Today Is Earth Day: Poetry Book to Honor the Day Released

Sublime Planet

Authors: Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Authors' Web sites:
Carolyn: http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm
Magdalena: http://magdalenaball.com
Photos: Ann Howley  
ISBN: 978-1482054705

 

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi

 

Gearing up for Earth Day, Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball are releasing a brand new collection of poems titled Sublime Planet. The collection features relevant poems by Carolyn and Magdalena that demonstrate the interconnections of the world around us, including life, family, and love, along with the growing concern for the earth’s preservation.

This is a beautifully written collection that allows the reader to pause and take note of the world around her.

One of my favorite poems in the collection is one by Carolyn titled “The Giraffe:”

 

A tongue generous

as my head he reaches

for me, barriers no match

for his long neck, sniffs

my hair, kisses my face.

He unaware

he is endangered.

I unaware he might

be dangerous.

 

This poem is a powerful, yet simple tribute to a majestic creature that is now an endangered species. Can you imagine a planet without the giraffe?

Another poem in the collection that struck me is “Tipping Point” by Magdalena Ball: “[. . .] you eat and eat through four billion years of evolution now held loosely by one thread. [. . .] The future waits impatiently your decision.”

Again, powerful, and revealing.

 

Sublime Planet offers moving insight into the world around us and into a world that is in need of attention, and it certainly honors Earth Day. I highly recommend it.

 

For those who aren’t aware of what Earth Day is, Senator Gaylord Nelson created this special day in the spring of 1970. The purpose behind it was to make everyone aware of all the toxins being spewed into the air and dumped in nearby streams or other waterways by manufacturing companies.

At that time, there were no regulatory or legal safety nets to protect our planet, our environment. Senator Nelson took a stand and his cause quickly caught on.

The earth is our planet, our home, our responsibility, and we’re not doing such a good job protecting it.

Sublime Planet celebrates Earth Day (April 22nd).

The poems "Giraffe" and “Tipping Point” are from Sublime Planet, a book of poetry in the Celebration Series coauthored by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball. It will be released before Earth Day.  In the meantime learn more about Carolyn's poetry books (including that Celebration Series!) at http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm. And, learn more about Magdalena’s poetry and fiction at http://magdalenaball.com

About the reviewer:

Karen Cioffi is a multi-award-winning author, freelance/ghostwriter, and author online presence instructor. Give your writing and marketing efforts a boost with The Writing World newsletter. Get weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free webinars, and TWO ebooks! Go to http://thewritingworld.com and sign-up today.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Authors, Reviewers, Readers! How To Submit Your Fave Review

I post and edit this The New Book Review blog  at no charge and I do it by myself. I don't even ask for donations. And I love it! Lucky you! 

I outline the submission guidelines in the left column of the blog, but I still get all kinds of unusual submissions that require me to send the author, reviewer, or reader back to the drawing board. The thing is, my guidelines are not an isolated requirement. They are standard throughout the publishing industry and authors who don’t know how to follow them are at a disadvantage with everything from entering a contest to getting a agent.

I, like everyone else, do ask that the submission guidelines be followed exactly. In other words, your favorite review--whether you're an author, a reader, or a reviewer--must be all submitted all in one place--by you--so it's pretty much copy and paste for me. (Though I always have some details to attend to). Dan Poynter actually uses the term “copy and paste ready” in his guidelines for submissions.

I cover tips for submissions to editors, etc. (among hundreds of other tips)  in The Frugal Book Promoter as a way to assure that more of your marketing efforts get used by editors.  I consider these guidelines a bit of a training ground for authors. Find The Frugal Book Promoter at http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo.  

So....your submission to this blog should come all in one e-mail window.

It should be formatted as outlined in the submission guidelines right here at http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com  in the left column. 

And no attachments, please. Many universities, newspapers, etc will NEVER open attachments. In fact, their servers may not even let e-mail with attachments through but send them instead directly to cyberspace--bypassing even the spam folder. 

I hope to hear from you soon! Should you decide to take on this marketing opportunity, let's make it fun, easy, and a wonderful marketing (and learning) experience. (-:

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

The Stuff of Great Story: The Ocean. Sailing. Family.

Title: The Other Side of The Ice

Author: Sprague Theobald
Web Site: http://SpragueTheobald.com
Genre: Nonfiction: Family / Adventure
ISNB: 78-1-61608-623-7

 

Originally reviewed by The Alpha Wife

I am always looking for a good book to read and although my reading time is limited these days, it seems I am always able to make time for a new book (my family probably wishes I made time for things like cooking or cleaning!).
The last book I read was The Other Side of the Ice, by Sprague Theobald, and let me tell you – it was not what I expected, in the best way possible.

I don’t really know anything about sailing, and I can’t say it’s an interest of mine (aside from lounging around on a sail boat in the British Virgin Islands…that I am interested in) – and as this book was about a family’s attempt to cross The Northwest Passage, which is an incredibly dangerous piece of the ocean that is littered with icebergs and infamous for its horrendous weather, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to, ahem, get on board.

Honestly, I expected a book detailing the technical aspects of the crossing, and although I knew from the summary that it also told the story of a family reunited, I was still pretty sure I’d mostly be reading a book about boats and polar bears.

Turns out I was wrong on several levels.

This is a story about one man’s physical and emotional journey through some of the world’s most dangerous (and largely uncharted!) territory.  Sprague is a talented writer and draws the reader in from the first page – and almost immediately, it’s clear that this story is about more than the ocean.  Sprague decides he wants to fulfill a lifelong dream to sail through the Northwest Passage, but maybe even more importantly, he wants to repair the relationships he has with his three children (stepchildren Dominique and Chauncey and son Sefton), who are all competent sailors.  He hires the bunch – along with a captain (Dominique’s boyfriend) and a cameraman to record the journey for a future documentary, and sets off on the kind of adventure that you might see in the movies.  Only, it’s real.  And includes his children, who as adults are still healing from the wounds of divorce years after the divorce was finalized.

Sprague paints a vivid and honest picture of his relationship with his kids.  He doesn’t shirk from responsibility or blame the kids’ mother – he steps up and owns his mistakes and says, more than once, that he wishes he’d been around more.  As a parent, these stories pull at my heartstrings – there are some things that you just cannot undo, and Sprague realizes this,  making a point of living in the moment and fixing what he can and moving forward.  Much of the story almost reads as an apology to his children, yet remains hopeful about what the future may hold.  There is a lot of history and many back stories, and somehow these all seem to come together seamlessly.  The crew are a vibrant and multi-dimensional nunch, and I felt that Sprague managed to tell their stories without bias – these are real people, and I didn’t feel like the author was trying to make me like, or dislike, anyone.

I was cheering for everyone to reconnect as a family, to be sure…but I couldn’t get enough of the actual sailing trip, either!  I had *no* idea what went into something of this magnitude and it was fascinating to me to read about the technical details (which I thought would quickly bore me).  Sprague talks just enough about the boat’s engine/weather/onboard systems to educate the reader and set the stage for the story – it’s a fine line to walk, as too much boat stuff and I’d be yawning myself to sleep, but not enough and I might be confused (and I’m sure experienced sailors and adventurers relished the technical side of this book).
The book ended as I’d hoped (that’s not a spoiler!).  I was rooting for the whole crew and the hearty little Bagan (I kind of loved their boat by the end of this book, and felt like she was one of the main players in this story).

The only thing that disappointed me?  The editing was poor.  There were some typos, and some of these came early on in the book…which had me wondering if I wanted to keep reading.  But the story was so compelling and well-told, I kept reading (and was happy I did).  And for the record, I looked this book up on Amazon and noticed that the author addressed the typos and said they were being corrected (thank goodness – this story deserves to be typo-free).

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Stephen Brayton Novel Gets Thumbs Up

 

Alpha
By Stephen L. Brayton
Genre: Fiction: Mystery/Action
Available in print and as an e-book
Published by Oak Tree Press
Author's Web site: www.stephenbrayton.com
ISBN: 978-1610091152

 

Reviewed by J. M. LeDuc, author of “Cursed Days” published by Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine

I like that “Alpha” was written in a narrative format. The protagonist, Mallory Peterson tells the story in first person and it’s a conversation between Mallory and her friend Lawrence Cameron.

We first find out Mallory is struggling with the idea of taking her friendship with Lawrence Cameron, a hardened police detective, to the next level. We soon understand why. Mallory was involved with someone she thought was a sweet guy, Bobby Furillo, who was not what he appeared to be. Under that sweet exterior lived a man with a dual life, married to a devoted wife with a daughter, and who was also a drug lord.

Mallory finds Bobby dead, an apparent victim of murder by gunshot. She meddles into the investigation and soon realizes his true identity. The ensuing story, as she tries to piece together who killed him and who he was, and ultimately trying to take down the head of the drug ring, will keep your head spinning. How far is she willing to go to discover the truth and how many people will have to die?

 The plot explores the seedy side of drug dealers and users, the effects on people when they discover their loved ones are not who they thought, and delves into mans’ conscience and what they are and are not willing to do in the name of greed.

 What I liked best about “Alpha” is the way the story was told. It’s set up in a ‘then’ and ‘now’ division. Each chapter glimpses into the relationship between Mallory and Lawrence as they discuss their fears, wants, and expectations. During this, Mallory retells the story about her relationship with Bobby, how she went about trying to solve his murder, and more importantly why.

 I highly recommend “Alpha” and you would be remiss not to read it. Brayton has distinguished himself as a master storyteller. I for one will be waiting for the next installment.

 

Learn more about the author at:
www.stephenbrayton.com
www.stephenbrayton.wordpress.com
www.braytonsbookbuzz.wordpress.com
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

New Book Offers Activities in Time for Summer Camps, Summer Schools

Day Camp in Hawaii
Published by Create Space
Book store discounts and bulk orders: https://www.createspace.com/3854054
Individual copies available at Amazon and Barnes & Nobel, Books a Million
Paperback, Nook and Kindle editions
132 pages, 8 ½ x 11
$9.95Photo:http://www.prlog.org/12089793/1

 

Camp directors, recreational program leaders and summer school teachers can find educational and fun activities that use a Hawaiian theme.

 When school lets out for summer there will be a variety of programs for youth to keep them busy during the summer months.  The directors of these programs will be interested in a new book, Day Camp in Hawaii.  This book offers a summer camp program for elementary age students that can be used by any youth group, camp or summer school program.

“When I was in charge of Cub Scout Day Camp, I thought the best part of the job was coming up with all the activities, games, crafts and songs needed for the program,” the author, Paula Hrbacek said. “Later, I worked for Campfire and the YMCA doing after school and summer programs.  They used a theme for each week of camp, too.  Even though they were different programs, they still used games, songs and skits.”

It was difficult for Hrbacek to find enough activities for a week of camp using a tropical theme.  Instead, she wrote her own activities such as the deaf sign language hula dance.  She rewrote the song “Tiny Bubbles (in the wine)” and turned it into “Mighty Cub Scouts in a line.”  It meets the Cub Scout requirement for using sign language, but if the name of the organization is changed, it could also be used to meet Girl Scout requirements for dancing and singing as well.
Writing her own activities was the easy way to come up with an original and fun program.  Hrbacek majored in journalism and art at the University of Missouri-Columbia.  She’s the author of three arts and crafts books and one novel.  Currently, she writes about children’s arts and crafts for the Panama City edition of The Examiner, a free online newspaper.  In addition to her publishing credits in Highlights, Pack-o-Fun and other magazines, she has a degree in elementary education from Pensacola Junior College and experience teaching art in a Catholic school.

A stay-at-home mother of four, Hrbacek has fifteen years experience leading Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.  She received the District Award of Merit from Boy Scouts for her work on the Cub Scout Summer Day Camp Program.  She was also given the Girl Scout Outstanding Volunteer Award for her work with Juniors, Cadettes and Senior Scouts.


“The attendance record is a brilliant idea,” said Roy Smith, the air rifle instructor at the camp.  “She saved herself a lot of paperwork with that one.”

Day Camp in Hawaii has everything a summer program needs; games, sports, crafts, art projects, Hawaiian lore and trivia facts, geology, skits, songs, guest speaker suggestions, first aid, CPR, tourism, music and dance.  It also includes money saving tips, time savers, and organization and management tips.  Every activity has an introduction that is educational, and a closing thought that reinforces a basic value, such as honesty, hard work, and friendship.

The activities are grouped into two age levels.  Lower level activities are for grades K to 3.  Upper level activities are for grades 4 to 6.

“This is a great book,” commented Laurie Flynn, an artist in Pensacola FL.  “There are a lot of great ideas in here.  It gives a leader a lot of choices.”

Campers who participated in these activities when Hrbacek ran it as a camp program said it was “awesome” and “the best camp ever.”  Leaders commented the program was “well organized” and “easy to do”.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

MuseItUp Author Publishes New Romantic Thriller

REFLECTION
By: Kim Cresswell
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
eBook ISBN: 978-1-77127-256-8
Publication Date: January 2013
Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Romance
Purchase at: MuseItUpPublishing.com, Amazon.com, Bookstrand, Omnilit, Kobo, Smashwords and B&N
Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz at Books4Tomorrow
Ellen's star rating:  5/5

Summary

Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the “Big” story.
She found it.
Now it may kill her.
After Whitney receives a lead pointing to the world’s first cloned human, now a small child, she vows to unravel the truth. However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.
When Whitney is nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective—at least not right away.
Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man’s thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother’s death over a decade ago…
Can they save an innocent child before it’s too late?
Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many—Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.

Review by Ellen Fritz originally for Books4Tomorrow

A truly edge-of-your-seat, never-a-dull-moment read. Reflection has a dramatic start and just never slows down. When her ex-husband is killed while trying to tell her something important, investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, realizes that she may be on to the story of a lifetime. Too bad then that Nathan Shaw, Blake Neely and an enemy from her past want to prevent her obtaining the information for her story; and at the heart of all this, an innocent child.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as it moves forward all the time with no lengthy descriptions or angsty inner dialogue. The romance in the story is tastefully written and skillfully distributed throughout the book so as to enhance rather than interfere with the main storyline.

The characters are fleshed out and vividly described thus giving the reader captivating mental images that truly makes the story come alive. I love a strong female protagonist who can hold her own, kick butt and doesn't indulge in self pity. Whitney Steel is exactly that. Blake Neely, the male protagonist, is extremely realistic with his inner battles about keeping Whitney safe, the death of his sister and, ultimately, his own mission. Let's not forget the bad guys in this story. Ruthless, mean and self-serving are just some of the adjectives that come to mind. Add to that vengeful and the author has some truly nasty but highly realistic antagonists to give our heroes a run for their money.

I highly recommend this five-star page-turner to those who love a suspense laden novel with constant action and well balanced romance. The extra complication at the end gives this book a unique quality, and, oops, let me stop before I give too much away! As the book has a slightly open end, let's hope that we'll soon see another book by the highly gifted Kim Cresswell. Ellen Fritz - Books4Tomorrow http://bookstomorrow.blogspot.ca/2013/03/review-reflection-by-kim-cresswell.html

What Others are Saying

“Reflection is an edge-of-your-seat suspense, with gut-wrenching emotion, and sexual tension that has you turning the page to see how it all turns out. This was one of the best suspense stories I've read, and Nathan Shaw is a villian you'll love to hate!” - Jerri Drennen, Author (Amazon Review)

“Reflection is a fast-paced thriller with something for every reader: scientific experiments, murderous encounters, and a complicated love story. Kim Cresswell’s debut work will leave you hanging on every page in a world where every word counts, every man’s word is suspect, and those ‘three little words’ mean more than anything when all is revealed.” -M.K. Chester, author of Surrender to the Roman (Carina Press)

“Glad to know there is a sequel coming as I really liked this one. The plot had a lot of typical Rom Sus elements, but somehow the whole was very fresh to me. The greatest element of the story for me was that the heroine, Whitney Steel (great name!) was believable mixture of being strong,and capable but vulnerable and sometimes misguided. The story was exciting and definitely left me wanting more!” -Lhenry (Goodreads Review) (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/527104585)

About the Author

Award-wining author, Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a legal assistant, Kim has been a storyteller all her life but took many detours including; working for a private investigator, running a graphic design business, and teaching computer classes at a local business school. After becoming disabled with Fibromyalgia and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Kim returned to her first love, writing.

She's also an avid reader who enjoys playing computer games, ghost hunting and loves anything paranormal.

Kim has a few new books in the works including; Retribution, the sequel to Reflection, slated for October. Lethal Journey, a suspense thriller, will be released later this summer.

Web Site: www.kimcresswell.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KimCresswellBooks

Twitter: @kimcresswell

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6898395.Kim_Cresswell

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REFLECTION - A reporter's determination to expose an illegal human cloning project places an innocent child in the crosshairs of a master criminal. 
MuseItUp Publishing:  http://tinyurl.com/ctwm5cp 
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Reflection-ebook/dp/B00B5HRBZE
Paperback at Createspace eStore:  https://www.createspace.com/4144264
Kobo:  http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Reflection/book-_5-zhN2-20u_RUw8yO1Cxg/page1.html
Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/289845
Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflection-kim-cresswell/1114770566?ean=2940044344181
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Last Day for FREE Earth Day E-Book

Sublime Planet
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Genre: Activist Poetry
Available on Amazon as Paperback, http://amzn.to/SublimePlanet
Available as an e-book, http://bitly.com/EarthDayKind
ISBN: 9781482054705
Photography by Ann Howley
Proceeds from this book benefit World Wildlife Fund


Reviewed by Walter Brasch

April 22 is the 33rd annual Earth Day. The first Earth Day involved students from almost all of America's colleges, and about 20 million others, believed to be the largest grassroots effort in America's history. But, there were dissenters--far too many believed that Earth Day was nothing but a bunch of tree-hugging liberals who were getting tired of protesting the war in VietNam. The anti-war protests did provide an organizing base, but Earth Day has grown so much greater, and is now celebrated in virtually every country on Earth. Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson, in their new book of poetry, SUBLIME PLANET, have created an excellent way to celebrate our planet. In their poems you can learn about a diversity that makes our environment and its people worth keeping. There's Van Gogh, Cassini, and Greek school girls; there's poppies and giraffes, dragons, sea horses, seagulls, and sand. There's the forests and the rivers. Dig deep into each poem and you'll better understand why we need to protect our planet and its environment. More important, you'll learn that all people, animals and plants have a place, and to destroy any one is to destroy us all. Read it. Understand it. And do something positive to preserve and improve what we are blessed with.

Reviewed by Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D., is an award-winning syndicated columnist , radio commentator, and the author of 17 books. His latest is Fracking Pennsylvania, an in-depth investigation into the effects of fracking upon the environment, health, and worker safety. He also looks into the economics and political corruption within this controversial practice.

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :