Ever Felt You Were Dreaming the Truth?

When She Sleeps
By Leora Krygier
Published by Toby Press
Author's Website

Excerpted from the Library Journal

“This novel... uses the dualities of light and dark, dreaming and waking, and East and West to remarkable ends. The horror and disruption of war, never discussed directly, are instead made evident in the actions and interactions of the characters. A good literary look at the Vietnam War, this brings together the Vietnamese and the American perspective through the lens of divided families.”
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Library Journal reviews

Highway Hypodermics: Travel Nursing Explained

Title: Highway Hypodermics: Travel Nursing 2007
Author: Epstein LaRue, Rn, Bs
Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: Star Publish
Publised Date: January 1, 2007
ISBN-10: 1932993657
Author Website: www.epsteinlarue.com
Author E-mail: epi@epsteinlarue.com


So you think you might want to become a travel nurse, but you don't know the first thing about how to do it?

Epstein La Rue RN, BS, Travel Nurse will take you through all of the necessary steps in her latest book. Highway Hypodermics Travel Nursing 2007 explains it all in an easy to read fashion.

This book takes you inside travel nursing from many different vantage points and gives you the pros and cons of travel nursing, including how to home school your child while you travel. It is a terrific resource for all travel nurses.

Highway Hypodermics Travel Nursing 2007 is a terrific resource for anyone considering travel nursing. Ms. LaRue even takes you inside the travel agency to explain the roles of the admin. staff.

Most of the top travel nursing agencies are critiqued quite honestly and fairly, and the perks and the pitfalls of travel nursing explained with finesse and a great sense of humor.

A multitude of travel nurses share their stories and experiences as well. This book covers it all from A to Z. It is a MUST read for anyone thinking about becoming a travel nurse.
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Reviewed by Kathy Quan RN, BSN, PHN, author of THE EVERYTHING NEW NURSE BOOK and THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO CAREERS IN HEALTH CARE, both published through Adams Media. She is also the author of articles published in About Nursing and is the guide for About Nursing, a New York Times Company. Used by permission.

For Authors: On Covers, Queries, Spacing, Agents and More

From Christy's Bookshelf at Midwest Review

The Frugal Editor
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Red Engine Press
Branson, MO
ISBN 9780978515874
$18.95

Reviewed by Christy Tillery French for Midwest Book Review


As the literary market continues to tighten its proverbial belt, today's writer must assume more of the responsibilities surrounding book publishing than ever before. No longer can a writer depend on a publisher or agent to accept a manuscript in need of editing, and submitting a manuscript that isn't as near perfect as possible will, in all probability, result in rejection. To the rescue comes acclaimed author Carolyn Howard-Johnson with The Frugal Editor, the latest in her How to Do It Frugally series.

This little gem is a must-have for any writer, published or not, bestselling or unknown. Filled with valuable tips, The Frugal Editor touches on all aspects of self-editing, such as how to spot common grammatical errors, from superfluous adverbs to confusing dangling participles, as well as how to organize the workspace, format the manuscript, and use Word's tools to the fullest. Also included are sample query and cover letters, and pointers on correcting intrusive taglines, when to use an ellipsis, and correct spacing, to name a few. The book takes the reader step-by-step through the editing process, from rough draft to galley. No questions are left unanswered, no topics left uncovered. This generous writer goes so far as to recommend resources through other books and websites, with plenty of advice from agents and editors.

The Frugal Editor is one of those reference books every writer should have by their computer for constant use and study. Highly recommended.

Publisher Recommends Frugal Promoter to Contest Entrants, Those Seeking Publisher

Nov. 6, 2007 -- Jared D. Vineyard, publisher for J. D. Vine Publications and Editor of The Creative Writer, an anthology of winning stories, recommended the Frugal Editor on his blog today. He says, "If you want to be a professional writer, your work must be of a professional caliber. The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a book that could help writers of all skill levels increase the professionalism of their copy. Reading and using the techniques in this book could make the difference of not being accepted for publication in the Creative Writer or becoming the series next Featured Author."

For the complete blog entry go to http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=153595515.

Stop by Jared blog and feel free to leave a comment.

The Frugal Editor is Best Book in USA Book News writing and publication category.

Silent Generation No Longer Silent: A Blessing, Not a Lack of Patriotism

BEYOND PELELIU
By Peter Baird
Ravenhawk Books, 2006

Reviewed by John Kane for the Denver Post (Permission given to reprint by the reviewer.)

In September 1944, 45,000 U.S. marines and soldiers attacked the tiny Japanese held island of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. The attack served no useful military purpose and was based on faulty intelligence that the island was lightly defended and its capture would take just days. More than 13,000 Japanese troops fought with suicidal intensity for over a month; fewer than 2,000 of them survived. Eighteen hundred American troops were killed and another 8,000 wounded.

BEYOND PELELIU is the fictional story of one American who returned. More than that, it is the story of how the carnage of war resonates through generations to affect the son he barely knew, and his son’s eventual relationships with his own wife and children. Peter Baird’s powerful and sensitive tale exposes how the Greatest Generation and its successor, the Silent Generation, were affected by a war from which even those who returned in body never really came home.

Tom McQuade is a surgical resident in Boston married to an exotic woman, Virginia, with a newborn son, David, when Pearl Harbor ends their idyllic life. Drafted and made a captain in the Army Medical Corps, Tom goes ashore at Peleliu. He returns to his family crippled in body and spirit. With his hand shattered, his promise as a surgeon becomes a bitter memory.

To Virginia’s consternation, Tom refuses to discuss what happened at Peleliu, but it has changed him irrevocably. His anger and frustration lead to drinking and an inevitable divorce. Virginia and David move on with their lives.

Forty years later, David is a successful trial lawyer in San Francisco. Like his father he is a warrior, but his battlefield is the courtroom and it, too, is strewn with casualties.

After Virginia dies and Tom has entered the early stages of dementia, father and son reconnect. For the first time, the jaded lawyer with a briefcase full of courtroom triumphs and failed relationships learns the awful secret of what happened to his father on Peleliu and experiences the liberating force of truth.

What became of the sons of the Greatest Generation? Although the Silent Generation did not go to war, many of its members were indelibly shaped by the effect of war on parents who tried to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and couldn’t. All boys develop an ideal father – a hero who rescues them, a template for their own development into men. Those whose fathers go to war create particularly potent ideals for the absent parent, who rarely measures up if he indeed returns. Until a boy comes to grips with the reality of who his father is, without the need to idealize and the consequent betrayal of that ideal, he cannot become a man. David McQuade’s reconciliation with Tom enables both men to become fully realized.

BEYOND PELELIU goes far beyond the faulty intelligence of a disastrous battle and the psychological carnage that afflicted a father and son. It is the story of redemption that comes from embracing the truth that lies at a parent’s core. It is also the story of practicing a profession with external success, but devoid of meaning. Only by embracing truth in all circumstances can David become more than the shell of a man. Indeed, only by embracing the truth can he himself become a hero.

Baird’s style is spare and clean, expressed in short paragraphs blissfully free of adverbs and adjectives. His prose is characterized by strong nouns and active verbs reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver. His attention to detail in describing every scene and event make the development of each character natural, credible and consistent with the plot. His use of dialogue is masterful.

It is not surprising that Baird, a prominent trial lawyer, describes the work of lawyers with such authenticity, but the medical aspects and the battle scenes are equally well done. The demons of war infuse them all. There is not a dull passage in the narrative; it moves like a rocket to its thudding and entirely human conclusion.

Readers of any generation will understand themselves better and share in the experience of real and memorable characters. In BEYOND PELELIU Baird speaks to and for the Silent Generation. We can be grateful that it is silent no more.

C'mon Down! Grab that QueenPower!

TITLE: Grab the Queen Power
SUBTITLE: Live Your Best Life!
AUTHOR: Allyn Evans
GENRE: nonfiction
ISBN: 1-932993-20-7
Also available as eBook: $8 (order from Star Publish)

Reviewed by Kathe Gogolewski


It can be a lonely journey for a woman who feels something is missing in her life, especially if that something is her identity. Perhaps she harbors a desire to discover her authentic self, if she thinks she has one. This search can generate a painful and isolated experience, but it needn’t be that way.

Allyn Evans has written the companion traveler for women on this path. In her book, Grab the Queen Power, Live Your Best Life! she reveals inspiring accounts from her own life, as she maps out a cultural trail from girlhood to adulthood. Along the way, she unveils reasons that many girls and women have learned to subjugate their personal power to the needs of others. Interviews with other women are interspersed throughout and underscore her stories. Spell binding and highly personal, the stories captivate, as they may easily belong to me or you, or one our sisters or best friends.

Through the stories, we learn that our confidence and high self-esteem, those gifts from girlhood, may erode from an onslaught of cultural messages that instruct girls and women about our role in society. By the time we reach our teen years, our dreams may merely echo the vitality we once enjoyed. Evans takes the reader from there to her college experience, and then on to marriage and later years, navigating the testy waters with an uncommon blend of honesty, sensitivity and caring.

After exposing the conditions, Evans offers an alternative awareness. She dedicates the final third of the book to a new way of thinking. She outlines the attributes of, in her words, an “Authentic Queen,” and paints a vivid image of a woman who understands and accepts herself fully, who loves herself enough to give to others, who is truthful as well as merciful. It’s a heart-warming list, and leads seamlessly into the final section, where readers learn the steps toward actualizing their true selves. My favorite among the nine steps: Declare your intent. Be prepared to listen and act on inner promptings. Taken together, these nine steps create a rich menu that I know I will want to visit repeatedly. A highly recommended read.
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Kathe Gogolewski is the author of romance and children's literature and editor of a free e-zine, The Fiction Flyer. Subscribe at http://www.TRI-Studio.com New from TRI Studio -
She is also the author of Shorts from Amazon: Find them for 49 cents each Here:

The Gold Coin: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gold-Coin/dp/B000IB0JHK/ref=pd_ts_b_13/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8&s=books

Weighing In: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HDZAXW/ref=dp_bib_1/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8

The Right Stuff: Teacher Pens Fantasy for Elementary School Kids

Tato
By Kathe Gogolewski
Red Engine Press
Fantasy children’s adventure (Suitable for ages 8-13
Author’s Blog: http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A21V32M89BJ4ZD/104-4354575-4721548
Publication date: November 2005
ISBN: 1-59088-486-8
Length: 119 pages
Format: Paperback, eBook (Available in formats of pdf, .html, .msr, Mobipocket, and Hiebook).

Review by Tracy-Jane, owner of Alternative Read Reviews


Refusing to believe his beloved grandpa, ‘Gankum’ had passed away, never to return, Michael Tate claims Gankum is still around, and they share regular chats together in his bedroom closet. No one believes him. His bossy sister, Nicole, thinks he is pretending that the imaginary visits are real because he is having trouble accepting Gankum’s death, but as she is only thirteen she is not sure what to do to help him.

Later, when Michael overhears his Mama talking to Nicole about special babies being born from potatoes, he decides he wants one too. Michael thinks a potato man is sure to love and understand him better than any of his family do, and most importantly will believe Gankum is real.

Eager to help her little brother get it out of his system, and take his mind off his pretend Gankum visits, Nicole decides to help Michael make a potato man. Together they gather the ingredients and prepare the mixture to the precise formula, unaware of the real dangers of getting the formula wrong. Unfortunately, Michael oversleeps and the formula is left for ten minutes longer than it should have been, and alongside the adorable talking Tato he creates, a second cold, evil creature is made by mistake!

To make matters worse, both Michael and Nicole are horrified to discover the bad creature has kidnapped their parents and is not going to give them back. In order to save them, the children begin a brave journey through an unknown world full of gigantic insects and other strange and magical happenings. Soon Michael and Nicole learn that their mission to save their parents is not going to be as easy as they thought. If only Gankum was still around to help, he’d know what to do!

Tato is not just an exciting family adventure, it also tackles the sad truth of a close relative dying, and how a seven year copes -- without being morbid or off putting to children reading. This sensitive issue is gently dropped into the storyline as a reason to start the adventure, and before long, you are whisked into a magical world where a family’s love and understanding for each other is a central theme, and the inner strength and courage of the children will determine the ultimate outcome. For the fantasy lovers, Michael and Nicole’s exploration into another world will entertain young readers, whilst the storyline delves into the more serious issues in a heart-warming, child friendly way.

My son and I read this together during one sitting, and we both enjoyed it so much we read it again the next day, which I can happily say I didn’t mind doing at all! Kathe Gogolewski is an adaptable writer, who can turn her hand to creating a children’s story with ease. It’s not surprising she trained as a teacher! I enjoyed the ending tremendously, and when I asked my son what he thought, he told me, ‘I liked the ending because it was happy, but kind of sad at the same time!’

This is a captivating adventure of magic and mayhem, where one child’s yearning for adult recognition throws him into an unfamiliar fantasy world, where he discovers his true inner powers – love and courage – are held within. Tato is guaranteed to thrill the younger audience and comes thoroughly recommended by us oldies too!
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About the Author:
Kathe Gogolewski has taught upper elementary school grades for a long time and now enjoys both writing and teaching in Southern California. Kathe continues her passion of reading stories to children. Teachers interested in an author visit to their classrooms my find out more information at http://www,tri-studio.com. She is also host of The Mother Daughter Club radio show
www.byforandaboutwomen.com and edits The Fiction Flyer: www.tri-studio.com/ezine.html

Reviewer Tami Brady Weighs in on the Frugal Editor

TCM Reviews
The Frugal Editor
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Red Engine Press
ISBN: 978-0-9785158-7-4
Non-Fiction, Writing, Editing

Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady for TCM Reviews



Editing is my absolute least favorite part of being an author. Like many writers, I find that my work flows more naturally if I type without really paying attention to all of the little details like grammar mistakes, typos, or redundancy of certain words (my biggest challenge). Unfortunately, at some point, I have to go back and fix the mess.

To help with this overwhelming task, I have collected a variety of books on editing, proofreading, and critiquing. I have now added The Frugal Editor to the most helpful of these resources. A good many of the books I already have on my shelf drone on endlessly about proper grammar, sentence structure, or the correct usage of commonly misused words without really guiding me towards solving any of my problems. Instead, they tend to lead me directly to confusion and frustration.

I believe that the problem is context. Most of these resources are made for school curriculums. The Frugal Editor knows that as writers we aren’t trying to impress our teacher for a grade. We are just looking to improve clarity so that we can share our best efforts with our readers. To this end, The Frugal Editor gets right to the point with straightforward suggestions and the most common mistakes made by writers during the editing process.

A Reviewer's Choice Memoir Pubbed by Scribner

The Glass Castle
By Jeannette Walls
Scribner, 2005
ISBN# 978-0-7432-4754-2

Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin for www.writeradvice.com

Jeannette Wall’s The Glass Castle is a compelling memoir that delves into resilience, self-discovery, and love. Dad is “half potted.” Mom is flighty and “nonchalant in the face of adversity.” The couple accidentally raises resilient children.

The author, one of their children, describes her upbringing with clarity, honesty, respect, and love. She leaves the judgments to others. The young narrator’s innocence, which remains intact throughout the memoir, turns tragic episodes into adventures. The children sleep in refrigerator boxes at a railway station. Dad turns the planet Venus into a Christmas gift. Mom refuses to sell inherited acres in Texas, claiming it is a legacy and must stay in the family.

What makes their behavior almost palatable is the love that comes from these two bizarre parents. They don’t mean to hurt their children. From her father, Rex, Wall learned that survival is all about bravado and craftiness. From her mother she learned that a bright and breezy attitude can turn any disaster into a blessing. Filled with the complexities love creates, The Glass Castle would be grim in less skillful hands. Wall leaves judgments about the parents and their dysfunctions up to the reader.

As a teenager Wall stayed at the school, which was heated, and worked on the school paper, The Maroon Wave. She becomes the first eleventh grader to be appointed editor. Adversity, in her case, led to triumph. She left her family, got educated with her brother in New York, married a successful writer, and today she writes for MSNBC. Her style and story make her an author worth watching. Get a copy of her book today.

Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin, www.writeradvice.com

Spirtual Fiction Released by Dragon's Beard Publishing

Sacred Vow
by C.G. Walters
Spiritual fiction
Copyright 2006
Pages 273
ISBN-10 0977427147
Price $13.95
Published by Dragon's Beard Publishing, LLC

Reviewed by Heather Froeschl of Book Ideas , http://bookreviewjournal.blogspot.com and www.Quilldipper.com



Can the wind of a butterfly’s wing effect climate on the other side of the world? Can the love of two souls heal a great wrong in the universe? C.G. Walters’ novel “Sacred Vow,” offers compelling thought to consider, and a page turning delight to cherish.

Ian Sarin enjoys his cup of tea but lately the ritual of it brings other delights. Visions of a woman play out in his perception, beckoning further visitation. Everything in the room must be just so, with teapot, caned chair, and Ian in place. He cannot hear her speak, but can see her mouthing words, sharing her life. Is this just a vision or is it something else? His reality soon becomes less important than the alternate one that he visits. Ian’s health becomes affected and soon he needs help. While visiting an old friend in the mountains, he is introduced to Djalma, an interesting man whose presence comes into play in a large way. He will interact in Ian’s life in ways he couldn’t have imagined. The visions of Katerina become more intense and play out like episodes of a movie he has seen before. The question so important… why are the visits happening? The answer awaits on a scrap of paper that Ian had tucked away, a remnant of a dream, years before. He was chosen for this…but what exactly is this?

Reincarnation, collective consciousness, and life purpose all play large roles in this book. It is a deeply thoughtful and provocative tale that I could not put down. I so enjoyed the read that I simultaneously couldn’t wait to get to the last page but also dreaded it ending. The author evokes a great understanding of these topics and the mysteries of the universe, yet shares his perceptions in a wonderfully easy to comprehend tone. Readers will come away wonder-filled and satisfied to have read “Sacred Vow.”
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Submitted by Karen Lawrence
Selby Ink

Reader Shares Helpful Business Books

The Complete Startup Guide for the Black Entrepreneur
By Bill Boudreaux, MBA, CPA

Reviewed by Angela Watkins

This is a book I do believe should be in everybody's library, writing class,etc. It will give you ideas on how effective the Internet can be, marketing, etc.

A good companion book is Position To Receive written by Michael Matthew. It has a chapter about getting out of debt, saving money, building credit and it has many website resources in it as well.


Both give many resources-websites that could save a person, business, etc.

One thing each person, class, non-profit, business, etc. needs to realize is that situations differ so no two can expect the same results.

I recommend these books for homes, for personal enhancement. It will also help churches/ministries/businesses set up enterprises or expand.

This library has this book and it may be bought at your local book store or from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com ) and Wal-Mart .
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Angela Watkins, Book Reviewer, Internet Coach

"Remarkable Novel" About Drug Addiction by Down Under Author

Sleep before Evening
By Magdalena Ball
BeWrite Books
2007, ISBN 978-1-904492-96-
$17.99
286 pages

Reviewed by Bob Williams


Sleep Before Evening is a first novel by Magdalena Ball, author of The Art of Assessment and a collection of poetry, Quark Soup. She is also creator and editor of the Web’s premier literary site, The Compulsive Reader.

Mari and her mother Lily form the nucleus of the novel. Mari is a brilliant, but limited, high school student. She has a scholarship to NYU and is an accomplished pianist. Her father faded away from his family early in her life and she has found a substitute in her grandfather, Eric.

Her mother, Lily, has remarried. She is an artist, subject to mood swings that are exhausting to Russ, her husband, and to Mari. Lily in fact drives Russ away by the jealousy that torments her.

Eric has a stroke that is severe enough to leave him unconscious and without brain activity. His doctor recommends the removal of life support. Mari is opposed to this and insists at least that she be made part of the decision respecting her grandfather. Lily and Russ agree to this, but decide without her and Eric is gone before Mari knows what has happened.

In an already difficult home Mari now experiences the extremes of alienation from her mother. Accustomed to visit the city at her pleasure, Mari begins to visit it more frequently. She meets Miles, a young street musician and, cast off and vulnerable, begins a relationship with him. A large part of the book becomes concerned with sex and drugs and – well, not rock and roll exactly – blues.

Ball is very good at showing the shabby musicians that alternate between hopes and disappointments. Miles, the harmonica player, and Cath, the singer, and the other band members lead lives of noisy desperation with a heavy dependence on drugs. In this environment Mari becomes addicted. The needs of her addiction take her from one life-blighting experience to another and she deliberately overdoses as she sits in the rain, abandoned by everyone, under some bushes in a park.

She is found. Doctors save her life and she enters a rehab unit. Reunited with her mother, who draws upon an unsuspected source of maturity, Mari lives through the rigors of rehab. Home once more, she finds that there are still many unresolved problems between her and Lily.

This is a remarkable novel, not one detail of which rings false. The setting is New York City and one of its suburbs and the time is the Reagan years. Ball has achieved the remarkable in recovering this particular time past and the drive of the narrative makes this a compelling and an exciting book.
------

About the reviewer: Bob Williams has been collecting books all his life, and has done freelance writing, mostly on classical music. His principal interests are James Joyce, Jane Austen and Homer. His writings, two books and a number of short articles on Joyce, can be accessed at: http://www.grand-teton.com/service/Persons_Places

A Top Book for Any Speaker's Library

The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story
by Dottie Walters and Terri Marie
Copyright 2007
Pages 156 plus intro
ISBN 0-943477-14-X
Price $14.95
Published by New World Publishing

Reviewed by Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Founder of Global Education, Inc.
The impact of this unique inspirational book
transcends any that I have read for a long time.

Dottie Walters wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri
Marie. It is called “The Solution is at Hand: The
Dottie Walters Story.” The impact of this unique book
inspirational book transcends any that I have read for
a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie’s Life Lessons.
And, to think that Dottie did not see the final and
finished copy of the book or hear the CD that
accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie.

I read the complete book on the plane to France in
March and was so moved by it that I had all the French
Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris
begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not
part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing
happened. They too, were inspired and touched. What a
woman Dottie was! We need to keep her spirit and
message alive as nuggets of her greatness.

Dottie’s voice on the accompanying CD reveals her
kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to
it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an
indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there
discussing such deep lessons.

I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this
treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone
special in your life. You will never regret it.”

The Solution is at Hand’ is one
of the top three books every speaker should have.
----

The reviewer is Dr. Pat Adelekan, Global Education, INC
“In Search of Global Greatness”

Promoting: Giving In to the Human Animal

The Frugal Book Promoter
Copyright: By Carolyn Howard-Johnson 2004
Pages: 243(Includes Index)
ISBN: 1-932993-10-X
Price. $17.95
Published by Star Publish 2004

Reviewed by Judith Woolcock Colombo

Humans are social animals. We like to associate with others to share our thoughts, blessings, and woes. But above all this, we love to express our opinions and demonstrate our knowledge about matters both mundane and extraordinary. Over the eons our penchant for giving advice has led to a phenomenon called the how to book. There are how to books on subjects ranging from the simplest household tasks to how to be a good parent or an amazing lover.

Authors are no exception to the rule, and are very eager to give advice to each other from how to write and publish your first novel to publicizing that novel and promoting yourself. Being an author, I know how important publicizing ones work is and how necessary it is to promote oneself. Because other writers know how eager their colleagues are to place themselves in the public eye, there are many books in the market place that offer publicity and promotion tips. More often than not, these suggestions require great expenditure and that is something most underpaid writers can’t afford.

However, The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard –Johnson offers solutions that cost more in time than money, and time is something any committed writer must be prepared to spend. The author admits at the start of the book that some of her advice is based on her opinion, but this is an opinion garnered from years of being in public relations and from successfully promoting and publicizing her first two books.

The book starts off with some simple and helpful hints. The author speaks about branding yourself instead of publicizing yourself. Later she goes on to explain this more fully. Every time an author writes an article, short story, or book review and publishes it in a magazine, newspaper, ezine or website, he or she should end with their tagline. A tagline can be the author’s name and works, for example, Gloria Fox author of One Missing Shoe along with email and website address.

In the first chapters, Howard-Johnson addresses normal author concerns such as plagiarism: how often it is really done and how to guard against it by copyrighting. She also discusses P.R or how to publicize your book through media releases, publishing excerpts from your book, and author interviews among other things.

The Frugal Book Promoter is so filled with information that it would take several pages to describe. Howard-Johnson spends time elaborating on the things to do before the book comes out, building a Media Kit, entering contests, making contacts by attending conferences and how to decide which ones to attend and what to do while there. She discusses the importance of having your own website and how to have one built for a reasonable fee. She gives you a list of websites to go to that will teach you how to build one or help you get ones for free. She also explains the necessity of making a personal mailing list of family, friends, co-workers, your church group and so on.

The author takes you through the process of what to do when you get a publisher’s contract, the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid. She also gives advice on what to do after the book is published, how to get reviews, the importance of book signings and book fares, how to use the media including internet radio and public announcements in local papers. Her section on Amazon.Com is excellent. She explains how to establish a free account and how to use tools such as Listamania, book reviews, and the All About Me section.

One of the aspects of this book that I thought most valuable was the list of websites included in every chapter. They ranged from websites that help you with the mechanics of writing to review sites, and sites that help you sell and promote the book. There is also an appendix filled with wonderful things, like sample query letters.

As a writer, I found this book a very useful tool. Even if you don’t agree with some of the author’s opinions, the share amount of research that went into this book will awe you. One of the results of this extensive research though, is that the book can seem overwhelming. The solution to this is to treat it as a toolbox. When you need a tool, open the box and take it out, or study the specific chapter or chapters in this case. Beginning authors will find this an enlightening how to book and even old veterans might learn some things they never knew. I did.

Judith Woolcock Colombo: Author of The Fablesinger, Night Crimes, The Gasman & The Death of Betty Pinto
Visit my web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01 Or email
judithcolombo@hotmail.com for info & sample chapters/

Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter Sticks to Your Heart, Not the Roof of Your Mouth

Hugs, Hope, and Peanut Butter: Finding the Light Behind the Clouds
By Marsha Mott Jordan
Web Site: www.hugsandhope.org/pb.htm
Genre: Nonfiction, Humor
ISBN: 9771343-4-2
Published by Jada Press, 2006
Trade paper, 244 pages
Available on Amazon.com

Reviewed by Joyce Handzo of Christian Book Previews

Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter will stick to your heart!

If you’ve ever been discouraged, this is a book for you. Drawing upon her own experiences of chronic pain and depression, the author opens her heart and life to bring a message of comfort and hope to the hurting. Proceeds from the sale of this book go to The Hugs and Hope Foundation for Critically Ill Children.

I would love to give this author a hug! Besides being a very funny woman, she seems to be the kind of person who loves life simply because it comes from God. Her words bounce off these pages with a contagious sense of hope and encouragement, offering readers a lighthearted look at the world around them.

Marsha Mott Jordan is someone you would want living next door. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, while her heart reaches for the pleasant places of God. She is no stranger to sickness, and therefore it’s no wonder that she started an organization to help terminally ill children. These special young people illustrated the book, causing Marsha’s words to touch readers in a more meaningful way.

Made up of a random collection of essays, this book covers a variety of subjects. The author’s candid style of writing instantly endears her to readers, inviting them to laugh along with her as she rides the roller coaster of life. Spiritual insights pop into the narrative in a real way, allowing glimpses of the great God who watches over all His children. Marsha’s home life is a source of hilarity, while her heart is filled to overflowing with compassion for those around her.

Being uniquely qualified to speak to those who are discouraged, the author shares her past experiences and her hopes for the future. The pages are bittersweet, as the drawings by the children serve as a reminder of those whose health issues are shaded in uncertainty. Marsha’s words resonate with the reality of God and His great love, which can be found in every situation. Readers won’t know if the tears on their cheeks come from laughing or crying.