Here is Your Awesomegang Newsletter
Published: Sat, 10/04/14
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Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome Writers
- An Evening With Grandpa by Diana Matlin
About An Evening With Grandpa by Diana Matlin
When little Annie gets sick one night, she has no choice but to stay at home while her family has fun at the theater. It seems that Annie will have to spend a boring evening with Grandpa until he unexpectedly begins to tell her a fairy tale about Pawnie, a young girl who lives in the faraway Chess Kingdom.
Does the inexperienced Pawnie have what it takes to succeed in this incredible adventure and make her dream of becoming a princess come true?
An award winning story, “An Evening With Grandpa”, will take a young reader on a journey through the fairy tale which will blend the magic of chess with a special night for Annie and her grandfather.
The book is recommended for ages 5-10 and is designed to introduce a game of chess to children within an action-filled engaging fairy tale. Kids who play chess already will enjoy recognizing the game elements woven into the story.An Evening With Grandpa by Diana Matlin is a post from Awesome Gang
- Super (Elementary School) Heroes Book 1: Kidnapping in Queen City by Lysander C. Stark
About Super (Elementary School) Heroes Book 1: Kidnapping in Queen City by Lysander C. Stark:This is the exciting story of a group of diverse 4th graders who – after a mysterious incident on a field trip – are granted amazing super powers! Do they have what it takes to keep their schoolwork, their friendships, and their crime fighting in order? Or will they buckle under the bright lights of Queen City? Are they smart enough to track down whoever is behind a massive kidnapping conspiracy? Or will their differences and their inexperience lead to their downfall? Find out as you meet Shravya, Isaiah, Jolene, Chris, Zay, Ke’osha and Vicky, seven 10-year-old children who live in a neighborhood much like yours…only they may be the most powerful Elementary School students you’ll ever know!
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Lysander C. Stark is a passionate teacher, author, illustrator, rabid NBA fan and advocate for social justice.Super (Elementary School) Heroes Book 1: Kidnapping in Queen City by Lysander C. Stark is a post from Awesome Gang
- What’s So Funny About Murder?
About What’s So Funny About Murder?:What’s so funny about murder? For only 99cents, these 7 authors prove that humor, from smiles to belly laughs, can delight and entertain while still getting a really good mystery. Some of the books are award nominees, winners, and all are highly reviewed authors.
They are presented in this boxed set by Alphabetical Order:
*Looking for La La by Ellie Campbell
*A DEAD RED OLEANDER by RP Dahlke (#2 in the Dead Red Mystery Series)
*Murder Is Academic by Lesley A. Diehl
*CHOKE ( #1 in the Imogene Duckworthy Mystery) by Kaye George
*A Wedding to Die For by Heather Haven (#2 in the Alvarez Family, owners of Silicon Valley’s successful Discretionary Inquiries)
*Grade A Stupid (#1 in the Darcy Walker Y/A Mysteries ) by A.J. Lape
*Always a Cold Deck by Robert Bruce Stewart (1st in the Harry Reese Historical Mysteries)
See what reviewers are saying:
“I buy these inexpensive anthologies quite often to try out various authors. Many times there are only one or two of the pieces that I enjoy. This is an exception. I like everything I’ve read. Interesting stories and well-written. I love that each story has elements of humor that lighten the read. Now I know some new authors to follow in the future. If you like a little fun in your murders and mysteries, I can definitely recommend this group of authors. Interestingly, the stories seemed to companion well together, and at one point I thought I was reading one longer novel. That’s unusual as sometimes I find the anthologies have stories that are so different that it’s difficult to change gears from one to another. This is well put together. Great fun.” By
Sandy Penny “WritingMuse”
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7 highly reviewed authors, some are award winning, and/or recently nominated for awards.What’s So Funny About Murder? is a post from Awesome Gang
- Time of the Vulture – How to Survive the Crisis and Prosper in the Process
About Time of the Vulture – How to Survive the Crisis and Prosper in the Process:Based on a report delivered to The Positive Deviant Network In 2007, this book predicted the global economic collapse. The original edition was priced at $80 and was purchased by readers in over 25 countries. Updated in 2009 and 2012, now available on Amazon and in Kindle format, it remains a timely primer on the still unfolding financial crisis. This crisis has been decades in the making and is getting close to its cataclysmic resolution. A better world is coming!
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Darryl Robert Schoon is an author and speaker known for his writings on the economy, gold and the crisis that currently faces humanity. He graduated from college in 1966 with a degree in political science. He entered law school but soon dropped out to live in the Haight-Ashbury where he became a member of the hippie subculture in San Francisco.Now a recognized author and speaker, his articles on the economy have been widely published on the web and he has spoken before audiences in the USA, Europe and Australia, and on TV. He is also an ordained minister and owns a condom company. His current focus includes spirituality, metaphysics and economics.
Time of the Vulture – How to Survive the Crisis and Prosper in the Process is a post from Awesome Gang
- War Stories: The American Civil War, Remembered by Those Who Were There by Mark Weaver
About War Stories: The American Civil War, Remembered by Those Who Were There by Mark Weaver:See the Civil War through the eyes of the people who lived through it: spies, soldiers, generals, escaping slaves, nurses, and more.
When one thinks of the American Civil War, it is easy to conjure up images of great generals developing brilliant strategies and influential politicians making historic decisions; but there was a great deal more going on…
In this book, you will find Civil War stories most people have never heard before, told by people who actually lived during those momentous times. From intrepid young men who went aloft in balloons and viewed the enemy’s position, to the joys and miseries of the private soldier, to the daring activities of secret spies…
Laugh as Sir Henry Morton Stanley recounts his adventure, as a young private, raiding the farm of a Unionist to “forage” for he and his messmates’ Christmas dinner. Or, be amazed as Sarah Edmonds tells how she disguised herself and made her way deep within Confederate lines. These accounts and many more make up this unique collection of amazing Civil War stories…
From camp pranks to close, bloody conflict; and from the jubilation of victory to the misery of defeat, you can find it all in War Stories: The American Civil War, Remembered by Those Who Were There.
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Mark Weaver, an amateur history buff, currently spends much of his time studying the American Civil War. In the course of his study, he has come across many amazing stories written by people who lived during the war, and he was inspired to collect some of the best into a book. That is how War Stories was born. Mark has also been collecting some of his favorite Civil War facts and stories on his website AmericanCivilWarStories.com. Outside of the Civil War, Mark loves cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. Obviously he is not very good at picking his teams, though there is hope on the horizon!War Stories: The American Civil War, Remembered by Those Who Were There by Mark Weaver is a post from Awesome Gang
- Her Final Sleep
About Her Final Sleep:Sasha Cody and her beautiful and talented all-female band rock hard and play hard and people come from all around just to catch a glimpse. But as winter draws down upon the small mountain town of Pine Lake, New York, Sasha and her band will unleash something ancient and very hungry from their old house just outside of town. Another budding rock bad, this one composed of all male members will have a run in with Her Final Sleep, with disastrous consequences.
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Joe DiCicco grew up on horror. He developed a fascination for the dark, eerie and altogether strange at a young age. He began weaving his macabre tales in his childhood and has been writing them down as short stories ever since. He holds a degree in Natural Resources Conservation and is a passionate nature and animal lover. When not writing, he enjoys playing bass guitar, listening to music, cooking, hiking, bird watching, watching horror movies and reading horror and dark fantasy literature. He currently resides in upstate New York.Her Final Sleep is a post from Awesome Gang
- Shadow Heart by Pamela Taeuffer
About Shadow Heart by Pamela Taeuffer
Nobody wants to talk about them, but there are events that occur in our lives that become deep dark secrets we hold inside. And they dramatically influence who we are and who we become.
Such is the case for seventeen year-old Nicky Young, who was raised by an alcoholic father and disengaged mother. When Nicky tries to make her way into the word she is confronted by the demons of her dysfunctional and sometimes violent upbringing.
Unlike many of her friends, she has shied away from boys, makeup and clothes, instead focusing on achievement and her goal of getting into Stanford. But when Nicky meets Ryan Tilton, a sexy, high profile professional baseball player eight years her senior, a strong desire is awakened in her.
Nicky questions Ryan’s motives for wanting to be with an inexperienced girl. Is he a scoundrel or does he genuinely care about her? Nicky is both excited and frightened, torn between protecting her heart and wanting to trust. Ryan brings his own demons—losing his father at the age of fourteen, and a sexual partner from his past who will not leave him alone.
Will their young, uncertain love be enough to help them open their hearts and experience intimacy they both crave so deeply or are Nicky and Ryan on a collision course?
Loosely based on the author’s life growing up in San Francisco, this inspired contemporary romance novel deals with the disturbing secrets siblings share, the dance between love and protecting one’s heart, and the innate desire to connect with another even when it means risking everything.
Shadow Heart by Pamela Taeuffer is a post from Awesome Gang
- Fateful Encounters by Vovo Verdan
About Fateful Encounters by Vovo Verdan
As far as twenty three year old Glen Verne was concerned, the crime was committed for all the right reasons. But unfortunately, the authorities didn’t agree.
Throughout our lives we encounter people who affect us in very different ways. Sometimes the encounter leads us down a path we would rather not have traveled – sometimes, however, it’s just the path we needed.Glen Verne is a complicated twenty three year old man. He works a dead-end job and any form of excitement is always welcome. He has had his fair share of misfortune in life, and it is this misfortune that has shaped him as a person. He has also had his fair share of good fortune, but as Glen Verne discovers, bad decisions will subjugate good fortune every single time – especially when so many fateful encounters are involved.
N.B. Contains explicit sex and adult situations.
Fateful Encounters by Vovo Verdan is a post from Awesome Gang
- Regrets of the Fallen by Jake Taylor
About Regrets of the Fallen by Jake Taylor:Mother was an Angel…Father was a Demon…Isabella of 2 Faces is both.
In this first book of the Victis Honor series, a knight enters into a world unfamiliar to her old ways – one changed by the technological advances of the Ravakan Empire. Guns mix with magic, cars race alongside dragons, swords are raised against tanks. Skyscrapers rise above old taverns and trains run around markets. But for Isabella of Two Faces, all of this is background noise – because she doesn’t have long to see it.
Isabella has spent twenty years believing that she deserves her coming death. As a powerful knight of both demonic and angelic blood, over the course of two hundred years she has brought death to millions, and the guilt and regret is a weight too heavy to carry for long. Until she meets Haruka, the beautiful elven monk who sees something else in her, and who decides to help her carry that weight – though she brings her own problems with her.
Now, the knight and the monk race for time, picking up both allies and enemies along the way, while forging a love between them. Pursued by both Isabella’s past and Haruka’s guild of assassins, it’s a struggle for survival – and one that Isabella may lose…even if they win.
Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
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Jake Taylor was born in 1988 and lives in Austin, Texas, where he is a passionate collector of all things Final Fantasy, Marvel Comics and Star Wars. An avid gamer, he enjoys writing video game reviews and recommendations. But his main focus is his novels, which encompass both Fantasy fiction and Science fiction. As a child of the ’90’s, his writing style contains elements of anime, with a heavy focus on the characters as well as the action and dialogue.Silence In Numbers: File One is the first book in his science fiction series. Set in 2068 Japan, the military has been privatized and it’s up to Katsumi Samukara and her special ops team to protect the citizens from supernatural, paranormal and terrorist threats. This series will encompass 3 novels.
Victis Honor is Jake’s epic fantasy fiction series which will encompass 9 or more books. The first novel is Regrets of the Fallen, in which Isabella, a powerful knight of demonic and angelic blood, enters into an unfamiliar world-one changed by the technological advances of the Ravakan Empire. Guns mix with magic, cars race alongside dragons, swords are raised against tanks. Having killed thousands, she believes she deserves her coming death…until she meets Haruka, a beautiful Elven assassin. Now they race for time, forging a love between them…in a struggle for survival.
Regrets of the Fallen by Jake Taylor is a post from Awesome Gang
- BURNING SON
About BURNING SON:ake Weathers’ older brother Aaron returns home a hero from WWII. As their father celebrates his favored son, quiet-voiced Jake is content to work in the background on their west Texas ranch. Hampered by a lame leg, Jake figures his life has nothing else to offer.
His brother’s charms and good looks fill the spotlight, but Jake grows suspicious Aaron wasn’t as heroic as he claims. Their father turns a blind eye to Aaron’s misbehavior, announcing his intention to hand the ranch over to him someday.
After the arrival of the captivating and mysterious Ellie Peri inspires Jake to imagine a different future, he realizes he yearns for a partnership in the ranch. Even more, he wants Ellie to stay and
share it with him.
But high risk followed by devastating loss stand in the way to Jake’s desires, and he is forced to choose a rocky path to save the ranch he loves and the woman who captivates his heart.
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Born in Flint, Michigan, Alex Reed always longed for Texas. Wranglers, saddles, boots, and brawlers, he first arrived upon attending Baylor University. Living in Waco, his love affair with the state grew. After college, he moved to Austin and then to Houston. While working in child-care as well as a private investigator, he crafted this novel, dreaming of hooves and chasing sunsets.BURNING SON is a post from Awesome Gang
- Any Road Will Take You There
About Any Road Will Take You There by David W. Berner:In the best tradition of the great American memoir, “Any Road Will Take You There” is honest, unflinching, and tender. A middle-age father takes the reader on a five-thousand-mile road trip, the one he always wished he’d taken as a young man. Recently divorced and uncertain of the future, he rereads the iconic road story – Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” – and along with his two sons and his best friend, heads for the highway to rekindle his spirit. However, a family secret turns the cross-country journey into an unexpected examination of his role as a father, and compels him to look to the past and the fathers who came before him to find contentment and clarity, and celebrate the struggles and triumphs of being a dad.
Winner: Book of the Year, Chicago Writers Association.
“Full of humor, vulnerability, and grace.” – Scott Whitehair, Chicago’s This Much is True
“Reignites the desire in all of us to connect with the people we love. Jack would have loved this story!” – Michael Robinson, The Kerouac Project, Orlando, FL.
“A thoughtful, touching, and at times heartbreaking account of the struggles of fatherhood, career, marriage, and the death of a parent.” – David Katzman, A Greater Monster
Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
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David W. Berner is a journalist, broadcaster, writer, and teacher. His first book, Accidental Lessons was awarded the Royal Dragonfly Grand Prize for Literature. His stories have been published in a number of literary magazines and journals, and his broadcast reporting and audio documentaries have aired on the CBS Radio Network and dozens of public radio stations across America. Chicago is his home.Any Road Will Take You There is a post from Awesome Gang
- She’s Not Herself
About She’s Not Herself:This is a memoir about the effects of multi-generational traumas, as told by a seasoned psychotherapist who has examined human vulnerability in its many disguises and has moved through it all with dignity and hope. On the surface, Linda’s childhood seemed normal—even idyllic. Linda grew up in the iconic immigrant community of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with her parents and a gifted older brother. But she spent her days at home alone with a mother who suffered major bouts of depression. At such times, young Linda was told, “Your mother…she’s not herself today.” Those words did little to help Linda understand what she was witnessing. Instead, she experienced the anxiety and hyper-vigilance that often take root when secrecy and shame surround a family member who is ill.
Years later, after receiving invaluable tools from skilled therapists whose help she had sought and after more than thirty years as a behavioral psychotherapist helping others, Shapiro revisits her past in an effort to make sense of the effects of multi-generational traumas. She is ultimately able to forgive (without forgetting) those who left her to fend for herself—and to provide readers with the wisdom of a seasoned psychotherapist. The result is a memoir of love, loss, loyalty, and healing.
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Behavioral psychotherapist, oral historian, lecturer, and author, Linda Appleman Shapiro earned her B.A. in literature from Bennington College, a Master’s degree in Human Development/Counseling from the Bank Street College of Education, and a Master Certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming from the New York Institute of N.L.P. She has further certifications in Ericksonian Hypnosis and Substance Abuse/Addictions Counseling.Shapiro is a contributing author in the casebook, Leaves Before the Wind: Leading Applications of N.L.P.
In private practice for more than thirty years, Shapiro also served as a senior staff member at an out-patient facility for addicts and their families. As an oral historian, she has documented the lives of many of New York’s elderly.
For her blog of three years, A Psychotherapist’s Journey, Shapiro was named Top Blogger in the field of mental health by WELLsphere.
Married to actor and audiobook narrator George Guidall, Shapiro and her husband live in Westchester County, New York. They have two daughters and two grandchildren.
She’s Not Herself is a post from Awesome Gang
- Serenity’s Song
About Serenity’s Song:
The Saints of the world are being hunted, betrayed by the Guardians who were sworn to protect them. Once every five hundred years a new Saint is chosen and gifted with tremendous power. After five hundred years of waiting Ayva intends for that power to be hers! No one will stop her this time. Not Michael, the son of the Saint, and certainly not some human girl.
In another world, Serenity is a singer whose dreams are about to come true, but a chance encounter with a little boy forever changes her destiny. After Serenity is injured protecting Michael’s son, Michael does the one thing he knows he shouldn’t do, he brings her home.
Serenity awakens to a world of magic, desire and danger. Legend tells of a time when the guardians will fall. A Queen will be chosen, gifted with power potent enough to protect both worlds. Her role is to ensure the safety of Michael’s family until a new Saint is chosen.
Is Serenity strong enough to return peace to Christmas?
Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
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The Saints of the world are being hunted, betrayed by the Guardians who were sworn to protect them. Once every five hundred years a new Saint is chosen and gifted with tremendous power. After five hundred years of waiting Ayva intends for that power to be hers! No one will stop her this time. Not Michael, the son of the Saint, and certainly not some human girl.In another world, Serenity is a singer whose dreams are about to come true, but a chance encounter with a little boy forever changes her destiny. After Serenity is injured protecting Michael’s son, Michael does the one thing he knows he shouldn’t do, he brings her home.
Serenity awakens to a world of magic, desire and danger. Legend tells of a time when the guardians will fall. A Queen will be chosen, gifted with power potent enough to protect both worlds. Her role is to ensure the safety of Michael’s family until a new Saint is chosen.
Is Serenity strong enough to return peace to Christmas?
Serenity’s Song is a post from Awesome Gang