Looking for something to read?
Book Lovers, check this out!
Sixteen years ago, an alien ship crashed into Carina Linderoth’s home.
Sixteen years ago, she saw her twin sister for the last time.
Since that night, Carina has spent every waking moment searching for answers. What happened to her sister? Why did the aliens take Sonja and not her? And why do people keep telling her she never had a twin sister—that Sonja isn’t real?
Now, sixteen years later, Carina is approached by a mysterious genetic research company. They want her to work on a top-secret project, genetically engineering the human race with Eluridan—alien—DNA.
For any geneticist, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.
For Carina, it’s something more.
This is her chance to return to Mount Desert Island, the scene of the crash, home to the stranded aliens. Back to the place where this all began. This is her chance to finally learn what happened to her sister.
If Sonja ever existed.
What the author says about the novel:
Carina’s story was such an adventure to write. I’m always searching for emotion, mystery, horror, and violence in the books and movies I consume, so getting to incorporate all those things into a sci-fi work of my own was satisfying, to say the least. The idea was conceived while finishing up my science degree, and it took shape in my notes app in the back corners of laboratories as I gathered inspiration. I’ve since traded my career in labs for one spent at a writing desk, but there’s something comforting about knowing I can revisit those years just by opening this book.
Author Erika LeClair
Buy the book HERE.
Erika was a guest on the Scribbler recently and if you missed it, please go HERE.
Here's a good choice for young readers (middle-age).
Bray and the Adventures of Zorkon follows the story of a ten-year-old boy who fights for inclusion and tackles a bullying problem at his school. The story unfolds with Bray entangled between a dream world and reality. However, the lines between the two worlds become oddly less blurred after Bray discovers a strange rock that transforms into a powerful Zorkon bracelet. The bracelet makes one capable of creating an invisible force shield bubble, a time-warping hologram named Zork, and a mysterious pair of goggles. Befriended by the riddle-speaking Zork, Bray (with a bit of help from his friends) must solve the puzzles and use the powers of Zorkon not only to stop the bullying against his classmates but to foil a plot to incite panic and chaos during his community's Diversity Day rally.
What the author says about the book:
When I set out to write my first middle-grade book, Bray and the Adventures of Zorkon, I knew I wanted to focus on themes that mattered deeply to me: bullying and the importance of cultural diversity. I explore these themes in a fictional fantasy setting, sprinkled with a touch of humor, in a way that young readers can easily connect with and understand.
The story also highlights the courage it takes to stand up for others, teaching readers that our differences should be embraced and that kindness and bravery can make the world a better place.
Author Joyce Rice
Buy the book HERE.
Good news: Joyce has published a follow-up to her novel - The Rise of Little Bear - and you can learn more by visiting her FB page or watch here on February 28th when she will be the featured guest on the Scribbler with the Story Behind the Story.
Here's another for you to consider.
Altered States is based on a true story of a young child’s tragic beginning which leads to her ultimate vindication. You will quickly find yourself immersed on this heartbreaking journey of a shattered girl who struggles to fight against all odds to survive in a world full of heart break, betrayal and injustice. This novel opens your mind to the psychological development of a young child’s mind to adulthood as she tries to protect herself from the outside negative forces that relentlessly test her human spirit.
What the author says about the novel:
“Altered States is the true story of surviving what should have broken me…but instead made me that much stronger!”
Author Angel Leigh-Fox
Buy the Book HERE.
This is another to have a look at!
Jerry was prepared for the end of the world. He was ready to survive anything.
Or, at least, so he thought.
What is thought to be a deadly virus ravages the planet, leaving few survivors. In the aftermath, Jerry soon realizes that nothing could have prepared him to face the darkness of his own mind. He isn't ready for the group of strangers who look to him for salvation, and none of them are prepared to survive the horrors that await them as they discover that the end of the world is only the beginning of their nightmare.
Author’s NoteDear Reader,
Please read with care.
This book is intended for mature readers.
This work, and all of my work, contains adult and/or potentially distressing content, including but not limited to: mental health disorders, substance abuse, suicide, violence, child loss, distressing nightmares, child loss, and death.
What the author says about the book:
Dying Season holds a special place in my heart. It was my first leap of faith as an author, and it became my first traditionally published work. It follows the early days of the apocalypse through the eyes of two of my favorite characters; Jerry, a veteran suffering from PTSD, and Hannah, a young girl who has miraculously escaped her captor after twelve years of imprisonment. By the time the rights to the story reverted back to me in 2019, I had already decided that Jerry and Hannah's story was far from over. I'm excited to say that their journey will continue in my upcoming novel, Winterhaven, which I plan to release in 2026.
Author Rebecca MacFarlane
Visit Rebecca's website HERE.
Buy the Book HERE.
This is another terrific story.
At seventy-one years of age, she hears her son's voice for the first time.
After forty-six years spent carrying a heavy secret, Yolande has built a good life for herself. A few days after arriving from an exciting trip to Japan, she stops at the local post office to pick up her mail. The clerk hands her a registered letter. Yolande stands motionless as she reads the address of the sender: Department of Social Development, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Her mind somersaults back to the year 1970.
What if for nearly five decades you knew you had a long-lost child, one you had given up for adoption but who has been on your mind and in your heart for all those years? And what if, because your son was conceived as the result of a sexual assault, his existence felt like something you had to hide?
Long-Lost Mom is the poignant story of giving up a child for adoption and the difficulty of remaining silent over the course of a lifetime. When Yolande's son Trevor finds her, she is faced with confronting the truth of her past and a deluge of complicated questions. How could she tell her three other children? How would the life she has built be changed?
Their healing journey is captured through heartfelt and honest correspondence as they come together almost fifty years after his birth. A powerful and engaging memoir, Long-Lost Mom speaks to the healing power of reconciling with ourselves and with our pasts.
What the author says about the Story:
After returning home from Vietnam, to meet my son, I became aware that in New Brunswick as of April 2018, all adoption records which had been sealed for almost one hundred years would be opened. I wondered about all the long-lost moms still in hiding, about all the long lost sons and daughters searching for the truth. I also thought about the great number of adoptive parents who might worry about how this could change their lives. I shared my story in hopes that it may inspire hope, diminish fear and create a compassionate understanding of how each may feel.
Author Yolande Essiembre
Buy the Book HERE.
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Like Spooky stories? Try this one.
The teenagers of Maggie’s Knee have been vanishing without explanation, their disappearances blamed on everything from adolescent rebellion to “shadow people” in the woods.
Farren Murakami, an eighteen-year-old who has suffered more than most, finds out first-hand where the youth have gone when she’s recruited to join a tribe of teens living in an abandoned camp hidden deep in the woods. It isn’t long before she learns there is more to the story than just runaway kids; a sinister presence dwelling in the forbidden buildings tucked far back in the camp seems to have handpicked her for its purposes.
In her search for answers, Farren discovers her involvement with the tribe goes farther back than she can imagine, and that whatever lives in the forbidden buildings wants much more than the fealty of some kids playing in the forest.
What the author says about the book:
This book was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever worked on. The structure and major elements of the story changed frequently during revisions. A month before release, I discovered a whole mess of things that needed changing and reworking. The novel was better for it but the last-minute grind was nearly the death of me.
Farren Murakami, the protagonist of this book, holds a special place in my heart. She’s a strong-willed badass who carries the spirit of my late sister, Lara.
Author Christopher Sweet
Farren is one cool character.
Sweet is one cool author.
Highly recommended.
A.H.
Visit Christopher's website HERE.
Buy the Book HERE.
This is another exceptionally good book!
May 29th, 1944. The last of the 2,300 year old Jewish community of Hania is rounded up. Nazi soldiers load them onto a cargo ship, their final destination Auschwitz. They don’t get far. Just off the coastline of Crete, the vessel is torpedoed and sunk. Every one of the Jewish community is lost. Except for one young woman, Olympia Surmon, and the baby she rescues. The synagogue, Etz Hayyim (Tree of Life), is left in ruins for over fifty years. The Jews are forgotten. Olympia is a lost soul. The baby grows up not knowing who she is.
In January 2010, Judith Hamilton arrives in Crete from her home in Canada, determined to trace the roots of her family, in time to witness an arson attack on the local synagogue. She uncovers the dark truth about the lost Jews of Hania, and becomes embroiled in a mysterious plot that threatens her own survival. Based on real events, The Last Jew in Hania brings new life to a community that perished apart from one survivor.
What the author says about the book:
Author Zev Bagel
Buy the book HERE.
August 1914 - Emma has dreamed of becoming a doctor all her life, not an easy task for a woman. Will wants Emma as his wife, but she is worth waiting for. They both imagine a life together, a family, and a future of happiness - someday.
But suddenly, the conflict in Europe erupts into war, and they are asked to sacrifice everything. Nothing could have prepared Will for the death and devastation he faces in the muddy trenches of the Western Front. As his losses mount, he struggles to remain the man Emma knows and loves. Emma is forced to tackle her own obstacles as a woman in a man’s world of medicine, alone, without his support. From her patients to her classmates, it seems no one truly believes her capable. Just when she thinks things cannot get worse, a devastating explosion levels her city, and Emma is called to her own front line.
From the blood-soaked ground of Ypres, the Somme, and Vimy to the 1917 Halifax explosion, each of them are tested in ways they never could have imagined. Wounded in body and soul, can they find a way back to each other or will their future also be a victim of the Great War?
What the author says about the book:
It was unimaginable to me, the era of the First World War, when loved ones waved good bye to a soldier headed into war, knowing their only contact was by mail, letters that might arrive weeks later, perhaps after he had been killed. It was my quest to explore those emotions, to bring to life those experiences on both sides of what was a massive gulf in time and distance.
Author Heather McBriarity
Visit Heather's website HERE.
Read her visit to the Scribbler HERE.
Thriller lovers?
Marti Ross and her best friends couldn’t believe their luck when they scored tickets to the hottest concert
of the summer. They talked of nothing else.
What should have been the best night of their lives changed their futures and their friendship forever.
Twelve years later, a family tragedy occurs that brings Marti home.
It was time to find out what happened that fateful night of the concert. The truth had to come out,
and Marti had nothing left to lose.
This is what the author says about the book:
Bloody Water is set in Halifax where I had the pleasure of growing up. In this book I am paying homage
to my city and my youth, in my own dramatic way.
The characters are not strangers to me. But a character cocktail of some of the people I went to school
with and had the pleasure of meeting throughout my youth.
This book because of its location and the characters was so much fun to write, and brought back many
fun memories.
Author C. P. Daly
Visit her website HERE.
Buy the book HERE.
***
Another thriller for you book lovers.
While Kay attends a Christmas tea at Hawthorne Hills Retirement Home, a beloved caretaker dies from an allergic reaction to peanuts. When the official coroner's report rules the cause of death to be accidental, a small group of residents suspect foul play and call upon Kay to investigate.
Kay uncovers sinister plots of fraud, revenge, and corruption at the Home. During this season of peace on earth, good will to men, additional murders occur. Despite multiple attempts on her life, and with the support once again of her best friends, Elizabeth and Deirdre, Kay continues her quest for bringing justice for the victims. Kay's first Christmas in Sudbury Falls is an unforgettable one, with equal amounts of celebration and danger. 'Tis the season to be sleuthing!
What the author says about the book:
Kay Driscoll and her husband Phil are about to celebrate their first Christmas at Sudbury Falls. They have parties to attend, a party of their own to host, their sons are coming in for a holiday visit, and one of their sons will be celebrating a birthday just after Christmas. Needless to say Kay has a lot to do. Christmas presents have to be bought, birthday gifts have to be found, decorations have to go up, and Kay is loving every moment of these hectic days especially since hubby, Phil, will be home with her for the entire week. Kay is in bliss until … yes, there’s always an “until.”
Author Susan Bernhardt
Her Facebook page HERE.
Buy the book HERE.
Thanks very much for the opportunity, Allan. I hope your readers come to love Miss Moonshine as much I and fellow writers do.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Angela. Glad to showcase your stories, and those of your friends. Allan
DeleteA delightful idea to join talents and celebrate life.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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