Book Title: "Take One at Bedtime"
Author: Jenny Twist
Published By: Melange Books
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5
Review: I love anthologies they were by far one of my favorite types of book to read. Those wonderful stories that are short and quick to read, yet leave you thinking afterward. "Take One at Bedtime" is by far one of the best short story anthologies I've read in a long time. The stories are not all scary, there are quite a few that are touching and leave you with a feeling of euphoria at the end. The author did a remarkable job capturing her characters and even though the stories were short you still felt the full emotion you'd get if you were reading a full length novel. This book is well worth the time one would take to read it and I highly recommend it.

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"LITERARY STUFFING" THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAY INTERVIEW SERIES (PATRICIA VANDENBURG)

Thank you again for donating a book for the "Literary Stuffing’s" giveaway. Can you tell us more about the book you donated?

Thank you for the opportunity to donate one of my books “Layers of the Heart” for your event. Since my book is an inspirational book and to me it is almost more important for people to have the opportunity to read it as it is to make money, not that I don’t look forward to the day when I can do this full time, and know that I am touching people’s lives just by sharing my life experiences and letting others know that they are not alone on their journey. My book was inspired by an action of another over two thousand miles away and someone I have never met. A young man desperate to get a gift for his two year old daughter went into a store to rob it and wound up praying with the clerk instead. By the time the program I was watching ended the Title, Chapter titles and outline were done. In that moment I realized that many lives had changed for the better just by changing is decision. I use the Heart as a Metaphor for the many emotions we experience through our journey called life and the response has been overwhelming and truly humbling.

This time of year is usually a warm and happy time with friends and family, how do you usually spend Thanksgiving every year?

I always spend it with either friends or family, or I have in the past opened my home to people who had very little family or nowhere else to go. Sharing life and conversation has always been important to me, whether it be a conversation with someone I know or a perfect stranger I just think everyone has something to teach someone else, which is why I love this season most of all; it’s a time to reflect and give two of my favorite things to do.

Can you remember one of your happiest Thanksgivings?

Yes actually it was back in the early eighties and I cooked for a group of people from many walks of life who had nowhere else to go and we shared many things with one another that we had never shared before. We laughed, cried and bonded, and I think it was a Thanksgiving we all hold dear today.

What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?

I know this seems redundant but giving of me in any way possible to others, whether it is through good food, emotional support, or to just let those I love know how much they mean to me is most important. Thanksgiving allows us time, which we never seem to have enough of, but that long weekend gives us that and makes seeing those who may live far away, or meet people who have no one else, we get to give without expectations, needs or desires, we get to give just to give from our hearts.

Some families have traditions they do every year, does your family have a tradition that goes along with Thanksgiving?

Actually we have three. One is that it is Mandatory everyone at the table share what they are grateful for in their lives, two, that I bake a loaf of pumpkin bread for each guest to take home, besides the loaves we have for desert, and three, we play games, group games like scatagories or outburst, any game we can break into groups with, and no one is left out.

Food is always one of the biggest things about this time of year; do you have a favorite desert or even a recipe you'd like to share with us?

As I said above my pumpkin bread is by far the favorite desert and it yields three loaves which are made in coffee cans. Unfortunately I am in NYC at the moment being supportive to an ill friend and do not have the recipe, but I promise when I get home I will email it and perhaps you can post it on the site.

(Recipe was sent courtesy of Patricia just in time for this post!)

Yields 3 loaves baked in coffee cans per recipe;

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 c. of walnuts or raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 1 pound coffee cans.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients .
3. Combine the vegetable oil, water, canned pumpkin and eggs. (then add 3/4 c. of chopped walnuts and/or rasins) Slowly add dry ingredients to egg mixture and mix until blended
4. Evenly distribute the batter between the coffee cans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top of bread is browned. Cool bread in coffee cans on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from cans by running a knife around the inside and turning can upside down to dislodge bread (should slide right out!). Cool completely.

Enjoy everyone maybe this can become a new tradition in your family watch out though I got up to 8 batches which was 24 loaves for a few years...


There are so many ways to cook a turkey; does your family have a special way of getting the big bird ready, perhaps a special ingredient or stuffing?

We add a flavored homemade butter we put under the skin of the turkey. You add salt, pepper, fresh parsley (chopped) and garlic to the softened butter and then separate the skin from the meat with fingers and stuff the seasoned butter under the skin all around the bird. We make a sausage stuffing two ways, wet and dry. Some in the bird and some in a cupcake pan we put in the oven and serve as individual servings.

After eating all that food and settling in for the evening what do you do with the time that's left before bed?

As I said we play games and then we settle down and give thanks to God for allowing us all to share the time we spent together, and for getting each of us safely to and from our destinations.

Is there any other information you'd care to share with us about your books that are out now or any upcoming novels?

Well the book out now is very near and dear to my heart because I am so grateful that God found me worthy to share and have the courage to carry out something so important as this little engine that could.

On the back of the book I wrote a line that says; “Though this book is short in length it is long on meaning, often in life the most impactful words are found in the shortest sentences.” When I wrote that I was thinking of i.e.; I love you, I hate you, You’re smart, You’re stupid, You’re pretty, You’re ugly. People don’t know that those little sentences change people’s paths forever, because those words affect how they see themselves, so I hope that in some small way this will help people to understand the power of words.

I am working on a book called “Have a Nice Day Unless You Have Other Plans” (also one of my favorite expressions) and it’s all about perception. I am also working on a daily devotional written in poetry form (my first love and publication) and lastly, (for now) a children’s book about rainbows.

I just want to wish everyone a blessed safe and loving season, and may all our days be fruitful and love filled… God Bless, love, hugs, and prayers, Patricia aka Columbia Valentine Scot

Find out more about Patricia Vandenburg and her books here:

http://greeneyes616-layersoftheheart.blogspot.com/

https://www.createspace.com/3493459

http://www.amazon.com/Layers-of-the-Hear....89782196&sr=1-1 kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Layers-Heart-Colum....90195386&s r=1-

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"LITERARY STUFFING" THANKSGIVING INTERVIEW SERIES (SNJEZANA MARINKOVIC)
Thank you again for donating a book for the "Literary Stuffings" giveaway. Can you tell us more about the book you donated?

It is really my pleasure to be part of this giveaway. To come from the former Yugoslavia, a country that used to have the fourth largest military in the Europe and where thousands of people were killed in the civil war, helped me to realized that some of the most valued things in life are freedom we have and peace we share. Above everything else, these two things helped me to create “Born in Sarajevo” and to share it with the world.

This time of year is usually a warm and happy time with friends and family, how do you usually spend Thanksgiving every year?

The other day one of my friends asked me if we have Thanksgiving in my country. At first I found this funny but then something else came to me. I realized that Thanksgiving was originally created by a blended delight of European and Native traditions. I also realized that after four years of civil war, which historians refer to as the most devastating war in the history of mankind, in my country we should have Thanksgiving. In my opinion, first and foremost we should be thankful for life. Second, we should be thankful for peace. Finally, we should be thankful that a neighbor, who lives now on the territory which was two decades ago divided from ours, is still our neighbor rather than the soldier who wears some different uniform, has some different belief, and carry a loaded gun.
Interestingly, but on holidays I am most inspired to write. Even so, I try to balance my time between what I love to do and who I love to be surrounded with.

Can you remember one of your most happiest Thanksgivings?

For me these two words Thanks and Giving are very powerful and no matter how I feel they can bring a smile to my face. A long time ago I read somewhere that hardest things for people to say are: thank you, I am sorry, and help me. I think that is what Thanksgiving is mostly about. To appreciate one another, to say sorry for any mistake, and of course to help ourselves with that tasty food on the table.

What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?

A few years ago on Thanksgiving day I was stuck in a traffic for a couple of hours. While sitting in my car I didn’t know what else to do than to watch people around me. Many of them seemed to be frustrated. But children acted differently. They had a keen anxiety to leave everything behind and play. That’s is what I like about Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, to leave all those busy roads, red lights, and demanding bosses behind and to enjoy in playing, cooking, singing, talking, and whatever inspires a person to share the joy with other people and to be happy.

Some families have traditions they do every year, does your family have a tradition that goes along with Thanksgiving?

My family and I are very adoptable to any tradition as long there is nice word to share and of course good food to eat. In fact, my family tradition is to learn many different traditions and to find the value in each of them. What I especially like about Thanksgiving and other holidays is seeing those people who stand beside the roads and hold signs in their hands, collecting more money and smiles from those who are passing by. I think it is very important not to forget that even on holidays there are those who are hungry, cold, and alone. We just need to show them that somebody cares.

Food is always one of the biggest things about this time of year, do you have a favorite desert or even a recipe you'd like to share with us?

Since I am much better eater than cook, every year one of my friends is preparing for me some of their specialties. This year my friend Richard volunteered to do this, so I still don’t know what will be on the “menu.” As for deserts, I personally love any kind of chocolate and vanilla mix. If some fruit is added, that works even better for me. But since I don’t know how to prepare them, I can’t be so picky.

There are so many ways to cook a turkey, does your family have a special way of getting the big bird ready, perhaps a special ingredient or stuffing?

The big bird was many times “assassinated” in my kitchen so now I let other people to apply their cooking skills to it. In her book “The Bad Cook’s Guide” author Madeleine Bingham said: too many cooks may spoil the broth, but it only takes one to burn it. For sure, this speaks of my way of cooking a turkey.

After eating all that food and settling in for the evening what do you do with the time that's left before bed?

Luckily on holidays this fast paced life a little bit slows down so people are more relaxed and willing to talk and share more smiles with each other. It seems to me that even laughter spreads more quickly during this time of the year. Actually, this is the main reason why those evenings mean much more to me than all those gifts and all that tasty food on the table.

Is there any other information you'd care to share with us about your books that are out now or any upcoming novels?

Being in the criminal justice field and being one of those people who truly believe that world should and could be a better place, I am working on my next two books with this purpose on mind. The first book is called “If” and the second one is called “Just Point at Him.” Both of them are non-fiction, true-crime stories. “If” is a story about the survivor of domestic violence. On the other hand, “Just Point at Him” is a story about a man called “Greg” who was acquitted by the Innocence Project of Texas after spending 11 years behind the bars. He is very good example of what can happen when at the wrong place, at the wrong time scenario takes place. Even though these stories differ in many ways, they share one important message: if something happens unexpectedly, there is always something else, something more to hope for.

I think about this often. Especially when is time to put the big bird in the oven. Happy Thanksgiving!


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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, HELEN HEMPHILL
Hello Helen, after reading your bio I have to say it was so beautifully written I found myself enthralled from the beginning. I have yet to read your books but I can tell I'm going to enjoy them immensely. My first question for you is, can you remember the first story you ever wrote and what it was about?

I'm not one of those writers who knew when I was five that I was going to be a writer. I had no idea that I wanted to write until much, much later--after I turned 40! The first story I wrote was about a little girl in Southern Kentucky. That story ended up being my novel Runaround, but the story was much different from what eventually turned into the novel. The story was really just a riff on the Southern voice of my mother's childhood stories, but thirty drafts later it was a novel about two sisters and their relationship. Much of that novel really is autobiographical in a way--a fictional account of my relationship with my sister told within the framework of my mother's experiences growing up in Kentucky.

You did a lot of acting in high school, being a writer did you find it easy to transport yourself into that world and the setting for the production you were in at the time?

My acting training has been tremendously helpful in my writing. It's easy to visualize scenes and how they will play out in a novel. I find I have this constant "movie" of a novel running in my mind while I'm writing.

You mention your interpretations of poetry at forensic tournaments. How easy was it for you to read in front of a lot of people? I can't imagine with the way I was in high school having the courage to do that!

I'm pretty comfortable doing readings for audiences, and a great deal of that comes from my early high school training in speech and drama. Probably more of it comes from my 22 years in corporate public relations. In fact, I think really all of the skills I've learned in life have helped me as a writer and as an author. It's sometimes hard to figure out the balance between the private person that is the nature of a writer and the public persona that is the requirement of the author. My high school forensic work certainly helped me, but it's also been a culmination of all my life experiences.

I have a habit of losing myself in books a lot, and at times growing up I viewed them as my best friends. You mention that you were fond of reading as well, did you feel the same?

Yes I did. As a child and a teen, I often used reading and books as my ultimate escape--from my sister and from my parents. I still can get lost completely in the pages of a good story. Recently, while traveling, I almost missed a flight, and I was sitting right at the gate engrossed in a book!

I love how you describe yourself as a "word artist" when was it you first realized this was the perfect description for yourself?

I have always loved words and the powerful images words convey. Being a "word artist" just seemed the natural progression of how I view my craft as a writer. I'm a visual person so it goes back to seeing stories in my mind.

Who are some of your favorite inspirations in the writing world past and present?

I love story, so I'm inspired by storytellers of all kinds. As for children's and young adult writers, I'm a huge fan of Katherine Paterson for the depth of her stories, M.T. Anderson for his imagination and humor, and Kathi Appelt for the beauty of her poetic language. But the truth is, I'm a fan of any writer who tells a good story!

If you had to choose one book that you have read either past or present that was your most favorite or left the strongest impression on you what would it be and why?

There are two books. As a child I loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I probably read the book thirty times and wanted to be Kit Tyler so much that I asked my mother to call me Kit. In the last few years it been The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Every time I read that book, I really am haunted by the last line of the novel. It's a story that is funny, and heartbreaking, and breathtaking. I'm not surprised that it's on The New York Times bestsellers list year after year.

Tell us about your works and what we can expect from you in the near future.

I'm just finished a draft of a mystery called The Direction of Fit. I thought writing a genre novel would be easier, but it's been hard. I have so much respect for mystery writers! I'm working on revisions for that novel now.

Who are some of your most important supporters where your writing is concerned?

Always it's my dear family, particularly my husband Neil who tolerates my crazy obsession with stories. But it's also the amazing friends I have made in the children's and YA writing community. It's wonderful to have friendships with people who are passionate about books and who are such generous, giving souls. I feel very grateful.

Do you have any advice you'd like to give to other aspiring authors?

Writing is hard, but keep doing the work. Learn your craft and strive to get better with each story. And, of course, always remember to celebrate the journey!

Thank you so much Helen for your time doing this interview and for allowing us this wonderful chance. I hope to have the pleasure again in the very near future.

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Guest Post Title: Anything And Everything—A Tale Of Inspiration
A song. A random conversation about the smell of hotel lobbies. A plate of
cheese sticks. A woman wearing way too much perfume. A commercial for a
local billiard hall. My sneakers. World of Warcraft. The forest. A pair of
Bunny ears and the case for the first Tomb Raider game.

Pretty random list, right? It probably looks like these items have no real
connection. It’s just a mish-mash of things grouped together with no
apparent purpose. But if you were to dig in and pick apart the inside of
my brain, you’d see they all share something important.

They were all pieces of inspiration for my debut novel, TOUCH.

Some inspired actual scenes—Black Lab’s This Night was the driving force
behind one of my favorites. Others inspired places and situations—Roudey’s
Pool Hall or the scene with the bear, for example. Of course there was
more to it. While writing TOUCH, something as simple as making Jell-O
could have (and did—watermelon is Kale’s fave, FYI) sparked something that
added to the story.

Anything—anywhere—any time—can serve as inspiration. If you pay attention,
you’ll see it. Even the simplest trips to the food store can result in
something awesome. Dialog ideas, scene ideas, and even character ideas
(where I live, lemme tell you, that can get pretty colorful… There’s a
local guy with a pink fedora, a feather boa, and a leopard print thong…
all I’m gonna say…). I guess, for me at least, it comes down to everything
in my life feeding what I write. Everything I do—everyday situations—I’m
looking at them with eyes wide open just waiting for something to click
inside my head.

Your turn. Share something that inspires you.

Author Bio:

Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy
fiction. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her
husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. Her first book,
Touch, is due out in November 2011 from Entangled Publishing. She is
represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Touch Blurb:

"When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet,
seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity
to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue
eyes home.

Except there's something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower,
is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she'll
turn to dust if he touches her. It's not until Dez's father shows up,
wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez
realizes there's more to this boy - and her father's "law firm" - than she
realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation - an organization devoted
to collecting "special" kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons -
his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. Dez and Kale team up
with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they're
caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez
has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect."

Title: Touch by Jus Accardo
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-44-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-45-9
Release Date: November 1, 2011

Buy Links:

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Denazen-Nove....20098205&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/touch-ju....bjus%2baccardo

Website: http://www.jusaccardo.com/

Blog: http://www.jusaccardo.com/category/blog/



EntangledPublishing.com

Touch

A Denazen Novel, #1 ‐ by Jus Accardo

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-44-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-45-9
Release Date: November 2011
Publicist: Cathy Yardley
[email protected]

Overview

• About the Book
• About the Author
• Target audience
• Reviews
• Guest Posts/Blog Tour
• Conferences and AdverDsing
• General PromoDon

About the Book



When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen‐yearold
adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing
the mysterious hoLe with ice blue eyes home.
Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated
with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not unDl
Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez
realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.
Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen CorporaDon—an organizaDon devoted to collecDng
“special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his enDre life. And, oh yeah, his
touch? It kills. Dez and Kale team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down
Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez
has spent her life keeping safe.
A secret Kale will kill to protect.

About the Author

Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy ficDon. A naDve New
Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and someDmes guard
bear, Oswald. Her first book, Touch, is due out in November 2011 from Entangled Publishing.
She is represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Jus Accardo



Target Audiences

• Readers of Paranormal YA
• Readers of Paranormal Romance
• Fans of Lili St. Crow, P.C. Cast, Jeri Smith‐Ready
Reviews
•DistribuDon of over 200 digital copies to prominent YA and paranormal romance
review sites and YouTube video blog reviewers.
•Review copies sent to interested high school newspapers in top 20 DMAs.
Guest Posts/Blog Tour
Strategic web adverDsing on YA prominent reader websites and book sites.

Conferences and Ad Placement

• Online adverDsing with Fresh FicDon
• Online launch event at Books on the House
General Promotion
Press release informaDon to regional New York newspapers.
Regional book signings and readings.
Targeted school visits.
Giveaways and Contests
Giveaways at GoodReads and Library Thing, as well as new reader contest promoted via social
media.
Book Page on EntangledPublishing.com
Touch
Connect with Jus
Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads
Contact Entangled Publishing
Website: http://entangledpublishing.com
Bookseller Information: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/booksellers/
Entangled Publishing Offices
2614 South Timberline Road, St. 109
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525, or email:
[email protected]
Phone Number: 724.208.7888
Entangled Publishing is an exclusive, boutique publisher of romantic fiction. Located in Fort
Collins, Colorado, Entangled’s goal is to bridge the gap between traditional and indie publishing,
giving both readers and authors the best of both worlds.

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"LITERARY STUFFING" THANKSGIVING INTERVIEW SERIES (CYRUS KEITH)
Thank you again for donating a book for the "Literary Stuffings" giveaway. Can you tell us more about the book you donated?

Well, thanks for having me, and most assuredly, I’d love to share. Becoming NADIA is a science fiction thriller, set in a near future where the sciences of cloning and personality transfer combine with state of the art technology to create tomorrow’s super-assassins. I explore the nature of identity, the morality of Science, and toss in a nightmare or two just for fun. Plus, may I add, Becoming NADIA has been selected as a finalist by EPIC for Best Thriller.

This time of year is usually a warm and happy time with friends and family, how do you usually spend Thanksgiving every year?

The usual routine calls for piling into the minivan and ramrodding across the country (okay, one state south) to spend Thanksgiving with my wife’s family in Indiana. It’s a happy little riot involving children, grown men behaving like children, and a kitchen full of endless supplies of exquisite varieties of food.

Can you remember one of your most happiest Thanksgivings?

I don’t think any particular one stands out above the others. I’ve had so many of them now it’s very difficult to pick a favorite. I do think, however, of one time we were struggling just to get groceries on the table, let alone gather the resources for a family feast. An anonymous party left “a food basket” on our doorstep. In actuality, it was makings for a complete Thanksgiving feast along with enough food for about two full weeks, in a pile of boxes that took our breath away. I have no idea to this day who did it, but I thank God for them every year, and I guess that’s one of the things that Thanksgiving is all about.

What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?

The fact that it’s in autumn. In Michigan, the trees have lost their leaves, and combined with the scent of dried leaves, the air has the first bite of snow in one’s nostrils. I love that scent combined with the cold. It smells like jumping in huge piles of leaves, like riding a bicycle pell-mell down your street to a waiting cup of hot cocoa. It's red cheeks and walks through the woods, and nights around the bonfire with friends and family.

Some families have traditions they do every year, does your family have a tradition that goes along with Thanksgiving?

The Secret Santa drawing. It's for everyone over 13 to draw for Christmas. Everyone 13 and under makes out like a bandit.

Food is always one of the biggest things about this time of year, do you have a favorite desert or even a recipe you'd like to share with us?

Oh, I bake. I definitely bake, and my Thanksgiving specialty is Pumpkin Bread:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans
2. In a large bowl, mix with a fork:
a. 3 cups flour
b. 1-1/2 cups sugar
c. 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
d. 1 tsp baking powder
e. 1 tsp salt
f. ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
g. ¾ tsp ground cloves
h. ½ tsp baking powder
i. ¼ tsp ginger
3. In a medium bowl, mix:
a. 3 eggs
b. 16 oz plain pumpkin
c. 1 cup salad oil
d. 1 cup applesauce
4. Stir in flour mixture until just blended.
5. Add 1 cup raisins.
6. Add 1 cup chopped walnuts. Spoon into pans.
7. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
8. Take out and cool on a rack for ten minutes before turning the breads out.
NOTE: I like mine warm with butter on it, with a cup of coffee or hot apple cider.

There are so many ways to cook a turkey, does your family have a special way of getting the big bird ready, perhaps a special ingredient or stuffing?

That's my wife's secret, and if I tell you, she'd have to kill us both. But it rocks.

After eating all that food and settling in for the evening what do you do with the time that's left before bed?

What's there to do but watch American football and nibble? Well, we do clean up.

Is there any other information you'd care to share with us about your books that are out now or any upcoming novels?

Well, there is a second book, Unalive, that drives the NADIA Project farther on. Expect to see more of your favorite characters, and meet a couple new ones. Action and thrills abound! That's also available from Muse It Up Publishing: www.tinyurl.com/unalive-novel.com. Plus, I'm working on bringing the series home with the finale, Critical Mass. Feel free to check out my books plus other amazingly good fiction for everyone at www.museituppublishing.com/bookstore2

Thanks so much again for inviting me along! Now where's that coffee you promised?

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INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR OF "THE BETRAYAL'S OF GRIM'S PEAK" & "CATCH", SEAN J. QUIRK

Thank you Sean for agreeing to let me put you on the spot like this! My first question for you is what do you think the word, 'writer' encompasses. What does it mean to you?

-- The word means an escape for me from the hollow parts of life. It's a place where I can go to catch my breath, recharge, and come out firing for the next round.

You mention at times having those 'head banging' days trying to figure out what you want to write about. How did you come up with the ideas for your novels?

-- To be perfectly honest I'm still not sure how it works exactly. If you saw the notes I made before writing Betrayals and compared them to the end result, you'd think somebody else wrote it. The concepts come to me, never fully formed, and if it's something that interests me I'll run with it, see where it goes. The bottom line is that when I start writing I have virtually no idea what's going to happen, which is scary, but at the same time, it's what makes it worth it for me because I want to see what happens as much as anyone.

Is the fantasy genre the only genre you are interested in writing or do you eventually plan to branch out to other areas?

-- Betrayals is fantasy, and the newer of the genres I've written in. Catch would be considered a techno/sci-fi/thriller.

Who are some of your inspirations?

-- Dean Koontz, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling.

When you have down time, what do you like to read?

-- Well, I've just started on the Hunger Games series which I'm enjoying a lot!

Tell us more about "Catch" and "The Betrayals of Grim's Peak" what are these books about?

-- I've always been fascinated by the ocean. Growing up, the highlight of the year was when my parents packed my brother and I in the car and took us down to the coast for our yearly vacation. I spent a lot of time by the water day dreaming about monsters of the deep and pirates and mermaids, and then one day I started wondering what it would be like to live down there. And that idea has basically been fermenting in my head for years, until about a year ago when the concept came to me.

The Betrayals of Grim's Peak is my own fun interpretation of what life would be like at the bottom of the ocean and centers around an infant boy named Augie who is adopted after being found floating in the ocean during a violent explosion of blue light that erupted somewhere deep underwater. He is brought back to his adoptive parents' cabin fourteen years later and is attacked by several nightmarish creatures waiting for him in a nearby cove. Not long after that he is introduced to the magical world of Grim's Peak where he, along with his friends, has to figure who is trying to kill him, and what his connection to a centuries old secret is before it's too late.

Catch is a hard-hitting thriller brimming with action and sophisticated weaponry, centered around a guy, Catch Harris, who wants nothing more than to be left alone. During a visit to local Lake Tahoe diner he stumbles upon the abduction of his waitress, Hallie Baker, by a group of scary looking, well trained men, who snatch her out of the storm and race away in their SUVs.

And so begins their adventure together to find out what is hidden inside the package recently sent to Hallie by her missing father. A package that Hallie's abductors will do anything to retrieve....

Where would you like to see your career as a writer go in the near future?

-- Honestly, fame and fortune aren't big motivators. I love to do it and would be completely happy if the returns from my books allowed me to do it full time.

What is your all time favorite character in books that you have read?

-- It would have to be Einstein, the insanely intelligent dog from Dean Koontz's Watchers. I know ... an odd choice, but there you go.

What is your next novel and when can we expect to see it out?

-- The title is Remedy and it's Catch's follow up. You can expect to see it out in a few months. It isn't a sequel to Catch as much as it is a sister-novel involving a few recurring characters, but an entirely different story set on the same day as Catch.

Lastly, is there any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

-- Persistence. You're going to get a lot of rejections. Take in the good, brush away the bad, and if you truly love writing you'll keep going. Rejection tends to wean out the writers who are doing it for all the wrong reasons.

www.seanjquirk.weebly.com

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "WHAT WOULD SATAN DO?", ANTHONY MILLER

Hi Anthony, thank you so much for doing this interview. To get us started I wanted you to tell us about your book "What Would Satan Do?" How did you come about writing this and has it been controversial at all?

It's a silly book, written for anyone who liked Christopher Moore's Lamb, or anything by Douglas Adams (in particular, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul). It's the story of what would happen if Satan decided to skip the whole End Times thing to retire on Earth. I was in a Bible study class, reading Revelations, which is basically this wild prophecy that tells what's going to happen at the end of the world. As I understood it, Satan's job would be to get the ball rolling, only to have God show up all triumphant at the end. And then I thought, if God is omniscient, and He is the unmoved mover, and if He came up with the whole plan for Judgment Day, well, it just seems kind of unfair. I felt bad for Satan in much the same way that I felt bad for Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. If I were Satan, I'd blow off Judgment Day and take off for a holiday somewhere nice.

I was thinking about what would happen if Satan refused to play his part, and remembered that I once saw a documentary about a powerful lobbying group who actually want to perpetuate the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians as a way of bringing about the End Times and the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. If Satan retired, and wasn't around to start up the end of the world, those guys would be pissed!

As for controversy -- I live in what was once labeled the second most conservative voting district in the United States, and folks around here have actually been pretty receptive. I think there's a difference between asking thoughtful questions (and poking a bit of fun at zealotry) on the one hand, and insulting people's religion on the other. In any case, I'm actually kind of disappointed at the lack of controversy. Apart from the occasional blog comment urging me to repent, there hasn't been any -- yet.

Are there any other books you have written or have in the works now?

I'm working on a sequel called BJORN AGAIN, in which Scandinavians, having grown tired of making safe cars and flat-pack furniture, decide to return to their Viking roots of sacking and pillaging. Satan is in it and, again, is the hero of the story. Coming up with a way to connect him with resurgent Viking marauders has been pretty entertaining. It'll probably be out in a year or so.

Have you always been a writer or is this a new endeavor for you?

I started writing stories when I was a teenager, and I write a lot in my job as a trial lawyer. (I was going to say that this is the first time I've ever tried to get people to pay me to write fiction, but I think I have refer you back to my previous statement.) I love fighting about grammar and reading about the history of the English language. All of that is just to say that while this is my first novel, but writing it seemed like a pretty natural progression.

What other genres, if any, are you interested in writing in the future?

That's a tricky one. It's very hard to identify a genre for WWSD? The labels "comic fantasy" or even "bizarro" seem apt, but don't appear to me to be widely used in publishing. And I've never thought, "Hey, I'd like to write a mystery," or "Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote a romance novel?" I finished all of Douglas Adams' books, and then tore through Christopher Moore's books, and couldn't find any other authors that I thought were quite on par with those two. I remember wandering the shelves of my local bookstore, looking for the book I wanted to read again and again, and never finding it. I finally decided that nobody had written what I wanted to read, and that I'd have to do it myself. Maybe one day I'll have a similar epiphany about how nobody ever wrote about Jason Bourne's autistic cousin, but I doubt it. Probably I'll just stick to more stories about Satan.

Tell us about you, who is Anthony Miller and what is a day in his life like?

I'm pretty normal. Here is my typical schedule:

6:00-6:45 Wander neighborhood searching for rodents and stray cats to kick.
6:45-8:00 Meditate and eat soup.
8:00-9:00 Visit local nursing homes to insult grandmas.
9:00-3:00 Walk in circles, practice shadow puppetry.
3:00-4:30 Write journal entry about day's activities so far.
4:30-5:17 Drink milk.
5:17-7:00 Lead extemporaneous poetry session at local grocery store.
7:15 Bed.

If you could do one thing for the rest of your life that would be perfect and you'd never get tired of doing it, what would it be and why?

I don't have the attention span to stick with one thing for the rest of my life. I get tired of everything -- even my very favoritest things. I guess I see this question as: How would I spent my time if I had complete, unfettered control over what I do? I've managed to play guitar pretty consistently for 20 years, so I'd probably do some of that. I've also managed to act like an idiot on a consistent basis, so I'd probably do some of that too. I'm confident I'd watch the crap out of the television.

Who are some of your inspirations as far as writing?

Douglas Adams, Christopher Moore, David Foster Wallace.

Tell us a bit about your family, mom and dad, perhaps any sisters or brothers and what do they think about your writing?

Everyone in my family has been enthusiastic. There's a direct relationship between the age of any particular family member and the likelihood of that individual uttering something about profanity, but the voice I write with is my everyday voice, so once the old, farty types get over the high concentration of four-letter words, I think it all seems pretty natural.

Did your writing ability come as a surprise to you or have you always been creative?

No, and yes, but I don't really see writing ability overlapping entirely with creativity. Being creative and being able to come up with funny, witty things is not, I think, all that uncommon. Writing ability, however, is very uncommon. First, I think any writer has to have a good grasp of the basic mechanics of writing. Second, you have to appreciate the conventions of storytelling. Third, writing takes Edisonian levels of perspiration. So no, I'm not surprised that I came up with an idea for a novel, or that the book is filled with a ton of funny stuff. But I will admit to feeling a little bit of shock at the fact that I was able to sit down, night after night for over a year, writing, re-writing, researching, getting critiqued, and re-writing again. It's a heck of a thing to hold a book in your hands and think, "Wow, this represents so many long nights where I could have been watching lots and lots of television."

Last but not least, do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

I'm not sure I'm qualified to give advice, but I'll set out what I think is important. First, read. Read your favorite authors and see how they did it. Read Dan Brown and other popular authors to see what they did. Read books for the story, but also look at the mechanics of story telling. See how chapters are built, and how a story builds over the course of a book. Get audiobooks and listen to them on your commute.

I think it's tempting to get a bunch of books on writing -- and I'd say that at least Stephen King's On Writing is worthwhile -- but there are so many good books out there that are like cheat sheets. There are no secrets or tricks -- everything is right there on the pages of countless books.

Second, write. Write a lot. Accept that the first stuff you write will stink. Write more. Realize that you're getting better, but that Stephanie Meyer could eat you for lunch (even if you can't stand vampires and don't know whether you should be on Team Pale Guy or Team Never Wears a Shirt). Rinse. Repeat.

Third, meet people. There are writing groups everywhere -- local bookstores, libraries, on-line. That has been the single best thing about writing for me, actually -- meeting other people who also write, who taught me tons, and who share what is often kind of a lonely hobby.

Thank you again for your time Anthony. I hope we can do this again!

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"A WICKED AND WANTON ALL HALLOW'S EVE" BY VARIOUS AUTHORS

I'm not one for erotic tales but for those that are this book would be perfect. Take a little hot and heavy, mixed in with the strange and unusual and you have this book. There are 9 stories in this book by various authors all of which have written full-length novels of their own.

So! If erotica is for you, I'd advise you to pick up this book!
I give it 3 Ravens!

Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud / http://www.greatmindsliterarycommunity.moonfruit.com/


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"THE GOOD SERVANT" BY DOUG LUCAS

I truly enjoyed this book, about a father who has realized his cancer is terminal and decides to write a letter, that turns out to be a book, to his children and wife. The story is written from his point of view as he explains what he meant by certain things he did and said as they were growing up. He tells the truth of how he feels about his family, and how much they mean to him as well as the reasons behind his thoughts and actions. I honestly could not help getting emotional as I read it. Though there were moments when his memories made you laugh out loud.

"The Good Servant" is a fantastic read and I would recommend it to everyone. Doug Lucas writes with passion and feeling. I give it 5 Ravens!

Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud / http://www.greatmindsliterarycommunity.moonfruit.com/

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