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Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome Writers

1. Image of Deceit

   About image of deceit:

   Bygie Hudson’s isolated life as an artist was perfect… except for her husband. Her seclusion is shattered when the police arrive to tell her there has been an accident. The man she’d been married to for fifteen years, and considered divorcing for fourteen, is dead… and they believe she may be behind it.

   As she fights to clear her name, she learns her husband has been selling far more than cars through their successful dealership, and the corruption is linked to a prominent judge… with tentacles reaching straight into San Diego PD. The deadly fallout puts her life in jeopardy.

   When a witness disappears, and the threat of a reporter on the hunt for headlines is removed, lead Detective Tom Hall is told to walk away from the case. But the widow is an enigma. Unwilling to let go, he risks what’s left of his stalled career by following leads on his own time. He refuses to let Bygie walk away until he uncovers the truth.

   Sometimes, you just can’t see crazy… even when it’s staring you in the face

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
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   Author Bio:
   I’ve been telling stories for a long time but getting one down on paper is another matter! I entered the professional writing world as a freelance writer covering the people behind some impressive motorcycle builds. In my spare time I worked on The Novel…

   It takes more time than most would believe possible to get a story to print. I personally found it best to walk away from the project and let it rest awhile. Months and months in fact. Whenever I re-entered the world I’d created for my story, I had a sharper eye for what was a bunch of hogwash and what might be pretty darn good. The right words in the correct order can have a powerful impact and it takes time to fit all of the pieces together.

   Support is also needed in a big way. Writers need editors and readers that will preview with a critical eye and not be afraid to tell you the truth. Family needs to understand the vacant look that comes with brain overload while figuring out plots.

   Reading is how I relax. I devoured books as a child and that appetite has not diminished. My favorite genre is mystery, but I also venture away from the top ten list of well known mystery writers and read a broad spectrum of non-fiction.

   I play a lot during the summer months, not much gets done in the way of work. We are a household of landspeed racers. I race a 1941 Indian Motorcycle and hold records in the 350cc vintage class for both gas and fuel. I’m also proud to be part of history as a Bonneville SCTA starter. The hours are long, the sun is hot, but the reward is inspiring. To witness dreams becoming reality is humbling.
   I’m currently working on my next novel,another mystery with a strong female protagonist. (Well, I will be working on it when summer is over!)

   Thanks for stopping by!

   Image of Deceit is a post from Awesome Gang

2. The Trouble With Gumballs by James Nelson

   About The Trouble With Gumballs by James Nelson:

   A CLASSIC OF WESTERN NARRATIVE NON-FICTION

   The Trouble With Gumballs is a portrait of a gumball entrepreneur’s life in 1950s America: it’s a slice or retail business history and a funny freelance memoir all rolled into one. Kirkus called The Trouble With Gumballs, “A very funny account of a young man’s going west . . . Likable all the way.” The San Francisco Chronicle said of author James Nelson, “The ranks of good, young humorists are almost perpetually thin. A former New York magazine editor named James Nelson might qualify.”
   When James Nelson decides to move his family out West to California in 1952, he takes the leap into entrepreneurship by buying a slew of gumball machines. The ad guaranteed quick profits and easy money, but comic frustrations were what he got. Savvy modern readers will laugh at Nelson’s charming naiveté while millennial freelancers will identify with his determination to keep on after endless setbacks. The gumball machine is an iconic symbol of 1950s Americana, and while the story chronicles Nelson’s foibles with gumball entrepreneurship, it’s the funny characters he meets along the way that are the true stars of this funny memoir. His larger-than-life descriptions of the characters of San Francisco and Sonoma county paint historic California as a fun scene—even for a man who makes his living one grubby penny at a time.

   A fun read for fans of humorous travel writing, Sonoma County or San Francisco narratives, or anyone wanting to get an insider view of start-up from the days before Silicon Valley.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   James—Jim—was born in Denver, schooled there and in New Haven (code word for Yale), spent four WWII years in the Navy, then six in New York as an editor for Business Week.

   After marriage and the birth of their first child, the happy couple moved to Sonoma, California. Jim freelanced there for five years (code for until the money ran out). One of the original Mad Men of the more relaxed West-coast variety, Nelson spent 23 years on the creative side of a San Francisco advertising agency. His first novel, On the Volcano, was published in 2011. He and Mary-Armour now live happily ever after in Marin County, California.

   The Trouble With Gumballs by James Nelson is a post from Awesome Gang

3. THE POWER EATER

   About THE POWER EATER:

   Join me on an adventure. Let’s go to a place where fear stalks on eight legs. Where the diabolical Morbidius Ultimatum has devised a plan to add humans to his collection of extinct species. We’ll follow Chilli, Ty and Oubaas (a three-legged baboon) as Gaia sends creatures to help them destroy Morbidius’s dark heart before time runs out. If they don’t we, and planet Earth, will be annihilated.

   Morbidius Ultimatum is bored. And impatient. He is eager to complete his macabre collection of the last surviving member of every species on earth and add to his most prized specimen – the last human being! This diabolical character thrives on negative energy generated by the human race, and he seizes the perfect opportunity to make himself so powerful that no one will be able to stop him from carrying out his ghoulish plan.

   But the seeds of Morbidius’s destruction lies in his greed and impatience. The three friends are drawn into Morbidius’s insane world and it becomes their mission to save the world. But Chilli first has to overcome her own fears before she is able to destroy Morbidius. The Power Eater, a symbol of her deepest fear, stands between success and failure. It is only when Chilli conquers her biggest fear that she finally realises the power she wields.

   However, Chilli, Ty and Oubaas are not alone in their mission. Gaia, the personification of planet earth, sends them the assistance they need to overcome the dangers they encounter. They meet a dead Admiral who spends eternity hunting hunters looking for their next trophy and an African shaman who helps them find the Valley of Bones (the legendary elephants’ graveyard) where the Ivory Bow is kept that will destroy Morbidius’s Dark Heart.

   Will the three friends destroy Morbidius before it’s too late?

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.

   Author Bio:
   I am an author who spent her childhood in a world away from this world. A world filled with fairies, ghouls and goblins. A world where magic was probable and anything was possible. I have translated this love of fantasy and the yearning for a better life into my books. There is nothing more I enjoy than peering at the world through the character’s eyes, whether they wear rose-tinted glasses or spectacles muddied by a jaded view of the world.

   THE POWER EATER is a post from Awesome Gang

4. To Know Me (To Know Me Series, Book One)

   About To Know Me (To Know Me Series, Book One):

   To know me is to die.

   Seventeen-year-old Mae is convinced that the consequences of her poor decisions have caused the untimely deaths of her dad, sister Laura, and grandma who all die within a year, no matter how ludicrous her thoughts seem to those she loves. The solution? Run away so no one else she cares for gets hurt (even if she has to keep a GPS tracker on her phone at all times).

   Desperate to earn her diploma and salvage something of her life, she transfers schools when people get too close. After switching to Woodson Prep with only two months to go until graduation, Mae keeps her goals in sight. But when she meets Ty, the “perfect boy” with his own secrets and a relentless interest in Mae, she must decide if she can stop running from the past and still protect those she loves.
   TO KNOW ME

   TO LOVE ME

   TO FORGIVE ME

   TO CHOOSE ME (just released)

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Marcy Blesy is the author of several middle grade and young adult novels and short stories. Her picture book, Am I Like My Daddy?, helps children who experienced the loss of a parent when they were much younger. She has also been published in two Chicken Soup for the Soul books as well as various newspapers and magazines. By day she runs an elementary school library and enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys.

   Marcy is a believer in love and enjoys nothing more than making her readers feel a book more than simply reading it. She likes to connect with her readers via twitter (@marcyblesy), email (mablesy(at)yahoo.com), or her blog(www.marcyblesy.com).

   To Know Me (To Know Me Series, Book One) is a post from Awesome Gang

5. Angels: An illustrated short story for adults by Ann Pearlman

   About Angels: An illustrated short story for adults by Ann Pearlman:

   Angels presents a new genre, an illustrated short story for adults. Set in inner city Detroit, this is a tale of a family beset by the traumas of drug addiction, adultery, prison, violence as well as the joys of sexuality, love and, especially, children. The mother, desperate when he husband is sent to prison, becomes a stripper to support her two daughters, her angels.

   Both the story and the collage illustrations are done by Ann Pearlman. The images of both eroticism and violence are tasteful.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Ann Pearlman is a writer of both fiction, and non-fiction books and has been passionate about writing since eighth grade. Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy was written with two colleagues and used as both a consciousness-raising book in the woman’s movement as well as college textbook. Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair With Your Spouse, garnered the attention of the Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV talk shows. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Inside the Crips, with a foreword by Ice T, took readers into the life of a Crip gang member and the California Prison system. The Christmas Cookie Club became an international bestseller, spawning cookie exchanges and donations to charity. The Christmas Cookie Cookbook: All the Rules and Delicious Recipes to Start Your Own Holiday Cookie Club was written with her friend, Marybeth Bayer, who is a terrific baker as well as the hostess of the cookie exchange Ann attends. A Gift for My Sister hit the stands in the U.S in the spring of 2012 to wonderful reviews.

   Ann was born in Washington D.C. and, as a child, moved around several Midwestern cities, most notably Chicago and Pittsburgh. After moving to Cleveland, Toronto, Cincinnati, and Kalamazoo, she settled in Ann Arbor, where The Christmas Cookie Club is set. Ann received an undergraduate degree in Anthropology, and a graduate degree in Clinical Social Work and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Ann Arbor. She studied writing at the University of Michigan, attended workshops at Sewanee and Squaw Valley Writers’ Conferences.

   When she’s not writing, Ann makes art: metal sculptures, acrylic and watercolor paintings, jewelry, and altered books. Her art is seen throughout this site and can be viewed in the gallery. She also loves to dance to a wide assortment of music (blues, rock, rap, and classical) and work out. On a winter day in Ann Arbor, you can find Ann with her friends or family making homemade jams, cookies and inventing recipes. Or escaping the snow for a beach and snorkeling. Ann has three children and four grandchildren.

   Angels: An illustrated short story for adults by Ann Pearlman is a post from Awesome Gang

6. Conundrum by C.S. Lakin

   About Conundrum by C.S. Lakin:

   Lies may hurt, but the truth can be murder . . .

   A happily married man with three small children decides one day he no longer wants to live. He gives himself leukemia and nine months later is dead.

   This is the conundrum Lisa Sitteroff is determined to solve regarding her long-dead father–the tale her mother, Ruth, repeated throughout Lisa’s childhood. But Lisa, now thirty and watching her older brother, Raff, suffer from the ravages of bipolar illness, believes if she can solve this puzzle, she might somehow save him. For Raff’s pain is intrinsically tied up with feelings of parental abandonment.

   What starts as a noble goal for Lisa, though, soon grows into a vicious family war that wreaks destruction on her marriage and upends her life. Shocking clues arise as she reads a letter her father wrote before he died, prompting her to go on a journey beset with conflicting tales and startling disclosures. Those who had known her father give hints of radiation exposure, a dangerous physics experiment, and lurid affairs.

   But which stories are truth and which are lies? Is truth only a matter of interpretation, or has the truth been colored by those hiding dark, terrible secrets? Although Lisa pays a high price in her search for the father she never knew, she finds an answer to the conundrum that brings her to a place of healing and reconciliation. She had sought to save her brother, but in the end, unknowingly, she saves herself.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   C. S. Lakin is an award-winning novelist, writing instructor, and professional copyeditor. Lakin’s award-winning blog for writers: www.livewritethrive.com provides deep writing instruction and posts on industry trends. Her site www.CritiqueMyMaunscript.com features her critique services. She teaches workshops and critiques at writing conferences and workshops around the country.

   Conundrum by C.S. Lakin is a post from Awesome Gang