The Bookcast

FB.Event.subscribe('edge.create', function(response) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent','SocialSharing','Facebook - like button',unescape(String(response).replace(/\+/g, " "))]); }); (function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); Mae McBride and Heidi Foster were the very best of friends. Tied at the hip from early elementary school, their relationship was the stuff of storybooks, legendary even, in the minds of their high school classmates. Unshakable. That is, until Mae’s father died while saving Heidi’s life. In Jeffrey Blount‘s novel “Hating Heidi Foster” Mae blames Heidi. She blames her father for putting Heidi ahead of her. She blames her friends for taking Heidi’s side. She begins to unravel amid that blame and her uncontrollable and atypical anger. At the same time Heidi is beset by guilt, falls into depression and stops eating properly; wasting away physically and emotionally while waiting for Mae to let her back into the friendship she misses so dearly. What could possibly bring these two old friends back to each other? A miracle? “Hating Heidi Foster” is a young adult novel about the place of honor true friendships hold in our lives. It is about suffering and loss and the ethics of grief. It is about a deep and painful conflict, the bright light of selflessness and sacrifice and the love that rights the ship and carries us safely to port. More below the media [...]Similar Posts:Teen Buddies Face Adult TrialsThe Unique Courage of One MotherFor Romance Click Any KeyA Body in The Basement – Of Course He’s the…Soul Food For Lone Wolves and Wild Women The post Will It Take a Miracle To Restore This Friendship? appeared first on The Bookcast.

Cynthia Dagnal-Myron is an award-winning former reporter for both the Chicago Sun Times and Arizona Daily Star whose articles have appeared in Rolling Stone, Salon, Working Mother, Orion and many others. During her Sun Times years, she sat desk to desk with mentor and friend, the late Roger Ebert, and traveled with, interviewed and reviewed rockers like Kiss, Queen, the Who, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. She also interviewed film stars like John Travolta, Kirk Douglas, Richard Pryor and the then-unknown cast of Star Wars – and dated Arnold Schwarzenegger. Once. And then one day … she walked away from all of it. And never looked back. Her book “The Keka Collection,” a compilation of Open Salon blog posts, is both a remembrance of those wild years and a reflection on the new life she found in the Southwest. She married a prominent Hopi artist and became a PR consultant for the Hopi Tribal government and public school administrator before moving to Tucson, where the adventure continues. More below the media player. Listen to Cynthia Dagnal-Myron The Indie Author Life Cynthia Dagnal-Myron is better known to millions online as Keka. It was that community, she says, that inspired her to produce [...]Similar Posts:A (Princess) Penny’s Worth of TroubleShe Wanted to Kill Him – But Fell in Love InsteadHow to Write Mom’s StoryA Young Wannabe Rapper’s Quest to Find His DaddyTwenty Years Later He’s Back. But Why? The post Soul Food For Lone Wolves and Wild Women appeared first on The Bookcast.

The epistolary novel has been popular for over 500 years, maybe because everyone secretly loves to read other people’s mail. Lisa Becker‘s 2011 romantic hit “Click” is an epistolary novel for the twenty-first century, a romantic chick lit story told entirely in the emails of the nearing-30-and-still-single Renee and her circle of friends. Now Renee, Shelley, Ashley, Mark and Ethan are back, as “Double Click” picks up with their lives six months later. Are Renee and Ethan soulmates? Does Mark ever go on a date? Has Shelley run out of sexual conquests in Los Angeles? Will Ashley’s judgmental nature sabotage her budding relationship? Through a marriage proposal, wedding, new baby and unexpected love twist, “Double Click” answers these questions and more. More below the media player. Listen to Lisa Becker The Indie Author Life Much of “Click” was based on Lisa Becker’s own experience of cyberdating. How close to reality was it? She recently wrote on CupidsPulse.com: You’ve heard of the movie Four Wedding and a Funeral? Well, the story of how I met my husband online is Four Dates and a Wedding. Those online dates yielded some valuable lessons, which I’m happy to share in order to help other [...]Similar Posts:The End of the World, Brought To You By The New KidLife, Love, and Business in HollywoodJust Your Friendly Neighborhood VampireThen a Stunning, Leggy Blonde Walks In…Will It Take a Miracle To Restore This Friendship? The post For Romance Click Any Key appeared first on The Bookcast.

What has been hidden for thousands of years is about to surface in a small town in New England. The impact on this rural village is ageless, but only the chosen time travelers know what is happening, the reason it is happening, and how to control the outcome. Jordana Lizama‘s novel “Sophia: Within” is more than a story of reincarnation. This is a story that never ended following the reign of the Greek gods. The Men of Ages have walked the Earth unnoticed since the time of Greek mythology and have kept their ancient war alive by transporting the lead warrior in a most unusual time machine. There is only one way to stop the cataclysmic demise of the human race and Sophia is the answer. But Sophia is a teenage girl faced with many human and nonhuman desires that create a tortuous path from antiquity to the present day. Only time will tell if Sophia, Alec and the world are ready to accept the mission that has been passed down for many generations. Love conquers all. Or, so it seems. More below the media player. Listen to Jordana Lizama The Indie Author Life In a recent interview with Bibliophilic [...]Similar Posts:Greek Myth Brought to New LifeA Deadly Race Is On To Save A 12-Year-Old GirlThe Ghost and Mr. TrafficA Stunning Story of Two Women and the Bond They ForgeErotica Author Turns to Historical Fiction – and Finds The post The 17-Year-Old Who Must Save the Human Race appeared first on The Bookcast.

When her screenplay gets accepted to a local L.A. film festival, twenty-three-year-old Rylie Cates heads to Tinseltown, where she is thrust into the spotlight as her career takes off, in Jessica Lave‘s novel “Quiet on the Set.” As Rylie struggles to live up to her newfound success, she meets the people who will become her friends, her guides to the city and the movie business, and ultimately, her “L.A. family.” Despite her best intentions, however, deciphering the politics surrounding her new career proves difficult, and Rylie unwittingly makes a few enemies on her path to success. Confronted by scheming studio executives, philandering movie stars, and the perpetual lure of the bottle, Rylie relies on her new friendships to help her navigate life, love, and business in Hollywood. More below the media player. Listen to Jessica Lave The Indie Author Life Do readers demand a “happy ending”? Jessica Lave writes that her endings are less about fitting into some prefab mold and more about .. well, life: My stories aren’t about a happy ending or an ideal picture. They’re about the good days and bad days that everybody has and how we get through them, with kind words, hugs, arguments, comedy, [...]Similar Posts:A Professional Tour Guide’s Best Hollywood StoriesA Stunning Story of Two Women and the Bond They ForgeDon’t Let Hollywood Kill Your DreamFor Romance Click Any KeyInside A Successful Writer’s Imagination The post Life, Love, and Business in Hollywood appeared first on The Bookcast.

Sixteen-year-old Sylvie isn’t comfortable in her own skin. In fact, there are times she can’t even manage to stay inside it. But if there is one thing she is sure of, it’s her love for Kevin Phillips. She’s willing to stake everything on it – her family, her friends, and possibly her soul. Sylvie has been best friends with Cassie forever. But In the YA novel “Untethered” by Katie Hayoz, everything is turned around when the boy Sylvie’s loved since fifth grade falls for Cassie. Devastated, Sylvie intends to get Kevin by any means possible, even if it involves treachery, deceit, and the dark side of astral projection. She is positive her plans will give her what she wants, but she doesn’t count on it all spiraling out of control. “Untethered” explores the intoxicating, and dangerous, world of jealousy and obsession when coupled with paranormal ability. More below the media player. Listen to Katie Hayoz The Indie Author Life No good critique goes unpunished? In a recent blog post, Katie Hayoz avers that “Critiquing: Nice Gets You Nowhere”: Ten years ago I handed a woman in my critiquing group a short story I wrote involving an Alpine farm and a [...]Similar Posts:Inside A Successful Writer’s ImaginationWho Is The Serial Killer of Aspen Falls?If She Fails, All Humankind Suffers the ConsequencesComing to Grips With The Reality of ChangeThis Thief Steals Her Way Almost to Death The post Jealousy and Obsession, With a Paranormal Twist appeared first on The Bookcast.

Louise Palmer is a settled-down woman, who wants nothing more than to remain in the same house until the day she dies. So when her husband, Clay, announces his intention to quit his job and move to Florida, Louise’s life is thrown into a turmoil of mixed emotions and strained loyalties, in Bette Lee Crosby‘s novel “What Matters Most.” Torn between Clay’s desire for “the good life” and the lifelong friendships of her quilting club, Louise struggles with what to do – until her best friend suggests a scheme to thwart the move. Before she discovers the truth of what matters most, a marriage will be tested, family relationships will fall apart and the friendships Louise tried to hold onto will change dramatically, More below the media player. Listen to Bette Lee Crosby The Indie Author Life At its best, fiction requires the reader to confront difficult questions. In Bette Lee Crosby’s novel, the question is: WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU? This is perhaps an ambiguous question and, while it seems simple on the surface, it has as many different answers as there are stars in the sky. At first blush people will most often answer my family, my church, [...]Similar Posts:A Teen’s Life – College, Family .. ShapeshiftingOne Family’s Story of Coming to AmericaJealousy and Obsession, With a Paranormal TwistA Young Wannabe Rapper’s Quest to Find His DaddyBattle of Good Vs. Evil, With Christian Undertones The post Coming to Grips With The Reality of Change appeared first on The Bookcast.

What do you do when you find your grandfather dead half an hour before your cousin’s wedding? Well, you can hide him in his bed and tell everyone he didn’t feel like coming. Beate Boeker‘s new mystery “Delayed Death” is set in Florence, Italy, where Carlina finds her grandfather dead on the day of her cousin Emma’s wedding. She decides to hide the body until after the ceremony. However, as it turns out, her grandfather was poisoned, and she now becomes the attractive Inspector’s prime suspect in his death. In order to clear her name she’ll have to find the real killer. And on top of that, Carlina has to manage her boisterous family, and her luxurious lingerie store called Temptation, a juggling act that creates many hilarious situations. More below the media player. Listen to Beate Boeker The Indie Author Life Beate Boeker’s first language is not English, it’s German. So why does she write in English… . . . and not in my mother language, German. Looking for help with my writing, I noticed a big writing culture in the US, but none to speak of in Germany. I’m only speaking romance writing here, of course! Romance writers [...]Similar Posts:Keep on Truckin’, MamaA Stunning Story of Two Women and the Bond They ForgeCandidly, He’s Cautiously OptimisticA Father’s Only True Legacy: LiesCan a Patient’s Silence Kill the Doctor? The post Would You Stash the Body to Save the Party? appeared first on The Bookcast.

Naomi Witherspoon lives in interesting times. First she was seized by a Lakota goddess at the winter solstice. Then, as her relationships with her friends fissured, Naomi tapped a wellspring of strength – her own Native American heritage. May 22 Is ‘Annealed’ Book Launch Day Now, pregnant and due any day, she must conduct the mediation of her life. Will she succeed? Or will it all go up in smoke? It’s the final volume in the Pipe Woman Chronicles – Lynne Cantwell‘s novel “Annealed.” More below the media player. The Indie Author Life Ebooks are changing more than just how readers consume books; they’re changing how authors market and promote them, if Lynne Cantwell’s experience is any indicator. As she wrote in a recent blog post: There’s always a moment in any live event — interview, public speaking engagement, whatever — when I feel like I’ve lost the plot. So, of course, I had one during my talk on e-publishing in Indianapolis last weekend. Toward the end of the discussion, someone in the audience asked me whether I ever did any book signings or talked to book clubs, or did any other promotional events. And I confessed that I do [...]Similar Posts:Ride the Indie Author Wave At The BookcastGiving Indie Authors Their DueA Personal Note from Bill ThompsonInside A Successful Writer’s ImaginationGreek Myth Brought to New Life The post If She Fails, All Humankind Suffers the Consequences appeared first on The Bookcast.

Confession is good for the soul, even after the soul has been claimed. The novel “Forty Years in a Day” by Mona Rodriguez begins in Italy, 1900. After years of torment and neglect, Victoria and her four small children emigrate to Hell’s Kitchen, New York, to escape her alcoholic, abusive husband. On the day they leave, he tragically dies, but she doesn’t learn of his death for several years — it’s a secret that puts many lives on hold. Quickly, they realize America’s streets are not paved with gold, and the limits of human faith and stamina are tested time and again. Poverty, illness, death, kidnapping, and the reign of organized crime are just some of the crosses they bear. Now, Victoria’s eldest son, Vincenzo, is the sole surviving member of the family, and he shares a gut-wrenching account of their lives with his daughter Clare during a visit to Ellis Island on his 90th birthday. He explains how his life, and the lives of his siblings, have been secretly intertwined with an infamous Irish mob boss. And he ends his unsettling disclosure with a monumental request that leaves Clare speechless. More below the media player. Listen to Mona Rodriguez [...]Similar Posts:Can a Patient’s Silence Kill the Doctor?Coming to Grips With The Reality of ChangeInside A Successful Writer’s ImaginationFalling Hard for the Girl of His DreamsStuck On a Prison Planet With a Killer The post One Family’s Story of Coming to America appeared first on The Bookcast.

How is the American spirit holding up in these difficult times? Peter Funt, syndicated columnist and host of TV’s “Candid Camera,” looks beyond the headlines to find out. In his book “Cautiously Optimistic,” a collection of six dozen essays, Funt uses a light but penetrating touch to take the nation’s temperature. Funt’s canvas is very much like the real world we deal with every day. Sure, Americans are concerned about taxes, education and crime. But we also care about mobile apps that talk back to us, Paul McCartney’s hairdo, and raccoons that destroy our lawns. In “Cautiously Optimistic,” Peter Funt finds the good, the bad and the occasionally hilarious. These essays are designed to make you think, but also to smile. More below the media player. Listen to Peter Funt The Indie Author Life Peter Funt’s association with “Candid Camera” really did begin when he was just three, as he writes in an essay on the official “Candid Camera” website called “Things My Father Taught Me“: When I was three years old my father taught me how to swing a baseball bat. He also taught me how to hide a microphone in a shoeshine box. When I was 16 my father [...]Similar Posts:A Father’s Only True Legacy: LiesOne Family’s Story of Coming to AmericaWould You Stash the Body to Save the Party?This is Not How Childbirth is Supposed To GoFive Moons Craving a Hero The post Candidly, He’s Cautiously Optimistic appeared first on The Bookcast.

Sam Sinclair thought this was just another run-of-the-mill job. As a freelance law enforcement operative, his job is to find the target and deliver them into the hands of the Galactic Law Enforcement Agency. When his agency contacts asked him to find Professor Kluvak Nembier, who they believed had murdered nine of his co-workers on a secluded archaeological dig on Agrillia 3, he fully expected to have the job done quickly. Finding the Professor was the easy part. And, in Merita King‘s space opera “Floxham Island,” delivering his prisoner to Floxham Island Prison should spell the end of the job for Sam, and some much needed time off. But once he and his companions find themselves stranded on the strangely deserted prison planet, and discover the horror that has recently taken place there, it soon becomes his worst nightmare. Facing the horrors that lurk in the dark – while avoiding those that dwell in the light – Sam discovers that a new killer is amongst them. As their numbers dwindle, Sam races to find the killer and secure the lives of those still surviving amidst the terror that is Floxham Island. More below the media player. Listen to Merita King [...]Similar Posts:A Girlfriend! A Girlfriend! My Kingdom for a Girlfriend!Fiona Debuts With a BangOne Family’s Story of Coming to AmericaGreek Myth Brought to New LifeBattle of Good Vs. Evil, With Christian Undertones The post Stuck On a Prison Planet With a Killer appeared first on The Bookcast.

If a priest is attacked and turned into a vampire did he have a choice? If your parents were demons are you damned to Hell? Virgo Furs is an agent of the Council of the United Underworld Coalition. And in Scott Dorsey‘s fantasy “Son of a Succubus,” he finds himself asking those same questions while on a hit-list, and faces the prospect of being murdered by vampire assassins or executed by the Council for a murder he was framed for. Ultimately he battles his way through Hell, becomes the caretaker of Eden, and must endure being assaulted with the truth in Heaven to find the answers he needs to save everyone on Earth. Redemption is for the asking. More below the media player. Listen to Scott Dorsey The Indie Author Life From Scott Dorsey’s website: As the author explains, his use of Christianity was a deliberate attempt to give readers something different. “Most fantasy novels will not use Christianity as the religion of the story. What if the creatures of the Underworld believed in Jesus? Is it possible for vampires or other creatures to be forgiven? If so, what about mankind?” asks Dorsey. Continuing, “No matter what kind of things [...]Similar Posts:A Girlfriend! A Girlfriend! My Kingdom for a Girlfriend!Forced To Grow Up (Finally)Coming to Grips With The Reality of ChangeStuck On a Prison Planet With a KillerWar, Holocaust, Rebellion – and Dragons and Runics The post Battle of Good Vs. Evil, With Christian Undertones appeared first on The Bookcast.

What happens when a middle-aged mum from England decides to drive eighteen-wheelers across North America, instead of just dreaming about it? Ask Carolyn Steele. She did it, and wrote about it, in her book “Trucking in English.” From early training, when it becomes apparent that negotiating eighteen wheels and thirteen gears involves slightly more than just learning how to climb in, this rookie overcomes self-doubt, infuriating companions and inconsiderate weather to become a real trucker. Carolyn learns how to hit a moose correctly, and how to be hijacked. She is almost arrested in Baltimore Docks and survives a terrifying winter tour of The Rockies. Nothing goes well, but that’s why there’s a book. More below the media player. Listen to Carolyn Steele The Indie Author Life But How Did it Start? Carolyn Steele answers her own question, on her blog TruckingTales.com: Trucking as a way to see the continent seemed like a good idea at the time. To this lady trucker it seemed funnier and more interesting than you’d imagine. As the trucking tales kept coming, it became clear that there had to be writing about trucking, the trucking blog, the trucking podcast and the book about trucking. You could [...]Similar Posts:They’re Literally Pawns in a Twisted GameWould You Stash the Body to Save the Party?What Got This (Good) Dad ArrestedJealousy and Obsession, With a Paranormal TwistCan a Patient’s Silence Kill the Doctor? The post Keep on Truckin’, Mama appeared first on The Bookcast.

When private financial investigator Seamus McCree returns to Cincinnati after a routine business trip, he discovers that his home has become a crime scene. A brutal murder has occurred in his basement. The victim, an acquaintance from a previous corporate investigation, has endured bullets to both of his ankles, knees and elbows before the final shot to his forehead that put him out of his misery. But no one has seen an “IRA six pack” victim since The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Now, in James M. Jackson‘s mystery “Bad Policy,” Seamus McCree becomes the primary “person of interest” in the case. He’ll need his talent for logic and hard work to prove his innocence. Soon he uncovers a trail that leads back to his Boston roots, and a poisonous family feud dating from the divorce of Boston’s Irish mafia and the Provisional IRA in the 1970s. As the body count climbs, all trails seem to lead back to him, and Seamus is forced to go underground to find out who is framing him – and why – before he becomes the next victim. More below the media player. Listen to James M. Jackson The Indie Author Life [...]Similar Posts:Escaped Slave Finds Freedom. Or Does He?Will Ambition Get The Better of Verity Parker?The End of the World, Brought To You By The New KidAn Ancient Celtic Evil ThreatensWould You Stash the Body to Save the Party? The post A Body in The Basement – Of Course He’s the Suspect appeared first on The Bookcast.