Book Spotlight & Interview: Watering Heaven by Peter Tieryas Liu

Watering Heaven

By: Peter Tieryas Liu

Pub. Date: October 12, 2012

Publisher: Signal 8 Press

Pages: 206

Watering Heaven from Signal 8 Press is a travelogue of and requiem for the American dream in all its bizarre manifestations and a surreal, fantastic journey through the streets, alleys, and airports of China. Whether it’s a monk who uses acupuncture needles to help him fly or a city filled with rats about to be exterminated so that the mayor can win his reelection bid, be prepared to laugh, swoon, and shudder at the answers Liu offers in this provocative debut collection.

Today, I have Peter Tieryas Liu on the blog where I got to ask him some questions!

1. If you had to describe your book to a friend, what would you say?

This is my debut collection of twenty stories called Watering Heaven out from Signal 8 Press. The stories were written during my travels throughout the world, particularly in China and Thailand. Some of the stories have elements of magical realism, say as in a woman who gives birth to an egg and a man who is able to fly. Others are grounded in reality but take on strange slants on humanity; a man who takes photographs of urban legends and a filmmaker wants to defend the rights of rats who are about to exterminated. Many of the stories have been published in some of my favorite literary magazines and I’m glad for the chance to get to share all of them at once in the form of this book. The title comes from the William Blake poem, the Tyger, describing the celestial war when the angels were forced out of Heaven. It reflects the theme of transition and change that marks many of the stories and protagonists.

2. What made you decide to become a writer?

Would it sound strange if I told you that a strange voice in the back of my neck originating with a third eye inspired me to write a piece about wingless birds fighting against milk-thirsty chimpanzees when I was seven? Later, I was implanted with a brain cell formulated from nanolasers imprinted with a command that I write about the quirky contrasts of urban life with the ambitions that propel a society forward. Machinations may abound, but my focus has been microscopically planktonite. Literally, biochemical plankton infesting fish causing everyone who eats anything that eats aquatic organisms with gills to blog, scribble, and write every concept and idea on a pen, iPad, keyboard, and smart phone. I try to capture some of the nuances. Say watching a centipede or a pill millipede struggling briskly with his legs to cross the sidewalk. It’s an odd analogy for the balancing act present in modern lives. (To answer your question, I just love telling stories)

3. Favorite TV show? Movie? Book?

Too many to list here. Can I just share what I’ve enjoyed in the past month? I loved watching the season premiere of Walking Dead and have also enjoyed Game of Thrones. Movie-wise, my wife and I have been watching some old Kubrick films and have really enjoyed those. The last movie I saw at the theater was Dark Knight Rises and I loved the ambitious nature of the film. I did also see Hotel Transylvania, which I loved, but I’m biased as I worked on the film. As for books, there’s a wide variety: The Art Spirit by Robert Henri, Grim Series Poem by Kristine Ong Muslim, VII by Kyle Muntz, re-reading parts of the works of Marvin K. Mooney by Christopher Higgs. I also re-read Candide by Voltaire and was shocked at how violent and nihilistic it got, even if it was meant as satire. There’s too many good books and not enough time. I really respect a readers time and try to make sure every story I write satisfies them in one form or another.

4. Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? 

Crunchy, as long as I have some jam and wheat bread, and as long as there’s no threat of salmonella, and as long as the nuts have the appropriate levels of protein, B3, E, and magnesium, and as long as there’s no chance of me getting an allergic reaction which might cause anaphylactic shock, and certainly the presence of hydrogenated vegetable oils would be a big deterrent, but as long as it’s neither too salty nor too sweet, and as long as I’m craving peanut butter, I’d say crunchy is the way to go.

Thanks Peter!

My pleasure! Thanks for having me.

Author Bio:

Peter Tieryas Liu has almost 200 publications in magazines and journals including Adirondack Review, anderbo, Bitter Oleander, Bookslut, Camera Obscura Journal, decomP, Evergreen Review, Gargoyle, Indiana Review, Kartika Review, Prism Review, Toad Suck Review, Word Riot, and ZYZZYVA, and was the recipient of the 2012 Fiction Award from Mojo, the magazine run by Wichita State University. He has also worked as a technical writer for LucasArts, the gaming division of LucasFilm. 

For more information on Peter and his book, Watering Heaven, visit his website! 

Cover Reveal: Pieces by Michelle Davidson Argyle

I am so excited to be one of the revealers for the cover of Pieces by Michelle Davidson Argyle!

Two years after watching her kidnappers go to prison, Naomi Jensen is still in love with one of them. Jesse will be released in a few years, and Naomi knows college is the perfect distraction while she waits. But when her new friend Finn makes her question what is right and what is wrong, she begins to wonder if Jesse is the one for her … until she discovers he's out on parole. Naomi must sort through her confusion to figure out where love and freedom truly lie—in Finn, who has no connections to her past, or Jesse, who has just asked her to run away with him.

Pieces is a companion to The Breakaway and can be read independently, if desired.
 
Pieces will be released on February 14, 2013

Click here to add Pieces to your Goodreads reading pile!

Pub. Date: May 1, 2012

Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing 

When Naomi Jensen is kidnapped, it takes her parents two days to realize she’s missing. Escape isn’t high on her list of priorities when all she has to return to is an abusive boyfriend and parents who never paid much attention to her. For the first time in her life she’s part of a family—even if it is a family of criminals. But she’s still a captive. In a desperate attempt to regain some control in her life, Naomi embarks on a dangerous plan to make one of her kidnappers think she’s falling in love with him. The plan works too well, and when faced with the chance to escape, Naomi isn’t sure she wants to take it.

Goodreads link

To purchase The Breakaway: 

     ~ Amazon

     ~ Barnes & Noble 

About the author:

Michelle lives and writes in Utah, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. She loves the seasons, but late summer and early fall are her favorites. She adores chocolate, sushi, and lots of ethnic food, and loves to read and write books in whatever time she can grab between her sword-wielding husband and energetic daughter. She believes a simple life is the best life.

Author Links:

   -Website: 

   -Goodreads: 

   -Twitter: 

   -Facebook:

Review & Giveaway: Shackled by Angela Carling

Shackled

By: Angela Carling

Pub. Date: June 1, 2012

Publisher: Acacia

Pages: 200

Source: Publisher

After shy, quiet Lucy and her family move from their small hometown in Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, she is surprised when Ryan, the most popular boy at school, asks her out. Soon, she is swept up in a whirlwind romance and her naive and trusting nature allows her to fall head over heels in love with her too-good-to-be-true suitor. Suddenly, Lucy finds herself enraptured by the excitement of her new relationship, leaving her blinded to the warning signs of danger ahead. Can her fairy tale romance last, or will she find that her prince charming is more like a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Reading books about abuse is always a scary thing. You want to scream at the victim to get away, but instead you have to watch her go through this horrible thing, and there is nothing you can do to help. That is exactly how I felt during Shackled. This story shows you the horrible reality of abuse, especially the mind controlling kind, that you don't see very often in YA.

When Lucy moves with her family to Washington, the last thing she expected to find was love. But on the first day of school, Ryan-cute, sweet, popular, Ryan takes notice of her. He invites her to parties, and she becomes friends with his friends. The relationship is perfect. Lucy doesn't know how she became to lucky. After some time though, she starts to see another side of Ryan, a controlling and jealous side. But, just like other abuse victims, she thinks it is her fault for hurting him. Lucy's eyes finally open when he puts a tracking device on her, and won't take it off!

This is when the story becomes utterly frightening. I felt Lucy's pain, embarrassment and shame in regards to the tracking bracelet. Ryan's POV chapters are also chilling. We see the abuse his father has inflicted on him and his mother, and though it is no excuse, you can see why Ryan is the way he is.  

I only have two complaints about Shackled. The first one is that throughout the story, there were bold words and sentences. I get that it was supposed to emphasize something, but I thought it was kind of a cheap ploy. The writing itself was great, we didn't need bold sentences to show emphasis, and for me, it ended up taking away from the story.  My other complaint was the ending. I would have liked more closure for some of the characters. I don't want to say who, since it is kind of a spoiler, but closure definitely would have been nice!

Overall, I really enjoyed Shackled. I read it within a few hours, and it stayed with me long after. Angela Carling has a way with words and is talented enough to tell a fantastic stories in only 200 pages!

The publisher sent me an extra copy to giveaway! Please fill out the form below to win a paperback copy of Shackled!

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Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass

(Throne of Glass # 1)

By: Sarah J. Maas

Pub. Date: August 7, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Pages: 416

Source: ARC

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I've had a copy of this book since April and it took me forever to read it. I kept putting it off, even though everyone kept telling me to read it, and boy, am I glad I finally listened! Throne of Glass was so much more then I was expecting! Sure, it is a pretty big book. So big in fact, that my hands were actually hurting from holding up the ARC, but every single page is filled with action, romance and secrets. I wanted, no I needed to know more about Celaena, Chaol, and Prince Dorian!

Celaena is an 18 year old master assassin, that in itself is pretty awesome! She spent the last year working the mines, being beaten and starved, but she is still strong and would not let the prison break her. The Prince promises to release her if she fights to become his father's champion, which means she must win against 23 other opponents, then work for the King, for a few years, killing exactly who he says. Celaena knows she can will be able to fight and win!

I loved Celaena. At first I didn't think I would, but she really opened up to me. She had a very sad back story, and you understand why and how she became as assassin.  She might be the best there is, but that doesn't mean she likes doing it. She still has a heart, and doesn't want to hurt those that don't deserve it.

I was a little disappointed with the boy factor though. I didn't feel connected to either Chaol, Captain of the Guard or Prince Dorian. Both of them had sweet moments, but Chaol was way too hot and cold for me, and while I definitely liked Dorian more, even he had some pretty dumb moments. Overall, I just wasn't impressed.

Throne of Glass is not a fast read. It took me over a week to read this one. It is a heavy book, literally and figuratively, but it is also an enjoyable read. I am very excited to see where the story is going to take us next!  

Guest Post: Extraordinary Rendition by Paul Batista

Extraordinary Rendition

By: Paul Batista

Pub. Date: May 1, 2013

Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions LLC

Pages: 380

When Ali Hussein—suspected terrorist and alleged banker for Al Qaeda—is finally transported from Gitmo to the US mainland to stand trial, many are stunned when Byron Carlos Johnson, pre-eminent lawyer and the son of a high-profile diplomat, volunteers as counsel.  On principle, Johnson thought he was merely defending a man unjustly captured through Rendition and water-boarded illegally. But Johnson soon learns that there is much more at stake than one man’s civil rights.

Hussein’s intimate knowledge of key financial transactions could lead to the capture of—or the unabated funding of—the world’s most dangerous terror cells. This makes Hussein the target of corrupt US intelligence forces on one side, and ruthless international terrorists on the other.  And, it puts Byron Carlos Johnson squarely in the crosshairs of both.

Pulled irresistibly by forces he can and cannot see, Johnson enters a lethal maze of espionage, manipulation, legal traps and murder. And when his life, his love, and his acclaimed principles are on the line, Johnson may have one gambit left that can save them all; a play that even his confidants could not have anticipated. He must become the hunter among hunters in the deadliest game.

Written by no-holds-barred-attorney Paul Batista, Extraordinary Rendition excels not only as an action thriller, but as a sophisticated legal procedural as well; tearing the curtains away from the nation’s most controversial issues.

Provocative. Smart. Heart-pounding. A legal thriller of the highest order.

 WHEN WHERE AND HOW DO YOU WRITE?...

I hear this question many times.  And the answer is: "wherever, whenever, and by any means possible."

Here is just one example.  I have been a long-distance runner for many years.  I often take a hand-held voice recorder with me and dictate into it as I run.  I do get puzzled looks from fellow runners, but over the last few years as more and more people use cell phones all the time, even while running, I get fewer and fewer quizzical glances as I speak into a recorder. I'm blessed to have an assistant who doesn't mind typing from dictation, and I find that after a six mile run my dictation translates into four or five written pages. Listening to my panting, almost breathless voice on the tape could make you think I’m doing something other than running. Since I run in places as diverse as central park, long island, and whatever city I happen to be in, the answer to “where do you write?" is "all over the place."

As to "when do you write?" the answer is any time during the day when I can. I still practice law because I enjoy it, but it's demanding work.  There are times during the day when I can start or finish a scene in a new novel but those interludes don't last for more than fifteen minutes before I have to take a call or leave for court.  And I can even write when in court, because a judge often takes a long time before appearing on the bench, and that enables me to write while waiting rather than staring out the window.  A great deal of my writing happens in the quiet hours of the night.  I'm one of those people who'd rather write about intrigue than watch "CSI."  It would be nice to have the kind of routine some writers have   with a set schedule of writing from 8 to noon, as if it were a job.  I admire that discipline; I will say that on a day when I don't write I get that empty feeling that the day was not as well-spent as it could have been.

About the author: 

Paul Batista, novelist and television personality, is one of the most widely known trial lawyers in the country. As a trial attorney, he specializes in federal criminal litigation. As a media figure, he is known for his regular appearances as guest legal commentator on a variety of television shows including, Court TV, CNN, HLN and WNBC. He’s also appeared in the HBO movie, You Don't Know Jack, starring Al Pacino.

A prolific writer, Batista authored the leading treatise on the primary federal anti-racketeering statute, Civil RICO Practice Manual, which is now in its third edition (Wiley & Sons, 1987; Wolters Kluwer, 2008). He has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The National Law Journal.

Batista's debut novel, Death's Witness, was awarded a Silver Medal by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). And his new novel, Extraordinary Rendition, is now being published—along with a special reissue of Death’s Witness—by Astor + Blue Editions.

Batista is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Cornell Law School. He’s proud to have served in the United States Army. Paul Batista lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.

You can pre-order Extraordinary Rendition now at Barnes & Noble and Amazon!

 

Review & Giveaway: The Summer I Learned to Dive By: Shannon McCrimmon

The Summer I Learned to Dive

By: Shannon McCrimmon

Pub. Date: May 7, 2012

Publisher: Self-Published

Pages: 198

Source: Author

Since the time she was a little girl, eighteen-year-old Finley “Finn” Hemmings has always lived her life according to a plan, focused and driven with no time for the average young adult’s carefree experiences. On the night of her high school graduation, things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that her mother has been keeping a secret from her—a secret that causes Finn to do something she had never done before—veer off her plan. In the middle of the night, Finn packs her bags and travels by bus to Graceville, SC seeking the truth. In Graceville, Finn has experiences that change her life forever; a summer of love, forgiveness and revelations. She learns to take chances, to take the plunge and to dive right in to what life has to offer.

The main reason I accepted to review The Summer I Learned to Dive was the cover. I absolutely loved the colors of the ocean. After I read the summary, I was excited to read a coming of age story, about a girl who is in search of who she really is.

The day that Finley "Finn" Hemmings graduates from high school, she learns that her mother has been keeping her grandparents from her. Finn's father died when she was very young, and for her whole life it has just been her and her mom. She thought her father's parents wanted nothing to do with her. Turns out they never gave up trying to contact her, even sending her a graduation present. That night, Finn does the first impulsive thing she has ever done, and goes to South Carolina to meet them.

I understood why Finn did what she did, but at the same time, I felt she was being a little dramatic. She should have talked to her mother about why she lied, instead of being impulsive and running away. I might not have agreed with her mothers reasoning, but Finn could have waited a few days, talked to her grandparents on then phone, and then planned a trip.

My other complaint was the relationship between Finn and Jesse, the young guy who works for her grandparents. He came off as a very flat, one dimensional character to me, and I just didn't feel any connection with them together.

Other then that, I enjoyed the story. The writing flowed nicely, and I liked the ending. The story was very predictable, but there is a sequel, so I am interested to see where McCrimmon will take us next into the lives of these characters.

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Review: Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler

Who I Kissed

By: Janet Gurtler

Pub. Date: October 1, 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 320

Source: Netgalley

She never thought a kiss could kill…

Samantha didn’t mean to hurt anyone. She was just trying to fit in...and she wanted to make Zee a little jealous after he completely ditched her for a prettier girl. So she kissed Alex. And then he died—right in her arms.

Was she really the only person in the entire school who didn’t know about his peanut allergy? Or that eating a peanut butter sandwich and then kissing him would be deadly? Overnight Sam turns into the school pariah and a media sensation explodes. Consumed with guilt, abandoned by her friends, and in jeopardy of losing her swimming scholarship, she’ll have to find a way to forgive herself before anyone else will.

This is the first story that I have read from Janet Gurtler, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a fast paced read, with great writing and awesome characters. When I first read the synopsis for Who I Kissed, I was interested to see how the storyline was going to play out, and I ended up loving every second of it!

Samantha begins her first day at a new school, and things become easier when she starts to make friends. She is even invited to a party by a super cute boy named Zee. At the party, Zee started talking to another girl, so she started talking to Alex, Zee's best friend. Sam and Alex are drinking and flirting and eventually they start kissing. All of a sudden Alex can't breath and he ends up dying. Turns out he has a nut allergy and before the party Sam ate a peanut butter sandwich. Consumed with guilt, Sam refuses to leave her house. When she finally goes back to school, everyone hates her.

I felt so bad for Sam. She blames herself completely, but as it turns out, Zee blames himself for his best friends death too and Alex's sister also blames herself.

Who I Kissed is a story about forgiveness and moving past a tragic accident. Sam had a wonderful support system at home with her father and her aunt. She also meets new people at school who don't make her feel like crap for Alex's death.

I really loved Who I Kissed and I will definitely be reading other books from Gurtler!