Blogging about favorite books!
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Do you love historical romance novels with plenty of action and adventure? Then, Cross-Ties is the book for you. Tap the link below and download your FREE eBook from Amazon during this special promotion ending January 25th.
I hope you enjoy this escape to another place and time. Your reviews of my novels are much appreciated. I look forward to reading them. Thank you! Carolyn Bowen
Author interviews are a lot of fun for me to share my writing life. Today’s interview was posted by BlogEspresso. We had a chance to talk about what motivates me as an author and looked behind the scenes of my selecting titles and book covers for specific novels. Please note the take-away from the last question. Hint: Yes, there is more to the story! Thank you!
Quote of the Day: “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wishing you an awesome New Year! May all your dreams come true in 2020!
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Quote of the Day: “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” T. S. Eliot
This past year has gone in a flash! All my writing plans didn’t get completed in 2017. But, that’s history! It’s time to start setting goals for 2018. What are your plans?
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” Edith Pierce
Please check out my novels here and at your favorite bookstore! Wishing you joy, peace, happiness, and abundance in this new year. Carolyn Bowen
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Quote of the Day: There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Lost Macaw by B. L. BlairThe Lost Macaw is the fourth novella in the Lost and Found Pets series. Alexandra Prescott is a licensed private investigator specializing in finding missing animals. Reuniting pet and owner is more than just a job.
A former client hires Alex to find her lost parrot. The bright colored bird has flown away before, but this time there is evidence that Molly was kidnapped. The demand is simple—the bird for the pictures.
When her client suffers a stroke, Alex is left with a ransom note, a missing bird, and some very incriminating photos. She is in a race against time to solve the mystery of the lost Macaw.
“Your little old lady is quite interesting, Alex,” Halie said.
“What do you mean?”
“She didn’t exist until about thirty years ago.”
“What?!”
“I did a preliminary background search on her. In general, she is clean. No debt. The house is paid off as is her car. The one thing that jumped out at me was the fact that she had a safe deposit box at four different banks.”
Luke raised one eyebrow. I got a sinking feeling. I had noted the bank accounts but hadn’t really given them much thought.
“Yeah,” I said, “I saw those.”
“So why does an eighty-year-old woman need four safe deposit boxes?”
“Why does she need more than one?” Luke muttered.
“Exactly,” Halie said. “So I dug a little deeper.”
“What did you find?”
“About thirty years ago, Joseph and Trudy Kearns purchased the house on Carriage. Back then, it was a new neighborhood, and the prices were cheap. They paid cash. They also opened a bank account, and Joe got a job working for the city. Those are the first records I can find for either one of them.”
“Trudy would have been fifty at that time. Her husband probably a few years older. What about birth certificates? Social security cards?”
“They had them, but conveniently, they were issued from a small county in Virginia where a massive flood destroyed all their records. The county office was in the process of moving the old paper records to electronic when the flood hit.”
“Let me guess. The Kearns’s records did not survive the flood.”
“Nope.”
“So the only records for them are the ones they had in their possession.” I paused a moment. “Do they look real?”
“Yes,” Halie replied.
“So they could be authentic.”
“Or really good forgeries. In some ways, it was easier back then.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Not really. Lives on a fixed income of social security and a small pension from her husband’s job. It isn’t much because he only worked for the city for twelve years before he had to retire.”
“Okay, thanks, Halie.”
After ending the call, I looked at Luke. He had a perplexed look on his face that I had a feeling mirrored mine.
“Who the hell is Trudy Kearns?”
Available on Amazon, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords
Thank you for following my blog and connecting on social media. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas! Carolyn Bowen, Author – The Writing Life
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Quote of the Day: Plan your life like you will live forever, and live your life like you will die the next day. Unknown
“As Powerful As Any Great Classic of Fiction” so said Sir Ian McKellen in his foreword to my book. And it is.
Excerpt from Author Ann Richardson
Do you remember the terrible times of AIDS and HIV in the 1980s and 1990s? If not, are you curious to learn what it was like for those diagnosed?
Wise Before their Time, first published in 1992, shows in moving detail what it was like to live with HIV/AIDS when there was no real treatment for this life-threatening illness. It tells the true stories of over forty young men and women from all over the world, attending an international conference of people with HIV and AIDS in London in 1991.
I have added a new cover and a short introduction to the new version, but the book remains essentially the same.
These were very young people (most were in their twenties and thirties) having to cope with an unexpectedly shortened lifespan.
They describe the difficulties of telling their parents, friends, and partners of their diagnosis, while trying to cope with the day-to-day problems of staying healthy, keeping in work and supporting their friends.
They all experienced enormous stigma, blame, and guilt because of the disease. This can be seen in all kinds of ways – from small things, like an Irishman being disappointed that friends did not want him to play with their child, to larger ones, such as a man being placed alone in an isolation hospital in Goa for some months with no help.
They all knew others who had died. And one mother tells the story of the death of her toddler.
Yet this is in no way a struggle to read. It is touching, it is enlightening and it is sometimes funny. But most of all, there is virtually no self-pity. On the contrary, the participants were committed to celebrating the joys of life to the full. Which is why I chose the title – they were, genuinely, wise before their time.
Thank you for stopping by and reviewing author Ann Richardson’s book, Wise Before Their Time. For more information or to buy, click here!
This holiday season provides the perfect opportunity to practice compassion towards mankind. I hope you will share peace and love with those who cross your path this season. I plan to make a conscious effort to spread love and joy every day. CB
Book ReviewsIf you have a novel you’d like for me to review, drop me a note here! Check out some of my latest book reviews also on Goodreads!
Looking for some winter novels to read and review? Click here for a Kindle gift version of my mystery, The Long Road Home or Cross-Ties adventure. Thank you!
Don’t forget this is National Novel Writing Month! Celebrate your favorite authors by leaving a great review. They’ll thank you! I certainly do!
Check at your favorite online bookstores and corner bookshops. Click the direct link or image to begin reading on Amazon. Happy reading!
The Long Road Home: Romantic Murder Mystery
I hope you’ll enjoy a blissful November celebrating the holidays with family and friends. I’ll be writing – and enjoying some great times too. Carolyn Bowen
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Carolyn M. Bowen, Author 