Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Deep Water - Watt Key



This is one of the best books I have read since school began. I read it in one sitting. Julie Sims is spending the summer with her father. He has a dive business. Julie has been diving since she was very small. When she gets to her dad's house she realizes his business is quickly going down the drain. He manages to get a client willing to pay his high price.  Unfortunately, he can tell from the beginning that this father son duo is going to be trouble. With her father not feeling well and unwilling to cancel the dive, he sends his daughter Julie down with the clients. It is immediately apparent that they don't care about listening to instructions. A series of events leave Jamie, Shane and his father floating in the open ocean. Their dive boat has disappeared.  It soon becomes obvious that something has happened and that if they are to survive they are on their own.

This is one of those books where you read about a catastrophic event and think, "wow they made it" things can't get any worse, only to discover that is exactly what this author has done.  This is an intense read and one I definitely recommend.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Cover Reveal: An Unexpected Adventure by Kandi J. Wyatt


I absolutely love Kandi's books and so do my students.  Can't wait to put this one on my school shelves.



Blurb: Protect their community or protect their discovery?

For eighth graders Chace, Harley, Will, and Cherise, that’s a life-changing question after they find a dragon’s egg while hunting for thundereggs on the beach. Toss in summer jobs, family struggles, and a National Security Agent, and their summer vacation just became complicated.

Can they find a solution that won’t leave their hearts broken or their community in flames?

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One liner: When four eighth graders discover a dragon’s egg, they must choose between protecting their treasure from the NSA or protecting their town from a growing dragon!

Mashup: E.T. meets How to Train Your Dragon


Author Bio:
Even as a young girl, Kandi J Wyatt, had a knack for words. She loved to read them, even if it was on a shampoo bottle! By high school Kandi had learned to put words together on paper to create stories for those she loved. Nowadays, she writes for her kids, whether that's her own five or the hundreds of students she's been lucky to teach. When Kandi's not spinning words to create stories, she's using them to teach students about Spanish, life, and leadership.

Where to find me:

Other Books by Kandi J Wyatt:
           

Dragon's Revenge: https://www.books2read.com/u/b5qvGb  


Dragon’s Posterity: https://www.books2read.com/u/4DA8og


The One Who Sees Me:  https://www.books2read.com/u/mdrRlb 

Journey from Skioria: https://www.books2read.com/u/4AwJee


Excerpt to share:
After a few more minutes of digging, the stone came free. Will wriggled it until we could get a grip underneath and lift it out. I really had my doubts we could pick it up; I was sure it’d weigh close to a hundred pounds or more. However, to my surprise, it came free and up without a hitch, absurdly light for its size.
“Should it be this light?” I squinted at the rock in our hands.
“I don’t know.” Will shrugged his shoulder.
Chace shifted his grip. “I’ve never seen a single rock this big before. But it should weigh more than this. I still say it’s an egg.”
I was beginning to believe him, but there were some good reasons to doubt it, too. “What bird’s this big, and how did it get here? We’re a long way from the game park.”
The game park was the closest thing to a zoo we had. They had wild animals and some pet deer, sheep, donkeys, geese, goats, and peacocks to feed. They even had an emu and an ostrich, but I still couldn’t imagine either one having an egg quite this size.
Chace shook his head. “I don’t know, but listen.” He took a free hand and tapped ever so gently on the surface.
It echoed hollowly. Before anyone could say anything, a second fainter tap came as if in reply.
“What in the world?” I exclaimed, jumping and almost dropping the thing.
“It’s an egg,” Chace said with firm conviction. “I don’t know what kind yet, but it’s an egg.”
“Wh-what do we do with it?” Will looked like he wanted to toss it in the ocean.
“We keep it.”
Both Will and Chace looked at me as if I had just turned down a shot at a five-point deer during hunting season. I don’t know what I was thinking, but suddenly a fierce desire to protect the creature inside came over me


Friday, August 3, 2018

Guest Post by Katherine Prairie




The Blank Page


Katherine Prairie



I’ve had the privilege of meeting many emerging writers over the past few years, and often they ask about my routine, or whether I’ve experience writer’s block. I understand these questions; I had them myself.
Every author has faced a blank page, struggling to find words. For me, it often happens after several days away from the keyboard, which means that taking the weekend off can make Monday a challenge. So I try to do a little writing — even a paragraph or two — every day of the week. That routine, something that can take as little as fifteen minutes, somehow makes the blank page less intimidating.
It doesn’t always work. Right now, while I’m busy promoting BLUE FIRE, it’s easy to make my to-do list a priority or to focus on research for my next Alex Graham thriller, instead of writing. But those tasks can easily fill a day or a week, leaving me to face the dreaded blank page again the next day! So I start my day writing, and push other tasks to mid-morning with the intent of restarting my afternoon with more writing. Even if my to-do list takes over, I’ll manage to put in at least a few of hours of writing time during my most creative time of day.  And I turn to music to get me started.
I’ve created several playlists, everything from dark and moody, to soft and reflective, that serve to narrow my focus and set the tone. Because I write in multiple perspectives, I select the music that fits the character telling the story in the scene I’m working on. Alex Graham’s music tends to be mostly rock, which seems fitting for the risk-taker and adventurer that she is. Dr. Eric Keenan’s songs, on the other hand, are energetic,  the music of a man racing to save lives in the emergency room!
As you would expect, ominous music fills my office when I’m writing from the perspective of my villain, but what I find interesting is that there’s always a one song that becomes a signature for that character. That was certainly true for Shen Li. His signature song, Ed Sheeran’s Make It Rain from the Sons of Anarchy series, makes me I feel as though I’ve dropped into the mind of this complex foe, and I often start my day with it.
Every writer develops their own strategies, but perhaps there’s an idea here that will work for you!    

 *****************************************************************************

FULL DESCRIPTION – BLUE FIRE

Tanzanite, a rare blue gem born in fire and revealed by lightning, is found only in the Merelani Hills of Tanzania. But now the death of a gem smuggler points to another possibility. A South American mine owned by Tabitha Metals may hold the find of a century. But why is it kept hidden from the world? Geologist Brian Graham can draw only one conclusion: the mine’s untraceable wealth is used to fund terrorism. And he must reveal the truth.

Brian heads to Colombia to check out mines there while his geologist daughter Alex and Tanzanian miner Mosi Ongeti start in Brazil. But their daring plan ends with a gunshot, and they are now pursued by the henchmen of a sinister, powerful arms dealer.

In a high-stakes race across two continents, Alex fights to expose the mine before the man behind Tabitha Metals can stop her.


SHORT DESCRIPTION – BLUE FIRE

A daring act reveals an incredible secret deep in a Brazilian mine, and catapults geologist Alex Graham into the world of a powerful arms dealer. She heads to Tanzania, to her father whose cryptic message started her quest. But her enemy is closing in.


AUTHOR BIO

Katherine Prairie brings her own experience as an international geologist to the Alex Graham thriller series. Her debut novel THIRST was shortlisted for the 2017 Whistler Independent Book Awards. She served as the founding president of Sisters in Crime - Canada West, and she is a 2018-19 Crime Writers of Canada director.


AUTHOR LINKS



Buy Links:

PUBLISHER BOOK/BUY LINK

https://stonedriftpress.com/books/blue-fire/


BOOKSTORE BUY LINKS