Review: #Baby Love: My Social Life by Corine Dehghanpisheh

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"Click." "Tap." Tag and Post. An adored baby tells a modern tale about life in today's digital world. #BabyLove: My Social Life highlights the social phenomena of sharing daily activities using technology and social networks.

My Rating: 3 Stars!

This is a cute little book about modern social media habits of parents and family.  Social media is now more prevalent than newspapers and other  "outdated" forms of notification in our current world.  This story speaks of the wonder-and sometimes inconvenience-of our technology.

If you are a parent or family relative that cares for little ones, this is a cute book to read to them about why their "crazy parents" always have a phone in hand!  (Or some other recording device!)

This book would make a cute baby shower gift or a fun gift for new parents!

Where you can find #BabyLove:

https://www.amazon.com/BabyLove-My-Social-Life-ebook/dp/B010VUR9FM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475396738&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+love+corine+dehghanpisheh

About the Author:

Corine Dehghanpisheh is a children’s book author and illustrator. Her inspirations for writing and illustrating come from everyday life.

She was a Mom's Choice Awards® Silver Recipient and a Next Generation Indie Author Finalist for her debut children's book Can We Play Again?, which was published in March 2012. Her inspiration for this book came from her work as a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in NYC.

Corine published her second children’s book, Buddy’s Dream, in November 2013, and her third children's book, #BabyLove: My Social Life, in July 2015.

When Corine is not busy being creative, she is most likely having fun taking pictures of her family. Corine lives in Manhattan, NY with her husband and new baby.

Where you can find Corine:

Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

http://www.booksbycorined.com/

Spotlight & Interview: The Dam Is Coming by Fred A Brede!

THE DAM IS COMING

“The Dam is Coming” is a fictional history novel about the largest wood-pile dams in the world, built in 1890, located just 12 miles north of Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin on the scenic Saint Croix River. The story is told by Paul C. Wellington a twelve years old growing up a mile from Never’s Dam in what is today Wild River State Park. With his friend Paul, they give a firsthand account of the Nevers Dam construction that finally tamed the wild Saint Croix River and how the lumber was delivered to the saw mills. Join Paul and Peter as they watch this historic Never’s Dam become the most talked about, man made structure ever built on the upper Sent Croix River, and forever will be part of the history of the Saint Croix River Valley.

Interview with Fred:

1.  Tell me about “The Dam is Coming” and why you decided to write it.
Local history on the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway between Minnesota and Wisconsin has always been a passion of mine. Since I love both fiction and youthful adventures I placed Paul, a curious 12 year old boy growing up with his pioneer family watching the loggers in 1889 coming in and building the world’s largest logging dam across an untamable river. “The Dam is Coming” helps me explain to the public one of the most spectacular construction projects ever attempted on the historic Saint Croix River. Most people don’t know it ever existed. Someone had to tell the story and I did so in the form of a fictional history novel.
2.  What do you hope to accomplish as an author?
    
Nationally I want to be a noted “Romantic Author” and Destiny Whispers Publishing LLC has given me that opportunity with Romantic Western Adventures, “Letters from the Heart” was the first with a sequel out in February, 2016. A Third novel “Flyaway Love” will be scheduled for the summer of 2016.
    
Locally I want to be recognized as an author knowledgeable of Northern Wisconsin with its rich history in logging, the Saint Croix River, the glaciers that formed this region. This was the “Wild West” before the Wild West was the Wild West. Not much has been written nationally to bring Wisconsin onto the national stage. Many of my 15 self-published novels take place in Wisconsin.  Wisconsin is much more than dairy farms, cheese or the Green Bay Packers. The forest of northern Wisconsin built the cities like St. Louis, Minneapolis and Kansas City. All that lumber came through the gates of “Nevers Dam” which was an engineering marvel at the time. No electricity in homes, all manual labor but a lot of family unity. 
 
Thirdly I teach classes on how to self-publish using
CreateSpace and their free options. All my self-published titles cost me nothing but for printing. There are thousands of aspiring authors in this new age of Amazon and Kindle that want to get published but don’t know how. I can save them a lot of time and money and have been very successful in presenting programs that can get anyone self-published.
 
3.  Who/what inspires you to write?
 
I have a need to keep my mind active and working on several projects at the same time. Multiple plots, sub-plots, characters and scenes. It’s a thrill to see the finished product and the creative process at work. I want to keep challenging myself and moving forward, never stopping. There is so much history that can be explained through stories or novels and as long as I am at it, why not though is some passion and romance turning them into love stories.  I have a quote I use to explain my writings.
     “Sometimes love follows you. Through thick and thin, over streams and through time. True love will find a way. Keep faith that somewhere, someone is looking for you, all you have to do is slow down and let them catch up.”
Author Fred A Brede
Sharing my experiences with my family who have inspired me. I pride myself on raising my two boy and one lovely daughter along with my wife. Many of the interactions, adventures and experiences my characters have come from time I spent teaching and allowing them to grow up. They are the best family anyone could have.
 
Wanting to share my experiences with my readers is a driving force. I want to leave my reader with hope a future that is positive in a world that seems to be coming apart. I want them to remember what it was like when they were younger and exploring the world for the first time. My romance novels is just the next step in finding out what the world has to offer and my romance books always end with them living happily ever after.
 
4.  Do you have any works in progress?  What are they?
 
Besides “Letters from the Heart with Destiny Whispers Publishing and my self-published books, I Just released “Inheritance of Love A Wisconsin Romance”.
For future release, “Stagecoach of Desire” and “Three signs of love”.
 
I am currently researching for, “Sunrise Landing” about a youth leader with five boys canoeing down the St. Croix River in modern times and discover the modern day ghost town of Sunrise. (A real location) A Story teller relates historical events with local characters that lived at various rime in the history of the area that revealed themselves to the boys who are convinced the ghosts are real.
      
5. If you could have one wish granted, what would it be?
 
I wish I could have had the luxury to start writing years ago. My employer through physiological testing identified my talents as a story teller but I used it to communicate with prospects and customers. It’s only after retiring that I had the time to start writing. Years ago they didn’t have the technology to help the writer like computers and spell check.  I wish Windows 10 had come out twenty years ago.
 
6.  What would you like your readers to know about you?
I love both history and romance. Some of my stories are contemporary romance, some historical fiction and some a combination of the two. I write only wholesome adventures meant for a general audience. I even have my wife read over my stories before publishing. If it passes her muster it goes to print.
 
My working years after college at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay I worked in banking, insurance, as a stock broker, leasing, student loans, retirement planning and investments. What I enjoyed most was spending time in the outdoors and with my boys hunting and fishing. Now I get to live these adventures all over again in my stories and make some up as I go along.
Where you can find The Dam Is Coming:
https://www.amazon.com/Dam-Coming-Nevers-Project-Glacial-ebook/dp/B01AYKYXNU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468831669&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dam+is+coming+fred+brede
Where you can find Fred:
fredabrede@aol.com

~Review: Great Grandma's Gifts by Marianne Jones and Karen Reinikka~

Great Grandma's Gifts book cover

Arlene is a little girl who loves to make things. She begins by making presents for her doll, Maggie. As she grows up, she moves on to creating gifts for her own children and grandchildren. This is a lovely story that is designed to help children see a different side of the elders in their lives and understand that they were once children, too.

My Rating:  3 Stars!

This was a simple story.  It spoke of the love between children, parents and grandparents.  It also explained to the children reading the story that everyone starts out young and then ages and carries on family traditions.  It was a quietly told story that would be perfect for "wind down" times with small kids.

The illustrations are cute but I wished to see a bit more color and detail.  The story itself could have used a little more action and imagination in my opinion, but still a nice book overall.

Where you can find Great Grandma's Gifts:

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Grandmas-Gifts-Marianne-Jones/dp/1522758704/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462858383&sr=1-1&keywords=great+grandma%27s+gifts

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/great-grandmas-gifts-marianne-jones/1117359437?ean=9781522758709

Where you can find Marianne:

http://mariannejones.net/

~Review: Dinner At The Zoo by Mr. Baker-Hall~

Dinner At The Zoo cover-image What will happen in the zoo when it closes out tonight? Shall we go see, me and you, how animals grab a bite? Tonight, don’t be a sleeper, never you mind the dangers. Let’s follow the zookeeper as he fills all the mangers.

My Rating:  3 Stars!

This is a cute story for toddlers and elementary age children.  The pictures are very nicely done and the colors bright and inviting!  The pictures follow the story line well and are fun and interesting!

I do think that some of the wording could have been made clearer, however.  A few of the rhymes and tongue twisters would probably be confusing to children.  Some flow perfectly while others fall a bit short.  This is a challenge for writers who create picture books.  It is important to make the words understandable to a younger child while still flowing well with rhyme.

Over all, this is a cute book!  If you have a child or grandchild that loves animals, they would probably get a kick out of this story!

Where you can find Dinner At The Zoo:

http://www.amazon.com/Dinner-At-Zoo-Mr-Baker-Hall/dp/191128505X/

Where you can find Mr. Baker-Hall:

Interview with Mr. Baker-Hall:

1.  What prompted you to write your books?

It was one very specific image that my daughter and I saw on the newspaper one day. It showed a group of people fearlessly helping a hippo walk back to the zoo in the flooded Georgian town of Tbilisi, in Eastern Europe. We talked about what the animals could have done to escape the zoo during the flood and then we went to bed. The whole story came up in my dreams, so the first thing I did that morning was sit down and write “The flood at the zoo”.

2.  Do you have any works in progress? 

Wonderful things keep happening in that zoo, so we never know when a new book may come out. For example, a few days ago, a vet went there to check all the animals. A few weeks ago, it snowed there. Spring is coming soon, and I wonder what it will bring…

 3.  Do you write in other genres?  If so, which ones?

No, I only write children’s books. I may write some books for older children in the future, so they can continue following my work as they improve their reading skills. I’d love to foster their development.

 4.  What would you like your readers to know about you?

I was born in Never Never Land and used to be one of the Lost Boys until I eventually decided to grow up. I then moved to Whoville where I studied Literature with Cindy Lou Who. On school breaks, I used to travel to Wonderland where I was the official storyteller to the Queen of Hearts. When I almost had my head cut off after I did not end a story with "They lived happily ever after", I fled to London where I live now with my wife and daughter.

 5.  If you could have one wish granted, what would it be?

That everyone could always go back to that special time in their childhoods when their imagination had no boundaries, everything was possible and anything could happen. Unfortunately some people forget how to do that. Luckily, I still have some pixie dust that I can use to return to Never Never Land whenever I want.

6.  If you could give me one piece of advice about life, what would it be?

To live life to the fullest and enjoy every step of the journey. If you give a plot to a group of writers with a fixed start and end, I assure you they will write completely different stories. The beginning and the end will be the same, but the adventure in between them will be unique. That’s just how we write our own lives. Life is not about the destination, but rather how you get there and the experiences you have on the way.

~Review of Insane-O-Tron by Nick Alverson~

Insane-O-Tron Color_FINALsm.2

Insane-O-Tron is a collection of six short stories about unexpected characters in crazy situations, with plenty of action, adventure, Sci-Fi, fantasy, friendship, family and romance.

The title story, Insane-O-Tron, is about two best friends, one a man, the other his haircut, thrown into the middle of a plot to stop humans from ever existing. As they battle a lunatic scientist and his fast food employees, they attempt to travel back in time seventy two million years in order to save their future.

In The Family Family the former golden boy of TV comedy, Scott Scotterson, is tasked with reviving a failing TV show, by turning its family-themed plots, from wholesome and boring, into crude, over-the-top insanity.

Mallard Quackenbush explores the anxiety and paranoia of a father as his only daughter prepares to go on her first date with a duck.

Terry is the story of a small plastic pumpkin and his best friend Billy Skids. It’s a tale of friendship, of bullies and the glory of Halloween.

In The Perfect Day, Ernie the earwig takes a summer’s day trip to the warm, scum infested water of the gutter.

Brave Pony pits an awkward and socially outcast pony named Gooch against the deadliest threat Pony Land has ever known: a fire breathing dragon.

My Rating:  3 Stars!

Insane-O-Tron is an offbeat comedy written by Nick Alverson.   This book speaks of everything from the mundane aspects of life to outrageous situations that could possibly occur only in the wildest of dreams.  Peppered with obscenities, stories about everything from bodily functions to hallucinogenic possibilities are presented in the manuscript.

I did find this book humorous on several occasions:  the ridiculous aspect of the stories was somewhat appealing to me.   However, some of the humor was also quite raunchy which isn't my every day "thing".  Overall, though, I do have to say that the bizarre and unpredictable outcomes gave me a laugh as I do tend to enjoy irony quite a bit!

If you like weird/raunchy/ironic humor you'd enjoy this story!

Where you can find Insane-O-Tron:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Insane-O-Tron-Nick-Alverson-ebook/dp/B0125MRT18/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455009026&sr=8-1&keywords=insane+o+tron

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/insane-o-tron-nick-alverson/1122343491?ean=9780989664301

Where you can find Nick:

Website:  http://www.nickalverson.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/NickAlversonAuthor

Twitter:  @NickAlverson1

~Review Of The Winter Blade by J.D. Begley~

The Winter Blade by J.D. Begley

When an enemy kingdom launches a surprise attack against the Clanlands in the dead of winter, life becomes a race for survival against an overwhelming force. During the attack, an avalanche separates childhood friends Graven and Tevlin of Clan Mal from the rest of their Clan and each other, it begins for them a journey to reunite with their people and help to defend their homeland. Along the way they will be pursued by assassins, make new friends, form alliances, find love, and discover hidden truths about themselves.

My Rating:  4 Stars!

This book is a bit rough around the edges with some minor editing issues, but it was still a delightful story! It told a tale of two men, Graven and Tevlin, as they were stranded from their clan and were forced to travel through many lands and situations to be reunited with their people once again.

The plot was well conceived and the characters were well developed. Though there were some issues as I stated above, this book was a very enjoyable journey into the lives of the main characters of the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy! The imagination in the story was intriguing and the plot was fast paced and interesting after the first few chapters laid the groundwork of the things to come.

If you enjoy reading fantasy, magic and epic battle intrigues, this book is for you!

Interview with J.D.:

  1. What prompted you to write your book?

I have been fascinated by fantasy and science fiction for almost as long as I can remember. When I was a young man, I wrote a few collaborative stories on a forum I was involved with. I was told what I wrote was very captivating. Shortly thereafter I swore to myself I would one day write a book. Time passed and living life happened, but the desire to write never left. One day fairly recently, I found myself with more free time than I liked. I decided this was the opportunity to fulfill the promise I made to myself. I sat down and I began writing.

  1. Do you have a work in progress at the moment?  What is it?

At the time I am writing this, I am working on the second book of this trilogy, continuing the story of Graven and his friends. Book three will come after, of course. After that I have an idea for a science fiction story I want to write, as well as other ideas I want to explore.

  1. What inspires you to write?

Many things.  Other authors and their stories.  My lovely wife.  My friends.  My imagination.

  1. Who are your favorite authors and why?

There are so many, it’s hard to pick. I’ll always have a fond spot for Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman with their Dragonlance series. I just loved there style of epic fantasy. I love David Eddings for the way his characters interact and have conversations. Steven King for obvious reasons. More recently Brandon Sanderson with his novel takes on how magic works in his worlds.

  1. More favorites-food, color, place, activity?

I’m sort of an amateur foodie. I love trying new things, but also fall back on favorites, such as chili or lasagna. I love seafood if I can get it fairly fresh (not easy in Indiana).

For colors I tend to favor earth tones and dark colors. When I was young it was all black, all the time. Yes, I was sort of one of those kids. My favorite color now vacillates between green and blue.

  1. What would you like your readers to know about you?

I have what has been described by others as a ‘dry’ sense of humor. This typically comes across as sarcasm. Despite this, I tend to deeply care about the people that are close to me. I’m a little socially awkward by default, but I am great at faking social skills if I want to, so you’ll never know it. I do love hearing from fans, even if currently there are only maybe two of you! So don’t be afraid to say ‘hi’ on Twitter or Facebook!

  1. If you could give one piece of advice about life, what would it be?

If reasonable, pursue at least one of your dreams. It is better to at least have tried, than to regret never trying at all. You cannot succeed at all if you don’t try.

Where you can find The Winter Blade:

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Blade-Harbinger-Relics-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00ZYYBCP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450084238&sr=8-1&keywords=the+winter+blade+jd+begley

 Where you can find J.D.:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjdbegley/?fref=nf

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jd_begley