Author Lisa Unger

New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Unger

Photo by Jeff Unger

Do you enjoy reading "can't put this book down," thrilling, suspense novels? Then I have the author for you! Lisa Unger has become one of my all-time favorite writers. Her characters are complex, yet believable...people you find yourself thinking about long after you've finished the book. I first discovered Lisa's books several years ago when I read her earlier books, "Beautiful Lies" and its' sequel, "Sliver of Truth" (which are also very good, by the way.) Then, although I've always been an avid reader and profound book lover, I found myself going through a reading "dry spell" due to work, blogging, and other things that occupied my mind. I just didn't seem to have the time to read as much as I used to. But, a few weeks ago I got in the mood once again to escape into a good book, so I picked up "Fragile," (which had been on my bookshelf for quite a while.) I literally had a hard time putting it down, and in fact, stayed up until 5:00am to finish it! I hadn't done that in years!

Synopsis for Fragile:
Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on each other’s kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a kid, Maggie found the microscope of small town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she’s happily returned to The Hollows’ insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients’ lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son Rick disappears, Maggie’s intuitive gift proves useful to the case – and also dangerous.
Eerie parallels soon emerge between Charlene’s disappearance and the abduction of another local girl that shook the community when Maggie was a teenager. The investigation has her husband, Jones, the lead detective on the case, acting strangely. Rick, already a brooding teenager, becomes even more withdrawn. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father.

As soon as I finished reading "Fragile," I started on its' sequel, "Darkness My Old Friend." I just finished it yesterday. I get so excited when I discover a good book, and want to share it with my friends! So, if you enjoy fiction, and you're looking for a book to take on vacation, to the beach, or to read while you relax in the hammock or on the deck...I highly recommend either of these (although, I'd suggest reading Fragile first, since many of the same characters are also in Darkness My Old Friend.)

Synopsis for Darkness, My Old Friend:

After giving up his post at The Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He is having trouble facing a horrible event from the past, and finding a second act. He’s in therapy. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in FRAGILE, comes to him with predictions about his future, some of them dire.
Michael Holt, a young man who grew up in The Hollows, has returned looking for answers about his mother who went missing many years earlier. He has hired local PI Ray Muldune and psychic Eloise Montgomery to help him solve the mystery that has haunted him. What he finds might be his undoing.
Fifteen year old Willow Graves is exiled to The Hollows from Manhattan when six months earlier she moved to the quiet town with her novelist mother after a bitter divorce. Willow is acting out, spending time with kids that bring out the worst in her. And when things get hard, she has a tendency to run away – a predilection that might lead her to dark places.
Set in The Hollows, the backdrop for Fragile, this is the riveting story of lives set on a collision course with devastating consequences.

To order either of these books, just click on the links below. They're also available in ebook format. To visit Lisa Unger's website, click HERE. I'd love to hear what you think of these books, or if you're already a fan of Unger's, please let me know!

Happy Reading!

Cindy

Author Interview with Sunny Lockwood

Hello Everyone,
Happy Valentine's Day! Here on "Art, Books, Tea," I've decided to start a new feature of author interviews. My first interview is with author, blogger and newspaper writer, Sunny Lockwood, whose ebook "Shades of Love, Stories From the Heart" is available on Amazon.com. Just in time for Valentine's Day, Sunny is offering the book for only .99! It would make a great gift for your loved ones - or a treat for yourself! If you don't have a Kindle, or other e-reader, no problem. You can read them right on your computer by downloading a free app from Amazon by clicking HERE.  Now, on with the interview!  

Q: Where do you live?

A. I live with my husband in the Gold Rush foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in north-central California. We have 22 acres that look out (this time of year) on the snowy peaks of the high Sierra.

 

 

Q. Did you always want to be a writer?

A. I've always liked reading. My mother read to me when I was too young to read to myself. As soon as I could read, I was taking out stacks of books from the library.  One day when I was about 15 years old, I was in the city library, just wandering among the stacks of books and my eye came upon a little orange hard-back book with the title: How to write and sell fact and fiction. Until that moment I'd never thought much about writing as an occupation. But the moment I realized people actually got paid to write, I started writing and sending my work off. Within a year I was being published. There's something pretty affirming about receiving a check for a story or article that you've researched and written. My work has been published in Good Housekeeping, Ms, New Woman, Self, The Chronicle of Higher Education and numerous smaller magazines and dozens of newspapers up and down the West Coast. And now I'm publishing on the Internet. And meeting all kinds of interesting writers and readers. How wonderful is that!

Q. What inspired you to write Shades of Love, Stories From the Heart?

A. I put together this ebook as an experiment. I wanted to see if I could do a book of short stories that people would like to read. I've made a living writing nonfiction..and this was sort of an exciting step away from that and into the creativity of fiction. The book has received such heart-warming reviews & comments from readers that I'm thrilled!

Q. How did you come up with the title?

A. Each story in the collection is significantly different from all the others. There's a story about a lonely career woman seeking love, a story about a domineering mother and her shy daughter and their boundary issues, a story about a long marriage that is coming to an end, a story about a settled and loving marriage and so on. And the core of each story is love...how love works out the challenges life presents. So as I tried to come up with a title that indicated both the variety of stories and the common theme of them all, I thought "Shades of Love" was perfect. But then I wanted people to know it was a short-story collection, not a novel, so I added the subtitle "stories from the heart."

Q. Who are some of your favorite authors?

A. I have oodles. I think Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of the finest writers of the 20th Century. Although her books are considered children's books..they are fascinating and educational for anyone who dips into them. I love the work of Loren Eiseley and Carl Sagan and Rachel Carson (although they're all non fiction writers). For short stories, I love Flannery O'Connor, D. H. Lawrence and Katherine Anne Porter. For more contemporary writers, my husband and I have enjoyed Alexander McCall Smith, Sue Monk Kidd and Anne Lamott. In my early adulthood, I was very inspired by the Irish writer George Target. He lived in England, wrote for the BBC & he wrote novels that were published in the UK. He liked my writing a lot and we carried on quite a lively correspondence for a few brief years (before he died). His encouragement went a long way in helping me develop my work.

Thank you very much, Sunny, for this interview! To visit Sunny Lockwood's website, click HERE. To order her book, "Shades of Love, Stories From the Heart," click on the book icon below.

Until next time,

Cindy
Linking to the special Valentine's Day Pink Saturday on How Sweet the Sound!
                                and A Woman Thing: The Link Party at Whimsical Musings!

New Book Review "Do You Need a Hug From Heaven?"

My "same-name" good friend, Cindy Adkins, has just published a new book, "Do You Need a Hug From Heaven?" Many of you know Cindy from her artwork and blog, "Cindy Adkins' Whimsical Musings," but she's also a very talented writer, with several bestsellers on Amazon.com. In "Do You Need a Hug From Heaven," Cindy shares her own angelic encounters and spiritual experiences, as well as those from others (including a story of mine.) This book is a follow-up to one of her previous books, "Angels at My Door." Whether for yourself, or as a gift, these books are so full of uplifting, positive experiences - the kind of everyday miracles that happen all the time, but are often overlooked. I promise you will not be disappointed in this book! It's available as an ebook for your Kindle or other e-reader. But, if you don't have one (and I don't!) you can still easily download a free Kindle app on your computer to read these books. Clicking on the images below will take you directly to Cindy's books on Amazon.com. AND, Cindy is offering her latest book for FREE this Sunday and Monday!! So, hurry on over and grab it! In the meantime, if you're not already a follower, you can visit Cindy's blog by clicking HERE. She offers several free tutorials and seminars, including "Calling All Angels Seminar,"  "Amazing Art Adventure," and one for "Beginning Bloggers." ALL FREE!!  She's not only talented, but very generous with her time and knowledge of the blogging world.

Enjoy...and until next time,

Cindy

Angels at My Door ~ Book Review

Today is a special day for my friend, Cindy Adkins (yes, she and I share the same first and last names ~ but more about that on a later post!) Today, I'm happy to annouce the publication of Cindy's new ebook on Amazon ~ Angels at My Door!

Cindy is a fabulous mixed media artist, writer, blogger who lives in New Orleans. Her new ebook is filled with inspirational, true stories and experiences that happened to Cindy and also features stories from several of her blogging friends (including one from me.)  When I started reading Angels at My Door, I could not stop until I'd finished the whole book! I must say in today's world with so many horrific stories on the news, Cindy's book is uplifting and filled with hope and miracles that will astound you! To find out more about Cindy's ebook or to order, click HERE.

Cindy has also created a free seminar to go along with her book that is available through her blog, Whimsical Musings. For more information about the seminar, click HERE.

Cindy is the author of four other ebooks, including "Blog From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Blogging."  In addition, she creates beautiful, one-of-a-kind shabby chic inspired art pieces, designs custom blog headers and blog buttons, and runs her own Etsy shop! This is one busy woman whose talent, energy and generosity I greatly admire! To visit Cindy's blog, Whimsical Musings, click HERE:

Cindy's Etsy shop, click HERE

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Until next time,

Cindy