I am so pleased to tell you about Sophia Stone's wonderfully brave and informative book, Mormon Diaries. I'll provide a brief summary of the book, a few questions and answers, my review and a couple other blurbs, and a brief bio of the author with information on how to contact her. Plus her beautifully creative book video is at the end, so don't go away until you've watched it. Brief Summary Brought up in a religious home, Sophia believes the only way to have a forever family is by following church leaders and obediently choosing the right. She goes to the right school, marries the right man in the right place, and does the right thing by staying home to raise her children. But when she starts asking questions about grace, love, and the nature of God, she realizes her spiritual struggles could rip her family apart. Sophia and I exchanged a few questions and answers about her book and her current struggle. Here's a few that resonated with me. MS: Your book cover and video … [Read more...]
String Bridge by Jessica Bell – a sneak peek
Tomorrow I'll be interviewing Jessica Bell about her debut novel, String Bridge, and I'll post my review of it. But I wanted to give you a sneak peek today because I am so in awe of this author. Not only is she a marvelous writer and poet - I also reviewed her poetry book, Twisted Velvet Chain, a few months ago, but so astute at marketing. Her goal was to be number one on Amazon on November 11, and she got pretty darn close. She asked all her friends and writing colleagues to post information about String Bridge on their blogs that day and also got them to post a link to Amazon from their Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook accounts, inundating everyone - in my mind a totally brilliant move. She also created a twenty-day blog tour that started on November 1, the day Lucky Press (my publisher too) released her book. Many, many people were very happy to participate - including me. You can bet that I've learned a huge lesson from Jessica. I already knew it takes a lot of work to … [Read more...]
Welcome to the Internet Book Fair Blogfest
I'm excited to participate in today's Internet Blogfest. Please click on the link and join in. Scroll down a bit to find a list of all the participants. I have three books to present today. First, a little something about my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On Leaving the Hall Light On is a mother's memoir of living with my son's bipolar disorder and surviving his suicide. Published by Lucky Press LLC, a small independent and wonderful press, it was released last May. so appropriately on Mother's Day. I write about finding peace and balance after feeling so helpless and out of control during my son Paul's seven-year struggle with bipolar disorder and after his suicide in September 1999 and about the steps I took in living with the loss of my son, including making use of diversions to help ease my grief. Leaving the Hall Light On is also about the milestones I met toward living a full life without him: packing and giving … [Read more...]