BAFFLING BINGO MYSTERY DAY: KILLER MOVE - AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"BAFFLING BINGO DAY"
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS THURSDAY'S
MYSTERY BOOK CHOICE IS.....

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
KILLER MOVE

BY MICHAEL MARSHALL

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Stephen King hailed Michael Marshall's novel Straw Men as “a masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell.” Now, Marshall returns with this latest unnerving tale—a creepy, fast-paced thriller that grips you from the first page straight through to its shocking end.

Bill Moore already has a lot, but he wants more . . . much more.

He's got a lucrative job selling condos in the Florida Keys, a successful wife, a good marriage, a beautiful house. He also has a five-year plan for super success, but that plan has begun to drag into its sixth year without reaping its intended rewards. So now Bill's starting to mix it up—just a little—to accelerate his way into the future that he knows he deserves.

Then one morning Bill arrives at work to find a card waiting for him, with no indication who it's from or why it was sent. Its message is just one word: modified.

From that moment on, Bill's life begins to change.

At first, nothing seems very different. But when things begin to unwind rapidly, and one after another, people around Bill start to die, it becomes increasingly clear that someone somewhere has a very different plan for Bill's future. Confused and angry, Bill begins to fight against this unseen force until he comes to a terrifying, inescapable realization: Once modified, there's no going back.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MICHAEL MARSHALL is the author of the trilogy that includes The Straw Men, The Upright Man, and Blood of Angels, as well as the stand-alone novels The Servants, The Intruders, and Bad Things. He also works as a screenwriter for clients in London and Los Angeles, and is currently writing a television pilot set in New York City.

He lives in London with his wife and son. Photo by Steve Double. Read more about Michael Marshall at his website HERE. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: 

New York Times bestselling author Michael Marshall discusses his latest thriller KILLER MOVE... 

1. Stephen King has been a fan since your debut novel, The Straw Men, calling it “a masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell.” The Romantic Times book club calls your recent novel, Killer Move, “A mind-blowing combination of crime and horror.” It takes a certain type of person to explore the depths of evil that you cover in your novels. What is the writing process like for you and where do you get your inspiration, for lack of a better word?
Inspiration, as always, comes from asking ‘what if?’ What if such-and-such a thing were to happen, or sometimes, what if something didn’t happen? What if apparently unimportant little modifications started to be made in your life by forces occluded to you? What if they minutely skewed people’s perceptions of you and your life—despite all your work in trying to present yourself—and the effects started to snowball? All fiction starts with that question, and the only choice after that is to keep asking it...
 

As for dealing with evil... evil starts in the detail, where the Devil lives: in small things, tiny choices, half-seconds where you take your eye off the ball. The distance between normal life and ‘evil’ is terrifyingly short, a quantum step.
 

All you have to do is observe these moments and imagine what might happen if they continued, and went unchecked...

2. The word “modified” plays a huge part in Killer Move. It sounds harmless, but as the story progresses, the word takes on a much scarier meaning. Tell us about your choice to use this word, and its role in the story.
‘Modified’ was actually my working title for the book. It’s such a bland, technical-sounding word, and yet its implications are huge—and the novel tries to evoke how baby-steps of interference and neglect and bad intent can snowball into chaotic changes. Our lives are so complex, and based around many little assumptions and relationships that we may not even be consciously aware of. The domino effect of change can be catastrophic in such an interlinked system. That’s not only true for our personal lives, of course, but for society in general... as the recent rollercoastering of the economy demonstrates.
 

The more complex the system, the greater the potential for a butterfly effect, too, for tiny ‘modifications’ to overthrow it all... and open the ground beneath your feet.

3. Bill Moore is a pretty average guy, but he’s really focused on self-improvement. What made you decide to include this almost obsessive aspect to his character?
I believe neurosis is the mental heat caused by the over-clocking of our brains. We’re biologically the same creature as the one who led a relatively simple life hunter-gathering fifteen thousand years ago—and yet we’ve conjured this incredibly complicated and stressful society around us. We cope with it, but only just, and only by running our consciousnesses at a far higher rate than they’d evolved to deal with. The result is a constant background hum of low-level anxiety, which we sublimate into neuroses and habit and going to the gym and working too hard and drinking and tweeting... Obsession lies close to all of us, stalking us like a warm shadow.
 

The Internet is playing into this facet of human nature, levering open those cracks in our psyche. We’re constantly bombarded with fact, half-fact, blogs, status updates... and we feel we have to keep up, because to fall off the pace is to undergo a virtual death, to be revealed as the aging bull elephant at the back of the pack, ripe to be picked off by the wolves of obsolescence and old age and the terrible fate of being seen as not-cool, off-message, non-zeitgeist. We have to be out there, be seen, build our brands... in front of all these distant strangers, these ‘followers’, these ‘friends’. Bill Moore is merely the logical extension of all this. It could be you, just as easily.

4. We often blame malfunctions with our email, cell phones, etc. on a technological glitch. In Killer Move, it turns out to be much more than that. What prompted you to use this as the basis for you latest thriller?
It’s astonishing the degree to which we hand up our lives to technologies we simply don’t understand, especially given that the guys in the black hats—the thieves, criminals and hackers—are always one step ahead of the good guys. Though I don’t believe in many conspiracy theories, I share the modern obsession with the idea that someone, somewhere, Knows What’s Going On, and may even be in control of it. What if these things that seem like momentary glitches are not? What if there’s something going on? Why are they doing it? What do they want? Will they ever stop? When so many of the things that define our lives are ‘unreal’—in the sense of virtual and non-concrete—it becomes increasingly easy for the same kind of intangible fictions to destroy us, too.

5. The tagline for this story is spot on, “Your password is protected. Your life is not.” Is Killer Move a sort of cautionary tale? What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
It’s easy to waltz around the Internet as if it’s some big, cozy playground combined with shopping mall and singles club, assuming it’s safe. It may be, it may not—but be advised that virtually everything you do is logged, and could be used against you, should someone have a mind to. I’m actually not paranoid about security or people knowing what I do—my life is too mundane to be of interest to most—but it’s still an odd environment to live in.
 

But then... we’re always in an odd environment. We’re an animal designed to live in tribes of sixty to eighty people, and yet we live in groups of thousands, tens of thousands, millions. We don’t know these people, before we even start factoring in all our online ‘friends’. How much of all this is real? How much of it can be trusted? Very little. So work out who you are, what you stand for, and who you really care about, and make sure you’re looking after that first.
 

6.What is the perfect song/playlist that captures the “feel” of the story?
Ooh, that’s a good question. Off the top of my head...
— LOLLIPOP, by the Chordettes, which to me has a slightly crazed kind of cheerfulness, like someone chanting ‘Everything’s great! Everything’s great!’ to themselves while shredding a piece of paper in their hands...
— THE PLACES YOU HAVE COME TO FEAR THE MOST by Dashboard Confessional, because the tone and rhythm feel right...
— YOU’RE STILL THE ONE by Shania Twain, as it features in the book...
— BROKE DOWN ON THE BRAZOS, by Gov’t Mule, for its hard-driving Southern-fried intensity...
and:
— I HAVE FOUND ME A HOME by Jimmy Buffett, because the book’s set in Florida, and you’ve got to have a Buffett tune. It’s the law.
 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KIMBERLY AND THE GOOD

FOLKS AT HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE THREE

COPIES OF KILLER MOVE  TO GIVE AWAY

TO THREE LUCKY READERS!

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT KILLER MOVE AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING WHEN YOU READ AUTHOR MICHAEL MARSHALL'S  GUEST INTERVIEW ABOVE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY OF MINE THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED. IF YOU HAVE ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, COMMENT ON EACH YOU HAVE ENTERED SEPARATELY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JULY 17

WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS

WELCOME TO
BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS DAY".
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS 

"WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS DAY"...

 

THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED
BY EMAIL AND HAVE UNTIL NOON,
  JULY 1 TO REPLY WITH THE
INFORMATION OR A NEW WINNER
WILL HAVE TO BE CHOSEN!
************************************

TO BE SUNG UNDERWATER

BY TOM McNEAL

THANKS TO ANNA AND THE GOOD

FOLKS AT LITTLE, BROWN AT HACHETTE

BOOK GROUP, I HAVE TWO COPIES OF THIS

WONDERFUL NOVEL TO GIVE AWAY

THE WINNERS ARE:

#102 Amy
#18 dogwood

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

  CONGRATULATIONS TO MY ONLY

WINNERS THIS WEEK. ENJOY!

SUNSET BRIDGE: AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

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SUNSET BRIDGE
A Happiness Key Novel

BY EMILIE RICHARDS

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Five very different women find friendship–and unexpected love–on the barrier island known as Happiness Key. 

Former socialite Tracy Deloche has nothing to her name but five ramshackle beach cottages and the unlikely friendships she's formed with her tenants:  Wanda, the wise waitress turned popular pie-shop owner.  Janya, the young Indian wife whose arranged marriage surprises her every day.  Alice, a widow raising her complex tween-age granddaughter.  Maggie, Wanda's daughter, a former Miami cop with a love life as complicated as Tracy's own. 

The new man in Tracy's life hasn't mentioned love or commitment–and suddenly Tracy needs a big dose of both.  Janya longs to be a mother–and inherits two young siblings to care for.  Alice may lose her beloved granddaughter to someone no one expected. Maggie helps out at Wanda's Wonderful Pies, but is the kitchen big enough for both Gray women when one of them is looking for a murderer? 

As a tropical storm brews, the wind carries surprises and secrets over the bridge to Happiness Key.  Now, more than ever, five friends will discover just how much they need one another.
CHECK OUT MY REVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES NOW UP HERE!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

USA TODAY bestselling author Emilie Richards fondly recalls the year she served as a VISTA volunteer in the Arkansas Ozarks. Although conditions were primitive and resources scarce, by the end of her time there, the 20-year-old college student had gathered a richness of experience that would forever change her life and ultimately inspire a series of novels for MIRA Books about the age-old craft of quilting.

  

Richards went on to finish her undergraduate degree in American studies from Florida State University, and her master’s in family development from Virginia Tech. She subsequently served as a therapist in a mental health center, as a parent services coordinator for Head Start families and in several pastoral counseling centers before she began writing full-time. 

Richards says that in every social service position she held, she gained more than she gave. “I set out to help people and ended up learning so much more about myself.” 

A full-time writer, Richards has drawn on those experiences while writing more than 60 novels. As her star has risen in the publishing world, she has appeared on national television and has been quoted in Reader’s Digest, right between Oprah and Thomas Jefferson. Additionally her novels are now being filmed in New Zealand to air on German television. Although in recent years she has broadened the scope of her writing to women’s fiction, she was awarded a prestigious RITA^® Award, romance publishing’s Oscar^®, for her earlier work in the genre. Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine has presented her with numerous awards, including one for career achievement. 

No doubt Richards’s background as a relationship counselor is partly responsible for the award-winning nature of her novels. This background enables her to consistently deliver richly textured family dramas that explore the human condition. In HAPPINESS KEY, FORTUNATE HARBOR and SUNSET BRIDGE she explores the unlikely friendship that develops between four very different women who become neighbors on a rundown spit of Florida. Drawn together by their search to uncover the past of their late neighbor, they begin sharing their own doubts and triumphs, forming bonds that will ultimately heal and inspire. In SUNSET BRIDGE, the final book of the trilogy, the women welcome the ex-cop daughter of one of their own, who finds she hasn’t left the job or her lover behind, after all. When she is recruited to find the truth behind a tragic murder-suicide, her actions and discoveries will ultimately affect each of the neighbors. In the rousing conclusion, as sunset falls, exactly who will be left to appreciate it?

Richards is married to her college sweetheart, a Unitarian Universalist minister. They have three grown sons and a daughter. Born in Bethesda, Maryland, and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Richards has lived with her family not only in Virginia but in Louisiana, California, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They also spent two four-month sabbaticals in Australia.

When not writing or engaging in her other passion, quilting, Richards enjoys traveling and turning her suburban yard into a country garden. She is currently working on a new series for Mira Books.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1.    Welcome, and thank you for agreeing to an interview for BOOKIN‘ WITH BINGO. Is there any personal information you would like to start out with today?
Sixty-something books later I still love what I chose to do with my life professionally.  Four children, two grandchildren, a great husband and one crazy beagle later, I’m still happy with those choices, too.

2.    Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?
I grew up on the Florida Gulf Coast yet I never really set any books there.  So this seemed like the right moment, particularly since we’re strongly considering a move there next year.

3.    How did the title of your book come about?
Sunset Bridge is the third of three related books.  Happiness Key was the first, and I loved the idea of playing with words that expressed the theme and gave a geographic clue to the story, as well.  Sunset Bridge is the last of the series, the “sunset” of the three, but it’s also a bridge to the next stage in my characters’ lives.

4.    Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?
I think no matter how much we deny it or are unable to pin it down, there are parts of us in each character we write.  These women are all going through major transitions and adjustments, and that’s fun to explore because it’s always true no matter who we are or at what stage of our lives. 

5.    What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?
Currently I’m reading Diane Mott Davidson’s Crunch Time because she gave it to me as a gift and because I love Goldy the caterer.  I’m also listening to TheTin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke who is a fabulous author. The book takes place in New Orleans after Katrina, and I used to live in the city. I lean toward mysteries and thrillers because they can sweep me away and it’s easier to get caught up without noticing technique.

6.    What is the next or current book/project you are working on?
The first book of a series set in Asheville, NC, which will debut next summer.

7.    Do you own an eReader of any kind and how do you feel about their impact on books, as well as you as an author?
I’m delighted with ebooks, have an old Sony eReader I use constantly and am hoping for an iPad for my birthday. We’ve come a long way since stories were delivered by storytellers around campfires, and I think storytelling will evolve in new and fascinating ways in the future.  No reason here to run screaming into the night with a paper book clutched against our chests.  This is a time to celebrate yet another wonderful delivery method.

8.    What is your advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Hate to quote Nike, but “Just Do It!”  And really, that’s how all of us start.  We say “What the heck,” and dive right in.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO SARAH AND FRIENDS AT

PLANNED TELEVISION ARTS/A DIVISION OF

RUDER-FINN, I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS

FABULOUS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT SUNSET BRIDGE AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT AUTHOR EMILIE RICHARDS FROM READING HER INTERVIEW ABOVE OR BY VISITING HER WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ENTERED THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE AMERICAN HEIRESS AUDIO BOOK  WHICH HAS LOW ENTRIES AND GOOD CHANCES TO WIN. IF YOU HAVE NOT, YOU STILL CAN HERE AND THEN COME BACK AND ENTER FOR THIS EXTRA ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, COMMENT ON EACH WAY SEPARATELY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JULY 16

THE ART OF SAYING GOOBYE: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE

BY ELLYN BACHE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.

With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There's Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisley, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it's up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they've ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ellyn Bache is the award-winning author of nearly a dozen books of fiction, including a short story collection that won the Willa Cather Fiction Prize and nine novels, including Safe Passage, that was made into a film starring Susan Sarandon, and The Art of Saying Goodbye. A native of Washington, DC who has spent most of her adult life in the Southeast, she currently divides her time between the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. Read more about Ellyn Bache's life at here website "Bio" HERE. Also, while at Ellyn's site, check out the short audio description at the bottom of the page about this book HERE--I loved it! Photo by Gary Wells.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

Grief, friendship, marriage, love and uncertainty—it’s all here—portrayed quietly and convincingly, without being over done. ...[A] glimpse into the lives of this intertwined group of women and their everlasting, complicated friendships—which is how a book about women and their complicated friendships should be.

— New York Journal of Books

 “A moving, gratifying, and inspiring reminder to live life to its fullest and demonstrate love in every possible way to friends and family.— Publishers Weekly  “Sweet, profound, sweeping in its themes yet detailed in its nuances, Bache’s latest explores the layers of friendship involved in facing serious illness and buried secrets.— Booklist
The secrets revealed and the emotions exposed make this a compelling read.— Charlotte Observe  “A beautiful story of friendship in the face of tragedy.— Fresh Fiction  “A deeply felt and beautiful story that portrays what friends can mean to each other in ways that are difficult to articulate.  Bache has done so here in perfect pitch. Bravo!”—Dorothea Benton Frank, bestselling author of “Sullivan’s Island” and “Folly Beach”

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
It is easy to understand why Ellyn Bache is an award winning author just by reading THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE. This is the first, but not the last, of her novels I have read and I was not prepared for what I discovered. I thought as I read the synopsis and cover that I was in for another sad book about someone dying of cancer and how it affects all those around her. To say it isn’t would be a lie, but to describe it as only that is so wrong. You see, this story is more, so much more than that.

With THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE, Ellyn Bache has focused her writing on the friendship among five very different women who are drawn together by one common bond; not the cancer, but rather by one woman, Paisley Lamm. Paisley does have cancer and the book centers around the last three months of her life and how each person in this elite group will be touched and changed forever during this time. Paisley is the member of the group who is always there for everyone and is as zany as she is kind. A pretty mother of two daughters with a supportive and loving husband in Mason, Paisley is the core of this group or as described in the book, the “thread” that holds them all together.  

Bache cleverly divides the story into chapters where each chapter deals with one of the five women. When she writes about one of the women other than Paisley, Bache writes in the third person and details the interpersonal relationship that the character had with Paisley. How they care for each other and how Paisley helps them to see their way clear through life’s challenges, helps to personify each woman so you see and feel for that character, showing how different they all are. However, when the chapters switch to Paisley, the point of view is in the first person as Paisley herself will flash back to a time in her life when she was helped by her friends, often without their even knowing it.

The other women, who I am sure you are more than ready to meet, are Julianne who is a nurse practitioner. She is also the one who first “found” Paisley’s cancer. With some kind of psychic touch she only has experienced once before, Julianne knows right away when Paisley is in her office, that something dreadful is wrong. Learning to cope with this “gift” is a very difficult thing for Julianne. Paisley’s disease is not just happening to her, but Julianne also feels such an emotional part of it herself, and Paisley helps her to be able to deal with this.

Andrea is Paisley’s closest friend. She spends almost every day with her and is determined for Paisley to not face this alone as she recalls how Paisley helped her to get through a similar situation and the secrets they share are those of the closest of friends. It is quite painful for Andrea, but I had great respect for her outward strength through it all. 

The last two of the five friends are Ginger, who is now running a business inherited from her father-in-law that Paisley helped her to find her place in. With what was a difficult situation, Ginger came out on top thanks to Paisley’s advice on how Ginger could find herself and at the same time give her husband back his life and dreams. Finally, Iona, the oldest, is a widow with spunk who never remarried and somewhat over the years is the rock they could all depend on. She doesn’t shy away from playing the part of the sage as she gives out advice and doesn’t mind telling it like it is. But, Iona needs to find herself and Paisley again plays into that. It is something Iona never realized was there all the time but she never would have known it without Paisley’s inspiration and help.

While Paisley does all these things, the cancer brings to the forefront its ugly reality. All the people in her neighborhood hang white ribbons around their trees to show their support but as so often happens, shy away from physically coming to see Paisley. This is the thing she misses most and can’t understand why it is so hard to come see her just because they know she is dying. It takes them finally facing the awful reality and coming on their own terms before they can visit once again. However, once they do, Paisley puts them at ease and although each person reacts differently, none regret going.

They are forever changed by not only how she lived her life, but in the goodness and blessing Paisley continues to show even in her illness. These women realize finally that once Paisley is gone, that she will have left them physically but never be far from their hearts. With Julianne, Andrea, Ginger, and Iona, Paisley asks each to make a promise to her. She whispers it in their ear and all promise they will keep their vow to her. What are those promises? Perhaps, they are THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE! You will find out when you read Ellen Bache’s wonderful new book.

GIVEAWAY 

THANKS TO MEGAN AND THE GOOD FOLKS 

AT HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE ONE COPY

OF THIS WONDERFUL BOOK BY ELLYN BACHE,

THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE, TO GIVE AWAY

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOVE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THE ART OF SAYING GOODBYE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY: VISIT ELLYN BACHE'S WEBSITE HERE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU ENJOYED OR FOUND INTERESTING AT HER SITE

+1 MORE ENTRY(or more?): COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY,  YOU MAY ENTER EACH WAY BUT YOU MUST COMMENT ON EACH SEPARATELY. NOTE: FOR +2 MORE ENTRIES, ENTER MY HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY  GIVEAWAY AND YOU CAN EARN +2 MORE ENTRIES JUST BY COMMENTING YOU DID IT TWICE!

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, JULY 16

GOOD LUCK!

THE SENTINELS: CRUDE DECEPTIONS: A GIVEAWAY

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THE SENTINELS:

CRUDE DECEPTION

BY GORDON ZUCKERMAN

ABOUT THE BOOK:

AN OIL SUPPLY CONTROLLED BY CORRUPT HANDS, MURDEROUS ASSASSINS WHO WILL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP THAT POWER INTACT— AND A GROUP OF FRIENDS WITH A WILD PLAN TO THWART THEM ALL.

Crude Deception is a historical thriller that actually resonates strongly in the present day. It focuses on the increasingly relevant issue of reliance on foreign oil; Zuckerman tells his tale that is set in the wake of WWII.

The Sentinels return in an epic battle against a big oil monopoly. As America's dependence on fossil fuel takes hold in the post-World War Two climate of economic growth, seven major oil companies join forces to control the industry, amassing obscene profits, squeezing tax-payers, and manipulating supplies around the world. In a plotline eerily reminiscent of today’s political climate, the Sentinels fan out across several continents in an intricately plotted mission to bring Big Oil to its knees. 

READ AN EXCERPT FROM CRUDE DECEPTIONS:

Welcome Home, Jacques Roth

Claudine Demaureux-Roth was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace of her New York apartment. With the aid of a warm fire, her second glass of wine, and a good book, she was trying not to think about Jacques. She had not heard from him in four days. His last call had been the night before his trip to Wyoming. Why hasn't he called me? she thought. Has something gone wrong?

The sudden sound of the ringing phone jarred her out of her thoughts. Who would be calling at this hour other than Jacques? Claudine was relieved to hear his voice, but she barely had time to speak; he delivered a short message: "My train arrives late tomorrow night. Please don't meet me at the station. I'll grab a cab and come to the apartment. Once I get there, I'll explain everything. Right now, I've got to go." And with that the line went dead.

Claudine knew something must be very wrong. It wasn't like Jacques not to call for four days and then be so brief. 

TO FINISH READING THIS FIRST CHAPTER, GO TO GORDON ZUCKERMAN'S WEBSITE HERE!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gordon Zuckerman is the author of the acclaimed historical fiction series, The Sentinels. The first two books in The Sentinels series, "Fortunes of War" and "Crude Deception", are set in climates of military turmoil where government and greed collide in high-stakes drama with entire nations hanging in the balance.

Zuckerman’s first book, Fortunes of War, delves heavily into how money played a key role in building up Hitler’s attempt of world domination and how the loss of that money helped bring him down. In the financial devastation of the 1930s, a greedy, power-hungry group of German industrialists plot to usher in the National Socialist Party in order to rearm Germany and reap the financial rewards. With Hitler in power, the Six Sentinels, graduates of an elite American doctoral program, uncover the industrialists' plan to hoard hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal war profits and put their lives on the line to serve justice.

In the second installment of The Sentinels series, Crude Deception, our heroes return in an epic battle against a big oil monopoly. As America's dependence on fossil fuel takes hold in the post-World War Two climate of economic growth, seven major oil companies join forces to control the industry, amassing obscene profits, squeezing tax-payers, and manipulating supplies around the world. In a plot line eerily reminiscent of today’s political climate, the Sentinels fan out across several continents in an intricately plotted mission to bring Big Oil to its knees.

Author Gordon Zuckerman has traveled extensively and is a life-long history buff. Having been made aware of the potential corrupting influence of concentrated wealth and power, he devoted the last 10years of his life to studying some of history’s most important events. He’s developed an understanding of how concentrated industrial and financial influence, given the support of government, can pursue agendas of self-interest that can conflict with the public’s best interests.

Zuckerman, the founder of the nationally recognized resort hotel company Resort Suites of Scottsdale, calls upon his exposure to finance, banking, marketing, and business development to support the plot of his books.

For 30 years he owned and operated his own real estate development company until he sold it to a major investment company in 2004. Prior to that, he worked on Wall Street for Kaiser-Aetna for a decade.

Born and raised in Stockton, California, Zuckerman earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Now retired, he is the director of The Brubeck Institute and several private companies.

He resides with his wife, Anne, of 48 years, on their ranch in Northern Nevada. They have two children and four grandchildren.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

In case you want to know more about THE SENTINELS' Series, here is some information about the first book in the series, FORTUNES OF WAR.

IN THIS RIVETING AMALGAM OF POLITICAL INTRIGUE, POIGNANT ROMANCE, AND BARE-KNUCKLED ACTION, SIX FRIENDS RISK EVERYTHING TO THWART AN INTERNATIONAL NAZI CONSPIRACY.

A gripping story that escalates at every turn, The Sentinels: Fortunes of War is the first in a series that follows the Six Sentinels as they continue to alter the course of history.

 

  GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO RACHEL AND FRIENDS AT

PLANNED TELEVISION ARTS/A DIVISION OF

RUDER-FINN, I HAVE TWO COPIES OF THIS

THRILLING BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT CRUDE DECEPTIONS AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT AUTHOR GORDON ZUCKERMAN AND HIS BOOKS BY VISITING HIS WEBSITE HERE (IT IS FASCINATING)

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ENTERED THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE AMERICAN HEIRESS AUDIO BOOK  WHICH HAS LOW ENTRIES AND GOOD CHANCES TO WIN. IF YOU HAVE NOT, YOU STILL CAN HERE AND THEN COME BACK AND ENTER FOR THIS EXTRA ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, COMMENT ON EACH WAY SEPARATELY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JULY 15

BRUNCH WITH BINGO: HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY - A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S

"BRUNCH WITH BINGO DAY"
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS SUNDAY'S
  FOOD BOOK CHOICE IS.....

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
HOW TO EAT A 

SMALL COUNTRY

A Family's Pursuit of Happiness 

One Meal at a Time

BY AMY FINLEY

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A professionally trained cook turned  stay-at-home mom, Amy Finley decided on a whim to send in an audition tape for season three of The Next Food Network Star, and the impossible happened: she won. So why did she walk away from it all? A triumphant and endearing tale of family, food, and France, Amy’s story is an inspiring read for women everywhere.

While Amy was hoping to bring American families together with her simple Gourmet Next Door recipes, she ended up separating from her French husband, Greg, who didn’t want to be married to a celebrity. Amy felt betrayed. She was living a dream—or was she? She was becoming famous, cooking for people out there in TV land, in thirty minutes, on a kitchen set . . . instead of cooking and eating with her own family at home.

In a desperate effort to work things out, Amy makes the controversial decision to leave her budding television career behind and move her family to France, where she and Greg lived after they first met and fell in love. How to Eat a Small Country is Amy’s personal story of her rewarding struggle to reunite through the simple, everyday act of cooking and eating together. Meals play a central role in Amy’s new life, from meeting the bunny destined to become their classic Burgundian dinner of lapin à la moutarde to dealing with the aftermath of a bouillabaisse binge. And as she, Greg, and their two young children wend their way through rural France, they gradually reweave the fabric of their family.

At times humorous and heart-wrenching, and always captivating and delicious, How to Eat a Small Country chronicles the food-filled journey that one couple takes to stay together.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

AMY FINLEY was the winner of the third season of the hit show The Next Food Network Star. After her win, she hosted Food Network’s The Gourmet Next Door. A Paris-trained cook and pastry chef, she was a regular contributor to Bon Appétit. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and their children. 

PRAISE FOR HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY:

“The Food Network’s loss is every reader’s gain: Amy Finley is a smart, funny writer and a really good traveling companion.  Packed into the car with Amy, her husband and two kids, you’ll see and taste France in a completely original way.  Whether you know the country well or are hoping to discover it, savoring its fare with Amy is a treat.”
 --Dorie Greenspan, author of Around My French Table
 
“What comes first—food or family? How to Eat a Small Country is a delicious story by Amy Finley about balancing them both, and ultimately finding happiness in a country where family life still revolves around the dining table.”
--David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris
 
“An unexpected and delightful memoir. How Amy Finley slipped under the wire of Food Network and into our homes is an enduring mystery, and her tale of moving to rural France to preserve her marriage and family is a great read filled with joyous bites.”
--Anthony Bourdain

“How to Eat a Small Country shares a few key traits with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, in particular an infectiously likeable narrator and mouthwatering descriptions of European food. But Finley’s memoir is less precious, more honest, and ultimately more rewarding.”
--Boston Globe

A RECIPE FROM AMY:

BROWN BUTTER MADELEINES

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
melted butter for the pan
flour for the pan

Preheat the oven to 375°F. 

I'm sorry to say there's no way to bake a madeleine without a madeleine pan. Any other shape besides the scallop and you have little cakes, not madeleines. Mine is nonstick, your's may very well be nonstick (especially if you bought it at Williams-Sonoma), and there is just no blessed reason for it to be nonstick, because only a rube bakes madeleines in a pan that hasn't been very, very well buttered and generously floured, tapping out the excess to leave a fine veil. Skip this step and I assure you, you will gnash your teeth, beat your breast, and pull your hair out and still, your dainty madeleines will cling stubbornly to the pan. To finish reading these directions as written only as Amy Finley can, visit her website HERE! Happy cooking!

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
As a foodie, I am a fan of “Next Food Network Star” and watched as Amy Finley won the third season but also noticed that after a while, her show was no longer on. Now reading Amy Finley’s memoir HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY I find out where she went and why. In this memoir, Amy explains why she left TV Land and decided to save her marriage and family instead; a rather good choice if you ask me.

When Amy realized that her application to Food Network’s television show to find a new food host and give them their own program was looking for entrants, she entered never thinking she would even be called. Not only was she called but she won. What followed was the typical “caught up in stardom schedule” and slowly and surely this began to eat away at her marriage and take time from her family. Amy tells it all from her children’s behavior changing and resulting in tantrums from lack of quality time with Mom, to the deterioration of her relationship with her mother and her husband, Greg. Amy and Greg start to argue to the point that divorce is even on the table. Amy finds herself a nervous wreck and soon experiences panic attacks. Amy realizes she has a decision to make and since she and Greg fell in love in France, she decided to quit the show and move her family there in hopes of recapturing what they had.

In France, Amy not only repairs her marriage and her children, but she discovers anew her love of cooking. They travel throughout France and Amy duplicates foods from the different regions and doesn’t skimp on descriptive passages even when it includes the way animals are butchered in order to prepare for eating. At first I thought I might have to skip that part, but then realized how else does a chef serve a dish of rabbit stew if one doesn’t kill “the bunny”? This part might be hard for some to read but I think how will you ever know if you don’t read about it? You can even try many of the recipes but I think reading about them as they were so skillfully described was just as tasty to me and I’m sure better than anything I could make. I also found the brilliant mental images one conjures up while reading about the places they visited in their travels was like being in France myself. If you like memoirs as well as food and cooking, I think you will enjoy Amy Finley’s HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY. 

GIVEAWAY 

 

THANKS TO CARLY AND THE GOOD FOLKS

AT CROWN PUBLISHING AND 
CLARKSON POTTER FOR ONE COPY OF 

THIS MEMOIR FOR ME TO GIVE AWAY

TO ONE OF MY LUCKY READERS

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES

---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

IN CASE YOU WIN!

--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE 

TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

 

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY AND WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN THIS ONE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING BY VISITING AMY FINLEY'S WEBSITE HERE

 

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 

6 PM, EST, JULY 14

GOOD LUCK!