Wednesday, August 31, 2011

WOW & WWW + IPad Challenge

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse Double Dead 1225 Christmas Tree Lane (Cedar Cove, #12) Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy: Advice from Rock's Ultimate Survivor
Eternal Embrace  Guess How Much I Love You: Pop-Up Amazing Pop-Up Trucks

Yes once again I am posting many books I want. Christmas is coming though so I have to make my desires subtly known, (ARE YOU READING THIS CHILDREN?).


1) Survivors A Novel of the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles. Due out in October 2011. Set in America. Practically overnight the stock market has plummeted, hyperinflation has crippled commerce, and the fragile chains of supply and high-technology infrastructure have fallen. This book is about life after the fall. It doesn't look pretty. 
2) Double Dead by Chuck Wendig . Due out November 2011. I just love this one. A vampire who needs humans for food must protect them from zombies who just want their brains. Doesn't that just say, "Good f**king times!"
3) 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber due out September 2011. It's the last book in the Cedar Cove Series. I almost want to cry. I love that series.
4) Trust Me, I'm Dr Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne. Due out October 2011. Do I really need to explain this one? If I do not get this  book I think what will happen will called justifiable. Every one of you kids know I love Ozzy. For years now him and Johnny Depp have shared my heart. Johnny doesn't have a book coming out so I better see this one. ( And somebody better coordinate so I don't get 6 of them - you may have noticed multiple books listed on Wednesdays. *Sorry everyone - my kids need instructions). 
5) Eternal Embrace by Jennifer Turner. Due out October 31, 2011. What better way to celebrate Halloween than with Jennifer Turner's third book in the Eternal Series? If you have not read this series get the first two books, ( Eternal Seduction and Eternal Hearts). I highly recommend them. 
And now Junior's picks, (he has obviously learned to pick more than one book from one of you other bloggers. Who was it?).
1) Guess How Much I Love You: Pop Up by Sam McBratney. Due out the end of September. Junior loves this book and now that it is coming out in pop up style he is psyched up. He claims it is the one book everyone should buy this year.
2) Amazing Pop Up Trucks by Robert Crowther. Due out this September also. Junior is super excited by this book. He loves trucks and this pop up book promises a truck with moving parts, descriptions of what it can do, real life photos, fact file of cool details and truck trivia behind flaps. He calls this one his dream book.


* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

My Current Reads:

My Haunted Family: Engrossing tales of one family's encounters with the unknown  Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers The Caretakers Wicked Autumn: A Max Tudor Novel

My Haunted Family by Rose Pressey was almost finished when my Kindle died. I am expecting it to get here today so a review is coming soon.
I have almost finished Pure Gold by Holli Pfau. Dog lovers you will love this one. Review coming. 
The Caretakers by Shauna Nosler and Wicked Autumn by G.M. Mallet I have just begun but am enjoying.

What I Just Finished:
The Bond: Conqueror  Darwin's Children (Volume 1)

Slow week for me. But school has begun.




What's Next?
1225 Christmas Tree Lane (Cedar Cove, #12) The Apothecary Lord of Rage (Royal House of Shadows, #2) Drink, Slay, Love

So what are you waiting on? What are your three W's? Please leave a comment so we can find you. Remember if you don't do these meme's or you don't have a blog you can still play along. Just leave your answers in the comments. 

If you would like to help Junior on his IPad challenge by the Puzzling Piece, (Autism Awareness), Please Click Here.
We appreciate any help even if it is only tweeting the page it is on.  Thank you!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Puzzling Piece

Hi Everyone! 


As you all may know I am raising my grandson who has autism. We are participating in the I Pad Challenge by http://www.thepuzzlingpiece.comThe Puzzling Piece was created to raise money to help children with Autism. If we can sell 60 items Junior will receive an IPad. 


The pieces for sale are:
  

  




If you would like to help please go to the website at http://www.thepuzzlingpiece.com/ and choose one of the above items. In the challengers name box please type Armando Rodriguez Jr. We really appreciate all your help.  This is an item we cannot afford but one that will help him immensely.

Here is a video made for The Puzzling Piece. Please watch and listen to the words of the song. 

Thank you all. We welcome your comments.

Review of Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry

Darwin's Children (Volume 1)

Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry
Penumbra Publishing  ISBN 978-935563-51-8
253 pages

*I received this book from the author with a request for review. I did not promise a good review nor was one requested. I received no compensation for this review.*

From the back cover:
Life can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening – especially when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!

Jaycie Lerner’s family isn’t the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie’s mom’s MIA, but Allison, her personal live-in ‘trainer,’ is more than a mom, with her own special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And Jaycie’s godfather John is more than persuasive – he can literally convince anyone to do anything.

As far as the rest of the world’s concerned, Jaycie’s on the outside looking in. The townsfolk love Jaycie’s pediatrician father, but she doesn’t fit in with ‘normal’ kids, and she doesn’t really want to. Most of her free time is spent training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But there’s one thing she can’t control – and that’s her feelings, especially when her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable of...

Everything seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell breaks loose!

My Review: 

This was a captivating YA novel for me.  It is different from most I read.  It is a Guardian type with angels, the fae and even a family of vampires in it. I think one of the reasons why I liked this book so much is that it is unlike the books I have been reading. The story line is intriguing. Jaycie is living with her father who has supernatural powers. Her nanny/mentor is a woman with super powers. Jaycie shares the same superpowers as her father. They are training her in its use. She has the problem of balancing her supernatural powers and her normalcy. There is romance in this with a normal boy who does not know of her powers. She forms a friendship with a girl who has different powers that were unknown to her. Jaycie and the family take her in. I found the book interesting. I was fascinated by the way it unfolded and all the different superpowers in it; the way angels and the fae take part is intriguing.  The vampire family's role is a new take also.  I am really impressed that the heroine in this is an African American teenage girl who actually is like the ones I know.  Jaycie is smart, respectful and educated. I am so tired of when the main character is an African American teen girl she is (a) pregnant, (b) on drugs, (c) locked up and, well, I could go on and on but you get my drift. I love the real portrayal.  Darwin's Children was well written and fresh.  I would recommend it to anyone who likes YA paranormal books. 


There is a Good Reads giveaway going on until September 29, 2011. http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/11612-darwin-s-children


Book is available at Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.

Teaser Tuesday - 4 Teasers!

Sorry I am late putting this up. I have had some computer issues and autistic related ones going on at home.


 Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading . Pick a page and a couple of teaser sentences from that page to share.


Pure Gold: Adventures with Six Rescued Golden Retrievers


Pure Gold  Adventures with Six Rescued Golden retrievers by Holli Pfau
Glad Dog Press LLC 
Expected release October 2011

*this snippet if from an ARC. It is not final and may or may not be included in the final copy.*
From page 16:
Her outreach was warm and genuine, and she didn't seem to be filling her own needs. Rather she seemed to sense others' interest and desires and make herself available to them. She was unlike any other dog I'd known.

The Caretakers

The Caretakers by Shauna Nosler
Createspace

From page 8:
"Faster," she silently prayed. " Please, God, if you still exist can't you make him go faster?" The young girl lay still, all but frozen by fear, exhaustion and apprehension.

He had finished. Yet she knew he was still there - still inside the small cold and bitter space of the old trailer. She could hear his breath. She wished he would leave.

From page 12:
But if all this was worth dying for, she thought, then there must  still be something worth living for.

And so, alone and freezing, she rose and exited the trailer.

Darwin's Children (Volume 1)

Darwin's Children by Natasha Larry
Penumbra Publishing
From page 180:
The desire in his voice drew her back in, and she felt her mind melt away when his lips found hers again. For the next ten minutes, they were only aware of each other. Jaycie was starting to think nothing could pry her out of his arms until she heard very intense brain waves crashing against her skull. Jaycie went rigid in Matt's arms. She saw red, and the usually mellow energy her godfather radiated was now spiked with fury - fury aimed straight at Matt Carter.
*A review of this book will be up later today.*



I hope you enjoyed my teaser and found a book you are interested in. Please leave me a comment! 

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Bond Conqueror by Philip Hall & A.C. Hall

The Bond: Conqueror

The Bond Conqueror by Phillip Hall & A.C. Hall
Hall Brothers Entertainment

I received this book from the author with a request to review. No promise of a good review was sought or given. I received no compensation for this review. The review is my honest opinion. 

From Good Reads:

Charles Bryant seems to have it all. A college professor on the esteemed intellectual planet Academia 7, Charles is something of a celebrity thanks to his branding as “the Bounty Hunting Professor”. But his bounty hunting missions are more than just a gimmick. Charles has spent a decade of his life consumed with trying to track down the last man alive who caused the death of his wife. And now he may’ve found him.

Joined by his number one student Sean Varis and a grieving wife whose husband just may be one of the four worst villains in the galaxy, Charles embarks on a quest across the stars in search of this man, driven by his
need to exact revenge upon him. But as Charles and his allies soon learn, more is at stake than just revenge, as a dark organization has slipped through the shadows of the galaxy and quietly set the stage for their bloody unveiling.

With a rival professor trying to take him down back home, a powerful organization doing all they can to kill him and with every tough guy in the galaxy gunning for a piece of the legendary “Bounty Hunting Professor”, Charles Bryant and his friends may find completing their mission means more than just locating one man. It means coming face to face with the malevolent force that wants to reshape the whole of the galaxy and living to tell the tale.

My Review:

What an interesting book. When I first heard of it I thought, "guy book but I'll give it a shot. I don't have to be in love with a books synopsis to read it and honestly review it." When I saw the cover I thought, "Star Trek Enterprise. Or maybe Star Wars." Well I was kind of right and kind of wrong. 
There is only one woman in the entire book. I don't think I have ever read a book where there was only one woman character and mention of one other.  I want to say this bothered me but the truth is I was halfway through the book before I thought, "what happened to the women?" Strangely I really was not disturbed that I was reading a book that had only a single living woman in it.  I am not convinced the authors really knew what to do with her either. She had moments where she was portrayed as weak and then she had moments where she bravely went where I do think she was meant to go, (at least not in terms of being the "weaker sex").  
I was surprised by who my favorite character in the book turned out to be. But seriously  I really connected to the Harbinger. When he went into a battle and was thought to have died my heart broke. Now I hear you all going but what is wrong with the Harbinger? Well he is a man-beast assassin. Not a character you would really associate as being the favorite. A piece of advice from the Harbinger is found on page 225, "If you kill everyone else, I mean everyone you see, then there will be no one left alive to kill you."  So how is it he is my favorite? Because he is snarky and I love snark. I  also felt like he is also a tortured soul and you all know what emotion a tortured soul can bring out. Of the Harbinger, on page 216, Charles shrugged,"He grows on you." Yes he does. 
The first line in the book that really stopped my heart came on page 52, when the three; the Charles - the Bounty Hunting Professor,  Sean - the student at Bounty Hunting University and Penelope - of the only woman fame, were on board a pirate ship. Yes I said pirate. There are pirates in this book! Charles and the leader of the pirates were talking  and then "Challenge you for leadership of the Gray Buccaneers," said Charles. WHAT?! I am certain that, and stronger thoughts, were what went on in everyone on that space ship's mind.
This book was a surprise for me. The Hall Brothers set out to entertain and they did. Big time. There was a lot of action, adventure, intrigue and jealousy with the possibility of  romance in a future book, (there is a future book right Phillip and A.C.??). 

I would recommend this book to anyone, male or female, who likes adventure. Star Wars fans there is no Wookie but Harbinger comes close. I think it is an awesome book for the YA crowd, especially if they love Star Wars.  On Good Reads I am giving this one 4 Stars. 

Friday, August 26, 2011

Survivor Chronicles by Brian Kittrell -Giveaway


The War of the Dead (a zombie apocalypse novel) (The Survivor Chronicles)

Andy looked around in desperation as the hallways flooded with other staff members running and screaming. Some were grabbed and taken down by the zombies coming out of the elevator. He decided that it was time to make his own escape. He ran to the door, swiped his card, and rushed out of the facility. Alyssa was in the driver's seat of a four door truck, and Dr. Nelson and Nurse Wilson sat in the back seat. Andy jumped in the passenger seat, and Alyssa drove out of the parking lot and down the narrow road leading away from the building. "What the hell happened back there?" Alyssa said. "Those two in the back ran over here and still haven't calmed down yet." "The virus. It's loose inside North Star," Andy said. 

Kittrell, Brian. The War of the Dead (a zombie apocalypse novel) (The Survivor Chronicles) (Kindle Locations 1745-1753). Late Nite Books.




Enchanted by Rachel Wells, Guest Blogger



I am pleased to have today author Rachel Wells with me. Rachel is the author of Enchanted. 



Hi everyone.  My name is Rachel Wells and I am an aspiring Indie author.  I have just recently put my YA paranormal romance, Enchanted, up for sale on the Nook and Kindle.  I say “aspiring” because while I have finished my book (that was the “easy” part), I am finding that spreading the word about it is actually harder than I had thought!  I am a new, unknown author and there are so many of us out there that it is quite easy to get lost and misplaced under all the new books that are constantly getting published every day.  Which is why I am very grateful to Cristi at AlaskanBookCafe who has given me the amazing opportunity to guest post on her blog and hopefully reach some potential readers!
So a little about myself…I’m a stay at home mom to three girls, married 13 years to a guy I met back in high school.  I live in central Massachusetts where the summers are hot and the winters are even colder.  I’ve got a creative side that I can’t ignore-I love anything crafty.  I love autumn.  My favorite holiday is Halloween and I’m drawn to anything “weird”, spooky, and/or paranormal.  I love antiques and anything old-fashioned and learning about the way things used to be.  I enjoy baking more than cooking, and of course it goes without saying that I love to read.  Some of my favorite books are Little Women, Sister Carrie, The Help, and the Twilight series.
As I said, I’ve got a creative side.  Ever since elementary school I’ve enjoyed writing.  I guess I always had an urge to write a full length book, but the prospect seemed very overwhelming, so I never really attempted it.  Corny as it may sound, after reading and falling in love with Twilight, I looked up Stephenie Meyer and learned that she was also a mom who literally had a dream, wrote a book inspired by it, and actually got published!  While I do not expect to do nearly as well as she did, I must say that she inspired me to try. 
As for where my idea for my book came from, I’ve been going to a town called York Beach, Maine, for summer vacations ever since I was a child.  Now my husband and I take our kids there in summers, and we all love it.  A few years ago I saw an ad for a ghost tour in York that offers a walk around tour at dusk of “haunted places” in the area.  Of course, being interested in the paranormal, this grabbed my attention.  I went online to try to discover more about the tour or the so called “haunted” places, because it had never crossed my mind that there were any ghosts wandering the little beach town! 
While searching I came across a bunch of information about the grave of a Mary Nasson in York, who was a reputed “witch”.  Different websites gave different information about who she actually was and what actually happened, which put the wheels in motion for my story.  In May of 2010 I began to write Enchanted, using Mary Nasson as my main influence.  The story just developed from there. 
Let me tell you, writing is a long process!  It was easy to start the book, because I was excited about the new-ness of my idea.  However, at times I had no idea where the story was going and I felt as if I was almost waiting for the characters to reveal what was supposed to happen to me!  I have read that you should write every day no matter what if you are really serious about finishing a story.  For me, this was not true.  Some days it was just impossible to write, either because I had too much going on with my kids or my other obligations (cleaning the house, cooking, etc.), or I just had nothing to say and didn’t want to force it.  I wrote when I knew what was supposed to happen in the story, and I wrote only at naptime or after my kids were in bed for the night.  Sometimes I had a lot to write and sometimes I had only half a page.  But I decided no matter what I was going to finish. 
After a little over a year of writing I did just that.  Initially I had my heart set on getting published the traditional way, but then I started reading all the horror stories of unknown authors getting rejection letter after rejection letter, and that made me think twice.  This past spring my husband surprised me with a Nook.  I began reading books from the “Steals and Deals” section and discovered Indie writers, such as H.P. Mallory and Amanda Hocking for example, who were doing quite well for themselves with self-publishing.  I decided if it was working for some people, it wouldn’t hurt me to try…shoot for the stars, right? 
Which brings us up to date.  My book, Enchanted, is available on the Nook Enchanted for Nook. Buy it here. as well as on the KindleEnchanted for Kindle. Buy it here.  It’s only been available for a couple of weeks and while it’s not flying off the “shelves”, I do have hopes for my little book!  I am hoping it can find its niche in the world and that at least some people will enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  That being said, I can’t expect anyone to appreciate it without learning more about it, so below you will find a synopsis and an excerpt, taken from Chapter 16, when my main character, Mandy, has a run-in with the town psychic, Ophelia


Synopsis:
Mandy is a quiet teenager who just wants to blend in with the crowd rather than stand out as anything or anybody. Mandy's pretty successful at this until her parents decide it's time to move from Boston to the quiet seaside town of York Beach, Maine, to "be closer to Nana". Although Mandy has been vacationing in York every summer since she was a child, she has no desire to live there and is worried about fitting in and finding friends during her senior year of high school.

Nana owns a flower shop in town and while working alongside her, Mandy makes a few friends and observes the oddities of the little town and its inhabitants. When she finds some old correspondence hidden inside an antique trunk handed down from her Nana, the "oddities" turn into full-fledged mysteries. As she unravels the forgotten and hidden history of the town, she simultaneously unravels her own family's past and current secrets while writing her future. With bits of romance and paranormal along the way, she is able to figure out the puzzle of the correspondence, the magic she never realized was surrounding her, and visions of the past and future. Will she walk away from her personal history and her future or will she realize it's ok to be somebody, even if that somebody is nothing like everybody else?

Excerpt:
As Mandy approached the psychic, the little dog’s head flew up, his ears pointed up and alert.  He whined and stood up, his little tail darting back and forth frantically, obviously excited for some company.  Mandy hesitated in front of the store, unsure how to start.
There was suddenly a long low chuckle breaking the silence.  “Back for more, Mandy?” Ophelia cackled, showing two gleaming gold teeth.  She nodded knowingly.  “Don’t be shy, sit.”  She gestured to the chair opposite her.  Mandy took a step towards the chair and the little dog jumped up on Mandy, looking like he might spontaneously combust at any moment, he was so excited.  “Bobo, sit!” Ophelia commanded.  Bobo sat, but his tail kept up its frenetic pace.  “So?” Ophelia addressed Mandy.  “What is it this time?”
“How did you know?” Mandy simply asked.  She had a feeling Ophelia would know what she was talking about.
“Aah.  That,” Ophelia began.  “You do realize I’m a psychic?” Ophelia waved her hand in front of the sign announcing her title. 
Mandy shrugged her shoulders.  “Listen, I don’t want to sound rude, but I’ve never believed in that kind of thing, or any of this.” 
“And now you do?” Ophelia’s voice had lost any sense of teasing.
“A lot has happened since I last saw you,” Mandy began.  “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
“What do you want to believe?” Ophelia urged.  “Do you want everything to be in black and white…grey?” Ophelia’s eyes turned into the black marbles again.  Mandy felt like they were boring holes through her brain.  “Or do you want the sleepy town to open its eyes?  Eyes you didn’t know it had?  To be bathed in colors unimaginable?  Awake and alive?  Breathing, pulsing with life?  The choice is yours Mandy.  You can keep things how you’ve always perceived them to be, or you can open your mind to reality.  A reality you never knew existed.”  She began to cackle again, surely from the look of sheer horror on Mandy’s face.
Mandy didn’t know how Ophelia kept doing this, but it was like she could read her mind.  How would Ophelia know that Mandy had always considered York to be grey?  No one knew that, not even Nana.  Bobo cocked his head at Mandy and whined, like he was waiting for an answer.  Mandy looked up from the dog to Ophelia.
“I…” Mandy didn’t even bother finishing the sentence.
“What would Mary want you to do?  She didn’t have a choice, but you do,” Ophelia knowingly said.
“How do you know about Mary?  What do you know?” Mandy asked, realizing this is what she had come here for in the first place.
“My family stories were handed down the same way yours have been, the same way everyone’s are.  My talents were handed down the same ways yours have been, as well,” Ophelia winked.
“What are you saying?” Mandy asked, hating that she sounded so thick and dumb to herself, but she needed clarification.
“Mary Nasson was your ancestor.  She was a brave woman.  I’m sure she would have wanted her future descendants to be brave as well,” Ophelia said.
Mandy took that in for a moment.  “You said your talents were handed down…do you know anything about…”
            “Our histories are entwined,” Ophelia replied simply.  “I’m going to warn you the same way Mary was warned.    Your road may be a bumpy one at present, full of twists and turns, and dark scary woods.  But if you make the right choices you will come out in the sunshine, Mandy.  Out of the unending grey.”
Mandy stared befuddled at Ophelia.  “But what…”
“I can tell you more for ten dollars!” Ophelia snorted and began cackling again. 
Mandy sighed, aggravated beyond belief.  “I’ll just take my chances in the dark scary woods,” she said sarcastically.  She stood up to leave but first gave Bobo a pet on the head.  He was practically turning back flips in front of Mandy’s feet, trying to get her attention.
“Be careful out there then,” Ophelia cackled, somehow managing to make her voice sound ominous between the laughter.  Mandy shook her head and walked back towards the parking lot, her car, and home. 

I hope you all have enjoyed “meeting” me and reading about my book and I hope at least some of you will give my story a chance!  If you would like to read more excerpts, or see pictures of some of the actual places in York Beach, ME, that appear in my book, you can check out my blog here: http://enchanted-rachelsbook.blogspot.com/  I would love to hear from all of you with comments or questions and will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.  I would also be more than happy to be a guest on anyone’s blog, such as doing a guest post or interview, and would also be more than happy if anyone wanted to review my book for their blog!  I can be reached at rwells179@gmail.com
Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by!  

Thank you, Rachel for coming by today. I will be reviewing Enchanted soon! I am excited by this one. It sounds fascinating. I love the story behind the book. I hope you will put this one on your TBR. Please leave a comment with your thoughts below. I am sure if you leave questions for Rachel she will be happy to respond. 

Follow My Blog Friday


Welcome to this week’s Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.
The featured bloggers are Caught in the Pages and Jenni Elyse.
This week’s question is: In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question “comes out of the closet” and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

This is an easy one for me. I love fairies. I would love for the fey to come out. I think that would be awesome!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Ghost on Black Mountain New Cover

I just received the new cover for Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite so I am sharing it with all of you. There is a surprise coming up on September 1st so be sure to check back here then.

The old cover:
Ghost on Black Mountain

and now the new cover:



I think they are both awesome! I cannot decide which I like more. What is your pick? Leave a comment to let me know!

I have something super special surprise planned for September 1st so be certain to check back. You do not want to miss this!

Interview/Review of Ann Hite - Ghost on Black Mountain

I am so excited to bring you an interview with Ann Hite today. Ann is the author of Ghost on Black Mountain. This book is destined to be a best seller. It is definitely one you do not want to miss reading! 

Ghost on Black Mountain

Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite
Expected release September 13, 2011
Simon & Schuster 
Gallery
Trade Paperback, 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1451606427
ISBN-13: 9781451606423




I received this book from the author with a request to review. No promise of a good review was sought or given. I received no compensation , other than a copy of the ARC, for this review. The review is my honest opinion. 

From the back cover of the ARC (subject to change):

Meet the women of Black Mountain and the one man that ties them all together…


Nellie Pritchard:
I married Hobbs Pritchard without noticing he was a spell conjured into a man—a walking, talking, ghost story. He took me up Black Mountain and it was there I learned sometimes good and bad get mixed together so well a person can’t tell the difference until it’s too late.


Rose Gardner:
I fell deeply in love with Hobbs as if some hoodoo was put on me. Then Miss Nellie came into our lives and changed everything.


Josie Clay:
Hobbs Pritchard was like a spoiled potato at the bottom of the barrel. But my daughter Nellie didn’t believe me. Something stunk to high heavens, something rotten. Eventually I’d find out what it was…


Shelly Parker:
I got me this gift—restless souls line up to get my notice no matter what I’m doing. Daddy warned me not to have nothing to do with the Pritchards. Some things in life just can’t be avoided and getting mixed up with Nellie was one of them.

Iona Harper:
Mama told me the same bedtime story each night. She told it with such detail I was sure Hobbs and Nellie were real. But they were just characters in a tale spun to keep me in line. They were my moral compass. Or so I believed…


The Interview: 


1.) You wrote an amazing book using 5 different narratives. What was that process like? The book actually began as three voices: Nellie, Rose, and Iona. For the longest this is the way the book remained. It was a solid book, a well written book, but something was missing. Then Gallery Books offered me a deal. My editor told me she would really like to hear more from Shelly and Josie. This is why you have a good editor, who can see your work clearer than you at times. I knew this was a wonderful suggestion. Shelly actually answered questions about Hobbs pertaining to my third novel in the series. So the answer to your question is rewriting and a good reader or editor is the key to all good books.

2.) What kind of research did you do to write such an accurate portrayal ? I wrote the first draft straight through without any research. This is my process. I like to see what I know and where the story will take me before I research. Much of the mountain life, I witnessed as a child when visiting my great aunts in North Georgia. My family had stories, superstitions, and tall tales aplenty. Even though my grandmother told me stories about The Great Depression, I did research what this era in time brought to families in the Appalachian Mountains. Several scenes in the book were researched like when Josie prepares her mother’s body for burial. The ghost stories and dialogue came naturally to me. 

3.) I know you have works in progress or completed of Hobbs with his sister and of Shelly. How about any of the others? I am intrigued most by the ghost of Merlin. Any plans to tell his story? Merlin shows up in the my third novel, Where The Soul Goes. The reader finds out how ends up on Black Mountain and exactly what happens to him. In my novel in progress (the second book in the series), a new ghost appears and actually has a narrative. Her name is Armetta Lolly and when she was alive, she lived in a cemetery on Black Mountain. The cemetery is abandoned and her story hidden among the graves. My fourth in the Black Mountain series will be about three sisters. The time period is the early sixties. Of course there will be familiar ghosts and new ones.

4.) Please share with us one of your favorite scenes and tell us why you chose it.  I love the scene where Josie Clay prepares her mother’s body for burial. Like my character I was surprised when Josie removed the cotton socks from this plain, devout woman’s feet and found she had toenails painted pink. I loved where Josie lets down her long hair and dries her mother’s feet with it, soaking up the perfumed water. Because I am a writer who does not outline, I never truly know what will happen until it does. This scene showed me we never really know those close to us, not really. Josie thought she knew her mother inside and out. They were close. Her mother followed the rules of the church: no makeup or jewelry. Yet, Josie finds her mother’s toes painted pink.

5.) What was your journey as a writer? A long one so far. I began telling stories before I could write, forcing my grandmother to listen to me when she came to visit.
Every year my grandmother would visit for two weeks with my family in whatever state or country we were living in. I remember looking forward to this like a child looks forward to a visit from Santa. She was the book lover and storyteller of our clan. Each evening she would gather me on her lap and tell me episodes from her childhood. As I grew older, the tales became more revealing. After years of moving around the country and five years in Europe, I finally returned to the South. I was ten and it was the mid-sixties. This was enough to make a writer out of most book- loving girls.  My mother had brought my brother and me to live with my grandmother in Atlanta. It was then I began to absorb the wonderful and eerie tales told by my extended family. Every weekend we piled into my grandmother’s Oldsmobile and drove to “the country” to visit with my great-aunts. I would sit among what I considered very exotic women. One aunt was always on the verge of a nervous breakdown, wringing her lace hankie in her fingers. Another wore a scarf around brush curlers wound tightly into bleach-blond hair, a cigarette hanging from her fingers. And of course there was the cousin who went and married out of the faith. Her husband was Catholic.  If I was quiet, they forgot I was there and began to tell the old mountain tales. These were not for the faint of heart. Believe me. I loved each story and memorized them all. This atmosphere of tall tales, spells, and spirits gave birth to Black Mountain, even though I didn’t have a name for the community back then. I spent many hours writing and forcing my little brother to sit on the back stoop of my grandmother’s home and listen to my stories of ghosts and goblins. I can’t tell you how many times I got in trouble for scaring him silly. Ah, but children do grow up. Or do they? I became a writer. In 2003 after nearly thirteen years of writing so, so short stories, my mother died. We all have our way of mourning. I sat down and wrote ten new short stories in two weeks. Then I sent them off. Each one came back with an acceptance letter. In 2004 I wrote a personal essay, Surviving Mom, and submitted it to Marlo Thomas’s The Right Word At The Right Time Vol 2. I never thought I had a prayer. In 2006 I received a phone call telling me the essay had been accepted. This essay and a lot of hard work brought me an agent. Then it was time to up the stakes and write a novel. I did. This novel was called Beautiful Wreck and made it to the semi-finals of Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest in 2009. Earlier in 2007 I had begun a novel called Ghost On Black Mountain, taken from one of my short stories. What can I say? Black Mountain was born and my dreams of being a novelist came true.

6.) Have you considered writing in other genres? If so which appeals to you? I write what I love to read, where my passions reside: Southern Fiction. Some call my work historical. Others southern gothic. I love writing about the past. I love writing for women, not to say men don’t enjoy my stories. They do. But when I think of readers, I always imagine a group of women. So, I just write the stories in me.

7.) If this book were made into a movie, (which I can see happening), who would you choose to play Hobbs,Jack, Nellie, Shelly, Josie, Rose and Iona? Oh would I love to see Ghost become a movie. I would choose Emma Stone for Nellie. Zac Efron would be my choice for Hobbs. See, it has to be someone who looks innocent and is handsome. I recently heard he would like to stretch himself. Well, Hobbs would be a wonderful part in which to do that. I think Chris Lowell (Stuart in The Help) could do a fine job as Jack. Bryce Dallas Howard would be wonderful as Rose. Iona is a little tougher. I think Dakota Fanning would do a good job. Shelly, I honestly don’t know. She is so unique and dear to my heart.

8.) Who are your favorite authors? Are there any books you would recommend? Oh, I am a confessed book junkie. My favorite authors are Elizabeth Berg, Ellen Gilchrist, Caroline Leavitt, Amy Greene, Beth Hoffman, and Mary Alice Monroe just to name a few. I know they are all women. I’ve read the best books recently. The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen is beautiful. Bloodroot by Amy Greene. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. A book that will be released soon and I read in its early stages is The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman. You must watch for it. This novel will blow you away. And last but not least I strongly suggest The Taker by Alma Katsu. I just read this in galley. What a book. It comes out the first week of September.

9.) Where do you choose to write and what things must you have nearby? I live in a big four bedroom house just outside of Atlanta. When I began to write fulltime, I made one of the bedrooms downstairs into a an office. It was beautiful but I couldn’t write there. I kept bringing my laptop upstairs to my bedroom that feels as if it is in the trees with big windows and a nice view. So, I moved my desk to the bedroom. I work on an antique dining table so I have plenty of room to spread out. I have a little French-looking lamp complete with beads dangling from the shade, a bird house, and a beautiful empty pottery bowl. On the walls are different pieces that speak to me. two are drawings my husband did for Ghost On Black Mountain. One is a print of the cabin where Shelly lives. And one of my favorite items is an old fashion paperweight with a dragonfly. I love dragonflies.

10.) Please tell us what we can look for and the best ways to follow you? I’m in the process of finishing book two. This book is about Shelly Parker but introduces the reader to new characters as I said before. I will be all over the Southeast during the months of September and October. The best way to keep up with me is to go to my website www.annhite.com and send me an email through contacts. I will add you to my newsletter list. I also keep the website up to date with the newest happenings. Check out my book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQq84F7-S_E  I had so much fun creating this. The photos are of my mother and aunts.


*The trailer is the one above. I placed it on the blog for ease of viewing.*
My Review:

The story blew me away. I know that it is one of my picks for top 10 books I read this year. I finished it a few days ago and still have the characters in my head. The author set out to tell you a haunting story you would not forget and she accomplished it. Not only will the story stay with you but the characters will. Ms Hite has done an excellent job of getting the reader invested in the story and in the lives of her characters. My family has lived in eastern Kentucky since the late 1600's. I tell you that so you understand that when I say she accurately portrayed the characters you know I have something to base that on. I could easily relate to Nellie, Shelly, Rose, Josie and Iona. I grew up listening to stories of haunts, (as I believe any "mountain girl" has). I could picture the things Ann Hite wrote of happening. I could see every encounter with a ghost. Ms Hite used language common in the mountains. Her writing style reflected the mountains. She took me home. 
Ann Hite wrote a ghost story, a mystery, a romance and  a coming of age story, (for we see Nellie go from an innocent teen to a woman with a heavy past), all in one. This novel is epic! It will grip you from the start and keep you long after you have finished it. I believe everyone who reads this will find something of themselves in it. It will not matter if you are from the mountains or the valley, country or city, north or south. You will see yourself and people you know in the characters. You will be swept away. Ghost on Black Mountain is a book that , when you finish it, you think "who can I call to talk about this book with?". 
It is a must read.  

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