Category: Giveaways

Cozy Wednesday with Author Kate Collins (Giveaway too!)

Posted on By Dollycas 35 Comments on Cozy Wednesday with Author Kate Collins (Giveaway too!)

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

Today’s guest is one of my favorite authors. To Catch a Leaf was my Favorite Read in 2011. The next book in the series, Nightshade on Elm Street,was released yesterday. Kate was nice enough to send me an Advance Review Copy and I read it as soon as it arrived and posted my review on October 9. I love the way Kate Collins writes. I love her characters and the clever mysteries she treats us to in each installment. I am so excited she is here today!! Please join me in welcoming Kate to Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book.

Welcome Kate!

Hi Everyone!

The Joys of Writing Murder Mysteries

By Kate Collins

 

Today I killed someone.  I planned it, executed it, and then covered it up. Then I began the search for me, following the clues to track down a tricky killer.

I also ran a floral shop — making flower arrangements, delivering them, and worrying about my finances. Then I hopped down the street to become the macho owner of Down the Hatch Bar and Grill — concocting drinks and listening to my patrons’ woes. I was also a crazy artist, a shallow fashionista, and a millionaire cad, among other things. By the end of the writing day, my brain was fried.

But then I had to step out of my make-believe world and start thinking about what to make for dinner, and what bills to pay, and did I have time for a load of laundry? Oops, forgot to schedule a hair appointment, renew my license plate, and take out the trash.

Yeah, real life isn’t nearly as much fun as make-believe life. When I open up the file to work on my latest book, I step out of my stressful world and into one where I can make everything go my way – or nothing. I can bring out the sun, travel to another place, invent new friends, or do whatever my heart desires – as long as I write at least five pages a day about it. Not that it’s easy to describe a three-dimensional world using two dimensional words — and make it all seem real. But boy, is it rewarding. This was brought home to me the other day.

I teach a creative writing class at a local women’s shelter, where I lead women of various ages in exercises that enable them to get out of the business/left side of their brain and shift to the right/dream side. This isn’t something they take much time to do, so it’s like a mini-vacation.  This past Monday, I had them do right brain exercises that allowed them to see the creative process at work. At the end of the hour, a young woman thanked me for my efforts and broke into sobs. She said she had just been released from a year in prison and while there, learned the joys of losing herself in books. She’d never read much before and had now gained an appreciation of what it took to write one.  She said she devoured every book she could get her hands on in prison and truly felt they kept her sane. What happiness it gave her to immerse herself in a place where everything turns out right, justice is served, and good people live happily ever after.

Writing about those places is one of the greatest joys of being a writer. That, and knowing you’ve touched at least one reader’s heart.

Thank you Kate for dropping by!! What an inspiring post!!! You keep killing and we will all keep reading and following the clues!! 

About This Author
Kate Collins is the author of the national best-selling Flower Shop Mystery series. Her books have made the New York Times Extended Bestseller List, Barnes & Noble best-seller lists, the Independent Booksellers best-sellers lists, as well as lists in Australia and England. Kate’s latest mystery, Nightshade on Elm Street #13 in the Flower Shop Mystery series, was released November 6, 2012. All of Kate’s mysteries are available in print, digital, and large-print editions both in the U.S. and in the UK. Kate’s historical romances are also available in digital format at Amazon, B&N, and other e-book sellers. For more information, visit Kate at: www.katecollinsbooks.com. Kate’s blogsite is www.cozychicksblog.com .

Would you like to win a copy of this wonderful book?

Thanks to the people at Penguin
I have 2 copies to giveaway!!

U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

Leave a comment for Kate for 5 Bonus Entries !

If you publicize the giveaway anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End November 21, 2012 at 11:59 PM CST
Winners Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winners Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM

Cozy Wednesday, Giveaways, Guest Posts

Cozy Wednesday Featuring The Chocolate Moose Motive by JoAnna Carl (Giveaway)

Posted on By Dollycas 17 Comments on Cozy Wednesday Featuring The Chocolate Moose Motive by JoAnna Carl (Giveaway)


Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
I was really hoping JoAnna Carl would be able to stop by for a visit
but we were unable to connect this time.
I will keep trying because I love the way she writes!!

The Chocolate Moose Motive:
A Chocoholic Mystery
Book 12 in Series
Obsidian (October 2, 2012)
Published by New American Library
A Division of The Penguin Group
Cozy Mystery
Hardcover: 224 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451238023

The Chocolate Moose Motive: A Chocoholic Mystery

TenHuis Chocolade is such a busy place Lee thinks they may need more help. When she overhears an argument in the grocery store and does a little investigating she believes she has found her new payroll clerk.

 Forsynthia “Sissy” Smith is a the granddaughter of the area’s only remaining hippie. She lives east of town with her grandmother at the Moose Lodge. The place was once an informal commune. Lee has learned that Sissy’s husband Buzz was found shot to death the previous winter and Sissy was the prime suspect according to all the local gossip even though she had an airtight alibi. The argument Lee overheard in the grocery store was between Sissy and Buzz’s dad, a retired army colonel. He is planning to sue Sissy for custody of her son.

When the biggest gossip in town is found dead — by Sissy — Lee knows they is much more to the story. But she knows if this person has killed twice already they will have no problem killing again, even if it is just a clever chocolatier trying to uncover the truth.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Yes, I am a chocoholic and I am addicted to chocolate and to JoAnna Carl’s Chocoholic Mysteries.

This series is fun and the characters are addicting. I anxiously await each installment to see what Lee and Aunt Nettie and the other residents of Warner Pier are up to this time.

This time we meet two new residents that I hope come back in the future, Sissy and her grandmother Wildflower. Wildflower is a taxidermist and yes there is a moose head above her fireplace. It was there when they moved in and is the reason she is now one of the best taxidermists in the area. Sissy is would at TenHuis Chocolade and thinking about going to college.

The book is a fast lighthearted read and even includes a fudge recipe and a few interesting chocolate facts. You can’t go wrong with a JoAnna Carl cozy!

 

 

About This Author

To find out all about JoAnna Carl go to her website here.

Become her fan on GoodReads here.

Dollycas
Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

I am giving away my gently read copy to one lucky winner.
U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.

Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.

If you publicize the giveaway anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.

Contest Will End November 14, 2012 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cozy Wednesday, Giveaways, Reviews 2012

The Literary Blog Hop October 27-31

Posted on By Dollycas 6 Comments on The Literary Blog Hop October 27-31
Click Here To Visit The Other Blogs Participating!!

 

There is one restriction for this hop.
Books should have some literary merit. It does not have to be the most difficult classic ever, but please no romance, urban fiction or YA. Quality thrillers, poetry and non-fiction are fine, as are contemporary fiction, literary fiction and any other genres not in the categories above. I hope you enjoy my choices.

Gone: A Novel

For the past fourteen years, Eve Adams has worked part-time while raising her two children and emotionally supporting her sculptor husband, Eric, through his early fame and success. Now, at forty-two, she suddenly finds herself with a growing career of her own—a private nutritionist practice and a book deal—even as Eric’s career sinks deeper into the slump it slipped into a few years ago.

After a dinner at a local restaurant to celebrate Eve’s success, Eric drives the babysitter home and, simply, doesn’t come back. Eve must now shift the family in possibly irreparable ways, forcing her to realize that competence in one area of life doesn’t always keep things from unraveling in another.

Gone is an outstanding novel about change and about redefining, in middle age, everything from one’s marriage to one’s career to one’s role as a best friend, parent, and spouse. It is a novel about passion and forgiveness and knowing when to let something go and when to fight to hold on to it, about learning to say goodbye—but, if you’re lucky, not forever.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, the world’s best-known and most-loved fictional detective, is more popular today than ever. This collection presents many of the most familiar cases Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson, ever solve, including “Silver Blaze,” “The Greek Interpreter,” and “The Musgrave Ritual.” As Holmes’s fame grows, it brings him notoriety that piques the ire of London’s criminal underworld, who begin to scheme against him. It is in “The Final Problem” that Dr. Watson relates the grisly, fatal, and shocking tale of how Holmes finally meets his match, encountering the diabolical Professor Moriarty in a terrible struggle at Reichenbach Falls.

Both Giveaways Will Include Some Bookish Swag!

U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS

You must be a follower of Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book!

Click Here For Entry Form

Giveaways

Terminal Ambition Virtual Blog Tour!

Posted on By Dollycas 2 Comments on Terminal Ambition Virtual Blog Tour!

Sweeny, Owens & Boyle sits at the top of Wall Street law firms. Brilliant and beautiful, Maggie Mahoney became a partner and the trophy wife of its managing attorney. Her husband’s death renders Maggie an outsider with the firm’s male establishment and creates a power vacuum.

Obsessed with his dream of becoming the next Attorney General, firm chairman, Andy Anderson, chooses a surprising replacement: Jack Slattery, a reputed sexist. Jack’s background hardly qualifies him for such a prominent position. Maggie suspects Jack has something on Andy, but what is it? Forced to become a sleuth, she stages a break-in to gather evidence.

Andy’s ambition drives him to desperate measures. With proof of misconduct in hand, Maggie demands justice, but it comes at a high price.

Terminal Ambition:
A Maggie Mahoney Novel
New Series
Two XX Press (March 24, 2012)
Contemporary Fiction/Legal
Paperback: 308 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0984990177

Terminal Ambition, A Maggie Mahoney Novel

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Losing her husband in an avalanche that she survived has given Maggie Mahoney a new view on life in general and her life as a lawyer/partner at Sweeny, Owens & Boyle. She loses her biggest client so when asked to be on Gender Equity Committee she agrees knowing the committee is just a smokescreen by Andy Anderson to make him look good as he vies for the office of Attorney General but it makes her look good to the firm. Unfortunately Sweeny, Owens & Boyle really does have a problem with sexual harassment of women and the new and improved Maggie can’t just turn a blind eye.

To think this kind of discrimination and harassment is still prevalent in 2012 just makes me sick. In the political arena of 2012 Republicans are waging a “war on women” as well. Equal pay for equal work and safety in the workplace should be paramount. The battles have been fought and already won. McGuinness’s story shines a light on situations sadly still happening in the workplace today and that even a firm chairman with eyes on public office could attain his dream job while sweeping actionable offenses under the rug.

This is a powerful story with a powerful protagonist fighting corruption in the workplace. The author’s knowledge of legal and woman’s issues makes this book an extremely credible read. The story evolves at pace that keeps the reader very engaged and those pages turning. The characters are sharp and the dialogue is smart. As a book dealing with sexual harassment there are a few explicit scenes.

This is an excellent debut. I look forward to Erotic Capital, the next book in this series.

Dollycas
Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

About This Author

After leaving the corporate world, Kate was determined to master writing and riding, pastimes that often led to confusion in the telling. Her studies of creative writing proved to be more successful than her horseback adventures which included a broken leg! However, her love of horses remains. Kate also took the opportunity to be more fully involved with her son’s life – too involved, he would say. She enjoyed watching scores of soccer games and cheering his team on to a divisional state championship. All grown up now, her son lives in Eastern Europe and teaches English as a second language.

In addition to Terminal Ambition, Kate writes on women’s issues for a number of online sites. Her essays have appeared in Role/Reboot, Jezebel, Fem2pt0, Women’s Media Center and Ms. JD.

You can follow her on Twitter @womnsrightswrtr. Kate lives in a utopian community in the Midwest with her husband, dogs and innumerable squirrels. To learn more about Kate, visit her website: www.womensrightswriter.com You can also find out more about Terminal Ambition at http://www.terminal-ambition.com.  You can follow her on Twitter @womnsrightswrtr.

 

Codes FINALLY received Saturday!
Sorry for the confusion.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Giveaways, Reviews 2012, Virtual Book Tour
A Scoop of Deceit (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) by Lena GregoryBuy Now - Click Here!
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