Cover Crush: Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively

Hello, my name is Colleen and I am a cover slut. I know, I know....you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover. I just can't help myself! A beautiful cover draws my eye every single time and I can't help but pick up the book it's dressing and see if the inside seems as intriguing as the outside. Sometimes it does, and sometimes a pretty cover is just a pretty cover. Either way, I love getting an eyeful!

One of my favorite bloggers, Erin at Flashlight Commentary, created a weekly blog post called Cover Crush and she and some other blogger friends are sharing their favorite covers each Thursday. You'll find my Cover Crush selection below and I'll link to everyone else's at the end of the post.

So, without further ado, my Cover Crush this week is.....

 

 

 

 

I seem to have something for flowers against black backdrops as this has quite a lot in common with last week's Cover Crush pick, with the exception of this one being more about the growth of flowers and less about their destruction. I love the way the flowers and greenery on this cover actually look to be alive and growing and how they weave within the title and author's name. The bright mix of colors is also pleasing against the dark background and it's all quite pretty.

 

Let's take a peak to see what's inside the cover, shall we.....

 

 

The two central activities in my life - alongside writing - have been reading and gardening.

Penelope Lively has always been a keen gardener. This book is partly a memoir of her own life in gardens: the large garden at home in Cairo where she spent most of her childhood, her grandmother's garden in a sloping Somerset field, then two successive Oxfordshire gardens of her own, and the smaller urban garden in the North London home she lives in today.
It is also a wise, engaging and far-ranging exploration of gardens in literature, from Paradise Lost to Alice in Wonderland, and of writers and their gardens, from Virginia Woolf to Philip Larkin.

 

 

Don't forget to check out what covers my blogger buddies are drooling over this week (updated as they become available):


Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede
Erin at Flashlight Commentary
Heather at The Maiden's Court
Stephanie at Layered Pages
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired



Created by Magdalena of A Bookaholic Swede

 

 

Spotlight on SAVING BOBBY: Heroes and Heroin in One Small Community by Renée Hodges

Publisher: She Writes Press
Pub. Date: May 1, 2018
Pages: 349


In the face of the staggering statistics about opioid addiction in the United States, Renee Hodges’s memoir, SAVING BOBBY, is a beacon of hope—encouraging, uplifting and inspiring.


In her memoir, Renee documents how she, her husband, and their small community in Durham, North Carolina rallied to help her nephew, Bobby, manage his recovery from an addiction to prescription painkillers prescribed for his back pain. Their story is striking because it focuses entirely on handling recovery while assimilating back into society, describing life after Bobby left the structure and protection of multiple rehabilitation centers and half-way houses.

Told in part through journal entries and e-mails, this raw, moving memoir describes a naïve aunt’s deeply personal journey grappling with her own family’s history of addiction, the crippling ripple-down effect of the disease in other generations, and the resources and holistic process used to help Bobby reclaim his life. Bobby did make it—in part because recovery doesn’t happen in isolation, and he had support from a caring community willing to move past the shame and stigma of addiction. A riveting, hopeful, and heartrending story of survival, SAVING BOBBY is an essential, timely read for those concerned about America’s most pressing epidemic.

Praise for Saving Bobby

“…a very loud, clear wakeup call that we must heed…”—Claude T. Moorman, III, MD, Former Executive Director, Duke Sports Sciences Institute and Head Team Physician, Duke Athletics

“…This book is a must-read for all of us.”—Kim Leversedge MD, Board Certified Pediatrician


“…strikingly personal and lyrically told….A heartfelt, inspiring, and deeply moving chronology of substance abuse and enduring, unconditional familial love.”—Kirkus Reviews


“…Teachers and parents will benefit from reading this eye-opening account into what might be an unfamiliar reality.”—Denise E. Carr, junior high and middle school science teacher

“…this story, though it is so poignantly Bobby and Renée’s story, belongs to us all…. This is a book you cannot put down. This is a story you cannot forget—nor should you.”—Dee Mason, journalist, author, playwright, and public speaker

 

 

Buy the Book

  

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes and Noble

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Although her Louisiana roots run deep, RENÉE HODGES and her husband have called North Carolina home for the past thirty years. She co-wrote and self-published the Best Kept Secrets series of guides in the 1980’s. Settling into motherhood and raising a family, however, has been her most satisfying work, and today she is a wife, mother of three, writer, investor, community volunteer, and avid tennis player. She is also a Shatterproof ambassador.


Renee Hodges is touring nationwide. Learn more about her book and her appearances by visiting www.ReneeHodgesAuthor.com.

 

 

 

Spotlight on HUG EVERYONE YOU KNOW: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer by Antoinette Truglio Martin

Publisher: She Writes Press
Pub. Date: October 3rd, 2017
Pages: 320
 
Genres: Memoir / Contemporary Nonfiction


Antoinette Martin believed herself to be a healthy and sturdy woman―that is, until she received a Stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer is scary enough for the brave, but for a wimp like Martin, it was downright terrifying. Martin had to swallow waves of nausea at the thought of her body being poisoned, and frequently fainted during blood draws and infusions. To add to her terror, cancer suddenly seemed to be all around her. In the months following her diagnosis, a colleague succumbed to cancer, and five of her friends were also diagnosed.

Though tempted, Martin knew she could not hide in bed for ten months. She had a devoted husband, daughters, and a tribe of friends and relations. Along with work responsibilities, there were graduations, anniversaries, and roller derby bouts to attend, not to mention a house to sell and a summer of beach-bumming to enjoy. In order to harness support without scaring herself or anyone else, she journaled her experiences and began to e-mail the people who loved her―the people she called My Everyone. She kept them informed and reminded all to 'hug everyone you know' at every opportunity. Reading the responses became her calming strategy. Ultimately, with the help of her community, Martin found the courage within herself to face cancer with perseverance and humor.

Praise for Hug Everyone You Know

“… a compelling memoir about the importance of community while navigating a life crisis such as cancer. As an oncology nurse and a cancer survivor myself, I found Martin's writing to be a refreshingly real depiction of life as a cancer patient. Her writing is a testimony to the endurance of the human spirit, the importance of love and community, and the need for hope every day of the journey.”—Lee Ambrose, StoryCircle Book Reviews

“Martin used journaling and emails to “My Everyone,” her group of close family and friends, to get through her diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from early-stage breast cancer….The account reveals the value of keeping a journal as a means of coping with one’s fears and acknowledges the support Martin received through sharing her experience rather than trying to shield others from her illness.”—Library Journal

“Filled with fresh air, light, and life, Hug Everyone You Know is an intimate conversation with an intelligent, funny survivor. The voice rings true, and the insights resonate well beyond the cancer moment. Highly recommended.”—Joni Rodgers, NYT bestselling author of Bald in the Land of Big Hair

“…a well-written, concise telling of what it’s like to be hit with a cancer diagnosis and the human thoughts that accompany it, like ‘how do I tell the family?’ and ‘what do I tell them?.... In five words: she writes a good story…. Martin’s persona is optimistic; you just want to hang around her and it’s that attitude that got her through. Not surprisingly, gratefulness is part of her mantra. So are hugs.”—The Suffolk County News

“ . . . really great. She has a way of writing that really captured my attention and brought me into her “story”. I felt like her best friend at the end . . . .”—Kathryn Gates-Ferris, MS, MPA, CHt, Avon Project Director

‘Everyone’s’ to find their strength and demonstrate their love.”—Karen Schmitt, MA, BSN, Director, Cancer Services Program of Manhattan New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Executive Director, CARE Shared Resource Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

“…Being in the medical field, it’s a shot of reality seeing it from the patients’ point of view, with the day-in and day-out struggles of life compounded with the diagnosis. This book brought a face to breast cancer and I feel privileged and honored that she shared it with me. I will hug everyone I know, now and forever.”—Barbara M. O’Brien RN, Director of Cancer Services Program of Staten Island, Staten Island University Hospital

“This is a great story: inventive, informative, and irresistibly readable. Quite an accomplishment when the subject is cancer. Brava.”―Odette Heideman, Editor, Epiphany Magazine

Buy the Book

 

Amazon | Indiebound | Barnes and Noble

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Photo Credit: Titus Kana

 Antoinette Truglio Martin is a speech therapist and special education teacher by training but is a writer at heart. She is the author of Famous Seaweed Soup, and was a visiting author in schools for several years. She was formerly a regular columnist for Parent Connection (In A Family Way) and Fire Island Tide (Beach Bumming). Personal experience essays and excerpts of her memoir have been published in Bridges (2014), Visible Ink (2015), and The Southampton Review (2016). Martin proudly received her MFA in creative writing and literature from Stony Brook Southampton University (2016). As a stage four breast cancer patient, she does not allow cancer to dictate her life. She lives in her hometown of Sayville with her husband, Matt, and is never far from My Everyone and the beaches she loves.



 

New Release Spotlight on Down City by Leah Carroll

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub. Date: March 7th, 2017
Pages: 240

 

Like James Ellroy's, My Dark Places, DOWN CITY is a gripping narrative built of memory and reportage, and Leah Carroll's portrait of Rhode Island is sure to take a place next Mary Karr's portrayal of her childhood in East Texas and David Simon's gritty Baltimore.

​
Leah Carroll's mother, a gifted amateur photographer, was murdered by two drug dealers with Mafia connections when Leah was four years old. Her father, a charming alcoholic who hurtled between depression and mania, was dead by the time she was eighteen. Why did her mother have to die? Why did the man who killed her receive such a light sentence? What darkness did Leah inherit from her parents? Leah was left to put together her own future and, now in her memoir, she explores the mystery of her parents' lives, through interviews, photos, and police records.

 DOWN CITY is a raw, wrenching memoir of a broken family and an indelible portrait of Rhode Island- a tiny state where the ghosts of mafia kingpins live alongside the feisty, stubborn people working hard just to get by. Heartbreaking, and mesmerizing, it's the story of a resilient young woman's determination to discover the truth about a mother she never knew and the deeply troubled father who raised her-a man who was, Leah writes, "both my greatest champion and biggest obstacle."

Early Praise for Down City

"Leah Carroll's DOWN CITY drops us into a family story heavy with secrets and crackling with regret. Hers is a portrait of two parents straining desperately to find their better angels, and a daughter whose resilience is tested again and again. The fact that she proves herself both survivor and frank and generous curator of their story is a great gift, both to their memory and to readers alike.” —Megan Abbott, bestselling author of The Fever and You Will Know Me


"Leah Carroll's writing is vivid and honest, and DOWN CITY is a clear-eyed act of regaining a father by artfully cataloging his loss.” —Charles Graeber, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder


"Quick and clear as glass, evocative and engaging, DOWN CITY is a story of a daughter's moving search for the truth about the parents whose dark complexities have left a mystery at the center of her existence.” — George Hodgman, author of Bettyville


"Leah Carroll's Rhode Island is seedy, charismatic, broke-down, and irresistible: so much like the characters in her gripping heartbreak of a memoir. Only a writer as brave in her heart as she is on the page could make us love the ghosts she chases through police reports, memory, and the desolate landmarks of her own tragedy. Leah Carroll is that writer, proving that no matter who haunts you or for how long, only forgiveness can set you free.” —Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me


"Driven by a ferocious demand for justice, Leah Carroll takes us with her as she extricates herself from layer after layer of lies, determined not only to find but to understand the truth about her parents' tragic lives. DOWN CITY is a riveting and heartbreaking inquiry, born of inner necessity, and written in a deceptively simple and deeply affecting prose that elevates its storytelling to art.” —Richard Hoffman, author of Half the House and Love & Fury


"Carroll's understated prose complements this daunting material, and her struggles as an unhappy, rebellious teen seem almost idyllic in contrast to the dysfunction and tragedy that shadow her... Carroll's determined grappling with the burden of her past is honestly and skillfully done.” —Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)


Carroll's quietly powerful story offers a courageous, cleareyed vision of a broken family while exploring the meaning of forgiveness. An honest and probing memoir of coming to terms with family. —Kirkus

Buy the Book

 

Barnes and Noble | Amazon | IndieBound | iBooks

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Leah Carroll lives in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Emerson College, and received an MFA in fiction from the University of Florida. She is the recipient of fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the MacDowell Colony.

 

Discover more about Leah on her website and connect with her on Twitter.

 

 

 



Interview with Billie Tekel Elias, Author of Pearl's Party...And You're Invited

Thank you so much, Billie, for taking the time to stop by A Literary Vacation! One of my favorite aspects of interacting with authors is finding out what inspires them to write the novels that they do. Every author seems to have their own unique approach to their craft and learning that process really helps me, as a reader, get a better appreciation for the end result. So I can’t wait to learn more about your process!
 
Your book, PEARL's Party...and you're invited, sounds quite fascinating and promises to showcase an incredible woman’s life. What prompted you to tell Pearl’s story? 

It’s a pleasure to be here with you. Let me start by saying the book is not a work of fiction: it is a memoir about the fascinating life of my late mother, Pearl. After she died, as her only child, I had the job of clearing out her home and putting it on the market. What I found sprinkled throughout the rooms were trinkets and bits of ephemera that held stories about the life she lived. They were too unusual to let them die with her; I felt they needed to be told!

 

 

 

With all the fun and poignant aspects of your mom’s life that it sounds like you included in the story, is there anything that you had to leave out? If so, why did you decide to cut it (story flow, continuity, story length, personal reasons)?

 

As well as I thought I knew Pearl, her friends knew other things about her. Some of that was a bit off-color, and hearsay from my perspective. Clearly there were things my mother wasn’t proud of and shielded me from. I did uncover legal documents and photographs that would not have painted a favorable picture of her, and I thought she deserved, even in death, to have that privacy. There was so much to tell without it.

While I’m sure you learned many of the stories directly from your mother, did you have to do any research, whether that be into your mom’s stories or into the history of the time periods? Did you learn anything shocking during the research or writing process?

Yes, I did a fair amount of research. 

Part of my mother’s life revolved around Atlantic City, the closest beach to Philadelphia, where she lived. I had my own recollections of the town from childhood, but I needed to research things like ticket prices for the Bobby Darin concert on Steel Pier that she took me to in the early 1960s. I even had to research Donald Trump’s Atlantic City presence. I recalled how Pearl used the Vera Coking case as part of her negotiating strategy in a real estate deal with a casino. Coking was an elderly lady who was the last hold-out on her block, refusing to sell her home, so Donald built his Trump Plaza casino around her.

What I learned that shocked me? Many things. The rent on the lease of her first business. The law suit that she (and my father) brought against a home builder. The stipulations in her divorce papers.

I absolutely love all this history, whether that be historical fiction or nonfiction. Do you include any people or events from history as part of the backdrop to your mom’s story?

 

Certainly. The big immigration wave of the early 20th century, the Great Depression, the economic cycle of Atlantic City, “the playground of the world,” are some of the historical elements that are touched on.

 

What does a typical day (if there is one) look like for you? How do you balance writing and the rest of your life?

 

When I made the decision to write the book, I dedicated myself wholly to it, writing for several hours or so every day. Part of my process involved organizing my primary source material, which takes up 3 linear feet and establishing a time line to place the materials on. Since I opted to self publish, my husband patiently functioned as my pseudo-editor and sounding board. He listened to me read passages to him and he’d make suggestions for how to improve them.

 

A lot of authors have become huge on social media, not only promoting their work but interacting with their readers and offering up giveaways, book recommendations, etc. Are you a big proponent of using social media in this way? How do you prefer to interact with your fans?

 

That’s not exactly my approach. I’ve only given away a few books…one to a celebrity who I had hoped would love the story and help me promote it, another to a book store that wanted to read it before they’d carry it, and another to my college alumni magazine who I wanted to write a review. I have a fan page on Facebook and a presence on Instagram and Pinterest. My blog is probably the place that gets the most attention.

 

 

I’ve noticed that a lot of authors are also big readers. When you have time for leisure reading what sorts of books do you gravitate towards? Have you read anything good lately?

I tend to enjoy memoirs, but to be honest, I haven’t been a voracious book reader since I was a child. I recently re-read The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal since like my own book it was a generational story woven around a group of objects.

 

 

Can you tell us anything about the book(s) you’re working on now?

 

Two years after my mother died, I lost my 94-year old dad. He was very different from Pearl: an erudite world-traveler who worked on the Manhattan Project and trained many chemists during his career as a college professor. In all fairness to him, I promised myself that I’d write a book about his life, too. I’m also working on a quaint illustrated children’s book about how Dad’s family made their way from a small Ukrainian village to India, Japan and China over a hundred years ago. I own many century-old photographs that children today will marvel at.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing

Pub. Date: December 4th, 2015

Pages: 300

 

Let Pearl show you how to mambo through life. In this daughter's homage to her colorful mother, you'll jump on the rollicking ride of a foxy, voluptuous young divorcée who started unconventional businesses, loved casinos and martinis, and who was hip enough to be adored by gays and people half her age. Even dogs sensed her unique aura.

Her style made her eight decades interesting and fun –for herself and for everyone around her. She let nothing get in her way. Plagued by diabetes and riddled with cancer, she stayed upbeat. She knew how to party!

You may think you know someone well, until you sift through the ephemera they leave behind -- matchbook covers, airline tickets, hotel keys, restaurant menus. Each has a story to tell, and the music Pearl listened to brings those stories to life.

Part nostalgia, part fun; it's a crazy party...and you're invited.

 

 

Praise for Pearl's Story...and You're Invited

 

"In this delightful book, Billie Tekel Elias tells the story of her adorable, fun-loving mother, a woman who believed in enjoying life and set about proving it with a vengeance. By the end, not only will you wish you had known Pearl, you'll feel like you actually did. Descriptions of the good times mother and daughter shared together will be especially meaningful for those who have fond memories of the famous entertainment spots in the Philadelphia/Atlantic City region, but their excursions brought them to many other places as well. Pearl's Party is a fun read that is sure to bring back a memory or two, and make you wish you could have been there." - Robert Rawlins, Amazon reviewer

"Billie Tekel Elias chronicles her life and pure bliss as the daughter of her strong, feisty, sassy and fun-loving mom who broke through all barriers of her time. Have fun strolling down memory lane with Billie and Pearl and let the songs and images stoke your own memories of family in days gone by." - VDrescher, Amazon reviewer 

 

Purchase Pearl’s Party…and you’re invited at Createspace, Amazon or Kindle.

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Billie Tekel Elias grew up in Philadelphia. Her parents divorced when she was young and she grew up with her artistic, business-minded, Auntie Mame-like mother. Her father was a Chemistry professor at a local university. After graduating from the top all-girls high school in Philadelphia, she spent her college years at Columbia Engineering, followed by graduate school at Stanford. She began to travel extensively in the 1970s, including a 9-week European backpacking adventure, two cross-country motor trips, and a self-directed family sojourn to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Her career as an engineer, first with the world's largest paper company and later with an international

Marriage and the birth of her child put her wanderlust on hold. Billie shifted gears again, embarking on a new venture, working from home as an educational toy consultant. This enabled her to grow a toy business alongside her growing child, and to take time to play with him. It turned out that high quality and prolonged interactions with a parent spurred the intellectual development of her child, a recent graduate of MIT.

Writing a book marks Ms. Elias' fourth "career."

money center bank, spanned seven years. Not aspiring to give the corporation the best years of her life, she quit her career to wander around Africa for a couple months. With the entrepreneurial spirit she inherited from her mother, she was determined to start her own business that would include lots of (tax-deductible) travel. She launched her own costume jewelry import business and now counts 40 countries and 5 continents as places she has visited.

 

To find out more about Ms. Elias go to her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.



Spotlight on Dating Tipes for the Unemployed by Iris Smyles

Publisher: Mariner Books
Pub Date: June 28th, 2016
Pages: 320


Stalled on the precipice of adulthood, Iris doesn’t know where her life post-college will lead and, to be honest, it’s not a primary concern. She’s tried applying for jobs, she’s dipped her toes into dating, and she’s become Manhattan’s resident expert at finding ways to distract herself from what she really wants to do.

When she does sit down to write, what emerges are meditations on small talk, family, arctic exploration, cannibalism, quantum physics, literary immortality, etiquette guides, memory, dreams, loneliness, growing up, and growing old. A refreshing blend of Proust and Holly Golightly, Iris covers it all.

Evoking the screwball heroines of a bygone age as she finds herself often a little lost in her own, Iris relates hilarious and heartbreaking episodes. A mature book about immaturity, Dating Tips for the Unemployed is a wistful, melancholic, madcap, and erudite picaresque about the miserable fun of trying to find a career, love, and yourself at home and abroad.

 Advanced Praise for Dating Tips for the Unemployed

“Structured in small episodes like Homer's Odyssey, which serves as an epigraph for the book, Smyles' adventuress calls to mind a Jane Bowles heroine who's read Ulysses while scrolling in despair through 10 open apps on her iPhone. Smyles' portrayal of Iris in all her weirdness offers much to recognize, fear, and embrace. Walking the line between self-obsession and thoughtful portraiture, Smyles explores an inextricable link between sex and loneliness, self-loathing and self-acceptance in contemporary New York.”—Kirkus Reviews


“Iris Smyles has reinvented Sally Bowles and Holly Golightly for the 21st century.”
—Edmund White, author of City Boy and Marcel Proust: A Life


“An incandescent weave of fiction, essay, and spoof…. Iris Smyles is an original and her fictional doppelgänger ‘Iris Smyles’ is one of literature's most charismatic innocents, a Donna Quixote lost in the new world.”
—Frederic Tuten, author of Tin Tin in the New World

 

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

 

 

About the Author

 

 

IRIS SMYLES's stories and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times, BOMB, the
New York Observer, Best American Travel Writing 2015, and other publications. Her first novel, Iris Has Free Time, was published in 2013.


Find out more about Iris on her website and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.





Interview with Maya Berger, Author of Luna Tree

 

First off, thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions, Maya! To get us started, can you tell us a little bit about Luna Tree?

Thank you for a chance to tell your readers about my book!

Luna tree is the first book I’ve written. It is about my desire to become a better version of myself, and my dream to have a baby. I was motivated to write a book because I had very big obstacles to overcome to get to where I am today. I start the book with a peek into my childhood and adolescence. Then I describe my early relationships and finally the period of my life when I met my husband. It was important to me that a reader gets to know my background, where I am coming from. Then I got sick with autoimmune illness that almost made me handicapped. It lasted for almost three years and in that period I visited numerous Western and Eastern medicine practitioners and travelled the world to find a cure. Finally, I got better and conceived a baby. It was an incredible experience, and I felt a need to share it with everyone, especially with people who feel they are in a dead-end street. Today I am healthy and the proud mother of my baby girl Luna.

Your memoir deals with, amongst other things, chronic illness and the difficult road of visiting doctor after doctor without finding relief. It sounds like you also had to battle with the perception from some doctors that the illness and pain was “all in your head”. How did these setbacks affect you, both mentally and physically?

The worst part was not knowing, for three years, what was wrong with me. Not knowing what is wrong with my body is the worst, because If you don’t know what is wrong, you don’t know if there is a medicine for it. Not knowing how will I live for the rest of my life without the ability to sit, or walk, or even lie down without the special mattress was something that I was living with every day and it was hard to accept it.

I never thought the illness was in my head, and was really upset to find out later that actually some of my friends and family thought that was the case. 

 

 

 

The synopsis of your book indicates that you were able to eventually find your way back to good health. What do you think others suffering from chronic illness can learn from your journey?

I don’t think I am the strongest person living. I cried so many times I can’t even count them. The solution is not to give up. I would cry and then find another doctor, then I would cry again and seek another one until I realized that the doctors might not ever diagnose me properly – that’s when I turned to alternative practitioners. There is a solution for every problem, we just have to find it. The worst is to just accept the situation and feel sorry for yourself. It doesn’t really mean you accepted the situation, it just means you gave up. 

 

Your memoir also deals with the search for true love. Did your illness complicate that search? Do you have any funny moments from this search you could share with us?

I already found my husband-to-be when I got sick. My theory is that I found such a loving and caring person who, for a change took care of me, and then I got sick. Through my whole life I had to care for someone: My Mom, my sister, my boyfriend… and finally there was a person who took care of me and I could relax. But then things went downward. You know, like when you work hard and have no time to be ill, and then you finally get some time, and what happens? You get sick, because you spent the last atom of your strength and now you have no energy for anything. My “time off” started on our skiing trip when I suddenly expected my husband to solve all my little problems that never even existed before (because I was to busy solving other people’s problems ).

This is the part from the book:

I just couldn’t ski anymore, because my ski boots hurt me so badly. This was perhaps a bit strange because I had those boots forever. Even though they had always hurt me a little bit, I could always ski in them. But now suddenly, I couldn’t ski in them at all. That’s when we decided to go buy some new ski boots for me.

The next day, after successfully skiing in new ski boots, we went for a walk. However, this time I soaked my winter shoes all the way to my skin. I was feeling miserable and just couldn’t walk in them anymore, so we went back to the apartment. Then, I just became too cold to ski! In the past I had skied in storms, but now suddenly I couldn’t ski at all because I was absolutely shivering from the cold. Something strange was happening to me physically or psychologically and I just couldn’t understand what it was.

 

 

 

What does a typical day (if there is one) look like for you? How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?

I started to write my first book when I got my baby girl. I would write when she was asleep. I always had time for writing, because I felt the need to share my story and maybe help someone in a similar situation feel better. Nowadays, I write an hour or two daily in the morning or evening when I don’t have other responsibilities like my work as a presenter, housework or playing with my girl. If you love doing something, you will always make the time to do it.

 

 

 

A lot of authors have become huge on social media, not only promoting their work but interacting with their readers and offering up giveaways, book recommendations, etc. Are you a big proponent of using social media in this way? How do you prefer to interact with your fans?

 

Absolutely. I had Facebook and Twitter profiles even before I wrote the book so I was familiar with the power of social media. Then, when it was published I found a team of people that would help me advertise it, and the whole strategy revolved around social media – we established a platform that includes Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon and the book’s website that unifies all. Once we set up everything, dialog with my fans started. I love social media, especially Twitter, because you can really get to the truth of the matter. Things are transparent there, and if you listen to what the people have to say, you can find valuable insights. I think every writer should have a strong SM platform.

 

Are you working on any other books that we can look forward to reading in the future?

 

I am finishing my second book, also a chick-lit memoir, so to say. It is a funny story about two girls invited to a Belgian wedding. There is a twist, too, and I think readers will love it!

 

To close out, I’ve noticed that a lot of authors are also big readers. When you have time for leisure reading what sorts of books do you gravitate towards? Have you read anything good lately?

I like psychological dramas, chick-lit, sometimes thrillers. I read all books by Lianne Moriarty, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and Rainbow Rowell. Those are my favorite writers, but I’ll read anything if I have the time.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Publisher: Luna Tree Publishing

Publication Date: January 11th, 2016

Pages: 212

 

 

Maya is kicking up her heels, living the fabulous and mostly carefree life of a twenty-something young woman. However, in the back of her mind continuous longing for a good marriage and family lingered. How do you find the right man, the one who sticks through thick and thin? Will he provide you with the things you find essential in a relationship?

Maya kissed a few frogs before finding her Prince Charming, but what followed was of higher importance.

She started feeling chronic pain in her lower back, the pain that wouldn't let her neither sit nor stand. Thus Maya began her relentless quest for diagnosis and healing, which she ends after discovering Energy healing. She travels the globe to receive and raise her own stored Energy, the one that changes everything.

Her ultimate desires come true.

 

 

Amazon Reviews of Luna Tree

 

 

"One word: THANKFUL! I am very thankful to have found this book! It has helped me in so many ways: one being to remind myself about all the positives I have going on in my life right now and to focus on those things – and pushing the negatives from the past and present out of the way on a consistent basis. Reading this book has been exactly what I have needed to read at this crossroads point in my life. Even as a 50-something year old woman, I can relate with the author because I’ve been living through a similar but different type of situation the past few years. This book has given me MUCH HOPE as I continue in my own life’s journey forward as I search for answers. The author’s “never give up” attitude is contagious! I highly recommend this book to anyone (men or women) who is on a path to find much needed answers to never-ending challenges in your life – no matter what the issue may be. You WILL be inspired and encouraged by this book and glean many life lessons. I have no doubt! Also - I can say YES, this book has definitely inspired my own inner Luna Tree! Once again…I have one word for finding this book: THANKFUL!" - JoyceyRose

 

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading Luna Tree: The Baby Project. I initially expected the entire book to be focused on having a baby, but it was so much more than that. The author, Maya Berger, tells her life story and the struggles she went through throughout the years. From growing up seeing an unhappy marriage between her parents, to her unexpected health issues, it's a story that many people can relate to. I personally felt connected to what the author had gone through, as I have had similar life lessons. Through her quest to heal her body, she discovers energetic healing and how energies affect our life. While there are many books about positive energy and manifestations such as The Secret, this book gives the reader a true testimonial of how positively a person's life can be transformed when they focus on good energy. Towards the end of the book, Maya proves that strengthening the mind with positive energy gave her the ultimate gift that she had always dreamed of, and that you can too! I recommend this book to everyone as they seek to transform their own lives positively." - Anna Saricci

 

"So easy to read and so much to remember. Although I knew nothing of autoimmune diseases like spondylitis, this moving battle reminded that all of us have autodestructive tendencies, and shows how courage and faith in self can take us where we never strived before. Towards excellency and harmony. At first it seemed so simple, but that is always the case before the storm. And then, this caleidoscope of love, travel, illness and inner strength just suck you into a, what I figured, is a really nice book! I even missed the tram station on my way from work." - Amazon Customer

 

"Loved the book
Incredibly genuine and honest memoir about a young woman overcoming serious medical issues, trying to evolve into a more tranquil and balanced person with the final goal to have a child. It is written in simple and entertaining way.
I was both laughing and feeling sad.
Told my husband to read it.
Thanks for sharing your life story and uplifting me during rough times." - Pat

  

Buy The Book 

 

Amazon
 

About the Author

 

 

I am a 41-year-old woman from Croatia (You know, a small country on the Adriatic in which big productions houses come to shoot Game of Thrones and Star Wars scenes, the home of Nikola Tesla's roots, and so on). I was born in Zagreb where I live, but studied marketing in Dubrovnik and life was rosy until something stopped me - Ankylosing Spondylitis.

I battled chronic pain for years, and was misdiagnosed for quite some time, so when AS was finally defined, I felt relief. I also found a way to get rid of chronic pain following some alternative medicine options - I traveled the globe and cured my chronic pain through the Energy healing. As I personally dislike depressing books, I did everything to avoid writing one. I hope I managed :)

Besides reading and writing, I coach Energy relalxation sessions and promote Croatian tourism. I live and work in Zagreb, Croatia.

You can find out more about Maya, her book, as well as her social media sites on Luna Tree's website.

Spotlight on Everything and a Happy Ending by Tia Shurina

Publisher: Tia Shurina
Publication Date: September 1st, 2015
Pages: 336
 
Genres: Nonfiction/Memoir



Everything and a Happy Ending is a memoir that recounts 3 interconnected relationships & love stories. It shares Tia’s full circle journey to learn how to really trust, how to “thine own self be true” and then the real & true love it circled her ‘round back to. It’s a story about how the power of love & a journey to intimacy helped flip learned pessimism, reacting in reflex and running from fear into choosing optimism, trusting intuition and rising above the fear.

Posted Public Praise

“it deeply explores the inter-connectedness of human relationships…this will be like no other memoir you have read”


“if personal growth is on your agenda Tia Shurina’s memoir comes highly recommended”


“the unifying factors in Shurina’s memoir are that it is wide ranging and logical, relationship driven, & indicative of the backward forward flows of life itself.”


“what we most identified with is the author’s struggle to find out who she really is, how to love another yet continue to love yourself without losing yourself to another”

“in order for a memoir to be interesting, the protagonist has to grow and change. Shurina has done this and her telling of the journey is heartfelt and inspiring…there is bravery in mining personal growth the way it is done in this book…the “characters” are treated with respect”


“Tia has that uncanny capability to seize your attention and make you feel as though you’re her closest friend and that rare ability true artists share…she pulls on your heartstrings until you feel her thoughts….Her subtle yet bold processing of transpersonal growth become yours, like getting lost in a great movie and projecting oneself onto the lead, the heroine.”


“Tia's book, her life, and her message is captivating. What I absolutely loved about this book is the naked honesty and vulnerability on every page. It takes tremendous courage to share one's story and life with such openness.. Tia opens herself up in this book and shares her truth which will teach any reader lessons on struggle and courage as well as hard times and happiness. This is a book, a life, that we can all learn from."


“Tia talks WITH you, not AT you.”

Buy the Book

 

Amazon | Mascot Books

 

About the Author

 

Tia Shurina lives in Queens, NYC but still spends time on the Jersey Shore, where she feels safest in the bungalows she spent her childhood summers. She is, most days, really filled with joy. She is, every day, truly filled with peace. She looks forward to a happy ending each new day as she continues to create a new “happily ever after”, staying committed to rising above her fears, moving out of her comfort zones and going with the flow of her life.

You can find out more about Tia's memoir on her website, and connect with her on Twitter.

 

Q & A with Katrell Christie, Author of TIGER HEART: My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling and What I Learned About Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away + Giveaway!!

Please join me in welcoming author Katrell Christie to A Literary Vacation! Her book, Tiger Heart, is the true story of how Katrell, a roller-derby-queen-turned-tea-shop owner, is changing the lives of impoverished young women in Darjeeling, India. What's even more amazing? A portion of the book sales for Tiger Heart will go to The Learning Tea, Katrell's organization that provides scholarships to these women. How wonderful is that?! So please enjoy this Q & A and be sure to read more about Katrell's book and enter to win one of TWO copies of Tiger Heart!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



 

Where did the title Tiger Heart come from?

 

 

One of the young women in my project in Darjeeling gave me the nickname Tiger Heart because she said it represented strength and compassion. The girls liked the name – tigers have a lot of powerful symbolism in India – and it stuck.

 

 

Why India?

 

 

It was really a fluke. I had no connection to India at all. But a regular customer at my tea shop in Atlanta was traveling there for a Rotary Club service project connected and she invited me along. I said no a few times and then, for some reason, I said yes. It was a whim that completely changed my life.

 

 

You have had some wild adventures traveling over there. What sticks with you?

 

 

Every trip has had some crazy highlights. There was the time my friend was nearly attacked by a feral monkey at a temple. On another trip my whole group became violently ill on a marathon train ride. I’ve been covered in chalk dust at a Hindu festival and hauled up the Himalaya Mountains in the back of livestock truck filled with chickens. I’ve come to really love India and its many surprises.

 

 

How did you find the young women who would become your first scholars?

 

 

A lot of walking up and down hills. Really! When I first arrived in Darjeeling I knew I wanted to find a way to help, but I really didn’t know what that would mean. I kept talking to people and one person would send me to another and so on and so on. When I finally arrived at a Buddhist orphanage I knew I had found the right place. I gravitated to the oldest girls there because they were set to age out and had nowhere to go.

 

 

And that is how The Learning Tea began?

 

 

Yeah. I just couldn’t walk away after meeting them. But if you had told me then that today I’d be responsible for a house full of young Indian college students I would have said you were nuts.

 

 

How did you model your project The Learning Tea?

 

 

I’m inspired by philanthropic ventures like Tom’s and Newman’s Own. They are able to run a business and also contribute to a greater good. That’s what I’m after with The Learning Tea. People can buy their coffee or tea lots of different places. When they choose my shop, they know they are helping educate young female college students in India.

 

 

What do you think of the Indian people?

 

 

I am blown away again and again by how giving they can be, especially when they often have so little. They live right in the moment and enjoy an uncomplicated happiness that leaves me in awe.

 

 

How did you come to open your shop - Dr. Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party?

 

 

The funny thing is I actually really like coffee better than tea! The little coffee shop near my apartment in Atlanta was closing and I liked the idea of opening a place that would be a community gathering spot. I think that’s what it’s become. My business partner is English and is a tea lover. He’s the one that moved us in that direction and it caught on.

 

 

How difficult was it to put your life down on paper?

 

 

I wanted to be as honest as possible, show the good along with the bad. I am far from perfect and have made lots of mistakes and I wanted to make sure those came through. On some of my earlier trips to India I kept a blog for some friends where I kept track of some of the crazier things that I saw and did. When we sat down to write, we were able to adapt a lot of those posts for the book, like a diary. It reminded me of things like colors and smells and people. It made the writing a little easier.

 

 

What do you hope readers take from the book?

 

 

That they can make a difference, even in a very small way, by the choices that they make. And that happiness can come from helping others. It’s amazing how good it can make you feel to see a smile on someone’s face and know you played a part in putting it there.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Katrell Christie with Shannon McCaffrey

ISBN:978-0-7573-1858-0      

Publication Date: October 6, 2015 (HCI)

 

 

In TIGER HEART: My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling and What I Learned About Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away (October 2015), Katrell Christie tells her remarkable story – how an impromptu trip to India inspired her to house and educate the country’s displaced young girls. Katrell never intended to visit India. In fact, her dream getaway involved a tropical beach and a margarita. But when this former art student turned roller-derby-rebel-turned-tea-shop owner met three teenage girls at a crowded Buddhist orphanage in Darjeeling, Katrell knew she had to help. What began as a trip on a whim proved to be a life-altering experience that would change the fate of these displaced girls, and others to follow. Katrell soon would find a new purpose in India, and in the most unlikely way, her life would be eternally entwined with women from a whole new world. TIGER HEART is beautifully written and offers a shot-gun seat on an inspiring trek across the globe, capturing the essence of India: its quirks, its traditions, and its people. It examines the ties that bind us, the power that each of us has to make a difference, and the way we live, love and find meaning in our lives. 



While in Darjeeling, Katrell learned that the girls in this orphanage would soon “age out,” without any place to go and that the fate of many of them was bleak. At 16-years-old the girls are “evicted” from the orphanage and left to fend for themselves in a society where one’s family is the vital support network. Many of these girls faced grim futures as laborers or domestic servants. Some might have been relegated to lives of sexual exploitation. When Katrell learned about these “throwaway” girls, she couldn't walk away. Instead she moved forward--on a mission to help in any way, and once back in Atlanta, founded The Learning Tea, which today has offered scholarships to 15 young women in Darjeeling. By selling tea, cupcakes, scones, and other items, Katrell raised enough funds to provide life necessities for the girls, providing them with life necessities -- a safe home, an education, uniforms, medical care, as well as music lessons, tutoring, computer classes, and other extracurricular activities -- all because of one unlikely hero and her tea shop.



TIGER HEART recounts Katrell's riveting adventures in India, through the chaotic streets of Mumbai, to tiny villages with roadside tea huts and hot samosas, to elephant crossings and snow-capped mountain switchbacks of the Himalayas--an unexpected backdrop where Katrell fell in love with a country that was gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once, where tragedy, humor, resilience and kindness were inextricably bound. Katrell has readers sipping tea with her at roadside tea huts and tasting hot samosas. The smells from small villages waft from the pages as readers accompany her on her riveting and sometimes hilarious adventures across the globe in her mission to empower the young women who have become a part of her family. Katrell dodges feral monkeys, slams shots of whiskey to win acceptance at a local Rotary Club, and forges lasting friendships with the people who step up to help her cause. Katrell will inspire readers as she shares her story and her mission to make a difference through the power of educating girls. Fate may have led Katrell to a tiny spot on a map, but it was a kinship that brought her back home a half a world away.

About the Author

 

Katrell Christie is the founder and owner of The Learning Tea, a project that provides schooling and TIGER HEART is Katrell’s first book. She lives in Atlanta, GA. Please visit www.thelearningtea.com for more information or connect with the project on Twitter.
a safe haven for impoverished young women in India. Through her efforts with The Learning Tea, Ms. Christie has changed the lives of many women living in Darjeeling, India.



Shannon McCaffrey is an award-winning reporter focusing on investigative stories for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is an avid reader, a mother, and a runner.

*Click here to purchase Tiger Heart in paperwork or Kindle format on Amazon*

 

 

 

Giveaway Time!! 

 

 

Thanks to publicist Jessica Jonap I have two (2) copies of Tiger Heart to give away!! If you would like to enter to win one of two copies (US only) please fill out the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to leave both your name and your email on the form so I can contact you if you are my winner (no email address, no entry!). For extra entries you can follow the blog in various ways (all links are on the right hand sidebar) and leave the name/email you follow with on the form. That's it!


I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on October 12th, 2015 and will announce the winner here as well as email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email before I have to pick another winner. If you have already won this giveaway on another site please let me know so I can pick a new winner and give someone else a chance to win a copy of this great book.

 

Good Luck!!