This was such an epic event. To be able to meet not only the amazing R.L Stine but his book cover designer who created 100 of Stine’s book covers, was truly amazing. Stine and Jacobus talked about how they came about working with each other. Jacobus had a slideshow of a couple of his favorite covers and had a back story for each one. He even showed us one of the covers that was never used. This is Stine’s first graphic novel. I think he said this was either a 3 or 4 book series. If you love his books you will surely love this one.
The first cover that started everything
I got lucky and fabulous Barbara at B&N took my picture with R.L. Stine
Marc Brown creator of Arthur’s books, me and R.L Stine 2015
Goodreads Blurb
Middle grade supernatural horror series takes young readers Just Beyond the reality they know…Just Beyond their normal lives…Just Beyond the real world to an always surprising place of fantasy and fright.
Surviving middle school is hard enough but when Jess, Josh, and Marco encounter a strange and deadly creature wandering the halls of The Scare School, it leads them to a sinister secret in the boiler room…
As they leave their school behind, these three unsuspecting students enter a horrifying reality just beyond the one they know, one filled with supernatural terror and fright. Will they survive the harrowing journey and save the other children they find trapped there, or will they forever be trapped on the wrong side of The Scare School?
R.L. Stine, the worldwide bestselling author of Goosebumps, and visionary illustrators Kelly & Nichole Matthews (Pandora’s Legacy), take you to the other side where the only constant is fear.
Author Biography
Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children’s literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children’s author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids’ Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA’s Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
We opened Hispanic Heritage Month at my job with guest speaker, author Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa. She gave a motivational speech that delved into my Hispanic roots and motivated us to share our own stories for others to learn. I purchased two extra signed copies for my book lovers. Please follow my blog and leave a comment below. One book will be given away here. The other book giveaway is on my FB group. You can enter here https://www.facebook.com/groups/384315168432021/
Goodreads Blurb
The 10th Anniversary Trade Paperback edition of Daughters of the Stone, includes a special note from the author, as well as a Readers Guide for educators and bookclubs.
It is the mid-1800s. Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico, where her mistress is only too happy to benefit from her impressive embroidery skills. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land.
Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world.
Concha, unsure of her place, doesn’t realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past.
Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to the United States, where she will struggle to keep her family together.
Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart.
The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis and ultimately connecting them to one another. Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa shows great skill and warmth in the telling of this heartbreaking, inspirational story about mothers and daughters, and the ways in which they hurt and save one another.
Author Biography
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She is a product of the Puerto Rican communities on the island and in the South Bronx. She attended the New York City public school system and received her academic degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Queens College-City University of New York. As a child she was sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico where she was introduced to the culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling that came naturally to the women in her family, especially the older women. Much of her work is based on her experiences during this time. Dahlma taught creative writing and language and literature in the New York City public school system before becoming a young-adult librarian. She has also taught creative writing to teenagers, adults, and senior citizens throughout New York while honing her own skills as a fiction writer and memoirist.
The 2009 hardcover edition of Daughters of the Stone was listed as a 2010 Finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Her short stories appear in the following anthologies: Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican Women Writers in New York 1980 – 2012, Bronx Memoir Project, Latina Authors and Their Muses, Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul, and Growing Up Girl. Dahlma’s work also appears in various literary magazines such as the Afro-Hispanic Review and Kweli Journal. Since her retirement, Dahlma continues to dedicate herself to her writing, speaking engagements, and workshops. She resides in the Bronx with her husband, photographer Jonathan Lessuck.
A lavish look at the real world–both the secret history and the behind-the-scenes drama–of the spellbinding Emmy Award-winning Masterpiece TV series Downton AbbeyApril 1912. The sun is rising behind Downton Abbey, a great and splendid house in a great and splendid park. So secure does it appear that it seems as if the way it represents will last for another thousand years. It won’t. Millions of American viewers were enthralled by the world of Downton Abbey, the mesmerizing TV drama of the aristocratic Crawley family–and their servants–on the verge of dramatic change. On the eve of Season 2 of the TV presentation, this gorgeous book–illustrated with sketches and research from the production team, as well as on-set photographs from both seasons–takes us even deeper into that world, with fresh insights into the story and characters as well as the social history.
My Review 5 out of 5 stars
I would like to say that this book was mesmerizing and the images made me feel like I was a character in the film Downton Abbey. Loved how it uses history and culture in order to create a fascinating book that has vivid images of the film and of real life stories of the people who lived at Highclere Castle. My favorite part of the book was style, since I am a fashionista. I loved how women dressed back then. Yes, it was painful since they had to wear corsets, but dresses at that time were captivating. Our society now deems Jeans to be they style of the century. I feel like Highclere Castle was the perfect place to film Downton Abbey. The house is enormous with the feel of royalty. I also enjoyed the last chapter on this book about behind the scenes. I had no idea that the kitchen was not filmed at the castle. It would seem very difficult to have to do a scene and then cut and wait two weeks to finish the rest. I highly recommend you read this colorful book.
Author Biography
The Mitford Murders was my debut novel but my tenth book. I have written five official companion books to the television series Downton Abbey, which was created by my uncle, Julian Fellowes. These were guides to the making of the six series as well as explaining the social history context of the show. These books led to my international speaking career, touring America from coast to coast, talking to audiences of up to 2,500.
I’ve also made numerous appearances on radio and television and am a contributor to a number of publications including The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times Style.
My career began at the Mail on Sunday as a celebrity interviewer and lifestyle editor, before going on to be Deputy Editor of Country Life magazine. There I wrote the weekly Town Mouse column as well as a townie’s guide to country weekends for The London Paper, the latter of which formed the basis of my first book, Mud & the City.
I live in Oxfordshire with my family and an energetic Labradoodle but remain a Londoner at heart, the place where my heels remain blissfully mud free.
Downton Abbey film will be released on September 20, 2019.
When beautiful, sad Melissa Jones flees to New Orleans with her telepathic best friend, she is looking for a cure–not an erotic encounter with a sexy former Marine.
Derek Alexander left the military intending to become a private investigator, but with two powerful shifters as partners and an immunity to vampire glamour, he instead rose to the top in paranormal justice.
At a bar on Bourbon Street, Derek and Melissa cross paths, and their sexual chemistry is off the charts. Acting on their feelings, they are pulled deeper into an affair, but Melissa is hiding, hoping to escape her cruel maker.
It doesn’t take long before the shifters uncover her secret. Still, Derek is determined to confront the Old One and reclaim her mortality–even at the risk of losing his.
A STANDALONE PARANORMAL ROMANCE with an HEA based on characters from the One to Hold series. Contains voluptuous vampires, alluring alpha military heroes, scorching-hot shifters, beguiling witches, and panty-melting sexy times. Keep the fans nearby… Readers 18 and older only, please.
My Review 5 out of 5 stars
This was a very good vampire book. The interaction between Derek and Melissa made this book even more fun. I loved that the vampire hunter falls in love with a hybrid. It was unexpected, since he was very serious about capturing vampires. I also loved that the shifters were partners with Derek. It made the story line more interesting with more supernatural characters. I recommend you read this book. It has many hot sexy scenes. This story shows how love conquers all.
Author Biography
Tia Louise is the USA Today best-selling, award-winning author of 20 sexy romance and romantic suspense novels.
After being a teacher, a book editor, a journalist, and finally a magazine editor, she started writing love stories and never stopped.
Louise lives in the Midwest with her trophy husband, two teenage geniuses, and one grumpy cat.
NEW RELEASE: BOSS OF ME, coming Sept. 17!
TIA’s BOOKS STAY (KU; stand-alone) MAKE ME YOURS (KU; stand-alone) MAKE YOU MINE (KU; stand-alone) WHEN WE KISS (KU; stand-alone)
UNDER THE LIGHTS (#1; KU) UNDER THE STARS (#2; KU) HIT GIRL (#3; KU)
WHEN WE TOUCH, a USA Today bestseller (KU; stand-alone) SAVE ME (KU; stand-alone)
THE RIGHT STUD* (KU; stand-alone) THE LAST GUY* (KU; stand-alone) *Co-authored with Ilsa Madden-Mills
The Dirty Players Series: The Prince & The Player, 2016 A Player for A Princess, 2016 Dirty Dealers, 2017 Dirty Thief, 2017
The One to Hold Series: One to Hold (Derek & Melissa), 2013 One to Keep (Patrick & Elaine), 2014 One to Protect (Derek & Melissa), 2014 One to Love (Kenny & Slayde), 2014 One to Leave (Stuart & Mariska), 2014 One to Save (Derek & Melissa), 2015 One to Chase (Amy & Marcus), 2015 One to Take (Stuart & Mariska), 2016
Paranormal Romances: One Immortal, 2015 (KU) One Insatiable, 2015 (KU)
Are you ready for another fabulous book club pick. Yes, it’s a continuation to The Handmaid’s Tale. All Barnes & Nobles stores are participating with the book club. The book club will be held on Wednesday, October 9 at 7 pm. Keep an eye out for my review.
Goodreads Blurb
*THE SEQUEL TO THE HANDMAID’S TALE!*
In this brilliant sequel to THE HANDMAID’S TALE, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
When the van door slammed on Offred’s future at the end of THE HANDMAID’S TALE, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison or death.
With THE TESTAMENTS, the wait is over.
Margaret Atwood’s sequel picks up the story fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.
“Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.” —Margaret Atwood
I was happily surprise to see this come in the mail today. My favorite item is the Hello Kitty watch 🙂 I was an early reviewer for her first book The Line Between and her upcoming release, A Single Light which is released on September 17th. Check out the blurbs and my review for both books.
Blurb
In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming.
When Wynter Roth is turned out of New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.
As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.
Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter herself.
Filled with action, conspiracy, romance, and questions of whom—and what—to believe, THE LINE BETWEEN is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness.
My Review 5 out of 5 stars
This was a total home run for me. What an absolutely engaging, thrilling and terrorizing novel. I couldn’t put this book down. We all fear doomsday might just be around the corner, now imagine you being part of a cult that tells you the end is near and then you become an outcast from that environment. To then have to experience the apocalypse while saving the world and your family. Wynter was that badass character we all wish we could be. She had to see for herself that Magnus wasn’t the prophet she thought he was. I feared each moment Wynter went through this novel. Survival mode truly is instincts. Tosca is a wonderful storyteller with an avid imagination. The plot in this novel was superb. She brought us a book for us all to fear the possibility of an apocalypse due to an ancient disease. Life will bring you roadblocks but fighting to survive will make you stronger. This novel made you feel the terror, desperation and will to survive from the very beginning. This was an amazing thriller.
Blurb
In this gripping sequel to The Line Between, which New York Times bestselling author Alex Kava calls “everything you want in a thriller,” cult escapee Wynter Roth and ex-soldier Chase Miller emerge from their bunker to find a country ravaged by disease, and Wynter is the only one who can save it.
Six months after vanishing into an underground silo with sixty others, Wynter and Chase emerge to find the area abandoned. There is no sign of Noah and the rest of the group that was supposed to greet them when they emerged—the same people Wynter was counting on to help her locate the IV antibiotics her gravely ill friend, Julie, needs in order to live.
As the clock ticks down on Julie’s life, Wynter and Chase embark on a desperate search for medicine and answers. But what they find is not a nation on the cusp of recovery thanks to the promising new vaccine Wynter herself had a hand in creating, but one decimated by disease. What happened while they were underground?
With food and water in limited supply and their own survival in question, Chase and Wynter must venture further and further from the silo. Aided by an enigmatic mute named Otto, they come face-to-face with a society radically changed by global pandemic, where communities scrabble to survive under rogue leaders and cities are war zones. As hope fades by the hour and Wynter learns the terrible truth of the last six months, she is called upon once again to help save the nation she no longer recognizes—a place so dark she’s no longer sure it can even survive.
Fast-paced and taut, A Single Light is a breathless thriller of nonstop suspense about the risks of living in a world outside the safe confines of our closely-held beliefs and the relationships and lives that inspire us.
My Review 4 out of 5 stars
The apocalypse has continued. This next book in the series, will have you running for your life to the very end. This book was action packed. Wynter is a fierce woman who learned to fight and survive in just a few days from being released from the enclave, which was a cult. In just a few days she was in the middle of a war zone needing to fight to survive in order to save those who she love, while being creative and burning and exploding her way out of towns that had overpowering and cruel leaders. Wynter and Chase were under attack throughout most of the book. Wynter was determine to save Julie at whatever cost. The evil in the world has increased due to the virus that gives you advance dementia. Everyone left in the towns are starving and looking for supplies to survive. Wynter and Chase had to work together to survive and find antibiotics to save Julie. We lost some wonderful characters throughout the story. I loved how my beautiful island of Puerto Rico is part of this story. Wynter finally got to see the ocean.
I felt like the story abruptly went from Puerto Rico to the enclave. I think the ending needed a little more feedback on whats to come. Will the disease keep spreading, will it evolve and will they live to survive? We will have to wait and see.
Author Biography
osca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times, IndieBound, and Amazon bestselling author of twelve novels including THE LINE BETWEEN, THE PROGENY, FIRSTBORN, THE LEGEND OF SHEBA, ISCARIOT, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and been optioned for TV and film. A notorious night-owl, she loves movies, playing football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband.
You can find Tosca at ToscaLee.com, on social media, or hanging around the snack table. A SINGLE LIGHT, the highly-anticipated sequel to THE LINE BETWEEN, releases September 2019 and is available for preorder now.
Researching Your Novel: How to Get the Details Just Right
with Taylor Jenkins Reid
Sept. 17, 2019 | 7pm ET
In order to write believable fiction that transports your reader to another time or place, you must focus on the details. In this class, Taylor Jenkins Reid supports writers to know what details to look for, how to zero in on the most effective details, and what is arguably the hardest part of researching: knowing when to stop and learning what not to include. Jenkins Reid will share her own process that’s resulted in two best-selling novels, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugoand Daisy Jones & The Six. While this course will focus on fiction examples, memoirists can also benefit from understanding how research can inform your writing process—how to maximize it, integrate it, and when to leave it so your story can take centerstage.
I would love to thank Eva Pohler for putting this wonderful event together. It’s a true pleasure being part of this event. We have lost and continue losing so many amazing people because of suicide. They could be family, friends, children and celebrities . Everyone has their own struggles, whether it’s a mental health issue, bullying, substance or alcohol abuse that has lead our loved ones to choose the one option that you cannot turn back from. As more people open up about their struggles, this will help others with their own mental health issues and help them seek help. Having suicide awareness and sharing resources will help others look for help.
I know the feeling of pain, sadness and depression. After I graduated high school I was having chronic pain all over my body. The one thing I enjoyed doing, I was slowly not being able to do. Dancing or exercising ended with me not being able to walk or move and pain all over my legs and body. My muscles would be stiff and I would miss days of work every time these flares would happen. It started with my neck getting stiff and twisted from one side to my legs being stiff and not being able to walk. I finally went to the doctor and the doctor was very concerned with what they found. I needed to go through more test to see if I had an autoimmune disease. After all the other exams were done, they said I had Fibromyalgia. Of course, me being young and not going back to the doctor for another year, I didn’t know it at the time what I had. I went another year with the tremendous pain and agony. Then I started to have problems with my back. Between these two things going on at the same time for a number of years, I seriously thought it would continue. When I returned back to the doctor I was prescribed medication which didn’t help. I decided I would live with the pain and move along. As time went on I started to get better. If I dance I still pay for it with pain for a week, but I still do it anyway. I can’t wear heels like I used to, since I have issues with muscles on my feet. I know Fibromyalgia has been more common in the last 10 years.
I saw this book name (Don’t Call Me Crazy) and decided to read and share my review with everyone. It has 33 different stories of people with different mental health issues who share their struggles and how they have coped.
Goodreads Blurb
Who’s Crazy?
What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when such a label gets attached to your everyday experiences?
In order to understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people.
(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to better understanding how our mental health affects us every day. Thirty-three writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy.
If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages, and let’s get talking.
My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A book that will make you see mental health in a new light.” Call Me Crazy” will leave you feeling distressed with everyone’s deep feelings, thoughts, challenges, while you will feel overwhelmed and helpless while reading, you will learn how each writer has been able to seek help and learn to manage their illnesses. This book is an anthology of essays written by different people who suffer from different types of mental illnesses. Each writer puts there personal life, thoughts and feelings out in the open for others to see all their secrets and struggles, but they also teach you how each person has manage to find peace, acceptance and be strong even with the challenges they face. I love that we are starting to open up about mental health and that our society is being more accepting and not keeping it locked in a closest. If we can talk about how different types of mental health affect others and learn about them, we can help others that might be going through the same thing. Thank you, for sharing all you stories, they will help others who are in need of guidance and assistance.
Online Resources
American Foundation of Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org
FabulousReader4Ever 