Monday, September 24, 2012

This Week on the BlogTalkRadio Edition of A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book: The Rose Hotel

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book, Greg interviews Dr. Rahimeh Andalibian, author of The Rose Hotel.

In a time when trauma and mistrust guide our understanding of the Middle East, and Iran, The Rose Hotel tells the true-life story of Rahimeh Andalibian's Iranian Muslim family and their struggle to strive after a tragedy that occurs in the bloody chaos of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Uprooted first to London, and finally to California, the family suffers a different kind of revolution. Struggling to adjust to a new host culture in America, they soon discover that on the road to healing and redemption they must first face a past of lies and hidden truths.

A clinical psychologist and intergenerational family therapist based in Laguna Beach and NYC, Dr. Rahimeh Andalibian specializes in the use of storytelling and creative performance to empower individuals and families to release themselves from the bondage of their old jointly-created stories and entrenched communication patterns to lead fulfilled lives.

Find out more about and purchase this exciting novel at Dr. Andalibian's website and also at Amazon .

This promises to be an exciting and educational interview with an intriguing new author. Please join us on BlogTalkRadio on Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:00 pm Pacific Time for a visit with Dr. Rahimeh Andalibian and to hear about The Rose Hotel and her creative process and publishing experiences.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Guest blog, giveaway, and podcast: Sam Moffie

It's Sam Moffie week here at A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book! Below please find a guest post by Sam. On the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Greg will interview Sam about his latest book, To Kill the Duke. Listen live at 3:30 Pacific time on Wednesday, September 19, or hear the recording any time after the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2012/09/19/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book.

Want to win one of two copies of To Kill the Duke? Leave a comment before midnight on September 23 on this blog post or on the BTR episode page, and two winners will be randomly selected. Winners will be announced on September 24.



A nation of bellyachers
by Sam Moffie 

So far, it has been a summer that’s made me long to be a child again, back at the YMCA Camp in Sloane in Lakeville, Conn. 

One summer, when I was a boy more than 10,000 bottles of Pinot Noir ago, it was a very hot and humid summer. I’m 52, so it had to be when I was 14… so, 38 summers ago.

Thirty-eight years ago 100 degrees was still 100 degrees AND we didn’t have the technology and knowledge of today, which is far better than it was way back then when it came to dealing with the heat.

But 38 years ago we didn’t whine and bellyache like people in 2012. We just dealt with it. Played in the water as long as we could, drank lots and lots of cold water and lemonade, stayed in places inside, or outside, that were cool and offered lots of shade; we wore light-colored and loose-fitting clothes, and most importantly, we didn’t bitch about ‘how hot it is’ to everyone in earshot.

Maybe it was because we didn’t have The Weather Channel and other media outlets constantly reminding us  of ‘how extreme the heat is’ or how it’s the ‘hottest day in years, with no relief soon’ and so on.

Maybe it’s because we focused on the fact that summer is hot and winter is cold, and we dealt with it accordingly. Maybe we wanted to enjoy our summer knowing school was around the corner and damn the temperature—let’s enjoy our days off while they last! That was very important. Maybe it’s because we were kids and what did we know?

Plenty.

We knew that we better seize the day, as they say (carpe diem), because who knew what tomorrow would bring?

I still live that way today.

Be positive.

Think positive.

Make a thick skin thicker.

Try to leave the day better off for everyone around me, and dependent upon me; leave it better than when it started.

And that helps big time.

Because I’m proud to be a self-published author.

And do you want to talk about bellyaching?!  Being a self-published author in 2012 is a lot better than being a bar owner (which I am, too) in the hot summer of 2012 listening to patrons bitch and moan and whine about how hot it is out while they drink alcohol that only raises their body temperature, not cooling it down. (When I point this out, the patron almost always responds by saying “I don’t like beer.”) 

I don’t like beer either (my taste buds are shot), so I drink wine… a lot of wine. But as every lover of red wine knows—DON’T DRINK RED WINE IN THE HOT SUN OR YOU’RE IN TROUBLE!  So, I drink white wine on the rocks and my body stays cool.

What does this have to do with writing? Nothing, but it makes me feel better.

And as all self-published authors should note… it could always be worse.

Thanks to Sam for stopping by! Don't forget to leave a comment to get in on the drawing.

 

 

 

Monday, September 17, 2012

This Week on the BlogTalkRadio Edition of A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book: To Kill the Duke

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book, Greg interviews Sam Moffie, author of To Kill the Duke.

To Kill the Duke is an exciting thriller set in the golden age of the silver screen. There is a Russian plot against the crown prince of the wild west, John Wayne himself! In the course of the story, readers will encounter Hollywood legends and media icons from the 1950s. This is a fun and exciting book that may have a couple of messages hidden within. Be sure to join us for what promises to be an entertaining romp through Hollywood in its heyday.

Find out more about and purchase this exciting novel at Sam's website and also at Amazon in multiple formats.

This is going to be an exceptional, fun, and exciting interview with an intriguing new author. Please join us on BlogTalkRadio on Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:00 pm Pacific Time for a visit with Sam Moffie and to hear about To Kill the Duke and his creative process and publishing experiences.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Book Review: Dying for a Date

Dying for a Date, by Cindy Sample

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: L & L Dreamspell (June 10, 2010)
  • ISBN-10: 1603182489
  • Rating (1 to 5 *): *****


Book Review: Dying for a Date, by Cindy Sample

Laurel McKay isn't exactly what many men consider an ideal date. She's divorced, the mother of two kids, and her dates keep showing up dead. When she is, quite naturally, considered to be the only suspect in the two cases that otherwise seem to have no connection, Laurel decides that she is her own best shot at proving her innocence by solving the murders herself.
Cindy Sample's debut novel is a hilarious romp, dragging the reader along with Laurel from humiliation at her kid's soccer game to a wake where she shouldn't be, and all over the gold country in the Sierra Nevada foothills in her pursuit of the truth. All the while, she is trying not to get fired from her job at the mortgage company and trying to keep her mother, who is trying to fix her up with a co-worker, off her back. Can Laurel find the murderer before she becomes the next victim--or before her mother drives her crazy?

Dying for a Date had me literally laughing out loud and guessing at the murderer, then changing my guess, then changing it again throughout the whole book. Although I thought the pacing dragged a bit through the middle of the story, it picked right up again toward the very exciting--and hilarious--conclusion. I found the characters charmingly approachable, the kind of people I would like to get to know better. I can't wait to read Sample's next book, Dying for a Dance.

Find out more about Cindy at http://cindysamplebooks.com/

Sunday, September 9, 2012

This week on the BlogTalkRadio edition of A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book, Greg interviews Sarah Richard, author of Five Little Duckies.

Five Little Duckies is a delightful and educational book for the youngest readers. This is a wonderful book to read to infants through toddler-aged kids as well as a wonderful first reading book--it is stimulating to young minds and will be beloved for years to come.

This promises to be a lighthearted and entertaining interview! Please join us on BlogTalkRadio on Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:00 pm Pacific Time for a visit with Sara Richard and to hear about Five Little Duckies and her creative process and publishing experiences.

Learn more about Five Little Duckies and Sarah Richard's other works at http://www.sarahvrichard.zoomshare.com/

Special Edition of A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book: Michelle Devon

This week on a Special Edition of the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Jennifer interviews Michelle Devon, author of CELESTE--which is currently on tour with Walker Author Tours. Listen live on Wednesday, September 12 at 3:30 Pacific Time or hear the recording any time after the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/coffeeandbooks/2012/09/13/special-edition-of-a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book

Kyle McRoy doesn’t know who to trust. He became a wealthy man after his parents died in a freak accident, but Kyle lost control. A mental breakdown led to hospitalization in what his brother called a Behavior Therapy Center, but something about his brother tugs at the back of his fragile psyche. While at the center, Kyle meets the lovely Celestebut soon discovers there are things about her he doesn’t know. Things, perhaps, no one can ever know.

No, Kyle McRoy doesn’t know who to trust… least of all, himself. After all, it’s hard to know who to trust when you’re not even sure what’s real.

Click  here to find out more about the CELESTE virtual book tour.

Find out more about "Michy" at www.michelledevon.com.

Monday, September 3, 2012

This week on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book: Robert Bonville

This week on the A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book BlogTalkRadio show, Greg interviews Robert Bonville, author of Voyages of Malolo: Secret of the Rongo. Listen live on Wednesday, September 5 at 3:30 Pacific Time or hear the recording any time after the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2012/09/05/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book.

Voyages of Malolo: Secret of the Rongo: Ancient Polynesian mariners circumnavigate the Pacific Ocean on spiritually inspired quest, over 500 years before Columbus discovers the new world, in exciting new novel by Robert Bonville.
 
Learn more about author Robert Bonville at www.authorrobertbonville.com/.