Wednesday, January 27, 2010

LOVE IN TRANSLATION by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

LOVE IN TRANSLATION by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

From the author of Midori by Moonlight comes a tale that will warm the hearts of anyone who’s ever dreamt of finding love and family in an unexpected place...


Stuck. That’s how 33-year-old aspiring singer Celeste Duncan feels, with her deadbeat boyfriend and static career. But then Celeste receives a puzzling phone call and a box full of mysterious family heirlooms, which just might be the first real clue to the identity of the father she never knew. Impulsively, Celeste flies to Japan to search for a long-lost relative who could be able to explain. She stumbles head first into a weird, wonderful world where nothing is quite as it seems—a land with an inexplicable fascination with foreigners, karaoke boxes, and unbearably perky TV stars. With little knowledge of Japanese, Celeste finds a friend in her English-speaking homestay brother, Takuya, and comes to depend on him for all variety of translation, travel and investigatory needs. As they cross the country following a trail after Celeste's family, she discovers she's developing "more-than-sisterly" feelings for him. But with a nosy homestay mom scheming to reunite Takuya with his old girlfriend, and her search growing dimmer, Celeste begins to wonder whether she's made a terrible mistake in coming to Japan. Can Celeste find her true self in this strange land, and discover that love can transcend culture?

Monday, January 25, 2010

Second Chances by Kristie Leigh Maguire - Now available on KINDLE.

My latest romance book, Second Chances, was released for purchase on KINDLE today. The paperback version will be released in March 2010.


Download to your KINDLE from Amazon.com for only $2.99.

Second Chances book blurb:
"Free wedding dress. Worn only once by mistake." One simple little ad, but it turned the whole world upside down (or perhaps right side up) for not only one couple, but for two couples.


Mike Farley stomped on Jane Porter's heart with his cowboy boots. When he realized he had made the biggest mistake of his life, could he ever get it back the way it should be? Ma Liz Farley and Pa Jim Porter decided they had to do anything they could to make it right. But were they really willing to go "all the way" to accomplish it?

Set in rural Wyoming, Second Chances is a delightful read that will warm your heart as much as the fireplace will warm your cheeks.


Review (5 star):
SECOND CHANCES

by Kristie Leigh Maguire
Available in Kindle version now from KLM Books
Coming soon in paper back version from Star Publish

Wyoming rancher's daughter Jane Porter has an "understanding" with neighbor Mike Farley. They've had that understanding all their lives, it seems - or at least since they got old enough to realize how boys are different from girls. So why is Jane's widowed father telling her that everyone in their geographically spread out yet closely knit community is talking about Mike's upcoming marriage to a stranger? To red-headed and beautiful Samantha Jo Smith, who met Mike in a bar and who said "yes" so fast that Mike doesn't remember proposing to her?

That's the setup for this delightful novel. It has just enough spice to please author Maguire's established fans, and it's sweet enough to attract a whole new following for her. I read it through in an evening, and felt as if I had spent that evening with "salt of the earth" folk. No wonder Maguire dedicates this book to her parents! I am sure they would both be proud to read it.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 EPPIE Winner "Regs" and the "High Places" series from eBooksOnThe.Net

Visit Kristie Leigh Maguire online.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Second Chances by Kristie Leigh Maguire

My latest book, Second Chances, will be released in March 2010.

"Free wedding dress. Worn only once by mistake." One simple little ad, but it turned the whole world upside down (or perhaps right side up) for not only one couple, but for two couples.

Mike Farley stomped on Jane Porter's heart with his cowboy boots. When he realized he had made the biggest mistake of his life, could he ever get it back the way it should be? Ma Liz Farley and Pa Jim Porter decided they had to do anything they could to make it right. But were they really willing to go "all the way" to accomplish it?

A fun read, set in rural Wyoming, will warm your heart as much as the fireplace will warm your cheeks.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Kristie Leigh Maguire Guest Speaker - Passionate Internet Voices Radio

Kristie Leigh Maguire will be the guest speaker at Passionate Internet Voices Radio with host Janet Elaine Smith at 4:30 pm ET on 1/19/10. Kristie will be discussing book cover creation and her company, Book Covers and More.

Go to: http://internetvoicesradio.com/
Click on: "Listen Live"

The program will be archived for aproximately 30 days after broadcast. To listen after airtime, click on "Listen on Demand."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Is writing your passion or your pastime?

This is difficult question for me to answer.


Writing started out as a pastime for me. As some of you may know, I began writing when I was living in Japan in 1997 because I couldn't find books to read that were written in English. I started writing just to have something to read. Therefore it was a pastime.

Later on into the writing game, writing became a passion for me. I had to do it. I WANTED to do it. I felt like after many years of searching for who I was, I discovered that I was a WRITER.

Then I got into the business end of things. I stumbled into the publishing field kind of by accident without thinking it through. It all began when Katy Walls and I joined forces and began GAP, Inc. (Global Authors Publications, Inc.), a co-op publishing house. I really enjoyed co-running GAP. It was fun. I learned a LOT about the publishing business through GAP. Then the Patriot Act put an end to that.

I started Star Publish LLC after that and built it up from scratch all by myself without a partner to bounce things off of and share the responsiblities. I ran Star for over 4 years. Even if I do say so myself, I think Star is a very successful publishing model and I am proud that I am the one who started it all and made it successful. And I am equally thankful to TC McMullen for carrying it on and very successfully at that after I walked away from it.

However being in the publishing end of things turned me off to writing my own stuff. I was too much concentrated on the business end of things to want to write, or to have time to write. The business consumed my life with little time left over for me, myself, and I. I loved the publishing end of things. I loved helping other authors get their work out there.

However, I missed writing. I missed having a life. Therefore I sold Star to TC and got out of the publishing business. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make but I made it in the best interest for myself and my sanity and for my life with my husband,

You might as well say I took a 5+ year break from writing because of my involvement in the publishing side of it.

It took me a long time after I sold Star to TC to get back to where I could write again. I just completed my MS, Second Chances, and sent it off to Star for publication. I wrote this book in less than 5 months, a record for me.

However, I am not fully back to the PASSION side of writing yet. I am in the pastime phase. But I feel the PASSION for writing coming back to me.

LaVyrle Spencer's "That Camden Summer"

That Camden Summer
by LaVyrle Spencer

LaVyrle Spencer, known for her "heartrending slices of Americana" writes of how love can be more special the second time around...

It is 1916 and Roberta Jewett is surprised that her hometown of Camden, Maine, considers a divorced woman little more than a prostitute. She nonetheless perseveres in her struggle to forge a new and better life for her daughters there. Behaving like no "respectable" woman would, she gets a job as a county nurse, learns to drive, and buys her very own Model T.

Embittered by her painful marriage to an unfaithful husband, she has no intention of being any man's victim again. So Roberta is taken aback to find the widowed carpenter Gabriel Farley has somehow found his way into her heart. And in the ultimate test of will and devotion, she must depend on the man she has grown to love—and summon the courage to stand up to an entire town.


LaVyrle worked as a teacher's aide at Osseo Junior High School, when in her thirties, she read Kathleen Woodiwiss's novel "The Flame and Flower", which gave her the idea to become a novelist. She decided to try transferring to paper a recurring dream she was having about a story based on her grandmother's lifestyle on a Minnesota farm. Her story became her first manuscript, "The Fulfillment", and she sent it to Kathleen Woodiwiss. The bestselling author read the novel and promptly mailed it to her own editor at Avon. The editor purchased the novel, which was published in 1979. She was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame in 1988. She wrote 23 sweet historical and contemporany novels. Published around the world, her works had included 12 New York Times Bestsellers, and have been won 4 RITA Awards, 3 Golden Medallion Award and a Minnesota Book Awards. LaVyrle said: "the trademark of my books is mending relationships, showing people how to mend relationships."

Thursday, January 14, 2010

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

True Colors
by Kristin Hannah

Women across America laughed, cried, and reconnected with their friends after reading Kristin Hannah’s smash hit, Firefly Lane. Now, in True Colors, she explores the poignant, powerful, complex world of sisters…


The Grey sisters had only each other when their mother died years ago. Their stern, unyielding father gave them almost no attention. Winona, the oldest, needs her father’s approval most of all. An overweight dreamer, she never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that had been in her family for three generations. Aurora, the middle, is the peacemaker. Vivi Ann, the youngest, is the undisputed star of the family. Everything comes easily to Vivi Ann, her father’s love most of all. But when Vivi Ann makes a fateful decision to follow her heart, rather than take the route of a dutiful daughter, events are set in motion that will test the love and loyalties of the Grey sisters. They will be pitted against each other in ways none could have imagined. Secrets will be revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both the family and their beloved town. With breathtaking pace and penetrating insight, Kristin Hannah’s True Colors is a novel about sisters, vengeance, jealousy, betrayal—and ultimately, what it truly means to be a family.


Kristin Hannah on tour for the book "Firefly Lane"

Cuddle up with Winter Garden, a family drama set in the beautiful, chilly Pacific Northwest focused on two daughters (alienated from one another) and their difficult, Russian-born mother. Get swept up in this multi-generational, multi-cultural emotional exploration of family bonds. Then step up to meet the author, Kristin Hannah, who visits our Naperville store.

When: Tuesday, February 9 2010, 07:00 PM
Where: Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson, Naperville, IL, 60540




Kristin Hannah is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels, including Firefly Lane and the blockbuster On Mystic Lake. She is a former lawyer turned writer and is the mother of one son. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii with her husband.


 Visit Kristin Hannah online at: http://kristinhannah.com/

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Executive's Pregnancy Ultimatum by Emilie Rose


Title: Executive's Pregnancy Ultimatum
Author: Emilie Rose
Imprint / Series: Silhouette Desire
Publication Date: Feb 2010
Miniseries: Kings of the Boardroom
Book Type: Paperback
Category: Passion
ISBN: 9780373730070 (#1994)


Flynn Maddox, the driven vice president of Maddox Communications, thought he was over his ex-wife, Renee. But when he learned that they were still married—and that she was trying to have his baby—he realized he had never stopped wanting her. It was time to put his fierce negotiating skills to good use. He would give her the baby she so desperately wanted…but not without getting her to sign off on some terms of his own.


About Emilie Rose (from her website)
Bestselling Silhouette Desire author and Rita finalist Emilie Rose has sold 27 projects to Harlequin/Silhouette since her first sale in 2001, and her books have been released in over 20 countries around the globe.


Emilie lives in her native North Carolina with her four sons and two adopted mutts. Writing is her third (and hopefully her last) career. She’s managed a medical office and run a home day care, neither of which offers half as much satisfaction as plotting happy endings. Her hobbies include gardening and cooking (especially cheesecake).

Her favorite TV shows include Grey’s Anatomy, ER, CSI, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and Discovery Channel’s medical programs. Emilie’s a rabid country music fan because she can find an entire book in almost any song.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

What is your traditional New Year's Day meal?


I am curious about what is the traditional New Year's Day meal where you come from. Let me know in the comment section of this post.

I was born and raised in the Deep South in the United States (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi). Even though I no longer live in that area, I still prepare the Southern traditional New Year's Day meal. This meal is suppose to bring you luck throughout the rest of the year. Why take a chance on having an unlucky year by not preparing the good luck meal of my youth?

Yesterday (New Year's Day), my menu consisted of the followng:

Black Eyed Peas (for luck)
Mustard Greens (for money)
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Fried Pork Chops
Cornbread
Deep Dish Apple Crumb Pie

I should be very lucky and have lots of money throughout the rest of 2010!