What’s on my iPod: “Drive By” by Train

What I’m reading: The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch

The last person I followed on Twitter: @TheiMums

1.  Summer Reading Challenge

We hope that everyone enjoyed the first book in our Summer Reading Challenge, Allison Winn Scotch’s “The Song Remains the Same.”  Make sure you go to the BookSparks Facebook page to share your thoughts in order to be entered to win prizes.  We are now on to the second book of the challenge, David Klein’s “Clean Break.”  If you have yet to start the challenge it is not too late to begin reading.  Happy reading!

MORE ABOUT CLEAN BREAK:

Can you make a clean break from a troubled past and  start  a new life?

Four lives intersect when Celeste Vanek leaves her husband, Adam. His compulsive gambling and physical threats have poisoned their marriage and emotionally damaged their young son. Celeste moves to a small rental across town, works to gain financial security, and helps her son navigate his fantasy life. But she quickly finds that starting over is not easy. Adam demands his family back, and things get out of control. Jake, who witnesses a violent struggle between Celeste and her husband, becomes Celeste’s ally and friend, while struggling with his own emotional and ethical issues. Jake carries a history of failed relationships—one of them with Sara, a married and childless police detective who has a private agenda to pursue when a crime is committed that links these four characters together and changes their lives forever.

2.  Four Retro Typewriters for “After the Fog”

Reel Swell Blog just gave Kathleen Shoop’s “After the Fog” 4 “Retro Typewriters” in an awesome review.  “Shoop delivers on honing in on people’s worries, fears, hopes, issues of trust and dreams. From the get-go, this self-published novel didn’t feel at all like an indie effort. Shoop is a definite writer who deserves to be published traditionally. Her narrative is strong and lyrical, and brings to light a story that is genuine and easy-reading. Shoop’s story clearly show research was put into this novel.”

MORE ABOUT AFTER THE FOG:

For every woman who thinks she left her past behind…  In the steel mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, site of the infamous 1948 “killing smog,” headstrong nurse Rose Pavlesic tends to her family and neighbors. Controlling and demanding, she’s created a life that reflects everything she missed growing up as an orphan. She’s managed to keep her painful secrets hidden from her loving husband, dutiful children, and their extended, complicated family.

When astagnant weather pattern traps poisonous mill gasses in the valley, neighbors grow sicker and Rose’s nursing obligations thrust her into conflict she nevercould have fathomed. Consequences from her past collide with her present life,making her once clear decisions as gray as the suffocating smog. As the pressure mounts, Rose finds she’s not the only one harboring lies. When the deadly fog finally clears, the loss of trust and faith leaves the Pavlesic family—and the whole town—splintered and shocked. With her new perspective, can Rose finally forgive herself and let her family’s healing begin?

3.  Dreams Turned Into Reality 

David Klein, author of “Clean Break,” recently sat down with Writer Unboxedto discuss his “dream of becoming a writer that inspired him, angered him and even depressed him.”  “For years I had the dream of becoming a published novelist. The dream made me hungry. The dream inspired and motivated me. At times, it left me frustrated, angered, and depressed. But the dream would not let go.”

Now that David Klein is a successful published author of two novels, he continues to create dreams for the future.  “No longer is it enough to be a published novelist with a following. Now I dream of awards and prizes. Now I fantasize about the bestseller list. Now I crave to see one of my novels made into a movie starring Laura Linney and Viggo Mortensen.  I already know that if or when any of these next dreams come true, yet another dream will take its place. You might say this is the curse of the person who is never satisfied, but I believe it’s the blessing that keeps me writing.”

4.  Chocolate and Self-Publishing 

Steena Holmes, author of “Finding Emma,” discussed her addiction to self-publishing and chocolate with August McLaughlin’s Blog.  “Why do I like indie-publishing? Because it means taking control of my dream and being the one responsible for seeing it come true. It means taking what I’ve learned and using that to empower others. It means being able to prove to myself, my family and my friends that yes, I can write and yes, I’m good at it. It means seeing a monthly pay cheque that rivals what I make with my full-time job and actually being able to quit my full-time job so that I can write more! (I made a cake the day I gave my notice … Go figure).”

5.  ‘Oh So Much More with Meg Mitchell Moore’

Writer’s Corner just gave Meg Mitchell Moore’s “So Far Away” a stunning review!  “Meg Mitchell Moore writes with much passion and emotion.  I could definitely identify with her characters.   She kept my interest throughout the book.   I found her writing with relevant topics such as bullying, a child dealing with divorce, and feelings of loss.  She vividly describes the feelings of the character and their surroundings.”

MORE ABOUT SO FAR AWAY:

Thirteen-year-old Natalie Gallagher is trying to escape: from her parents’ ugly divorce, and from the vicious cyber-bullying of her former best friend. She discovers a dusty old diary in her family’s basement and is inspired to unlock its secrets. Kathleen Lynch, an archivist at the Massachusetts State Archives, has her own painful secrets: she’s a widow estranged from her only daughter. Natalie’s research brings her to Kathleen, who in Natalie sees traces of the daughter she has lost. What could the life of an Irish immigrant domestic servant from the 1920s teach them both? In the pages of the diary, they will learn that their fears and frustrations are timeless.

*Friday Five will be on hiatus next week but will return the following week.  We hope everyone has a great weekend!