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Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome Writers

1. Ripple, A Tale of Hope and Redemption by E.L. Farris
   Ex-lawyer E.L. Farris is a born-again, marathon-running married mother of three who resides in Northern Virginia. <---That's what it says on the back of Ripple. What else do you need to know about me? I talk a lot. I write a lot. I adore my husband. I adore my children. What else? Well, I run. I've been running since I turned 14. I started to run then and I've been running ever since. Whenever I stop running, I land in a lot of trouble. I ran through a childhood that could well be described as hell. I ran through major depressive episodes and often teetered one step from the edge of a breakdown. Through running, I held onto my sanity, my sobriety, my life and my belief in God. Each step I take, no matter how physically painful, draws me a shade closer into my better angels. And the steps have become painful over the years, which is how I earned the nickname Phoenix. Some mornings I feel like I've been run over by a bus and the truth is, I was. I survived a collision with a metro bus, and it's fair to say that the accident messed me up. And yet I keep rising from the pyre of a burning fire and as I run I realize that as long as I hold the Holy Spirit inside me, my spirit will never die.
2. A Bullet For Carlos
   I live in Texas now, but I grew up in Cleland Heights, a mixed ethnic neighborhood in Wilmington, Delaware, that sat on the fringes of the Italian, Irish and Polish neighborhoods. The main characters of Murder Takes Time grew up in Cleland Heights, and many of the scenes in the book were taken from real-life experiences. Since this is a bio some of you might wonder what I do. I've had a successful 30 year career as a headhunter, recruiting top talent for some of the world's best companies--Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, and many high-profile start-up companies. During that time I've completed more than 500 searches, which translates into evaluating, editing, and writing thousands of resumes. I have also interviewed and done reference checks on more than 1,000 candidates. I've learned what companies want to see on a resume--and, perhaps more importantly--what they don't. You'll find a lot more information in the book and on my website. Getting back to the bio--when my kids were young I left the Northeast and settled in Texas, where my wife suggested we get a few animals. I should have known better; we now have a full-blown animal sanctuary with rescues from all over. At last count we had 45 animals--11 dogs, a horse, a three-legged cat and 5 others, and 26 pigs. Oh, and one crazy--and very large--wild boar, who takes walks with me every day and happens to also be my best buddy. In the evening I help my wife tend to the animals, and at night--late at night--I turn into a writer. Check out the websites. For fiction books go to: http://giacomogiammatteo.com Non-fiction books: http://nomistakes.org Once you get there, take a look around, click some links, and, if you've got time, tell me what you think.
3. Notice Me (Holton Series #2) by B. L. Blair
   B. L. Blair writes simple and sweet romance stories and an occasional fantasy. Like most authors, she has been writing most of her life and has dozens of books started. She just needs the time to finish them. She is the author of the Holton romance series and The Good, a contemporary fantasy novella. She loves reading books, writing books, and traveling wherever and as often as time and money allows. She is currently working on her latest book set in Texas, where she lives with her sisters and her cat, Darcy.
4. Aberration
   Danielle Simmons grew up in a small town in California's Sierra Nevada Foothills. A voracious reader from an early age, she began writing poetry and short stories in elementary school, and continued that passion throughout high school and college. She studied literature, creative writing and communications at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. Danielle currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and son, where she is a public relations executive by day, and writer and blogger by night. Her first novel, Aberration, was a semi-finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
5. Trying is Lying
   Ashly Lorenzana was born on October 2nd, 1987 in Portland, OR where she continues to live today, with her Chihuahua mutt named Bub. With over five years of experience working as an independent escort, Ms. Lorenzana now devotes a great deal of her time to writing business, whether doing freelance work, blogging for fun, or ranting about her life in general and then calling it a book. In addition to enjoying crystal meth, she also considers herself an intense and competitive Scrabble player.
6. Rolling Thunder by Mark Berent
   Lt Col Mark E. Berent, USAF (Ret), was born in Minneapolis, graduated from Cretin High School in St. Paul, and Arizona State University with a BSME. Berent began his Air Force career as an enlisted man then pilot training at Columbus and Laredo. He served three combat tours, completing 452 combat sorties, first in the F-100 at Bien Hoa then the F-4 at Ubon. He spent two years in Cambodia flying things with propellers and, through a fluke, ran the air war for a few weeks. He has logged over 4300 hours of flying time, 1084 of those in combat missions in the F-100, F-4, C-47 and U-10 over South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has flown 30 different aircraft. His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, Air Medal with twenty-four oak leaf clusters, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Cambodian Divisional Medal, and numerous Vietnam Campaign ribbons. He also earned US Special Forces and Cambodian jump wings. Since retirement, he established international operations for the sale of spares for combat aircraft; flew foreign aircraft such as the Swedish Viggen and RAF Jaguar and Hawk; wrote numerous articles for the Air Force Magazine; and was a pilot/reporter for the Asian Defense Journal. He wrote five Vietnam airwar novels (Rolling Thunder, see www.markberent.com). Recently flew his T-6 in airshows.
7. Lynna’s Beau by Kitty Margo
   Kitty Margo was a former hairstylist, secretary, seamstress and phlebotomist before venturing into the ranks of the self employed with a commercial cleaning company. This allowed her the free time to pursue writing. She has four books available now and is close to finishing her fifth. She is a Twilight fanatic who frequently dreams of being bitten by Edward Cullen. Hey, he's a vampire so the 30 year age difference doesn't even matter! Visit her at kittymargo.com.