This post appeared originally on Dollycas’s Thoughts June 5, 2011.
The paperback version is being released TODAY!!

Alice Bliss: A Novel

Published byThe Penguin Group

Alice Bliss is truly a daddy’s girl, they garden together, she helps him on his handyman jobs, she idolizes him.  She loves her mom and her sister but Alice and her dad, Matt, had a very special bond.

Then the news comes that his National Guard Reserve Unit is shipping out to Iraq and her world starts to crumble before her eyes. There is barely enough time to say goodbye and he is gone.  The phone calls home are never long enough, the letters can’t come fast enough.  Alice tries to keep her life the same as much as she can with her father gone.  The biggest thing is planting the garden on time.  Her mother, Angie, just can’t understand Alice’s dedication to that blasted garden and tries to put roadblocks in Alice’s way so that she can not get the planting done.

Life must go on without Matt and the family struggles to adjust to his absence.  With the help of time, family and friends they may be able to make it.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

This story ripped at my heartstrings and pulled on my emotions.  I went between being mad at Alice’s mom for not understanding what her daughter needed, to crying for Angie as she had to deal with the absence of her husband. Trying to understand both sides immersed me in this book in a way that very rarely happens.

This book will be one of those books that will last generations and will be read again and again like stories about the families who have survived the devastating losses after all the other wars in history.  It will definitely stand the test of time.  Beautiful strong storytelling that will touch everyone who reads it and will forever reinforce that the casualties of war are felt well beyond the battlefield and those in combat.  It brings the war home in a strong, poignant way that will touch us all.

Now for some questions and answers about this
extraordinary book with Laura Harrington.

 

Who is Alice Bliss?

Alice Bliss is a 15-year-old girl in 10th grade, living in upstate New York, deeply connected to her dad who is serving in Iraq with his Reserve unit.

ALICE BLISS the book grew out of Alice Unwrapped, a musical. What was the inspiration for the musical and how did it evolve into a book?

The musical was a commission, actually, and the creation of a new form in music theatre: the one-act, one-woman musical. Paulette Haupt, our commissioner and producer, was inspired by Alan Bennett’s play: Talking Heads. Bennett wrote a series of searing, touching, funny monologues for BBC television. They were subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio and then performed live in theatres.

It was an extreme challenge to tell a story in 30 minutes with one singer. I actually wrote 3 stories for this commission, but found I loved the character of Alice best.

And, oddly enough, the very first germ of the character of Alice came from another musical that I wrote with Jenny Giering, Crossing Brooklyn. In that show, Alice was a teenage runaway, living in Prospect Park, sleeping in the carrousel at night. That character was cut from the final version.

With Alice Unwrapped, at 30 minutes, almost entirely sung, we could really only dramatize one key moment in Alice’s life. And I realized that there was a much larger story to be told. Which is when decided I wanted to write a book.

ALICE BLISS is a profoundly moving uplifting novel about those who are left at home during wartime and a teenage girl bravely facing the future. It chronicles the impact of the war on those left at home: children, partners, family members, the community. With the US in a war the story is quite timely. Do you have a connection to the world in which you write?

My father was a navigator/ bombardier in WWII, flying missions into Germany from his air base just north of Paris. Both my brothers enlisted in the Air Force in 1966. So, while I don’t have a family member serving in this war, my family has been deeply impacted by war.

My father suffered from PTSD following the war, a time he would never talk about directly. Nor would he talk about the experiences during the war that had so devastated him. The silence surrounding my father’s war experiences has probably been the single greatest mystery and inspiration in my life. I believe that my fascination with war grows out of my need to understand these experiences and to bear witness to this silent suffering.

What do you hope families experiencing a similar scenario take away from reading your book?

I hope they will feel that I am telling their story and doing justice to it.

While writing the book I was simply immersed in the story, but now that I’m done I can step back and look at the larger picture. It strikes me that you can live in many parts of the US completely untouched and unaware of the wars we’ve been engaged in for the last 8 years. And there’s something about that fact that is terribly unsettling. I think there is an enormous amount of unexpressed grief surrounding these wars and that ALICE BLISS, like good theatre, creates an emotional catalyst that allows us to feel that grief.

And because the book is not “about” the war, but about a family and a town and growing up, the emotional impact sneaks up on you.

What is your writing regimen?

When I’m writing—whether it’s a book or a play or a musical or an opera—I write every day. When I’m between projects, or researching and imagining a new story, I can spend weeks and months reading and walking and taking notes and asking questions and developing characters and a storyline. I find the in-between times very, very uncomfortable. Living with uncertainty, wandering around in the middle of mental chaos is very challenging. I’m happiest when I’m writing.

When you write do you have a story in mind and then the characters evolve to tell that story or do you create characters and the story comes from them?

I begin with the characters, with a strong sense of “voice.” I really hear my characters and learn a great deal about them by getting them talking. However, the story is evolving at the same time the characters are beginning to jell. Because what’s a character without a story? To me, story is paramount.

ALICE BLISS is not a book about war. When you were writing did you find it challenging to focus on the personal story of the family rather than the politics?

I made a strong choice early on not to go to Iraq in the book. I knew that the emotional impact would come from keeping the story focused on Alice and her family at home. At the same time, Matt, Alice’s father, is such a key character and we have so little time with him before he ships out. How do we keep him and his story present? Finding that balance was challenging and an interesting puzzle to solve.

What inspired you to write this book now?

I think that making the war personal is important. Telling the stories of those left behind, illuminating the lives of spouses and partners and children who have a loved one deployed is important. Do we know their stories, their struggles? Do we hear their voices? I hope we can begin to see this war one child at a time, one soldier at a time, one missing father at a time.

You capture the main character Alice wonderfully; her strength, vulnerability and awkwardness of being a teenage girl. Were you anything like Alice growing up?

I think we are all like Alice. That combination of strength, vulnerability, awkwardness and intensity is universal to those years.

I was the youngest of four children, and my siblings were quite a bit older, so I had a much more solitary childhood than Alice did. But there’s something about those years that I can still see, hear, taste, and feel. For whatever reason, I have intense empathy for teens.

What type of books do you like to read?

All kinds. If I’m researching a project, like Napoleon or Joan of Arc, or the American Civil war, I can get lost in my reading lists.

I love novels. I’d rather read a book than eat. I love history, I love great non-fiction, I love good writing.

What are you reading now?

Anne Fadiman’s Ex Libris, Confessions of a Common Reader, a beautiful series of essays about books and reading and words. It turns out that Anne Fadiman was also a collector of big words, like Ellie.

Jane Smiley’s new book: Private Life, and Graham Robb’s, Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris.”

My wish list is lengthy and always growing. I am a big fan of my local library.

Which aspect of your work do you most enjoy?

The freedom to think my own thoughts, pursue my own passions, indulge my own obsessions. The necessity of reading. Being able to think of reading as part of my job. How lucky is that? And the opportunity to learn a great deal, even to become a mini expert about all kinds of things, like Napoleon in exile on St Helena’s, Joan of Arc’s last 3 days in prison, Sherman’s march to the sea, the ratification of the nineteenth amendment, marathon dancing, etc, etc. It’s fun, and it’s never, ever boring.

Who are your heroes?

My parents. I’m inspired by them and guided by them every single day of my life.

The peacemakers. Whoever and wherever they are.

What would your colleagues be surprised to learn about you?

I’m constantly looking for ways to be a kid again, to play.

What is your most treasured possession?

My wedding ring.

What inspires you?

The world around me. Every day.

****************************************************************************

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.”


This review was originally posted at Dollycas’s Thoughts on April 17, 2011.

Ballantine Books

Available Now!

ISBN-10: 0345525345

ISBN-13: 978-0345525345

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Ballantine Books, I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

This review was originally posted on my old blog, Dollycas Thoughts in March 2011 and made my best reads of 2011.

Tom and Jackie Hawks were living their dream, retired living on their boat, aptly named Well Deserved, sailing around Southern California and Mexico.

They had started to think about selling their boat when Skylar Deleon and his pregnant wife Jennifer offered cash to purchase the yacht.  But the trial voyage was a total nightmare.  Tom and Jackie pleaded for their lives as Skylar forced them to not only sign over the boat to him, but their home and bank accounts as well.  Believing if they did what he asked their lives would be spared, but before the ink was even dry, the couple was duck taped together, had the ship’s heavy anchor tied around them and where thrown overboard – ALIVE!!!

This is just the first part of this tragic story.  While on work furlough from jail Deleon kills another man and orders hits on 4 other people from prison, including a hit on his own father, who granted was not the best father in the world.  The devotion shown to him my his wife is cult-like as is the effect he has on others he convinces to work with him.

Rother takes us step-by-step through the case, from Skylar Deleon’s past to evidence and interviews with Deleon through the several trials that take place and I am happy to report this criminal is sitting on death row.

This is not the type of book where my usual Rating System of little pictures is appropriate.  The is real life, not fiction, and I can’t say I love this story.  It is wonderfully well researched and well written and I love the author’s thoroughness as she has dealt with this horrific story.  I did not see the reports on the various television shows but do remember reading in newspapers and seeing on the news tidbits about this case, but had forgotten all about it until I found myself lost in the pages of this book.  Now these events will never leave my mind.  

There are not enough adjectives to encompass this crime, chilling, frightening, intense, etc. just doesn’t cover the raw emotion I was left with after reading this book.  My feelings do not just come from the horrendous acts but from the way Rother describes, writes, handles and makes the material grab your attention and won’t let go. Don’t be intimidated by the page count.  Once you start this book, it will be virtually impossible to put down.  It reads just like a fiction novel and sometimes you have to stop and remind yourself, “Hey, wait a minute, this really happened!”.  This book is a MUST READ for any True Crime fan, but if you are like me, a fan of the fictional thriller and suspense novels, this book should also be at the top of your Books To Read list.  You will become a fan of this author instantly!!

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author by Pump Up Your Book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

About Caitlin Rother

Caitlin Rother is the author of true crime books Dead Reckoning, Body Parts,  Twisted Triangle, and Poisoned Love, and the thriller, Naked Addiction. She is also the co-author of My Life, Deleted and Where Hope Begins, soon to be re-released as Deadly Devotion. She is now working on The Makings of a Monster, the story of the rape and murder of beloved teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

This post originally appeared at Dollycas’s Thoughts December 21, 2010.

A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
A Division of Penguin Publishing
A Madam of Espionage Mystery
Release Date : January 4, 2011 
ISBN-10: 0425238660 
ISBN-13: 978-0425238660

Set in 1876, we are introduced to India Black, the madam of Lotus House, a London brothel, where gentleman of of very high rank in government and military are welcomed daily.  Unfortunately one of the clients dies while with one of the “bints” and India needs to dispose of the body so that the reputation of Lotus House is not besmirched.

But this client is extremely well connected and had in his possession some information many people wanted and it disappeared while India was making plans to dump the body. As did the lady he was with when he died.  This makes India Black the interest of many people both from the British government but also the Russian government as well.  She agrees to go undercover for the “Brits” to try to recover the information and insure it does not fall into the wrong hands.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received these books free from Berkley Prime Crime,  a Division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

This review was originally posted on Dollycas’s Thoughts September 29, 2011.

India Black and the Widow of Windsor
The Berkley Publishing Group
Published by The Penguin Group
A Madam of Espionage Mystery
Second book in the series.
Available October 4, 2011

Your Escape With A Good Book Travel Agent

This review was originally posted on Dollycas’s Thoughts January 22, 2011

,

This cover is amazing!!

An Obsidian Mystery
Division of Penguin Publishing
A Cat In Trouble Mystery
3rd book in the Series
Date of Release:  April 5, 2011

• ISBN-10: 0451233026
• ISBN-13: 978-0451233028

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

This review was originally posted on Dollycas’s Thoughts April 7, 2010.

**One note of caution, this is a book you will what to read in one sitting, the pages just keep turning and turning, so allow enough time or you may be up all night reading.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

This post was originally posted at Dollycas’s Thoughts on January 11, 2010

I love cats, quilting was a former passion, and who doesn’t like a good mystery.

Leann Sweeney’s first book in her new Cats in Trouble series was truly enjoyable.The characters are realistic and relatable, the cats are truly stars in this book, and the plot is well thought out.  The Cat Trivia within the story are little added gifts.  (I did not know a group of kittens was call a “kindle”, I thought a kindle was the new electronic gadget for reading books.)

Jillian and John Hart move to Mercy, S.C. where everyone knows everything about everybody, or do they?

John dies all too soon and leaves Jillian with their three cats, Merlot, Chablis, and Syrah and her quilting business, knowing almost none of her neighbors. When she returns from an overnight business trip she finds her home has been broken into and one of her beloved cats is missing. After reporting the break-in and the missing cat, she knows the police are not going to be of any help to find her cat and realizes she must look for him herself. While searching for her cat she also finds a corpse, and her investigation is just beginning, not only is she going to meet her neighbors, she’s going to find out one of them is a murderer.

Don’t forget to check out Leann’s other series The Yellow Rose Mysteries and her website http://www.leannsweeney.com/.