Part memoir, part travelogue, Coins in the Fountain will amuse and intrigue you with the stories of food, friends, and the adventures of a couple who ran away to join the circus (the Circus Maximus, that is).
About Coins in the Fountain
Innocents Abroad collide with La Dolce Vita when the author and her husband arrive in the ancient city of Rome fresh from the depths of Oregon. While the author endeavored to learn the folkways of the United Nations, her husband tangled with unfamiliar vegetables in a valiant effort to learn to cook Italian-style. In between, they attended weddings, enjoyed a close-up with the pope, tried their hands at grape harvesting, and savored country weekends where the ancient Etruscans still seemed to be lurking. Along the way they made many unforgettable friends including the countess with a butt-reducing machine and a count who served as a model for naked statues of horsemen in his youth.
But not everything was wine and wonders. Dogs in the doctor’s exam room, neighbors in the apartment in the middle of the night, an auto accident with the military police, a dangerous fall in the subway, too many interactions with an excitable landlord, snakes and unexploded bombs on a golf course, and a sinking sailboat, all added more seasoning to the spaghetti sauce of their life.
Life was routine until the author decided to get a law degree. Then a chance meeting led her to run away to the Circus (Maximus) – actually to the United Nations office next door – where she worked as an attorney in the HR department and entered the world of expat life in Rome.
Her publishing credits include a memoir about ten years in Italy titled Coins in the Fountain, a novel about expats in Rome, City of Illusions, and flash fiction in literary magazines. She continues to travel in her spare time, having fitted in over 100 countries. And when she is in Rome, she always tosses a coin in the Trevi Fountain to ensure another visit.
In Voice of the Spirit, can two people with different beliefs stay together?
About Voice of the Spirit
Tobias and Lauren have been together for four months since the end of Do You Want to Play. They’ve found rhythm in their relationship, but that rhythm comes to an abrupt stop when a body is found nailed to a cross inside Pious Church.
As they dig through possible suspects—from religious fanatics to resentful Satanists—they also find themselves reexamining their relationship, trying to figure out if two people with opposite beliefs can stay together. As time begins to run out for their kidnapped singer and the murders begin to pile up, they will have to find a way to resurrect what they had doubted and sacrifice what they had believed.
You can purchase a copy of Voice of the Spirit on Amazon.
About the Author
Charlotte Raine is a best selling suspense author. Charlotte gets inspiration for her writing from the scenic mountains around her home near Vail, Colorado.
When she is not writing you will find her after a long day of skiing at one of the many lodges in Vail. She will most likely be next to a warm fire, drinking a glass of wine and telling stories.
Being an independent woman in 1913 London is certainly empowering, but Emmy Nation is tired of the damp seeping through her worn shoes and the hopeless grumblings of her stomach. Will she give in and betray her sisterhood for warmth and food in her stomach?
About Emmy Nation, Undercover Suffragette
When she receives an offer from Scotland Yard to boost her typist income by spying on the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), Emmy jumps at the chance. But as she grows closer to the WSPU women the lines begin to blur, and when a painful part of her past resurfaces Emmy begins to question her choices.
How far are you willing to go to secure your equality?
My Thoughts
A stellar novel from start to finish, that should be a required reading for all young boy and girls in high school. Emmy Nation is an accurate presentation of life for women during this time period and how they struggled for freedom, struggled to have their voice heard and the challenges they faced.
My heart broke for Emmy when she had to choose between warm feet and collecting information on the Suffragette movement. No person should ever have to make a choice like this. Emmy grows in knowledge and strength throughout this novel. She starts off like many of the women in this time period, unsure of themselves, their independence and their rights. Many hold this inner desire for independence but are terrified of the repercussions. Women are physically hurt, emotionally and financially betrayed. My heart broke multiple times throughout this novel. All of the rights that I take for granted were fought for so hard by women and even though I know this, it sometimes takes a book like this to drive this imagery home.
Emmy Nation is an important, historical novel that portrays the Suffragette movement in an accurate and detailed manner that is appropriate for all age groups. It is an important novel for so many reasons but I feel that this should be a mandatory reading for high school students. It is written in a manner that they can understand, appreciate and assist them with relating to their own lives. Our rights and freedoms were fought for with the tears, physical pain and blood of women. This novel opened my eyes all over again, gave me a stronger respect and left me craving for more. I want to know what happens Emmy and the sisterhood. What does she do next?
L. Davis Munro holds a master’s degree with a focus on women’s suffrage theatre and works in theatre and dance. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with her husband and her dog. You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
Author Interview
1. How did you do research for your book?
The research for this book actually started long before I began writing. I did a two-year Master’s degree in Theatre where I focused on the theatre of the women’s suffrage movement particularly in England. I really did the research for this book during that time. I studied a lot about the movement, the politics and the era in order to support the work I was doing in the theatre of the campaign, so that moved over to the book when I started writing. The second Emmy Nation book will feature much more of the theatre scene from London at the time.
2. What made you write a book about the suffragettes?
In many ways, Emmy Nation was created because of the research I was doing for my degree. I choose that period of history to study because I was fascinated by my own lack of knowledge on the suffrage movement. I had considered myself well versed in women’s history before my Master’s degree and was shocked by all that I didn’t know from the time. That is what started my academic research and Emmy Nation emerged from that.
3. Where do you write?
I have a hard time writing in public, so I generally write at home. I need silence and solitude for my most productive writing times. However, sometimes I need to shake that up so I will visit a cafe nearby to give myself the pressure to get something done instead of just awkwardly staring at the other patrons.
4. In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?
Yes, absolutely! I actually find moving to paper and pen often helps me through writer’s block. It feels less permanent than writing in the word processed manuscript document, so I feel less pressure when writing on paper.
5. If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you?
Definitely a how to survive on a deserted island book. What plants are edible, how to build a shelter and start a fire, those types of things. I would also want some sort of choose your own adventure book, something that I can read over and over again and not get bored with. Lastly, I would want a notebook (is that cheating?) so I could record everything and create my own stories to entertain myself.
6. What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
This! Publishing this book took all the courage I had. For so long it was just me and Emmy doing our thing and no one else could look in and judge us. Letting go of that safe place and releasing Emmy Nation into the world for anyone to pick up, critique and question, is the scariest and hardest thing I have ever done.
The Giveaway!
Win 1 of 2 prizes! A copy of Emmy Nation + $15 Amazon gift card
In To Be A Child, give a child a cardboard box and his imagination will turn it into anything but!
About To Be A Child
Today, it is less common to see children playing in the streets, especially in urban areas. The plethora of ready-made toys should make any child happy. What usually happens is that the box the toy came in becomes the toy!
This book documents children at play (and at times at work) from 10 different countries. A child’s ingenuity never ceases to amaze me and I hope you will share these images with your children as well.
My Thoughts
I love children, they have this power to bring out about happiness, love and peace. They love with no boundaries and forgive without question. To Be A Child is a powerful photographic journal of children in action.
Debra captured the children from a variety of countries around the world from Canada to Nepal to Mongolia to China! My favourite sections were pets/animals and learn, with a close runner up in play. She captured children as they played on swings, mimiced their parents, played in playgrounds, in museums, horseback riding and more. She beautifully captures their innocence, their love and all of the things that matter to children.
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and the author’s website.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
“My dad always carried a camera under the seat of his car and was constantly taking pictures. I think that his example, together with pouring over National Geographic magazines as a child fuelled my curiosity for the world around me.
I am a documentary photographer and street photography is my passion. Some of my images have been chosen by National Geographic as editor’s favourites and are on display in the National Geographic museum in Washington, DC. I also have an off-kilter sense of humour so I’m always looking for the unusual. Plus I usually have a lot of scars on my knees.
(le sigh…)
I live with my creative director, Miss Pickles (my budgie) in Victoria, BC, Canada. You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
In Cancelled Vows, one small obstacle stands in the way of the wedding between David and Chelsea.
About Cancelled Vows
Police Chief David O’Callaghan and Chelsea Adams’ wedding day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, at the last minute, David discovers that there is one small problem to be taken care of before he can tie the knot, divorce his first wife!
Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too, rush to New York City to dissolve David’s marriage to an old girlfriend and he has five days to get it done. When murder throws up a road block, it is up to David’s best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time.
My Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised with this novel! I was not expecting the plot to play out the way it did but I was quite happy with the way book played out. It was exciting, shocking and full of twists.
David is a man who lives by his principles and values. He wants to make sure he does right by Chelsea – even if this means putting aside his own feelings and worries. He is worried that he has been tainted by his past and works hard to prove he isn’t the same person.
The shocking turn of events and how they all tie in to David and Mac are shocking! It is this twist of events that help open David’s eyes and see what he may be missing out on. He grows emotionally and spiritually throughout the novel and I love seeing the novel from his eyes.
Well written, thought out and fast paced! I fell in love with the characters and the suspense was killing me! It was hard to put down because I did not want to miss out on the next chapter and adventure!
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday and Lovers in Crime Mysteries and the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real live Gnarly!) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
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