Trinity Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for Trinity by C.J. Bolyne! Lots of great things in this post including a guest post, review, and giveaway, so keep reading!

Payton thought she had a normal, everyday life. When a mysterious man suddenly appears, he shatters her world telling her that her entire life has been a lie. She is a god with the Guardians having lived for 1000's of years. The Anords know where she is and he needs to protect her at all costs. Payton holds the key to saving humanity. However, a mysteriously familiar woman complicates everything.

About CJ Bolyne:

CJ Bolyne is a first time author and Trinity is her first book.

Born and raised in Southeastern Manitoba, Canada, CJ was an avid reader dreaming of the day she would write her own fantasy / sci-fi book.

When she’s not writing, CJ spends her time on her farm with her husband and multiple pets. She runs a full-time pet grooming business.

Her first book, Trinity, is the first in the series.

C.J. Bolyne has written a guest post for us today:

Hey everyone! Thanks for popping by on Day 4 of my very first virtual blog tour for my very first book, Trinity! I appreciate you being here and a huge thank you to Lisa for hosting me today.

Trinity is about a young woman – Payton – who thought she had your every day, ordinary life. After an extraordinary encounter with a stranger, she finds herself in another world. A world that she does not even remember. Apparently, someone had wiped and changed her memory and the only one who can restore it is this stranger.

““Hello” he said quietly. That slight grin was back on his lips.

“Uh, hey. How’d you get in here? I locked the back door already.”

“I have my ways” he answered.

“Yeah, well, that’s not an answer to my question. I have a few questions in fact. Like, number one, who are you? And number two, how did you know my name. That’s just for starters!” Payton’s voice squeaked a little. She was scared now.

The stranger took a step toward Payton. She took a step back. “Stop right there buddy! I do know how to defend myself!” Payton warned. The stranger could see that she was shaking. ‘She’s terrified of you,’ he thought. ‘We can’t have that. I must calm her; ease her mind.’

“Please, do not be afraid,” he tried to use a soothing tone. “I am not here to harm you. I am here to protect you.”

“Protect me? From who or what?” Payton demanded.

“It’s a long story Payton. I am your guardian. I am Terran.” he said.

“Alright, so now I know your name at least. So Terran, who are you and why would I need protection?” she asked.

“Can we go somewhere private to talk?” he asked.

“We are alone here! Right here! So talk!” she started to yell.

“No, we’re not” he said and grabbed her around the waist tight. Just before they seemed to disappear from her shop, she saw a shadow figure coming towards her … then darkness.

They landed, or he landed and had to steady her when her knees buckled. She shook her head. It felt fuzzy. When things cleared, she looked around. It was dark, cold and clammy – a cave.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Safe, for now.” he replied.”

Be sure to check out C.J. Bolyne's website and Facebook page. You can purchase Trinity at Smashwords, Lulu, or Amazon.

Review:

Payton has a average life. Late one night though, she stops to help a stranger in distress. Soon she learns this stranger is even stranger than she had imagined, and Payton finds herself caught up in a world she didn't even know existed. It seems Payton's true identity has been hidden from her. Now Payton must struggle to regain her memory even as she tries to keep away from a rival faction that is very interested in her. 

This was a bit of a familiar story (girl is actually really important but has lost her memory), but it has a freshness to it due to the creativity of the plot. I found the story so interesting. There was a particular part of the story about another mysterious woman that was so cool. That kept me reading until the end and wanting more. It definitely managed to capture my attention. It was a very unique concept. I had a couple problems when reading though. One was I found the characters hard to keep up with a bit. Names of the gods were sort of thrown at me without too much information about them, so it was hard to keep up with who was who. I'm also horrible with just remembering names without some kind of distinguishing characteristic though. The other was that sometimes there were a lot of short sentences in a row. This could make for a choppy narrative, and that could take me out of the story a bit.

Getting past those things though, I was really intrigued by the story. I liked that Payton managed to take charge of her own destiny even when she was unsure what it was. Not only was Terran dreamy, he made a great companion for Payton. I did wish I got a little more information about the conflict between the various factions of the gods. Overall though, this book did a great job of leaving me hanging and wanting more. That ending was a little surprising and left me with tons of questions. I know I will be looking for the sequel. This book is creative and will leave you wondering what happens next.

Book provided for review

A great giveaway is also being sponsored for this book, so be sure to check it out and enter! Good luck to everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Carnival Girl Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for Carnival Girl by Sonja Hebert!

Today I have a guest post and review, but first a little info on the book!

The only life Sonja has ever known was on the road. Now she must choose between the carnival and her convictions, between her family and her faith. This beautifully written memoir of growing up in post-war Germany and meeting the Mormon missionaries will remind you of how much God loves each one of us and how his power can make anything possible.


Meet the Author:

Sonja Herbert and her five siblings were raised in a caravan, traveling the carnival circuit from town to town in post-World War II Germany.

Sonja converted to the LDS Church, later married, and immigrated to the United States, where she received a bachelor of arts degree at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, and a master of arts degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She also raised six children, taught school and ESL, and is now a freelance writer.

Besides her childhood memoir, Sonja has also written many autobiographical stories, which have been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and other anthologies. A biographical novel about her half-Jewish mother’s experiences in Nazi Germany is almost finished.

Sonja lives in Provo with her husband and cat. You can find more about her unusual life at germanwriter.com.


Guest Post:


When I was a little girl, traveling in our small carnival caravan, I often listened to my mother talking about how she used to be a model in Berlin, the greatest city of Europe, and how she had to leave and hire on with the circus in order to stay ahead of the Nazis.

During the few times we carnival children attended school, I once received an A for a story about a Greek myth I had written, and on that day I decided to write about my mother’s life when I grew up. 

All through the time I raised my six children here in the U.S.A., this thought was with me, and when the younger ones were a bit older, I started on my mother’s story. As the story unfolded, I realized that it would not be complete unless I also told my own story, the story of my childhood and my life with my mother.

And that’s how Carnival Girl began. I originally called it Conversations with Margot (my mother’s first name), but since the novel I wrote about her life isn’t published yet, I decided to re-name the memoir and publish it first.

As I wrote the story and remembered the things that happened in my early life, old feelings also returned, and I had to confront the childish reactions of my younger self. Now, as a grown woman, I was able to see things I had not seen as a little girl, and when my memoir was finished, I had a new insight and understanding for my mother, who had suffered so much and still came out ahead.

My mother, Margot, is now ninety-one years old. She lives in Stuttgart, Germany, and is still going strong!
Thank you Mutti, for everything you have taught me!

Review:

Sonja has known nothing but living on the go. Growing up in Germany after World War II is interesting enough, but Sonja's parents run a carnival. This means Sonja is always moving from place to place. This can make it difficult to make friends and get a consistent education, but none of this holds Sonja back. Not even being stuffed in a small caravan with her 3 siblings can hold her down. Sonja tries to make the best of her life, and even manages to find something she didn't know she was looking for- religion. Her faith allows her to make a new life, but she never forgets her old one.

I found this book very interesting. What a fascinating way to grow up! I really felt for Sonja's mom; she seemed to chafe with the constant moving. That would be so hard, especially with so many small children. In some ways though, that lifestyle seems like something I dreamed of as a child. Running a carnival was definitely interesting as evidenced by this book. There were also some unique situations the family found themselves in. I do with one particular thing had been delved into a little deeper, but I can see why it wasn't.

I think my favorite aspect of this book was Sonja's search for a sense of self and home even. She eventually found this, but I don't think it's where she expected. Through everything though, you can tell Sonja has an amazing affection for her mother. In some ways this is a very sweet tribute to all her mother went through raising children on the road. I am really looking forward to the book about her mother's life during the war. This is a book that many people will enjoy. It reads like fiction in some ways, but it is all real. It's a great book.


Book provided for review.

Be sure to check out all the stops on the tour!!

An American Family Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour for An American Family by Peter Lefcourt!

What did it mean to become American in the mid-20^th century? Peter Lefcourt goes beyond assimilation to take a nostalgic and dramatic look at what makes us truly American in AN AMERICAN FAMILY: A Novel (Amazon e-book; $3.99; May 1, 2012). Lefcourt, known for his best-selling comic novels -- The Deal, The Dreyfus Affair, Di & I, Abbreviating Ernie, The Woody, Eleven Karens and The Manhattan Project -- takes a more serious approach here as he revives the settings, styles and sentiments of the 20^th century.

Roots, The Godfather, Angela’s Ashes, The Joy Luck Club, My Antonia, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Middlesex are just a few of the great family sagas that have evoked our shared immigrant experience. AN AMERICAN FAMILY is told through the shifting points of view of the five Perl siblings born in the 1940’s, between the two iconic dates of the last fifty years: the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the catastrophe of 9/11. Within this time frame the Perl family is swept up in the sweeping cultural changes of those years: the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, rock and roll, drugs, women’s liberation, and the civil rights movement.

During this turbulent time, we meet the Perls -- Meyer, the immigrant tailor with a weakness for Yiddish theater actresses, whose nephew, Nathan, would become a fabric cutter on Seventh Avenue and the patriarch of the clan; Jackie, the young lawyer with a weakness for women, alcohol and Italian-American “clients”; Michael, the business genius intent on building his fortune; Elaine, the married school teacher who wants more from her life than being merely a wife and mother; Stephen, the brilliant and sensitive artist who struggles with his talent and his sexuality; and Roberta, the rebel hungry to experience perhaps a little too much of what life has to offer.

Lefcourt reaches back to his own family and memories to inform this saga. “Though this is not an autobiographical novel, it is, in a larger sense, a ‘cultural autobiography’ – specifically, that of Jewish-Americans born in the 1940’s. Our experiences are similar to that of all immigrants – Italian, Irish, Vietnamese, Iranian, etc. – as we all navigate the tide of our new culture.”

Peter Lefcourt is a refugee from the trenches of Hollywood, where he has distinguished himself as a writer and producer of film and television. Among his credits are “Cagney and Lacey,” for which he won an Emmy Award; “Monte Carlo,” in which he managed to keep Joan Collins in the same wardrobe for 35 pages; the relentlessly sentimental “Danielle Steel’s Fine Things,” and the underrated and hurried “The Women of Windsor,” the most sordid, and thankfully last, miniseries about the British Royal Family. He is a 30 handicap golfer, drinks too much good wine, and has never been awarded the Nobel Prize for anything.

Buy the book at Amazon.

So today I have an excerpt, guest post, and a review! 

Excerpt:

If only that asshole Y.A. Tittle hadn’t decided to run out the clock against the Eagles last Sunday instead of kicking a field goal and covering the spread. The bald little prick didn’t give a shit. It wasn’t his $450 on the line.

The shark operated out of a bar and grill in Hempstead, and charged 28% a week. The needle on the 1951 Ford Falcon was twitching around the E mark. He’d have to stop for gas in Brooklyn. He was juggling a lot of balls, and keeping them all in the air at the same time was getting harder. He needed to get by till January, when he’d be finished with Torts and on to Contracts, which was a lot easier, and he was promised a raise.

When he’s been offered the job as Larry Porter’s administrative assistant, Jackie had jumped at it, even though he was going to law school at night.

Guest Post:

Scripts vs. Novels: Peter Lefcourt’s Take on the Similarities and Differences

The similarity pretty much begins and ends with the fact that both careers involve writing. But that’s about as far as it goes. As many other writers, I came to Los Angeles with the intention of making enough money to finance my lifestyle as a novelist. As it turned out, I found that television writing was not only lucrative but a good apprenticeship in the art of story-telling. You learn how to tell a story economically, which is an invaluable skill in fiction writing. And you learn how to write to a deadline. On the other hand, you soon learn that in Hollywood the writer is a fungible element in filmmaking, summarily replaced by another writer when he/she offers resistance to all the “creative” input from directors, studio execs, producers, and actors. You are, essentially, a hired gun, at the beck and call of others – a well-paid hired gun perhaps, to be sure, but one with very little control over the product.

Moreover, there is very little “voice” in screenwriting. In books it is often the way you tell a story and not the story itself that compels readers. I am drawn to language and voice; and with the possible exception of a facility for dialogue (a skill that is almost impossible to teach: I learned how people talk driving a cab in New York in the sixties – an education worth more, in my opinion, than a PHD in Creative Writing) -- these elements are not valued in screenwriting.

Nevertheless, Hollywood has allowed me the wherewithal to travel a great deal, to perfect the craft of story telling and, ultimately, to reinvent myself as a novelist and have both careers mutually reinforce each other. I’m not sure I would have succeeded in one without the other.

Review:

When President Kennedy is assassinated, people across the United States were shocked. This is no different for the Perl family in Long Island. Spanning from the 1960's to 2011, this book tells the story of the Perl family. Nathan, the father, and his second wife Lillian are parents to 5 children. Jackie is a law student with a penchant for gambling and drinking. Mickey is the businessman, always looking for a way to make money. Elaine is in school becoming a teacher. Stephen feels like he doesn't fit in with his family and most of the world around him. Roberta is the rebellious one, more interested in experimenting with things than anything else. Through the years this clan will go through numerous changes in their family and the world around them. As time passes, they will all learn what being a family truly means.

This book is able to draw you in immediately with the use of a major historical event like the assassination of President Kennedy. You get a good feel for the characters by their reactions to that one event. This carries on through the years. Sometimes you get to see their reactions to major parts of history, but other times you get to see them deal with the everyday parts of life that we all have to deal with. Many of the Perls really struggle with finding their place in this world (or at least the place that brings them the most happiness). Bobbie had probably the most "stereotypical" experience of what you expect from that era- she loves drugs, rock and roll, and her freedom. I found Elaine's story to be the easiest to relate to in some ways. She really struggles with being expected to just be a wife and mom.

Sometimes I felt the sheer number of characters to be a bit hard to keep up with, but I am also horrible with remembering names. One thing this book really reminded me was how much things have changed in such a short amount of time. I found a beautiful sense of family with the Perls. They don't always agree, and they certainly weren't perfect. However, they really did take care of each other. The ending brought things full circle in an amazing way. I also appreciated that the family participated in history in very normal ways. The family wasn't just thrown into events in dubious manners. Overall, I was really just touched by this story. The Perls really could represent almost any American family. This book will make you laugh and maybe even cry, and in the end you will really feel a great sense of inclusion in and love for this great fabric of people that make this world a wonderful place to live.

Galley provided for review.

Be sure to check out all the other stops on the tour for more great excerpts, posts, and more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dinner with Lisa Blog Tour Pt.2- Guest Post and Giveaway

Welcome to the second post in the Dinner With Lisa blog tour! Today I have a guest post and a giveaway! 

First, our guest post.

How did you choose what time period to set the book in?

Dinner with Lisa is based partly on stories of my own family. For years I listened to my relatives recount their childhoods and talk about the unusual characters they knew. I enjoyed these anecdotes immensely, but didn’t think about them after they’d been told. However, as I got older, and the various relatives, including my grandparents, passed away, I wished someone had recorded their stories.

After completing my first novel, The Impact of a Single Event, which became a national bestseller, I began to write down my own recollections of those stories and had my parents and their older siblings, all now in their seventies and eighties, supplement my memories. As the cache of tales grew – a great uncle’s experience in WW1, my mother’s memories of the neighborhood corner store in the 1940’s, my father’s memories of life on a dairy farm in the 1930’s – I saw a connecting thread. Before long, I was researching the time periods in which the stories took place. I finally chose the 1930’s because I found the Great Depression a fascinating time and because it was topical. While I was doing the research, North America was going through the worst recession since the 1930’s and there was great fear in the media that we were heading for another economic depression.

How do you make a family living in the past relatable to readers in the present?

The answer to that question is easy, but the method of making characters from the past relatable to readers in the present takes a great deal of effort. I believe you need details. The more details I have about the time period I am writing about the easier it is for me to create a picture in my mind. In the case of Dinner with Lisa it meant months of pouring over newspapers from the Great Depression to get a good account of what people were going through and how they dealt with such terrible circumstances. Essentially it was all about research. 

Thanks to R. L. Prendergast for writing such a great post! 

And now for the giveaway!

The prize is one copy of Dinner With Lisa by R. L. Prendergast. You can win a print copy in the US or Canada or an e-copy anywhere in the world. All you have to do is leave your name and e-mail in the Rafflecopter form. You can get one bonus entry for leaving a comment on this post. Any comment will do. This giveaway will run from March 15th to March 28th. Good luck!

Blog Tour: On the Rim of Love by Marie Astor- Guest Post and Giveaway

Welcome to the blog tour for On the Rim of Love by Marie Astor!

About On The Rim Of Love - Goodreads, Amazon
Twenty-two-year-old Maggie Robin has been dating the irresistibly good-looking Jeffrey Preston for a year. But when Jeffrey proposes marriage to her a week after her college graduation, Maggie finds herself wondering if she wants to spend the rest of her life married to a workaholic TV show producer.

Her doubts culminate when during a ski trip to British Columbia she meets Taylor Denton, a handsome, free-spirited big mountain skier.

Maggie’s attraction to Taylor is undeniable, but she is engaged to marry Jeffrey. Will Maggie have the courage to follow her heart?


Author Marie Astor has written a guest post on how to make readers fall in love with your characters.

How to make your readers fall in love with your characters?

How to make your readers fall in love with your characters? is a question that I bet every author wishes she / he had a definitive answer to, but unfortunately there is no one-size-fits-all formula, or, if there is, I have not found it. When I try to answer this question for myself, as I do every time I set out on creating characters for a new novel, I ask myself what makes me like a person? After all, characters are people – yes, fictional, but still people, and I hope that you will agree with me that such wonderful personages as Dorothea Brooke from Middlemarch, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, and Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind - I’ll stop the list here for the sake of space - have become parts of our lives in ways just as important as those of real people. But back to the question – what makes one likeable? 

Does a character have to be perfect? 

Absolutely not! How many of us will admit to having friends who drive us crazy now and then, but we love them anyway? The same applies to fictional characters. For example, Scarlett O’Hara - Scarlett is scheming, conniving, jealous, and downright mean at times, and yet, we love her all the same because she is also strong-willed and tough, and she perseveres and stands tall in very difficult circumstances, making us root for her as readers.

Does a reader have to be able to relate to a character on some level?

Absolutely – regardless of where and when the story takes place, the reader should be able to identify with the character on some level. I think that Jane Austen’s novels are the perfect example – the setting may be in a different century, but we still find ourselves relating to Austen’s heroines as they struggle with their misfortunes and claim their victories. There are still men like Mr. Darcy walking around today, albeit clad in a different style of clothing.

Does a character have to be good-looking? 

That depends. How does a heroine who is gorgeous, confident and eloquent sound? Boring. But if we had a heroine who is good-looking, but is struggling with insecurities stemming from her past we would want to find out more about her. . I believe that there should be a balance between physical appearance and character traits.

These are just a few of the guidelines that steered me true when I was writing the characters of Maggie Robin and Taylor Denton – the leading characters of my contemporary romance novel, On the Rim of Love. I hope that you will add On the Rim of Love to your Kindle shelf and join Maggie and Taylor on their journey.

Thanks for that awesome post. I may be swooning already!

About Marie Astor - website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads
Marie Astor is a die-hard romantic who wholeheartedly believes in true love, which is why she writes in the contemporary romance genre.

Marie is the author of contemporary romance novels, On the Rim of Love, Lucky Charm, and a short story collection, A Chance Encounter and Other Stories.

In addition to being a writer, Marie is an avid hiker, an excellent swimmer, a good skier, and a capable badminton player.

Currently, Marie is working on her next novel – stay tuned for details! If you would like to receive updates about book releases and events, please visit Marie’s website or visit Marie at her Facebook page.


There is also an awesome giveaway going on!

Contest Info: Marie is offering a Kindle 3G skinned in her beautiful On The Rim Of Love cover art. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below!

Open US/Canada.  See full contest rules here.



a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to check out all the stops on the tour. Thanks for stopping by!


Monday, February 13th - Riverina Romantics 
Tuesday, February 14th - Snowdrop Dreams of Books 
Wednesday, February 15th - My Reading Room 
Thursday, February 16th - Books Like Breathing 
Friday, February 17th - Obsession with Books 


Monday, February 20th - Reviews By Molly 
Tuesday, February 21st - Sweeping Me 
Wednesday, February 22nd - A Casual Reader's Blog 
Thursday, February 23rd - Better Read Than Dead 
Friday, February 24th - I'm Just Sitting Here and Read 


Monday, February 27th - Hesperia Loves Books 
Tuesday, February 28th - A Tale of Many Reviews 
Wednesday, February 29th - Library Mosaic 
Thursday, March 1st - The Magic Attic 
Friday, March 2nd - Ce-Ce's Garden Reviews

Blog Tour: Barking Mad by Jamieson Ridenhour

Welcome to the blog tour for Barking Mad by Jamieson Ridenhour! I have a guest post, review, and giveaway to tell you about today.

About Barking Mad - goodreads, Amazon, Typecast Publishing
The year is 1931. The scene is werewolfishly classic English fare. And tonight the moon hangs as full as a royal pie plate in this inaugural Reginald Spiffington mystery when the none too obsequious playboy, Reggie, sets out for a delectably long weekend at Huffsworthy Hall to assist his dear friend, Moony, in his failing endeavor to take the hand of his lady-love and to partake in the culinary talents of the genius chef running the kitchen. With no one reason more important than the next, he ll be off straight after breakfast. Reggie's itinerary for the weekend turns abruptly less toothsome when he decides to solve the unexpected murder of another of the Hall's guests, a guest whose luggage is secretly packed full of nefarious plans. Soon, all Huffsworthy's inhabitants are potential suspects, including Reggie's saucy, quick-witted love-interest, Mimsy Borogrove. Aided by his invaluable valet, Pelham, and armed only with his knowledge of detective novels and a newly acquired set of keener, canine senses, Reggie sets out to find the killer before another meal falls to ruin


Jamieson Ridenhour has very kindly written up a post about how to prepare for writing in a certain time period.

Hi everybody! I’m Jamie, and I’m the author of the werewolf murder-mystery Barking Mad.  First off, I want to thank Lisa for hosting me here at the Casual Reader’s Blog as part of the Barking Mad blog tour. I’m excited to be here, and I heartily appreciate the cyber-hospitality.

I’ve been asked to talk about how I prepare to write in a certain time period. I have written contemporary pieces, mostly short fiction, but a lot of my work is set in an earlier era. Barking Mad occurs in England during the early 1930s; I’ve also written a story set in Mississippi during the late 1930s (“Dark Gonna Catch Me Here,” in this month’s issue of Weird Tales), and the YA novel I’m writing now is set in Victorian London. I like being able to visit other time periods, other places—both when I’m reading and when I’m creating my own stories.

The trick, of course, is making it authentic. I’ve been to England, but I’ve never been to 1931. Perhaps once I get my own Tardis (it’s been on my Christmas list for years, and I’m still waiting), but until then I have to make do with research. And that’s the short and dirty answer to preparing for writing historical fiction: reference books and more reference books. And Google is your friend.

I’d like to say that my research for Barking Mad was thorough and organized. Honestly, though, the best way to prepare for writing a novel set in the 1930s is to read lots of novels written in the 1930s. Barking Mad was purposefully intended to be a tribute to three types of early twentieth-century stories: the Jeeves and Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie’s big house murder-mysteries, and the Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s. Werewolves! Rich playboys! Murder! Because I’m a great lover of all those things, and have spent scads of time reading Wodehouse and watching the old Universal films, a lot of the speech patterns and narrative moves were sort of second nature. I know what those genres feel like, have had them hard-wired into my brain by a lifetime of reading, and I had a great time recreating them.

Which is not to say that I didn’t do actual research during the writing of the novel. Most of this had to do with small details that I wanted to get right—Would a 30s novel have an author photo on the dust cover? Had Constantinople become Istanbul by 1931? What’s the difference between an Inspector and a Detective Inspector, and was that difference the same during the interwar years?—but a few major things needed more in depth digging. I got advice on poisons from my friend Angela, for instance, who gleefully used her knowledge as a medical professional to suggest painful and disgusting ways I could kill people with common garden plants. My favorite find was a lunar calendar for 1931, which allowed me to track the full moon 80 years ago, a fairly crucial point in a werewolf novel.

Ultimately, much of the research I did either didn’t make it into the book or else made only a marginal appearance. Because Barking Mad is in many ways a book about fine food, I spent a lot of  time with some delicious-sounding recipes from the 1930s. Most of those will have to wait to be eaten in later novels. But everything helped. Every nugget of 1930s culture, slang, or history brought me better understanding of the era and my characters. I listened to a lot of music from the late 20s and early 30s as well, even going so far as to create a playlist to keep me company while I wrote. The trick is to go there, even without a Tardis, to be as completely in 1931 as I can. If I can do that, then my characters will say the right thing, dress the right way, and be in the most complete way they can.

Plus I get to have a little temporal vacation. And that’s smashing, old bean. Simply smashing.

A temporal vacation? I love it! I think reading helps do that for me. Thanks so much for that great post.

About Jamieson Ridenhour - website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads
Jamieson Ridenhour is the author of Barking Mad: A Reginald Spiffington Mystery, available from Typecast Publishing in June of 2011. He is the editor of the Valancourt edition of Sheridan Le Fanus 1872 lesbian vampire novella Carmilla, as well as creator of the award-winning short fairy-tale horror film Cornerboys.
The South Carolina native now lives in Bismarck, ND, where he writes poetry about movie monsters and murder-mysteries with werewolves in them. He also plays wicked lead guitar with Bismarck-based rock and roll band Blind Mice, lectures on vampires and Charles Dickens (though not at the same time), and generally frolics on the plains. He lives with his wife Gwyn and their two children Ian and Eva.

Review:

Reginald Spiffington is already dreading the weekend. His friend Moony has asked Reggie out to a country manor to assist Moony in getting the attention of a particular girl. Once there though, things get out of hand very quickly. A murder, a love interest, and a werewolf are only part of the trials Reggie must withstand. With the help of his valet Pelham, Reggie is determined to find the killer, help Moony get the girl, and eat some delicious food.

This book was so much fun! It has the amazing ability to pay homage to the great mystery novels of the past, while providing just enough mocking of their style without being mean. Reggie seems like a pretty fun chap, and I couldn't help but think I would like to spend some time with him. He handles everything as calmly and smoothly as possible. Of course, he would be helpless without his man Pelham. Pelham has an interesting past, and I was really interested in this. Pelham is definitely the kind of person I'd want around in my time of need. Mimsy was great, and I am dying to read one of her novels. I bet they are a hoot. Arabella was someone I was less impressed with in the beginning, but as the book went on she became a much more interesting character.

The mystery wasn't too mysterious, but even so I wasn't sure who the responsible party was. I went through several suspects before the killer was finally revealed. I also loved the genre mixing. This book was a little bit paranormal, a lot mystery. I thought the book was witty as well. It is also a rather quick read, and you never get bored when reading it. Overall I thought this was a great book.

Book provided for review.

And now for the giveaway!

Contest Info: Jamie is offering a giveaway for all entries gathered during the Tour. A signed copy of Barking Mad, 4 unique signed character cards and a DVD.

Open US/Canada.  See full contest rules here.