Blog Tour: Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn

This virtual book tour is presented by Tribute Books.

You can see the entire tour schedule HERE.

Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour!

It is my pleasure to feature:

Jerome Charyn and Back to Bataan.

Jerome Charyn (born May 13, 1937) is an award-winning American author. With nearly 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life. Michael Chabon calls him “one of the most important writers in American literature.”

New York Newsday hailed Charyn as “a contemporary American Balzac,” and the Los Angeles Times described him as “absolutely unique among American writers.”

Since 1964, he has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year. Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture.  Charyn lives in Paris and New York City.

Author Generated Interview:

What are your thoughts on the explosion of popularity concerning the YA genre?

I think it might very well be that it started with Harry Potter, that young adult writers are trying to tell good stories and adults have moved into that kind of dream.

       You are the master of writing across a realm of different genres, what excites you about connecting with different audiences?

I’m not so sure that these are different audiences, I think we all love stories, whether we’re children or great-grand grandfathers and when you move from genre to genre you are still telling a story like Scheherazade and the king is always waiting for the next tale.

  

       Your writing is so precise, yet evocative - how do you work at crafting your unique style of prose?

Everything begins and ends with the word, with the music of the sentence and as Tolstoy once said, “I’m always composing.”

       Being a published author for nearly 50 years, what do you think of eBooks?

I think that this is a kind of logical step as we move from the internet into eBooks. 

Publishing is changing even as we speak. I think there now will be a more complicated dance between the eBook and the printed book, and as we’ve seen recently, successes in eBooks allow the author to move into print.

       What would be your advice to young people who aspire to a literary career?

It’s not worth the money – only write if you’re absolutely in love with it.

       How much of your life is in Back to Bataan? How did you personally experience New York during World War II?

I think so much of the source of my writing comes from my childhood, I grew up during the War  - so many of the terrors and the magic of certain films have remained with me.  And all of this appears in the character of Jack.

       Your older brother was a detective. Did your experiences with him influence the plot?

Not really, I think all writing is crime writing. And Back to Bataan is a crime novel with a very original twist.

       Why did you decide to include the fascination with the famous as a theme - Gary Cooper, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.?

These people were heroes to me as a child, particularly Eleanor Roosevelt, who was one of the most extraordinary women who ever lived, and of course as a child I fell in love with Gary Cooper’s face and with his very slow drawl, that seemed so exotic to me.

       Jack finds acclaim through his writing, yet feels guilty for exploiting other people (Mrs. Fink). How does a writer starting out work to bridge this gap?

You’re always cannibalizing other people and writers when you start to write, so it’s natural that Jack should be a young cannibal.

       How important is the New York Times in your own life? Why did you decide to make it a form of connection between Jack and the Leader?

As a child, I didn’t even know that the Times existed – I grew up in a neighborhood without newspapers and books, so that when I first fell upon the New York Times, I was very very greedy, and wanted to include it in Jack’s middle-class life.

Back to Bataan Summary

New York City, 1943. War is raging in Europe and the Pacific, while Jack Dalton is stuck attending Dutch Masters Day School. What Jack really wants is to enlist in the army, to fight...

Everything changes when Coco, Jack's "fiancee," throws him over for one of his classmates. Jack sees red and does something drastic. Then he runs away. Hiding out in a nearby park, Jack joins ranks with a group of vagrants and is soon under the sway of a man called the Leader, an ex-convict who is as articulate and charismatic as he is dangerous. The Leader turns Jack's world upside down. To put things right, Jack must prove himself a braver soldier than he ever imagined.

Links for this tour:

Back to Bataan web site:
http://backtobataan.blogspot.com/  
Back to Bataan Twitter hashtag:
#BackToBataanBack to Bataan GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13613896-back-to-bataanJerome Charyn's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/jerome.charynJerome Charyn's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/jeromecharynJerome Charyn's Website:
http://www.jeromecharyn.com/Jerome Charyn's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/53408.Jerome_Charyn
Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com

Tribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176

Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Kindle buy link - $2.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DYK6C2?tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link - $4.95
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http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&id=Kw5nn24MCu8C#v=onepage&q&f=false

Smashwords buy link - $4.99
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/174347?ref=tributebooks
PDF buy link - $4.95
https://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=1619939

Review: Chase Danger Super Spy: Mystery of the Special Sauce by Lisa Olivera

Welcome to The Wormhole!

Today it is my pleasure to feature:

Lisa Olivera and Chase Danger: Super Spy.

Chase Olivera and his parents Lisa and Chad Olivera are an Author and publishing team from California. Published works include the Chase Danger, Super Spy Series:

Book #1 Mystery of the special Sauce and book #2 Pirates of Pineapple Island. Chase is a bright seven year old entering the second grade this fall, Lisa works with young children as a Special Circumstance Aide and Chad is a musician, composer and children’s theater director. They live and work in Santa Clarita California. As a family they enjoy writing books, going to the beach, watching movies and going on Geocaching adventures.  

Please visit them at http://www.chasedanger.com/ and “LIKE” them on facebook

for exciting updates.

Join 6-year-old super-spy Chase Danger on his very first illustrated adventure. Chase Danger is the world's youngest super spy - ready to fight villains wherever they appear. In his first adventure he battles a giant octopus and terrifying scorpion, builds a super flying car, takes a quick trip to space, and befriends Ali Bali - a mysterious 6-year-old girl that helps him along the way. Chase Danger and Ali Bali will return in Book 2. 1st in a series of Chase Danger: Super Spy books. 22 full color illustrations by Adam Goodman. Read-Along CD included featuring a dramatic performance of the entire story.

Click HERE to get your own copy of this exciting children's story.

Click HERE to get the next Chase Danger book: 

Chase Danger, Super Spy: Pirates of Pineapple Island

My thoughts:

Chase Danger ~ I love the main characters name.  Lisa is clever with the way she writes and the names she has given her characters.  The story is action packed and fun.  Outrageously far fetched, it will hold the young readers attention and leave them looking for more.  

The illustrations are bold and colorful, the artwork detailed and nicely done.  I love that it has the CD as well so children can either listen, read along or read alone - as well as taking it on the road.

Giveaway! Phobia by C.A. Shives

Giveaway!

EVERYONE HAS A SECRET FEAR...

Ex-cop Artemis Herne thought he left the grit and crime of the city in the past when he moved to a small town in Pennsylvania. But the discovery of a woman's dead body, bound and covered with snakes, sends panic through his community and ignites his investigative instincts.

As the serial killer continues to target his prey, Herne must confront his haunted past to uncover the pattern in the deaths. He soon discovers that every victim suffers from a phobia. And every murder transforms the victim's worst fear into reality.

Tormented by his personal demons, Herne is forced to face his own fears as he hunts for a murderer who uses terror for a weapon.

I am thrilled to say that I have been granted the ability to offer a copy of Phobia to one of my followers!

Super easy - quick weekend contest.

Rules: be a follower of The Wormhole (18+) and fill out this fast form.

Winner drawn on Sunday, August 19, 2012 and announced on Monday, August 20, 2012.

Good luck and thanks for following!

Review: His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello

His Heart for the Trusting by Lisa Mondello

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Book Description:
Ever since Mitch Broader set foot in Texas, he dreamed of owning his own ranch. Now that he’s bought a share in the Double T Ranch, he’s one step closer to the dream. Then his past greets him in the form of a baby basket, complete with infant and birth certificate naming him as the father. He can’t change diapers and work toward his dream at the same time. 

When Sara Lightfoot, “Miss Hollywood” in Mitch’s eyes, rescues him with her particular knack for handling his precocious son, he hires her on the spot as a temporary nanny. No matter how much Sara’s dark eyes and warm heart make this bachelor think of making their arrangement permanent, she’s made it perfectly clear she has other plans that don’t include him or his dreams. 

Sara Lightfoot never thought she’d return to her home on the reservation. Now she plans to reclaim the life she left by going back to the reservation as a Native American storyteller, teaching the Apache children stories of their culture. She didn’t expect Mitch Broader’s sexy smile or job offer as a live-in nanny to derail those plans. After all she’s been through to come home, can she open up her heart once again to love?

My thoughts:
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review this book.  I truly enjoyed the first book in the series and was expecting the same of this one.  I was NOT disappointed.  

It was exciting to revisit the main characters from the first book as secondaries in this book, but pleasantly surprised that I liked Mitch and Sara as much as I liked Mandy and Beau in Her Heart for the Asking.  Lisa Mondello is wonderfully skilled in creating the kind of characters that a reader can really believe and invest in.  I loved how Sara's fierce loyalty and determination comes out and how Mitch virtually blooms into the kind of father every child should have.

The romance is sweet and steamy - I know that sounds wrong, but it's true.  

With each Lisa Mondello book I read, I like her style, stories and characters more and more.  This was the second book of hers that I read, but plan to read more.  I am currently reading the next book in this series, The More I see.  That review will post on August 29, 2012.

Release Day Blitz: Flight the Crescent Chronicles by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Flight

By Alyssa Rose Ivy

The Crescent Chronicles, Book 1

Genre: Mature YA/New Adult Paranormal Romance

Number of pages:  250

Book Description:

Sometimes you just have to take flight.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.

Author Bio:

Alyssa Rose Ivy lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. 

http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/alyssaroseivy

https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5047249.Alyssa_Rose_Ivy

Review: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

*** I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon Product Description:
When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.


My thoughts:
Twisted, heartbreaking... this is the story of a girl who has lived her life believing in everything that her father has told her, but realizes that it is not reality.  It is a story of what lengths people go to in the name of faith or their personal belief system.


Brenda Stanley has created a world where a father has gone over the edge in his effort to save his child.  Her characters are tragic and believable.  All the characters are firmly embedded in a world where they live and breathe their beliefs - right or wrong.  


The plot is sad and disturbing  - but not hopeless.  The tragedy that is the lives of the characters since the start is wrong on many levels.  Although the story is intriguing and well written, I found myself wishing for just one positive person or circumstance.  I found that person in Sophie's cousin, Stephanie.


In the end - - - I liked the story a lot.  It is beautifully written.  I found it hard to put down.  I truly loved the ending, it is filled with hope and the opportunity to change.