Review: The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club by Duncan Whitehead

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club by Duncan Whitehead

Amazon product description:
Something is not quite right in the leafy Savannah neighborhood of Gordonston. 

As the friends and fellow members of her afternoon cocktail club gather to mourn the death and lament the life of their neighbor, Thelma Miller, not all is what it seems. 

When old friends vie for the attention of widower, alderman and mayoral candidate Elliott, jealousies surface and friendships are strained. An old woman with a dark secret and an infamous uncle plots her revenge for a perceived wrong done over thirty years before, a once successful children's writer with his own secret is haunted by memories of the past and aspiring model Kelly Hudd has just won the trip of a lifetime.

Soon secrets are revealed  and an intertwined web of deceits and lies surfaces in the middle class neighborhood where a killer lurks, but is anyone really who they seem to be? A mysterious old man in South America, a young Italian count parading the streets of Paris and a charitable and kindhearted nephew recently arrived from India add to the remarkable assortment of characters in this story of intrigue, deceit and revenge. What is the secret a recently retired accountant is trying to hide and just why did  former showgirl and attractive sixty two year old widow Carla Zipp really have plastic surgery?

As the plot thickens and the Georgia temperature rises we discover who is destined for an early-unmarked grave in the wooded park that centers the tree-lined avenues of Gordonston.

A mysterious organization with links to organized crime, a handsome fire fighter who can do no wrong, and a trio of widows with deep hidden agendas compound a story of simplistic complexity. As twists and turns lead the reader to a conclusion that they will not see coming and a sucker punch ending that will leave readers breathless, the Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club's top priority remains the need to chastise the culprit who refuses to 'scoop' after his dog walking sessions in their treasured park.

My thoughts:

At under 200 pages this book could easily deceive the would be reader into thinking that it's a quick, mindless read, but this little book packs a BIG story.  This book is filled with mystery and misdirection rolled into what appears to be common, every day happenings in a small neighborhood called Gordonston.  There is so much going on within the pages that you really have to be on your toes not to miss the details.  Irony, steeped in nuance and subtlety, make up an interesting, original and fairly complicated storyline.
The characters are creative and well done.  The connections between and around the characters are brilliantly planned and strategically eluded to until the whole thing comes together in an expertly crafted, ingenious ending.

Well worth a read! Don't let the "skinny book" look fool you.

Book Release and Giveaway! Choke by S R Johannes

The new Breathless novelette, Choke, released Monday, June 24th. 

Choke is the 2nd in a series of sci-fi novelettes and the sequel to Suffocate.

When Eria escapes her home in the Biome, she uncovers more about her
features and specifications as a HumaNot. Following her father's
instructions, Eria embarks on a journey into a dangerous and unpredictable world.

Along the way, she encounters a young rebel, Dirk, who explains he's from the Anarchy, an underground human resistance rising up against the BOTs--advanced man-made robots gone wild. Together, Dirk and Eria battle underground serpents, desert dingos, sand storms, and advanced Bots that are always hot on their trail. As they become closer, Dirk reveals his hatred of machines, forcing Eria to hide

the secret of what and who she really is.

When the truth of her identity comes out, Eria is forced to become the very thing she hates the most.

by S.R. Johannes ~Award-winning author of Amazon Bestselling thriller, Untraceable.Don't forget to hang out with her on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook or her blog!

Choke is the 2nd novelette in THE BREATHLESS series. It is a 20,000 word young adult thriller that combines the dystopic and science fiction genres. The two novelettes will be available on ebook only for only 99 cents!  The 3rd novelette in the series, Exhale, is scheduled for Nov/Dec 2013 just in time for the holidays.

Fans of Wool, Never Ending Sky, Mila, or Across the Universe will love this mini-series.

=================

 Giveaway:
The author is offering a free ecopy of either Choke or Suffocate to one randomly drawn commenter.  You must be 13+ to enter.  Please leave your name/alias and a valid email address in your comment.  The giveaway will run from June 25, 2013 until July 2, 2013.  Winner will be notified by email and the prize will be sent by the author.  

Spotlight: The Rockin' Chair by Steven Manchester

Brief Synopsis:
Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days – or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.

Following the death of his beloved wife, John McCarthy – Grandpa John– calls his family back home. It is time for them to face the memories they have made, both warm and cold. Only then can they move beyond them and into the future.

A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, THE ROCKIN' CHAIR is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. If family matters to you, it is a story you must read.

The Rockin’ Chair excerpt

It was a bitterly cold Saturday morning when friends from far and wide came to pay their respects. Everyone who knew Alice adored her and equally loved her grieving husband. The McCarthy’s tiny field of granite was filled with mourners. As the preacher spoke, an eerie silence filled the frozen air.

“The Lord blessed each of our lives with the gift of knowing and loving Alice. Now He has taken her home to be with Him. Those who remember her, who loved her, walk with heavy hearts today, but we must also remember that Alice has been freed from the heavy chains of this world. She now walks with the Lord and shall dwell peacefully within His house for all eternity. Until the day we meet again...”

The preacher’s kind words were carried on the icy wind and John listened carefully to each one. Amidst them, a thousand memories reminded him of why he felt such loss. A thousand more reminded him of the void that now filled the desolate chambers of his heart. He stood rigid, conscious not to sway, and nearly snickered when the pastor mentioned “forgiveness.”

While John fought back the tears that burned to be free, the preacher’s drone drifted and became distant. John tried comforting himself with his own thoughts, but the ache in his heart was worse than anything he’d ever imagined. I’m nothin’ without Alice by my side, he thought, and the pain made him want to join her.

The preacher continued to talk above the sniffles. John glanced down at the scarred earth where friends had dug the hole. Beside his parents, Alice’s pine casket was about to be committed. A roll of old burlap covered the hole, while a mound of dirt mixed with snow sat behind them. Interrupting his own prayer, John questioned the Lord. Why ain’t there another hole dug beside her, Father? It don’t make no sense. It ain’t natural for Alice to be layin’ here alone.

John understood the cycles of life and had always been as comfortable with death as he was with life, but putting Alice in the ground alone was a tough one. I got no purpose walkin’ this earth without my wife matchin’ every step. God, how I wish I was layin’ right there beside her in our eternal bed. He became entranced in the fantasy.

Author Bio: Steven Manchester is the published author of the #1 best seller, Twelve Months, as well as A Christmas Wish (the holiday prequel to Goodnight, Brian) and Goodnight, Brian. He is also the Pressed Pennies, The Unexpected Storm: The Gulf War Legacy and Jacob Evans, as well as several books under the pseudonym, Steven Herberts. His work has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, CNN’sAmerican Morning and BET’s Nightly News. Recently, three of his short stories were selected "101 Best" for Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
steven.h.manchester@sunlife.com
http://www.StevenManchester.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorStevenManchester

Paperback & Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/Rockin-Chair-Steven-Manchester/dp/161188067X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366203850&sr=1-1&keywords=the+rockin%27+chair+manchester
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rockin-chair-steven-manchester/1115092542?ean=9781611880670

Blog Tour: Blood Drama by Christopher Meeks

Welcome to The Wormhole and another stop on the tour.

It is still my pleasure to feature:

Blood Drama and Christopher Meeks.

Publisher: White Wiskers Press (June 15, 2013)

Category: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Crime Thriller

Available in: Print & eBook, 242 pages

Everyone has a bad day. Graduate student Ian Nash has lost his girlfriend in addition to being dropped from a Ph.D. program in theatre at a Southern California university. When he stops at a local coffee shop in the lobby of a bank to apply for a job, the proverbial organic matter hits the fan. A gang of four robs the bank, and things get bloody. Ian is taken hostage by the robbers when the police show up. Now he has to save his life.

FBI Special Agent Aleece Medina’s analysis of the bloody bank heist drives her into the pursuit of a robbery gang headed by two women. She doesn’t anticipate how this robbery will pit her against both the bandits and the male higher-ups in the FBI while the media heats up during a giant manhunt.

The robbers are about to kill Ian, and all he has at hand is his knowledge of the stage.

Interview:
 How long does it take you to write a book?

It takes about six months to write a draft of a novel, and then it needs to sit around without me looking at it for about six months so that I can get back to it with some objectivity. Then it takes about another six months. That’s the fastest. All three of my novels really took three or more years before I was done. However, if I’m not rewriting, I can be writing a first draft.

 What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I need to chew wintergreen gum and yell really loudly the word “Minneapolis.” (Not really, but this question seems ripe for this.) Actually, I get so involved in writing that I don’t see my body at the keyboard. I’m in the story and not aware of a quirk. Or is that a quirk?

 Where do you get your ideas or inspiration for your characters?

My characters tend to be based on people I know or an amalgam of people I know. That’s how I start out, at any rate. The more I work a story, the characters change and find their own life. My friends, other than one, don’t see themselves in my stories, and the one that does now likes using that character’s name, “Sagebrush.”

 How do you decide what you want to write about?

In high school, I was probably like you and many of your readers. I got by. My English classes were okay, but I was as confused as many students were reading short stories by Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and nearly anyone. One thing that stayed with me, though, was that these authors often took experiences from their lives and made stories about them.

I read, for instance, one particular short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a couple crossing the ocean on a ship, and the more they fought, the worse the seas became. It had been inspired by a fight Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda had had. At the time, I thought something like, “That’s weird. Why take something from your life when you could write about something cool like robots?”

Thus, years later, when I found myself writing short stories, I wasn’t writing about robots but about life as I saw it. I always took something that had happened to me or someone I knew, and then I’d try to find the “story” in it. How was this incident more than just a toss-away event? How at its core might it be an allegory of something or a microcosm of a bigger issue?

Usually I’d write a draft of a story with no ending or theme in mind. When I finished, I’d ask myself why did I write about this and not something else? Why was my conscious or subconscious mind focused on this? In some ways, I’d try to analyze my story much like a psychologist would. That would help me discover the theme that was organically built in. Once I knew what the story was really about, I could shape the story more. I’d never have a character explain everything. Rather, I want to give an experience that the reader then interprets. The goal is to get the reader to participate. “Show don’t tell” is the axiom.

I’d also write about what was bugging me or bothering me but also things that seemed funny or absurd. I’d have to be far enough from an event to see the humor. I wouldn’t stick to how things really occurred but more how they felt. Emotions require stretching things, and humor needs hyperbole.

This is to say that my stories and novels had revolved around first-hand knowledge. However, with Blood Drama, I wanted to try out a genre, a thriller/mystery. My life wasn’t so exciting as the genre required. However, I used to correct my student papers at a nearby Starbucks inside a bank lobby. It was an elegant place to work, and it let me focus on my students. After about a year of noticing people banking, it struck me: what would happen if someone robbed this bank? I could be in the line of fire, or I could be taken hostage.

I stopped correcting papers there, but it was also the start of my novel. My protagonist, 28-year-old Ian Nash, a graduate student in theatre, is taken hostage in a bank robbery gone awry, and he’ll have to fight for his life.

 What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I like to garden, which is a real surprise as it’s what my grandmother used to do but it always looked so boring. It’s a great way to be physical in the world, though, getting dirt on my hands and getting things to grow—nature’s version of a novel. Plus growing tomatoes is so satifying.

Swimming is a good physical thing I do at the local college. We are human and have to keep the body in shape—especially if you sit at a computer a lot.

I also love photography. Everyone with a phone now shoots pictures, but I like shooting sunsets, landscapes, and people in action. Here are a few:



Fun random questions:
• Dogs or cats? We have two of the former, five of the latter.

• Coffee or tea? Coffee. Writers need coffee

• Dark or milk chocolate? Dark. There is no other.

More About the Author:

ristopher Meeks first published short fiction in a number of literary journals, and the stories are available in two collections, The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea and Months and Seasons. Recently, he’s focused on novels. The Brightest Moon of the Century is a story of a man who yearns for love and success, covering over thirty years—a tale that Marc Schuster of Small Press Reviews describes as “a great and truly humane novel in the tradition of Charles Dickens and John Irving.” His last novel, Love At Absolute Zero, is about a physicist who uses the tools of science to find his soul mate–and he has just three days. Critic Grady Harp calls the book “a gift.” The new novel, Blood Drama, has him edge into a thriller. Meeks also runs White Whisker Books and publishes four authors.

Christopher at the Red Room: http://redroom.com/member/christopher-meeks

Christopher’s Website www.chrismeeks.com

Christopher on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/christopher.meeks1?fref=ts

Christopher on Twitter https://twitter.com/MeeksChris

Giveaway:
International (ebook only) US and Canada (choice: print or ebook)

Blog Tour: Blood Drama by Christopher Meeks

Welcome to The Wormhole and my first stop on the tour for

Blood Drama by Christopher Meeks.

(This virtual book tour is presented by Virtual Author Book Tours)

Publisher: White Wiskers Press (June 15, 2013)

Category: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Crime Thriller

Available in: Print and eBook, 242 pages

Everyone has a bad day. Graduate student Ian Nash has lost his girlfriend in addition to being dropped from a Ph.D. program in theatre at a Southern California university. When he stops at a local coffee shop in the lobby of a bank to apply for a job, the proverbial organic matter hits the fan. A gang of four robs the bank, and things get bloody. Ian is taken hostage by the robbers when the police show up. Now he has to save his life.
FBI Special Agent Aleece Medina’s analysis of the bloody bank heist drives her into the pursuit of a robbery gang headed by two women. She doesn’t anticipate how this robbery will pit her against both the bandits and the male higher-ups in the FBI while the media heats up during a giant manhunt.
The robbers are about to kill Ian, and all he has at hand is his knowledge of the stage.

My thoughts:
This story is filled with interesting characters.  Each is designed in a very human way, in which I mean not your perfect make-believe hero and villain.  The plot is well thought out and the storyline is twisty enough to keep you reading.  Christopher Meeks does not bring you the average crime thriller.

Blog Tour: Dragonstone by Paula Millhouse (tourwide giveaway)

This virtual book tour is presented by Bewitching Book Tours.

Click HERE for more tour information.

Welcome to The Wormhole and my stop on the tour.

It is my pleasure to feature Paula Millhouse and Dragonstone.

Paula has joined us for an interview:

 When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was in my first critique group at age 13.

 How many jobs did you have before you became a writer?
Or, currently have? Tons. I’ve done all sorts of jobs, but this one is my favorite. It’s funny, you know, each job yields material for stories if you simply pay attention.

 How long does it take you to write a book?
The first draft can happen in a whirlwind of as little as a month. Getting it into shape for publication, with revisions and editing, can take as long as six months to a year.

 What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I need total silence to get anything accomplished. And dark chocolate.

 Do you have a routine that you use to get into the right frame of mind to write?
I set a timer and do sprints. I like this approach, and it helps me stay focused.

 Where do you get your ideas or inspiration for your characters?
Photographs, news stories, life experience, other books.

 How do you decide what you want to write about?
Ha, good question. My ideas usually hit me in a fury when my mind is rested, and I’m not concentrating on writing. The characters who won’t leave me alone usually get the most attention.

 What books have most influenced your life?
The Bible, of course. My medical textbooks from college, and my non-fiction writer’s library.

 What is the first book you remember reading by yourself?
Jenny goes to Sea, a delightful fantasy about a kitten who goes on an adventure around the world on a ship.

 What are you reading right now?
I just finished Down By Contact by Jami Davenport

 What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I fly-fish, garden, and love to swing in my hammock and dream up story lines.

 What is your favorite comfort food?
Grits, pasta, really anything with carbs (so bad for me)

 What do you think makes a good story?
Umm…I like thrillers with a romantic twist. I want action and romance mingled in the same story, with a happy ever after at the end, and some steamy scenes liberally sprinkled throughout the story.

 Who would you consider your favorite author and why?
Oh, there’s too many to choose from. I like the pacing of Steven James’s thrillers, and the romance and fantasy of Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches

Fun random questions:
• dogs or cats? Both
• Coffee or tea? Coffee in the mornings, and tea in the afternoon
• Dark or milk chocolate? Definitely dark chocolate
• Rocks or flowers? Hmmm…depends on the rock – if it was the Dragonstone, I’d definitely take that
• Night or day? Daytime – early morning
• Favorite color? Purple
• Crayons or markers? Markers
• Pens or pencils? Pens

More About the Author:
Paula Millhouse grew up in Savannah, Georgia where Spanish moss whispers tales in breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, and the Intracoastal Waterway. As a child Paula soaked in the sunshine and heritage of cobblestones, pirate lore, and stories steeped in savory mysteries of the south. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal chapter, the Mystery/Suspense chapter (Kiss of Death), and a member of Savvy Authors.

In the southern tradition of storytellers, she loves sharing the lives of her characters with readers, and following her muse on the quest for happily-ever-afters in thrilling romantic fiction.

She lives with her husband at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their pack and pride of furry babies.
Website/Blog Address: www.paulamillhouse.com
Twitter Address: https://twitter.com/@pmillhouse
Facebook Address: http://www.facebook.com/authorpaula.millhouse
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17915693-dragonstone---a-kingdom-of-chalvaren-romance
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/paulamillhouse 



Dragonstone

Prequel to A Kingdom of Chalvaren Romance
by Paula Millhouse

Genre: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Date of Publication: May 12, 2013
Number of pages: 39
Word Count: 15,630

Book Description:
Elf prince Kort Elias journeys to a new world in search of a stolen royal dragon egg and discovers a lost elven princess, a prophecy, and danger; and only true love--and an erotic magic he's never experienced--will set them free.

http://pinterest.com/pmillhouse/dragonstone/  

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My thoughts:
This is a super fast read.  The story is short, but very worth reading.  You get a feel for the characters straight away and can't help but get emotional.  The storyline is entertaining and complete with an ending that leaves you both pleased and anticipating more.  I am looking forward to reading more from Paula Millhouse.