Books and Broomsticks: February 2016

29 February 2016

GIVEAWAY ALERT! Author Interview with Manning Wolfe and Excerpt of her book DOLLAR SIGNS

The content of this promo post was provided by Lone Star Literary Life Blog Tours. If you're a Texas blogger interested in joining the ranks of Lone Star Book Blog Tours, contact Kristine Hall.

DOLLAR SIGNS

Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King

Texas Lady Lawyer Novel #1

by Manning Wolfe

First Place, The Writer’s League of Texas Annual Manuscript Contest, 2014

Genre: Adult / Legal Thriller / Mystery /Suspense

Publisher: Starpath Books, LLC

Date of Publication: February 18, 2016

# of pages: 310

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MERIT BRIDGES, an attorney and widowed mother in Austin, Texas, works hard, drinks too much wine, and sleeps with younger men. When Merit goes after a shady corporation threatening her client, she encounters hired gun Boots King. His charge is simple, “Stop her!” Merit and her team – including Betty, a mothering office manager with a bad-ass attitude – struggle to stay alive, while they navigate a labyrinth of legal issues, and prove once again that you don’t mess with a Texas lady lawyer.

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Praise for the books:

A legal thriller not to be missed…Manning Wolfe just put herself on my list of must-read authors. — Mark Pryor, Hugo Marston Novels

Move over, John Grisham. There’s a lady lawyer in town. — Elizabeth Garcia, Deputy Ricos Tales

This novel is smart, funny, moving, and entertaining as hell. — Jesse Sublett, 1960’s Austin Gangsters

A great read, and Texas crime fiction has a new star. — Bill Crider, Dan Rhodes Mysteries

Pages smoke like burnt fried chicken grease on a Saturday night…This one, my friends, is a non-putter-downer! — George Wier, Bill Travis Mysteries.

A high-speed storyline full of twists and turns upon a stark background of reality as lawyers might really experience it. Manning Wolfe is one of the up and coming legal thriller writers of this generation. Read her and enjoy her, but don’t expect much sleep! — John Ellsworth, author, Thaddeus Murfee Legal Thrillers

Why did you choose to write legal thrillers? 

One would think I write legal thrillers because I am an attorney, but it may be the other way around. I became an attorney because of the stories in my head and my ideas about fairness and equality. Those concepts are evident in all of my writing. 

Lady Lawyer vs Boots King.  It’s the first in a legal thriller series set in Austin,  

How did you use your legal background to write the book? 

The plot idea for Dollar Signs came from a client that I had several years ago who had gotten involved with an unscrupulous Outdoor Advertising Company (Billboards). Of course, I departed from that scenario fairly quickly in the book as the characters began to develop and the story took on a life of its own. I felt badly for that client and always wished he had gotten a fair shake. In Dollar Signs, I get to have the story turn out as I would have liked in real life. I’ve never practiced litigation although there are some courtroom scenes in the book. I wanted to show the other side of law - the business of it and the strategy that is involved. 

What was the hardest part of writing this book?   

The hardest part was finding time to write while I was still a full time attorney and raising a young man. As I’ve shared in my blog many times, my son, on whom the character Ace is based is dyslexic. His learning disability required a lot of extra Mom time.  Now, he self-advocates, is totally independent, and he actually helps me from time to time. 

Are there under-represented groups or ideas featured if your book?  If so, discuss them. 

In Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boot King, a Goliath corporation has taken advantage of a pair of Hispanic brothers who have English as their second language. The brothers have bought into the American Dream and now have come up against an American Nightmare through the legal system. Merit Bridges, the attorney/protagonist in all of the Texas Lady Lawyer books has a soft spot for the underdog as exhibited by her representation of these men, women who have found themselves on hard times, and her diverse office staff. 

Have you always wanted to be a writer?  

Yes, since I was a small child I’ve been spinning yarns and telling tales. I wrote my stories down as drawings, and then in narrative as soon as I was able to write. I loved Nancy Drew growing up and always wanted to write stories with a strong plot. I had great teachers who encouraged proper basic writing habits, so I received a good foundation early on. Much later, I wrote the screenplay of the life of Buckminster Fuller and found that I like combining cinematic style with novel structure. That blend has led me to the way I write today - fast paced legal thrillers with a strong visual component.  

Where did you grow up and has it affected your writing? 

 I grew up in a small town just north of Houston called Humble. By the time I was in junior high, I had read every book in our public library. I still remember the wonderful librarian there and her interest in my constant reading habit. My father often asked me to do research in the courthouse archives in Harris County.  Those two things led not only to my legal career, but my writing career as well.  Property and business issues in the law are like a puzzle to me.  I always loved games and still enjoy online games and cards. Sorting out legal problems in real life or in a story is like a puzzle to my brain. I enjoy figuring things out and documenting that in writing. 

MANNING WOLFE an author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas, writes cinematic-style, smart, fast-paced thrillers with a salting of Texas bullshit. The first in her series, featuring Austin Lawyer Merit Bridges, is Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King. A graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, Manning’s experience has given her a voyeur’s peek into some shady characters’ lives and a front row seat to watch the good people who stand against them.

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One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of Dollar Signs, a $50 Visa Gift Card, a "Don't Mess With Texas Women" plaque, and some fun dollar sign beads!

Giveaway runs from 12:01am 2/18/16
through
11:59pm 4/2/16

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Check out these other great blog stops on the tour!

2/18 Texas Book Lover -- Excerpt

2/19 My Book Fix Blog -- Promo

2/23 Because This is My Life Y'all -- Promo

2/25 Missus Gonzo -- Review

2/29 Books and Broomsticks – Author Interview

3/1   The Crazy Booksellers -- Review

3/3   Texas Book-aholic -- Promo

3/8   All for the Love of the Word -- Promo

3/10 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books -- Review

3/15 It's a Jenn World -- Promo

3/17 A Novel Reality – Promo

3/22 Hall Ways Blog -- Review

3/24 The Page Unbound -- Promo

3/29 Belle Whittington on Tumblr -- Promo

3/31 The Librarian Talks -- Review

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27 February 2016

BETWEEN HURT AND HEALING by Jackie Melvin

The content of this promo post was provided by Lone Star Literary Life Blog Tours. If you're a Texas blogger interested in joining the ranks of Lone Star Book Blog Tours, contact Kristine Hall.

BETWEEN HURT AND HEALING

Jackie Melvin

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Date of Publication: February 2, 2016

# of pages: 424

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Introverted Denise Staukhill just wanted a quiet life. She never dreamed she would find a man like Darren Olsen to share it with. An unexpected tragedy ends their fairy-tale romance, and Denise once again finds herself alone and devastated.

Years later, the handsome head football coach from the local high school and Darren’s best friend, Eric Ortellio, tries desperately to help her find peace. As their relationship starts to grow, the manipulative Coach Nick Nelson, trying to protect his secretive past, steps in to ruin both of them.

Will Denise and Eric’s friendship sustain the lies and manipulation that the evil Nelson has weaved? Can Denise find the strength to let go of Darren and hold on to Eric, or will her faithfulness to Darren keep Eric out of her life forever?

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Denise talking to her twelve-year-old daughter Cissy, about her own mother:

“She loved color in her drawings, bright colors: greens, reds, blues, yellows. All her pictures were happy. She told me when I was your age to take whatever makes you sad and color it in. I guess she just meant that colors are happy and sad is black and white.”

Cissy’s response:

“Maybe that’s what Grandma meant when she said, “color it in.” Celebrations are colorful like birthday balloons and wedding cakes. Funerals are black, and hospitals are white. Funerals are always sad and hospitals can be sad sometimes too. So if you find what makes you sad and color it in, you can be happy."

I have never pretended that I have adjusted well to my empty nest.  I spent my first year as an empty nester in a new town with no friends and no job. I was lost and for the first time in my life, lonely. As someone who calls herself an extreme introvert you know when I say that I’m lonely, it must be really bad.  I had to do something with my time, so I decided to do what I love and write; Between Hurt and Healing is the result. 

I have been married for thirty years; Denise Olsen was married for seventeen when she is suddenly widowed.  I have not stood in her shoes, nor have I had to say goodbye to my children forever, like her high school friend.  But because I have lost others in my life, I do understand the void that is left within when we lose someone we love.  And that is what I wanted to focus on with this book.  That although we will never understand and even though we shouldn’t, we will always ask why, but ultimately we must find peace.   

Maybe writing this story was therapy because of all the people that I have lost or the times I have grieved with friends who have lost loved ones. I also believe that at different points in our lives we will go through the stages of grief when we don’t actually suffer from the death of someone close to us. I think we can feel something of a loss when we have a severe life change or when relationships end. Long time friendships are broken or family ties severed. Trusts are broken, forgiveness isn’t given or maybe not accepted -- either way a loss has occurred. 

So as I watched my kids leave one, then two, then three, and I turned them totally over to God, I found myself alone. And in my grief of letting them go, this book was born. It took many twists and turns while I was writing but God knew that I needed something to occupy my time without the sounds and activities that a full house brings. So I created this family with all the activity, love, support, and excitement that households endure everyday. But also with this grief that is hanging over their heads. 

I wanted to portray the strength of this family.  And how life does go on, the kids grow and change, friends are made and relationships develop.  But because God did instill in us a spirit of resilience, I wanted to show this family having fun and laughing and doing the things that they love to do.   

I hope I did just that.   

Enjoy! 

Jackie Melvin is a hopeless introvert: hasn’t seen the inside of a movie theater in a decade. She is despairingly sappy: will cry at commercials, songs and memories. She is a disheartened housekeeper: good before the kids, great with the kids, now the laundry room doubles as the master closet. An unexceptional athlete, the weather matters! A wanna be nutritionist, if only chocolate had nutritional value. A mediocre musician: been playing the same songs for thirty years. A happy wife, she married up. A reluctant empty- nester, miss those kids so much. And she is a writer: the author of a series of children's books, and Between Hurt and Healing is her first novel.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas with her husband, her dog, and her cat, and spends as much time as possible visiting those kids.