Guest Post and Giveaway: Margaret Dilloway

Please join me in welcoming author Margaret Dilloway to Debbie's Book Bag today. Margaret is the debut author of How to be an American Housewife, which is now being released in paperback. Margaret is going to share with us the inspiration behind her novel and the publisher has been kind in offering two copies of her book for giveaway. See details at the end of the post.

Many of the small scenes of HOW TO BE AN AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE are pulled straight out of my mother’s life. These are stories she used to tell me when I was a child, stories that I hated hearing, actually, because they referenced hardship and a mother who was not mine at all, but some other person from another time and place. That my mother grew up in a house with dirt floors, had no food, and had bombs dropped on her scared me.

Like Shoko, Mom was a “war bride,” those Japanese women that married servicemen from other countries in the occupation years after WWII, when their country was in shambles and they wanted to find a better life.

Mom finished high school (straight As, thank you very much) and left her hometown to go work for the Americans. Her own family was poor, and everyone wanted her brother, the only boy in the family in her family of five siblings, to succeed. She sent money home to put her brother through school.

Around age 26, Mom at last (because that’s pretty old for a Japanese woman, especially back then) it was time to get married. She and her father had already discussed the possibility of her marrying an American. Her father told her that Japan was going to become like America anyway, so she might as well do it.

She’d been dating some servicemen. I don’t know how many, or how serious she got with any of them; but her stories made it seem like she was fighting them off in droves! She photographed each one and took those photos home to her father, so he could see what her choices were.

Luckily for my existence, my grandfather chose my dad, citing his “honest eyes.” They married in 1958.

Mom also told me about what it was like to assimilate into American culture—because she did want to assimilate, badly. The strange food, the language, and the traditions were all foreign to her. She told me of how people treated her and my oldest sibling, born in 1960, back when being married to a person of “Mongoloid” descent was still illegal in many states.

With her stories surging up in my mind, I began writing the novel. I did choose to write it as fiction, so I could make up the plot, but I did include the incidents that she told me about.

A guide book Mom had, THE AMERICAN WAY OF HOUSEKEEPING, written in Japanese and English, served as the inspiration for the structure. I wrote fictional chapter headings, so each one matches the theme in the upcoming related chapter of the novel.

Thanks so much for joining us today Margaret!

Check out my review of How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway later today!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

The publisher has graciously offered two copies of How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway to two lucky winners from Debbie's Book Bag!

~ You must be a Google Friend Connect follower to participate.

~ US addresses only!

~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, Aug. 18th.

1. Please leave a comment in appreciation to the author on THIS post.

2. Please fill out the FORM.

Winners Post

So many of the giveaways here on Debbie's Book Bag have closed in the last little while and I had not had time to choose winners and make winners posts, so I decided to do one big post.

There are a few things I want to address with you before we get down to it, regarding giveaways.

1. Many of you know that I have a career outside of book blogging and my time can be somewhat limited. I can only take a certain amount of books each month and I try to stick with publishers I have worked with in the "real world" or with those that I have a very good book blogging relationship with. They each have their own guidelines for giveaways and they vary to a great degree... PLEASE take the time to read the guidelines for each giveaway! Some publishers only allow US entries, some giveaways are for more than one copy of a book, etc. etc. It's important that you are signing up for a giveaway that you can win otherwise you are wasting time you could be spending entering for different books.

2. I apologize to my international readers that I don't offer more international giveaways. Most publishers request that I take only US or US and Canadian addresses. At this time I can't afford to post internationally so I cannot offer giveaways for that group of readers. I hope to change that in the future and rest assured that I do greatly appreciate your support.

3. The deadline to enter a giveaway is the deadline to enter the giveaway. I post a specific date and time for the end of each giveaway, giving you two weeks to enter for each one. Entries received after that date do not count and I do check. It's not fair to everyone else if I allow those entries received after the deadline to count. I generally leave the giveaway post on my sidebar until I have had a chance to post the winner for each giveaway so that I don't forget about any of them. Again, please look at the post and the deadline for each giveaway before you enter.

4. I generally give 25 bonus entries each for readers who take the time to make Blog posts, Facebook announcements or tweets about specific giveaways. I ask that you leave your links on the form. I do not count that entry if there is not a link. If I can't click on it and go to that page or cut and paste it to my address bar and go to that page it does not count. Leaving your Twitter name or Facebook name doesn't help me much, because I don't have the time to sift through every tweet and post that has been posted on your accounts over the two week period. I just don't have that kind of time, so please leave an links that I can follow if you would like to get the extra entries.

Now I will get off my soapbox and get on with the winners LOL! If you have any questions about giveaways just drop me a line, my e-mail address is on my sidebar!

I'll post the cover and winners name for each one. All winners will be notified by e-mail later today and publishers will be notified tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!

Grace Interupted by Julie Hyzy

Winner: Jane Cook

The Square Root of Murder by Ada Madison

Winner: Carol Wong

Let's Play Dead by Shelia Connolly

Winner: Carol M.

The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes

Winner: Lisa Garrett

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

Winner: Dixie

Pillow Talk by Freya North

Winner: Margaret

Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate

Winner: Megan (Celtic_Girl)

Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies by Susan Wittig Albert

Winner: Zee - A Voracious Reader

The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland

Winner: gwendolyn b

A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

Winner: Pam S.

Review: Kicking Ass and Saving Souls

Kicking Ass and Saving Souls: A True Story of a Life Over the Line by David Matthews

Publication Date: July 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Pages: Hardcover, 272pp

ISBN-13: 9781594202964

ISBN: 1594202966

(Received for an honest review from TLC Tours)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

David Matthews on the WEB: website (from Wikipedia), facebook (fan page)

Synopsis:

THE GRIPPING AND REDEMPTIVE STORY OF HOW AN AMERICAN BOY WENT LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE AND WOUND UP TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD

LOVER, THIEF, WARRIOR, HERO.

Stefan Templeton was born a child of extremes. He spent half his childhood with his African American philosopher father in the decaying ghetto of Baltimore in the 1970s. The other half was spent with his Norwegian mother in the wealthiest enclaves of Europe. His father was a brilliant academic, an intense disciplinarian, and a lethal martial artist. His mother, an aristocrat by birth, was a mystic and a healer. By the time Stefan was nine, he spoke four languages. By the time he was seventeen, he had a black belt and could take apart a .45 automatic in the dark.

Things got heavier from there. Stefan's wanderlust and action jones took him all over the world. Before he was twenty-one, he'd hunted in Burgundy, brawled in Oxford, served as a medicine man in Columbia, escaped death on the Amazon, and trained to be a deep-sea diver on Cousteau's Calypso.

At twenty-five, love for the mother of his first child settled him in Norway but didn't settle him down. He drifted into a labyrinthine criminal underworld, where he pulled off an enormous jewel heist and became a player in a European smuggling consortium. But his conscience demanded that his life be about more than the next adrenaline fix, the next adventure, the next score. His road to redemption led him to some of the bleakest corners of the globe, where he finally found a focus for his life in humanitarian relief work: on the beach in the wake of an Indonesian tsunami and on the ground following the Sudanese civil war. That was just the beginning.

Kicking Ass and Saving Souls is a true statement to the capacity of the human spirit, a mythic adventure made palpable, lyrical, and human by David Matthews - Stefan's childhood friend and sometimes harshest critic.

Thoughts:

Author David Matthews blows the non-fiction world out of the water with his gritty, emotional portrayal of his childhood friend Stefan Templeton. Kicking Ass and Saving Souls chronicles Stefan's life and the adventuresome spirit that led him all over the world in search of the next rush, until a moment of clarity in Taiwan changed his life forever. Matthew's no-nonsense style and sharp wit make this book read like a movie script. Full of everything from martial arts to jewel heists this book is a must read for biography and adventure fans.

Stefan Templeton's life reads like an adventure story. Growing up the son of an African American scholar and a Norwegian aristocrat, Stefan was well traveled and well educated at a young age. His charismatic attitude and lust for adventure drew people to him like a magnet. But he didn't seem to have a focus. He jumped from one adrenaline rushing event to the next in his life, trying to find is place in the world. He did everything from deep-sea diving with Cousteau to pulling off one of the biggest jewel heists in history, but he wasn't good at finishing the things he started. Always looking for another high, another river to cross, another battle to fight. Until he came to the conclusion that there had to be something more to life, something he was suited for, something he could believe in...

David Matthews tells the riveting tale of Stefan's life with great fortitude and wit. He describes this man as a force of nature and makes readers believe it. As an author he doesn't pull any punches, he tells it like it is and let's the reader make their own judgement about his childhood friend. This book was engrossing, emotional and very hard to put down. I could not imagine so much happening to one individual in one life time. Stefan is truly a man of many talents and someone who has a lust for life that is unparalleled. At one point I thought some of this had to be made up, but after doing a little research online, Matthew's portrayal of Stefan Templeton seems to be spot on.

From his youth through is young adult years, Matthew's shows readers a young man who takes life by the horns but doesn't seem to know what he wants to do with it. I liked the fact that Matthew's allowed readers to see Stefan at several different stages in his journey to the man he ultimately becomes. We see him as mixed race young man all the way to a man who has created a humanitarian relief organization that focuses on saving souls literally. His work in Indonesia and the Sudan is amazing and I am so glad that he found a way to focus his love for adventure in such a powerful and moving way. Matthew's brings him to life for readers who may not know about SPEAR and what it does. I certainly didn't know that the man who created it had such an amazing and varied life.

Readers who enjoy biographies and memoirs will be especially keen on this one. It has something for every type of reader. Adventure, emotion, more adventure, humanitarian efforts, more adventure, a little romance, more adventure... I think you get the drift. This is truly what I would call a page turner. I kept wondering from one page to next, what he was going to get himself into next. It's a very well written book and evokes so much emotion from the reader it could seem exhausting if wasn't just so entertaining. I recommend it to all my readers, even if you don't like non-fiction, I can almost guarantee you'll like this one.

Kicking Ass and Saving Souls is available NOW from you favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

David Matthews is the author of the memoir Ace of Spades, which was selected as an Editor's Choice by The New York Times. Matthews's work has also appeared in Salon, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and The Autobiographer's Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir. He lives in New York City.

Review and Giveaway: A Killing in Antiques

A Killing in Antiques (Lucy St. Elmo Antiques - Book 1) by Mary Moody

Publication Date: July 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Pages: Paperback, 320pp

ISBN-13: 9780451234186

ISBN: 0451234189

(Received for an honest review from Obsidian Mysteries)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Mary Moody on the WEB: website, blog

Synopsis:

Treasure hunting is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, Lucy St. Elmo, owner of Cape Cod's St. Elmo Fine Antiques, has more than enough heart. Her tracking skills are what she needs to improve - or else the wrong man could be convicted of a one-of-a-kind murder...

It's time for Brimfield, the largest outdoor antiques and collectibles show in all of New England. This is one event Lucy wouldn't miss for the world. Armed with determination, a keen eye, and her trusty supercart, Lucy is ready to make a killing. But she never expected ther would be a killing at Brimfield! Or that the victim would be her longtime friend, well-known antiques picker Monty Rondo - strangled with a strip of lace.

While Brimfield is still buzzing with the news, Monty's partner, Silent Billy, is arrested for the crime. Lucy's certain that Billy is innocent. So while combing the market for treasures, she starts collecting clues to clear her friend's name. But she'll have to work fast to restore his reputation before a killer comes calling her name...

Thoughts:

Author Mary Moody brings cozy fans a new series based on the art of antiques. A Killing in Antiques is the first book in the new Lucy St. Elmo Antiques series and features a Cape Cod Antiques shop and it's intrepid owner. Readers will love Moody's ability to set the scene as she tackles one of the biggest antique and collectible shows in New England, Brimfield. Moody's descriptions of antique "picking" and hunting for clues will peak the readers interest and draw them into this well crafted cozy!

Lucy St. Elmo owner of Cape Cod's St Elmo Fine Antiques is gearing up for one of her favorite events, Brimfield. Brimfield is the largest outdoor antique and collectible show in New England and Lucy is itching to see what she find for her custom made antique picking cart. What she doesn't expect is to find her friend Monty Rondo dead and his partner Silent Billy suspected of his murder. Lucy has known Monty and Billy for ages and she can't believe that Billy would have anything to do with Monty's death. So while she is scouring the show for just the right pieces to take back to her shop, she's picking for clues as well as treasures. But when she draws the interest of the killer as well as other antique enthusiasts she may get the bad end of the bargain...

Mary Moody has chosen an interesting occupation for her heroine Lucy in A Killing in Antiques. With the popularity of shows like, Antiques Road Show and American Pickers, this theme is bound to be well received by cozy fans. Antique dealers are an interesting lot in the fact that they are in a sense treasure hunters. Moody does an excellent job of describing the art of "picking" and making it interesting for the reader. Not only does she give them a great whodunit with this book, but a bare bones education in the antiques trade. I think readers will really enjoy this aspect of the book which includes collecting tips.

The mystery aspect of the book centers around the death of well-known picker, Monty Rondo. I found it interesting that the author chose to use a strip of lace as a murder weapon. It has become clear to me from reading cozies that there are a million in one things a person could use to kill somebody, but I was still surprised by this one. Who would have expected a simple piece of lace could be the crux of a murder investigation? I thought it was unique and different, but the choice of the main suspect was a little too convenient. I suppose Billy was probably the one who stood to gain the most by Rondo's death but still it might have been a little more interesting to shift the blame a little further afield in the beginning of the book. I did really enjoy how the mystery played out and how Lucy was able to come up with her conclusion. I did have this one figured out before the end which is always a thrill for me. I liked to be kept guessing, but I really feel like I've accomplished something when I get it right!

Lucy is a great heroine and I think readers will really like her. She has this personality that is kind of infectious. When she starts talking about antiques you can feel her passion, which in turn must be a passion of the author or she would not be able to convey it so well through her character. I liked Lucy's outlook on life and on antiques. She was knowledgeable and came across to the reader as someone you wouldn't want to tangle with when it came to price...LOL! I look forward to learning more about her and her life in future books in this series. There is still a lot to learn about her and her shop.

I recommend this one to cozy lovers who have a penchant for antiques. The antique part of the book was just as interesting as the whodunit. Moody has a knack for writing in such a way that readers will be searching their attics and out building to see if they think they have something valuable hidden in there. As well as finding a mystery around every corner. A great first effort!

A Killing in Antiques is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

Mary Moody is a Massachusetts native who has lived all over the commonwealth. She has an MBA from Clark University in Worcester. Growing up within a collecting family was a lesson in the pleasure of the treasure hunt. She likes people who find ingenious ways to participate in the antiques marketplace, and writing their stories has been a fun way to forget her career as a commercial banker. She currently lives in the Berkshires with her husband.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

The publisher is offering one copy of A Killing in Antiques to one lucky winner from Debbie's Book Bag!

~ You must be a Google Friend Connect follower to participate.

~ US addresses only! (Publisher Request)

~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST August 17th.

1. Please leave a comment in appreciation to the author on THIS post.

2. Please fill out the FORM.

Review: Consequence

Consequence by Hazel Statham

Publication Date: August 2011

Publisher: Thomas Bouregy & Company, Inc.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780803476721

ISBN: 0803476728

(Received for an honest review from Pump Up Your Book)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Books-A-Million

Hazel Statham on the WEB: website, blog, twitter

Excerpt from Consequence

Synopsis:

In the wake of a duel, Marcel Blake, Duke of Lear, an infamous rake and gamester, leaves London to visit his cousin in Paris. Here he meets and falls in love with the British Ambassador’s daughter, Julie. Thinking she would be horrified if she knew of his reputation, he fights the attraction but when he is wounded whilst saving her from the unwanted attentions of a would-be suitor, he finds she returns his affection.

However, revenge and the fates conspire against them and when, at their wedding reception, Julie is maliciously informed of Marcel’s previous life-style and told that he only married her to please the king, she is devastated and an insurmountable gulf exists between them. Can Marcel prove his reformation and woo his wife, or is the desolation she feels impossible to overcome? Will they eventually find happiness or is the perpetrators revenge too complete?

Thoughts:

In harmony with the great Regency writers of the past comes a book by British author Hazel Statham. Consquence is a novel that historical romance readers will adore. Statham who is influenced by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, brings readers a tale of a love and betrayal. Readers will love Statham's traditional style and her ability to bring the story to life with elegance and grace. A must read for historical fiction fans!

Marcel Blake, the Duke of Lear has always lived life on his own terms. A rake, a gambler and a womanizer, some would say. And it's no secret to anyone how he has gone on. Hoping to turn over a new leaf, he joins his cousin in Paris and meets the beautiful and intrepid Julie Markham, daughter to the British Ambassador. Marcel is instantly attracted to Julie but denies his feelings because he believes she would not be able to understand his past. But when he finds her being assaulted by another man he cannot help but step in. When he realizes that Julie has feelings for him as well, he struggles with whether to tell her of his past or not. Deciding that it was too late, their relationship grows and they fall in love. Unfortunately, revenge is in the air and Julie is informed on her wedding night of Marcel's past and the possibility that he married her out of convenience and to please the king. Devastated, Julie feels betrayed and a the distance between her and her husband grows vast. But Marcel isn't giving up... he has to prove his love to her and show her how much he has changed before it's too late.

Author Hazel Statham has a knack for writing in the traditional style of great authors like Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen. Her books give off an elegance and stateliness that is sometimes missing in the latest historical romances. Her latest book Consequence, releasing August 5th is no exception. The Regency period is a popular era for romance novels, but these days things have changed from the original template, where authors told the story without finding it necessary to go into great detail about what happened behind closed doors. Statham proves that there is definitely still a market for romances that are rich and decadent, but not necessarily too "hot" to handle. I loved the fact that she was able to convey to the reader the anticipation and urgency of Marcel and Julie's feelings without overdoing it.

Marcel is the epitome of what readers expect from a great hero. He is a man with a bad boy reputation. He has lived his life on his own terms and paid little heed to his reputation. But as happens with most men, he eventually grows up a bit and realizes that there is more to life than gambling and drinking. Once he sets his mind to becoming a man of substance and taking his ducal responsibilities seriously there is a great change in him. I liked the fact that Statham allowed Marcel to be flawed but also showed the growth in him as a character throughout the novel. Julie is drawn to his commanding presence and I'm sure though she didn't know of his past she could sense that edginess within him, that wildness that comes across in his personality. The author does such a great job of allowing the reader to learn about him without actually telling them about him. His actions spoke loudly about how much he had changed.

Julie is also a character that readers will enjoy learning about. She is portrayed as a young woman who has purpose and intelligence, yet she was somewhat blinded by the Duke of Lear. She was so attracted to him that she didn't see that everyone else knew about his past except her. Perhaps she was blinded by love, but whatever the circumstances, when she does find out the truth she feels betrayed and completely blind sided. I think that readers will be able to identify with Julie and her situation because not many people are without heartache in their life. In some instance or another they have had the same or similar problems with trust. Statham gives readers a character that will resonate with them and also shows that sometimes things don't go the way you thought they would, but it's how you deal with the changes in plans that matters.

I recommend this book to readers who love a good traditional love story in the vein of favorites like Austen and Heyer. I recommend it to historical fiction fans who enjoy reading about the antics of the Ton and the men and women of the Regency world. Impeccably researched and follow of lavish period detail, this is novel historical romance readers won't want to miss. Complex characters, interesting plot and a sense of elegance and grace make this book one of my favorites of the year!

Consequence will be available August 5th from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

Hazel Statham lives in England and has been writing on and off ever since she was fifteen. Hazel lives with her husband, Terry, and a beautiful Labrador named Mollie. Apart from writing, her other ruling passion is animals, and until recently she had served as the treasurer for an organization that raised money for animal charities.

Consequence is Hazel's second novel for AVALON. The Portrait is also available.

Review and Giveaway: Foul Play at the PTA

Foul Play at the PTA (PTA mysteries - Book 2) by Laura Alden

Publication Date: July 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Pages: Paperback, 320pp

ISBN-13: 9780451234087

ISBN: 0451234081

(Received for an honest review from Obsidian Mysteries)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Laura Alden on the WEB: website, facebook

Excerpt from Foul Play at the PTA

Synopsis:

BETH KENNEDY IS A WORKING MOTHER AND A PTA SECRETARY, SO BEING BUSY IS NOTHING NEW FOR HER, MURDER, HOWEVER, SEEMS TO BE HER NEW ORDER OF BUSINESS...

PTA meetings at Tarver Elementary School can get pretty heated. But after PTA member Sam Helmstetter is strangled in his car following a meeting, Beth and her best friend, Marina, fear there may be a cold-blooded killer in the group.

Meanwhile, rumors spread that Beth's newest employee at her children's bookstore is the murderer. Yvonne served time for a similar crime, but DNA evidence eventually proved her innocent. As the new PTA vice president organizes a boycott of the bookstore and the real killer roams the streets of Rynwood, Wisconsin. Beth realizes she'll need to stick her own neck out to catch an elusive strangler.

Thoughts:

Author Laura Alden's sophomore effort in the PTA mystery series, Foul Play at the PTA will have cozy fans on their toes. With lots of action and tons of sub-plots this is one cozy that might have readers baffled. Alden's strength is in her mult-layered and intriguing characters including heroine Beth Kennedy, a working mom, book store owner, and PTA secretary. Alden's intuitive writing style and her ability to draw the reader in are exemplary in this complex and interesting new mystery.

Beth Kennedy finds herself smack dab in the middle of another mystery when PTA member Sam Helmstetter is found strangled in the school parking lot after a PTA meeting. Beth blames herself for changing the meeting day due to employee problems at her book store, but tries to hold off becoming involved in the murder. But when it starts to affect her business she has to step in. After hiring an employee that was once convicted of murder but exonerated by DNA evidence, Beth isn't surprised when the locals begin to suspect Yvonne. Considering that Sam didn't seem to have any enemies, perhaps the murder is random? Or is it...

The second book in the PTA murder series by Laura Alden finds heroine Beth Kennedy up to some more amateur sleuthing. Alden has a way of giving readers characters who are believable and every day people. The kind of person who lives down the block or up the street who is just trying to make it in today's world. Beth is one such character. She's a single mom with two kids who is all about giving her kids everything she has to offer. She has regular everyday problems like everybody else, from disagreements with her ex-husband to employee difficulties at work, yet she still finds the time to be a part of the PTA at her children's school. This is the kind of character that will really resonate with readers. She is easy to identify with and comes across as somewhat of an underdog, making readers want to root for her success in every circumstance. Foul Play at the PTA is character driven and Alden does a fantastic job of allowing the reader to become engaged and fully into the story. But if for whatever reason you didn't like Beth you probably wouldn't like this book.

When reading a mystery of an kind I always find myself thinking about whether the scenario the writer created is plausible. Could this really happen in real life? Is this a real motive for murder or just a clever idea to write a story around... I was excited about reading this one because I have kids, I'm a single mom and most of us who have ever been to a school board meeting, a PTA meeting or even a little league game know that people get a little heated when it comes to issues that affect their children and I could definitely see someone getting teed off at a PTA meeting and having an altercation in the parking lot. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to think they'd murder someone over something so minor but people have been murdered for less. Though this didn't turn out exactly like I thought it would, the mystery aspect of the story was well written and had me guessing all the way to the end.

If I had any criticism it would be that we don't learn much about the real killer or the real motive until the final few chapters. The reason it was so hard to figure out whodunit was because there was just sooo much more going in this book. Beth's everyday life created a lot of sub-plots that maybe took some of the zing out of it. That's not to say that readers won't love learning more about Beth and Marina and the rest of the town, but I thought she should have weaved in more details about the killer toward the beginning and middle of the book. However, I definitely enjoyed this one and look forward to the next in the series. I recommend it to cozy readers who enjoy a lighter side to their mysteries. Reader who enjoy books that are character driven and full of background details and information will love this one as well.

Foul Play at the PTA is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag.

Laura grew up in southwestern Michigan and graduated from Eastern Michigan University in the 80’s with a (mostly unused) Bachelor of Science degree in geology.

Except for a year in Connecticut, she’s lived in the Midwest all her life. Currently, Laura and her husband share their house with two very strange cats. When Laura isn’t writing her next book, she’s working at her day job, reading, singing in her church choir, or doing some variety of skiing. She’s fond of long soaks in the tub, red raspberries, and deep blue skies.

Murder at the PTA is Laura’s debut novel. It was released in October 2010 and is the first book in the PTA Mysteries series.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Obsidian has offered one copy of Laura Alden's book, Foul Play at the PTA for giveaway to one winner her at Debbie's Book Bag!

~ You must be a Google Friend Connect follower to participate.
~ US Addresses only! (Publisher Request)
~ The Deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST Aug. 15th.

1. Leave a comment in appreciation to the author on THIS post.
2. Please fill out the FORM.

Q & A and a Giveaway: Karen Essex

Novelist Julianna Baggott, author of The Provence Cure for the Broken-Hearted under the name Bridget Asher, chats with Karen Essex about obsession, criticism, vampires, and Dracula in Love.

Check out Giveaway details at the end of the post!

JB: Current obsessions -- literary or otherwise?

KE: London! I moved here temporarily to research Dracula in Love

because I wanted to breathe in the atmosphere of late Victorian England, which is very much alive in this city, and I never left! After so many years of living in Los Angeles, which represents everything new, I am having a great awakening living at the intersection of history, of which London has an immense amount, and the very multi-cultural, vital present. I am having the time of my life simply immersing myself in London's many aspects and hope to write about my personal experience here too.

JB: I despise the pervasive myth of inspiration – the idea that an entire book can exist simply because of an accumulation of inspired ideas – but I don’t deny that inspiration exists. There are things that have no other explanation. Was there a singular moment of inspiration for this book?

KE: I'd read Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was fifteen years old, and even at that time, I was sure that the character Mina Harker was dissatisfied with her role as the passive, cooperative Victorian virgin. Then, several decades later, strangely—inexplicably—I was sitting at my computer one night staring into space and the thought popped into my brain: What if I retell the original Dracula myth from Mina Harker's perspective? The idea just descended on me.

Now that said, I had my "vampire epiphany" long ago. I used to race home from grade school on my bike to catch "Dark Shadows" on TV. I grew up in a family of spooky women in New Orleans, which is a haunted city. I adored Anne Rice's books, and then later, as a screenwriter, adapted Rice's The Mummy or Ramses the Damned for James Cameron and 20th Century Fox (sadly, the film remains unmade!). So while the idea seemingly just "occurred" to me, I have loved vampire lore for a very long time, and moreover, my novels retell the stories of women in history in an empowering way. So empowering the vampire's "victim" was a natural for me.

JB: Criticism. It’s part of the territory. How do you handle it? Is this the way you’ve always handled it?

KE: This will sound childish and hubristic but when I read a horrible review, I always picture the person who wrote it as morbidly obese and sexually frustrated. I also tell myself that this poor creature, who is generally lambasting me on some point on which they are entirely wrong, usually an historical detail, is not smart enough to understand the complexity of my book or its higher themes! The truth is—and every writer no matter how successful will attest to this—criticism always hurts. It's important to revel in the good comments and minimize thinking on the bad. This actually does not get easier as time goes on, but it is necessary to develop thick skin in order to remain in any sector of the public eye. Now that anyone with access to a computer has a portal for their opinions, we are inundated with criticism. If it doesn’t kill us, it WILL make us stronger.

As far as criticism from the people who support me, such as my agent and my editor, I put my faith in these folks, and I try very hard to listen carefully to their comments. I don't blindly take every suggestion, but I do put my ego aside and try to objectively consider and address everything they bring up. Writers are buried so deeply in the minutia of our stories that we often cannot see the big picture.

JB: What kind of child were you, inside of what kind of childhood, and how did it shape you as a writer?

KE: Like almost every writer throughout history, I was a child who loved to read. My parents used to call me for dinner 100 times before I actually heard their voices because I was so engrossed in a book. "She's come back from the planet Venus," they'd say when I finally showed up at the table. Also, my early years were spent in my grandmother's kitchen, where she, her sister, and their mother, my amazing great-grandmother, told stories all day long while they cooked for the family and for the men who worked in my grandfather's barbershop. They did not censor for the ears of a child, so it was a very rich experience, and I believe, the reason I am a writer today.

The Dracula in Love video tells the whole story of how my childhood influenced my tastes and the writing of the novel, so please take a look!

JB: Research. We all have to do it. Sometimes it’s delicious, sometimes brutal. Tell us a tale from the research trenches.

KE: I love research almost as much as I love writing, which is a good thing because research and historical fiction are symbiotic. The most harrowing research I have done was in the archives of Victorian mental hospitals, reading the accounts of the really bizarre treatments given to women in the early days of psychiatry to help "settle them down." A good chunk of Bram Stoker's Dracula takes place in an insane asylum. I wanted to use the same setting in my novel but portray the asylum as it actually was at the time—full of women incarcerated for having what we today would consider normal sexual activity. My conceit for Dracula in Love was that women in the 1890s had a lot more to fear from their own culture than from vampires! I am told that the scariest parts of the book take place in the asylum scenes, which were recreated from painstaking research. People always say to me, "You must have made that stuff up!" But no, everything that happened in those scenes is based on reality. Research will always demonstrate that truth is greater than fiction.

JB: What other jobs have you had -- other than writing or teaching writing? Did one of these help shape you as a writer?

KE: My first career was as a film executive in Hollywood. I am ever grateful that I worked in a real business, albeit a creative one, before I quit and dedicated myself entirely to writing. I write literary novels and have never written anything "for the money," but from day one, I approached writing with an eye to publishing and to earning my income through the endeavor. Publishing is a business and many writers fail to understand that, which is why many writers fail to publish, or fail to maintain a career as a writer once they are published. I took my "career" as a writer as seriously as I took my career as an executive, which meant learning the mechanics of the industry along with learning the mechanics of the craft. I knew that I had to invest in my writing on every level, including the financial. I made great financial sacrifices for my writing but I considered it an investment in my future, or my "business." Anyone who thinks that publishing is not a business, or that good writers do not think of it that way, is very naive.

For more information on Karen Essex check out these links:

Dracula in Love Book Trailer

Dracula in Love Tour Schedule

Karen Essex Website

Karen Essex Blog

Karen Essex Facebook Page

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Historical Fiction Virtual Tours is sponsoring a giveaway for five copies of Dracula in Love to five winners here at Debbie's Book Bag!

~ You must be a Google Friend Connect follower to participate.

~ US addresses only!

~ Deadline to enter the giveaway is Midnight EST Aug. 15th.

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