers until recently, so I'm pretty new to all the flavors. But I heard there was a Dr. Pepper brand. Since that's my favorite soda pop, I'll go with that for now. But I'd still like to experience all of them before making my final decision!

Thanks for coming by and talking with us.

Thank you so much for having me here. This was really fun.

I had the opportunity to read The Stillburrow Crush and while I'm not a reviewer I would like to say it was a fun story. I grew up in a small Kansas town and boy did this bring back memories. Kage captures small town characters and teen emotions perfectly. The story will take you back to another place and time when all that mattered was what grade you got on your math test and who did or did not see you with the most popular boy in school.

Feel free to leave a comment-the blog will be up most of the week. On Friday I will put all the commenter's names in Gracie Boo-boo's dish and she will draw a winning name. The winner will receive a prize package that includes a paperback copy of the book, a Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker, and a cocoa hand lotion. Cheers~

Introducing Carolyn Brown and her Lucky series

Every now and again I am lucky to share with you some of my favorite authors and their latest books. Carolyn Brown is a good friend and a fabulous writer. (Isn't her cover wonderful? Sigh. I love cowboys...)

Following is my attempt to interview Carolyn and introduce you to her work:

New readers want to know about your newest book! Can you tell us the basic premise?
First of all, thank you for having me as a guest on your blog today, Nancy. It’s a pleasure to be here. Basic premise? The teaser on the back of the book pretty much sums it up. When hunky rancher "Lucky Beau" Luckadeau accuses spitfire Milli Torres of stealing his prize bull, she promptly shoots at him, triggering a feud that only gets resolved when they discover they share a steamy hot memory from a night long ago. It was a night of passion that has always haunted Lucky. The mysterious beauty he seduced at a cousin's wedding disappeared. He's always been lucky at cards, lucky with cattle, and lucky with land, but he's never been lucky in love. Now Milli Torres has come to southern Oklahoma to help out on her grandfather's ranch. A cut fence and a big, mean Angus bull in the pasture are bad enough, but then she looks up and sees Beau Luckadeau. Great God Almighty, how did he get from Louisiana to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and what in the hell is she going to do if he recognizes her?
Wow, sounds fantastic. What's one scene from this story you loved writing and why?
I loved the scene at the first of the book when they locked up horns over a bull that had wandered from Beau’s pasture over to Milli’s grandfathers because it shows both of their tempers. It lets the readers know that their journey searching for the Holy Grail of romance, which is happy-ever-after, is going to be an emotional roller coaster.

How about a little excerpt from that scene?
He pointed his finger at her. “Don’t you lie to me. You’ve cut this fence and thought you’d take advantage of my prize bull. That bull is worth a whole pasture of those ignorant cows and I don’t let him breed nobody’s cattle for free. Not even Jim’s — even though he’s my neighbor and friend. Either that or you’re lying your way through an attempted rustling.”
She slapped his finger away. “Get back on your land. And don’t point at me or yell at me again. I didn’t cut the fence, but I’m damn sure going to repair it so your horny bull won’t be on Lazy Z ground again. And I am not a cattle rustler.”
She shoved her hand in the pocket of her tight blue jeans and hoped it didn’t burn a hole right through the denim. Just touching him brought back memories she’d buried and long since tried to forget. It all went to show just how damn fickle her body could be. One touch and she was a melting pot of passionate hormones again.
“You ain’t repairing a thing. I’ll fix the fence as soon as I get my bull back in my own pasture.” He turned abruptly and stomped back to his three wheeler, crawled into the seat like it was a saddle and started toward the fence. Where had he seen her before? When she touched his finger, desire shot through his body like he’d only known one time before. But that wasn’t possible. That had just been a drunk man’s dream that set him firmly on the sober wagon for all eternity.
She pulled a .22 rifle from the sheath fastened to the side of her saddle and before he had gone ten feet, she fired twice, dusting up the gravel in front of him. That got his attention.
He growled deep in his throat. “You stupid bitch. You could have killed me. Put that gun down right now.”
There was no way that spit fire of a woman had been in his dreams. Maybe in his worst nightmare, but damn sure not in any sweet dream like he remembered when he thought about a night in paradise with a lady named Amelia.
“If I’d wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. And if you want to be dead, you just tell me what part you want shot first and where you want to drop and I’ll make it as painless as possible. And don’t you ever call me a bitch again. You get a warnin’ the first time but the second time I just let my anger have its way.”
(Love this!)
So, who comes to you first, the hero or the heroine?
In Lucky in Love they came to me at the same time. Together and arguing about who had the most important point of view. While I wrote their story, Milli sat on my shoulder and Beau stood behind me with his arms crossed over his chest. Imagine writing all day with that sexy hunk behind you! They lived in my mind while I wrote their story and believe me sometimes they were very vocal about the way they wanted it told.
I love funny romances and I happen to know you write with an Erma Bombeck sense of humor. Do you include humor in this romance? Can you give us an example?
I include humor in every thing I write. Laughter is good for the soul. Example? I’m thinking about one that wouldn’t spoil the story for the reader. How about this one?
One minute Milli was pushing Katy in the swing and listening to her squeal. At least she could enjoy the exuberance of her daughter, the sweetness of her grandparent’s love, and the mid-morning summer breezes. By afternoon it would be so hot the horny toads and grasshoppers would be carrying parasols and canteens. (LOL)
You’ve written a number of wonderful books for more than one publisher. What is one piece of advice you would give to a new writer starting out?
One word. Write! You can’t sell anything while it’s in your mind. It’s got to be written so write, write, write. Everyday! And when you get the rejection slips and they will come (I have enough to paper the White House and I’m not talking about that little two holer down at the end of the lot, either. I’m talking about the big one that has a Pennsylvania Ave. address) you are only allowed fifteen minutes to wallow around and whine in disappointment. After that you sit down and write some more. (so true!)
What is your favorite writing craft trick/tip?
I don’t know that I have a favorite. But I do urge new writers to never give up. That’s a major failing in the business. One rejection slip and they toss the rest of their ideas in a box and put them on the attic. Dear hearts, editors and agents don’t make house calls and scrounge around in your attic. At least they never have at my house. If they do at your house tell them to call me thirty minutes before they are due to arrive and I’ll make a chocolate cake and put the coffee pot on.
So true and the cake sounds great. I've never been able to choose just one favorite food, but what are some of the foods you love?
Oh, my, I do love food so that is a difficult question. More than just eating I love to cook. I love fresh yeast bread and the way it makes the house smell when it’s cooking. Then there’s cheesecake, blackberry wine cake, fried chicken, hash brown casserole, fettuccine alfredo, and the list never stops. I’m hungry now … I’ll be back later!
HA! Thanks for sharing. I am so looking forward to buying this new series.
You are so very welcome and I hope all of my readers enjoy reading the new series as much as I enjoyed writing them. They were a complete hoot to write. Remember when you get to the end of Lucky in Love that the fat lady has not sung yet … One Lucky Cowboy will be on the stands Nov. 1 and Getting Lucky, Jan. 1, 2010! I’d love to hear from those of you who read the series! Did you like Milli, Jane and Julie? How about Beau, Slade and Griffin? Did the children in the books make you laugh?

You can reach Carolyn at http://carolynlbrown.com/ or e-mail her at ccbrown66@att.net