Guest Blog Post: Author Faith Justice

It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for a great guest post! Today's guest blogger is Faith Justice, author of Selene of Alexandria. Today Faith is going to share with us why her novel is set in the 5th century. So let me introduce Faith Justice.



Tudor Women Move Over: the Theodosians Are Here!

Why do some historical fiction writers specialize in the Tudors, or World War II, or medieval Japan? Why did I choose to delve into the 5th Century AD? After all, if you put a timeline on the wall and throw a dart, it would make no difference what year you hit—people somewhere would be creating art and culture, innovating in crafts and science, warring over territory and religion, fighting diseases and natural disasters. Down through the ages individuals love one another, give birth, and betray each other; work, fight, and die—the stuff of fiction (historical or otherwise).

Like a lot of history geeks, I read about many time periods. I went through an ancient Greek/Roman/Egyptian phase, American Revolution/Civil War/Expansionist phase, and—yes—a Tudor phase. I was drawn to stories of strong women: Sappho the poet, Hatshepsut the Pharaoh, Boudica of the Iceni, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and all those Tudor women. Many of whom were immortalized in Judy Chicago's ground-breaking feminist art exhibit "The Dinner Party" which I attended in 1980. So I was surprised when I ran across a woman whose story I didn't know there—Hypatia, the Lady Philosopher of Alexandria. The accompanying Dinner Party catalog described Hypatia as "a Roman scholar and philosopher who lived in Alexandria...she stressed the importance of goddesses and the feminine aspects of culture" and made much of the fact that she was murdered by a Christian mob in 415.

I was hooked—caught up in the romanticism and inherent drama of Hypatia's life. I embarked on a journey to learn as much as I could about this fascinating woman and the times she lived in. The 5th Century was particularly turbulent: the Huns forced other barbarian tribes west into Roman territory, the Catholic Church underwent violent birth pangs as it emerged from a century of internal conflict to become a potent political force, and the power that was Rome stumbled, mortally wounded. This was the century of the Fall of Rome (in the West)—what was not to like?

As I researched Hypatia's story, I came across other remarkable (and little known) women and their stories: Galla Placidia, sister to Emperor Honorius who was captured by the Goths when they took Rome in 410, married their king and ruled the Western Empire for over twenty years; her niece Pulcheria who proclaimed herself Regent for her younger brother Theodosius II at the tender age of fifteen and co-ruled with him for much of his reign; Athenais, a young beauty who captured the heart of Theodosius and contended with Pulcheria for influence over the Emperor—all wonderfully complex, compelling stories set in this time of turbulence and change.

I wrote Hypatia's story in Selene of Alexandria (2009), Galla Placidia's in Twilight Empress (due out in 2010/11), and I am writing about Pulcheria and Athenais in my current work. I'm hoping readers are becoming just a little bored with the Tudor women and their era. Maybe they're ready for something different, but equally fascinating: the Theodosian women and the Fall of Rome. We'll see.

Faith L. Justice is a history junkie and science geek who lives and writes in her land marked home "The Suffragette House" in Brooklyn, New York. You can read sample chapters of Selene of Alexandria and Twilight Empress at Faith's website www.faithljustice.com or check out her blog Historian's Notebook for history in the news, interviews with historical fiction writers, reviews, and essays about all things historical.

Faith, thank you for that. I can see why you have chosen these strong women, and the time period they lived in. It truly was a great period, and the stories that have come from then are so full of everything that makes a story great.

I love to learn why authors write about their subjects, what draws them to the stories they write, and where their interest in these subjects comes from. It makes me feel more connected to the story if I understand what the author's reasoning is. I'm really looking forward to reading SELENE of Alexandria now. I think it's going to have to bump the two book that are ahead of it :-)

So again, thank you so much for sharing with us. I hope that you will join us again in the near future.

-Jennifer

Review: The Last Goodnights by John West

Received this through Bostick Communications for review.



About the Book

John West’s memoir provides a unique, powerful, and unflinching look inside the reality of one of the most galvanizing issues of our time: assisted suicide. Told with intensity and bare honesty, his account of the deaths of his parents is both gritty and loving, frightening and illuminating, nerve-wracking and even, at times, darkly humorous.

For more information on The Last Goodnights please visit Coutnerpoint Press's website.

My Review

I really thought this one would be a tear-jerker, but it surprisingly wasn't. It wasn't that I didn't become emotionally attached, but West gives the story so matter-of-factly and the humor that exudes from his family makes it easier to read. Not to say that he's making light of this very serious topic, but the stories are marked with humor because that's how they happened.

Whether you agree with assisted suicide or not I think this is a great book to read. The turmoil West goes through, while helping his parents relieve themselves of their turmoil, is horrible but to be expected when placed in this situation.

I felt like I got to know K, Jolly, and John while reading this. And while I know they are real people books about real events always seem to have something missing that links the people to the real world. I didn't feel that way at all with this one. I think the portrayal of who these people really are came through very well. It was very well written.

I don't know that I could have done what John did, I don't know that I would ever be placed in that situation, but what I do know is that I could not have relived it over and over by writing a book about it. I think it is courageous of West to have even attempted it. And while he states that it was therapeutic for him I think it still must have been a very difficult and emotionally draining task (given what he had already gone through).

Even with the very difficult subject matter this was a very readable book. I didn't get to drained to finish it, and it didn't take me very long to get into it, and then finish it.

The Last Goodnights: Assisting My Parents with Their Suicides

Review: The Last Christian by David Gregory

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.



About the Book

In the future, it’s possible to live forever—but at what cost?

A.D. 2088.

Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

But a larger threat looms. The world's leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether—but at what expense?

As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Creighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father's unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance—the spiritual future of all humanity.

In this fast-paced thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking religious themes to create a spell-binding "what-if?" novel.

To learn more about The Last Christian please visit Waterbrook's website.

My Review

This book was amazing. It had a little of everything in it.

The technical aspect of the book was very interesting to me. The idea that all people can be connected to each other constantly was very interesting. It added a new level of intrigue to the story. In this story technology has tried to rid the world of the social ills that had once existed. However it seems that technology has taken one thing away from the culture...

The story was pretty faced paced, right from the beginning. And while the technology was really futuristic it was feasible. I think I was able to understand the technology because it is, I think, where technology is currently heading, so it wasn't difficult to imagine.

I loved how the story combined the technological society, and that of a non-technological religious society. Seeing the differences between the religious society and the technological society was quite eye opening. The path that was explained in the book as to how society became non-religious is very sobering.

The writing was very good. It was easy for me to connect to the characters in this story. They were well written and well developed. I loved Abby, based on the culture she was thrown into she was quite naive, however she was actually a very intelligent character.

I really loved this story. I was so easily drawn in to it.

The Last Christian: A Novel

Review: Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Thank you to Tess with Newman Communications for sending me a copy of this for review.



About the Book

When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the town of Aberdeen joined together in betting how recordbreakingly huge the baby boy would ultimately be. The girl who proved to be Truly paid the price of her enormity; her father blamed her for her mother's death in childbirth, and was totally ill equipped to raise either this giant child or her polar opposite sister Serena Jane, the epitome of femine perfection. When he, too, relinquished his increasingly tenuous grip on life, Truly and Serena Jane are separated--Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the future May Queen and Truly to live on the outskirts of town on the farm of the town sadsack, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation at the hands of her peers.

Serena Jane's beauty proves to be her greatest blessing and her biggest curse, for it makes her the obsession of classmate Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans who have been doctors in Aberdeen for generations. Though they have long been the pillars of the community, the earliest Robert Morgan married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson, and the location of her fabled shadow book--containing mysterious secrets for healing and darker powers--has been the subject of town gossip ever since. Bob Bob Morgan, one of Truly's biggest tormentors, does the unthinkable to claim the prize of Serena Jane, and changes the destiny of all Aberdeen from there on.

When Serena Jane flees town and a loveless marriage to Bob Bob, it is Truly who must become the woman of a house that she did not choose and mother to her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie. Truly's brother-in-law is relentless and brutal; he criticizes her physique and the limitations of her health as a result, and degrades her more than any one human could bear. It is only when Truly finds her calling--the ability to heal illness with herbs and naturopathic techniques--hidden within the folds of Robert Morgan's family quilt, that she begins to regain control over her life and herself. Unearthed family secrets, however, will lead to the kind of betrayal that eventually break the Morgan family apart forever, but Truly's reckoning with her own demons allows for both an uprooting of Aberdeen County, and the possibility of love in unexpected places.

To learn more about The Little Giant of Aberdeen County please visit Hachette's website.

My Review

There was so much about this one that I loved. The writing was beautiful, the characters were very well developed, and the story was captivating. I had actually been eying this one for a while and never got around to it. But I'm glad that I was finally given the chance to read it.

There's so many great things about this book that in trying to write this review I don't really know where to start. The main character is so great. Truly's life is so extraordinary, and yet so simple. The events that occur in her everyday life are really so normal. There are just a few events that cause her life to be so different.

The main characters were so well written that I was able to connect with them all. I could understand what they were all going through and why they choose the paths that they took. While my emotional attachment in this one was with Truly, I had a great understand of what they were all feeling.

In addition to the great characters the story was very well written also. While it was definitely larger than life none of it was unbelievable. This story is really something that I could see happening in any town in America.

With this one I could go on and on forever, as it was just a great book. I guess that's the best way to sum it up: Truly a great book!

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

Guest Blogger: Author Phyllis Glisson

Today we are being joined by author Phyllis Glisson. She is talking to us about her first book Her Sanctuary. So let me hand it off to Phyllis...



Hi,
When Jennifer asked me if I wanted to be a guest blogger I immediately said yes. Wait, what’s a guest blogger? Well, if you self publish as I did, you say yes to just about anything; short of wearing a big fuzzy bunny suit and standing by the roadside with a sign that reads, “BUY MY BOOK!” Note to self: cancel the bunny suit.

But seriously, I am so new on the publishing scene that I had to ask just what it was I should “blog” about. Jennifer assured me I could blog about anything I wanted. If she knew me better, she wouldn’t have told me that. I tend to ramble, but I’m going to restrain myself from doing that here.

As I said before, I am a self published author. As a matter of fact, it’s not only my first published novel, it’s my first written novel. That’s right, I’ve never written anything before but a short story or a poem here and there. I have always had a knack for storytelling. I’ve got a vivid imagination. Combine that with the rambling thing and voila! Writer.

But enough about me:

Her Sanctuary is an adult romance/mystery with just a smidgen of the supernatural. It’s the story of a woman, Shannon Mallory, who has escaped from an abusive, loveless marriage, buys an RV and takes off on a journey of self-discovery. When she stops off at “The Last Resort Café’” outside the town of Sanctuary, she meets Seth Proudfoot, a half Native American with electric blue eyes and a scar on his face to match the one on his heart. He’s an outcast; not accepted by the whites because of his Native American half; not accepted by the Native Americans on the Reservation because of his white half. To make matters worse, both the whites and the Native Americans think he’s guilty of killing his wife and child, but because he suffered a head injury on that fateful day, he walks around condemning himself for a crime he can’t even remember committing!
When Shannon locks eyes with Seth, there’s an instant attraction, so much so that you can practically feel the electric sparks!

I know, it sounds like just about every other romance novel you’ve ever drooled over, but wait. That is about where the similarities end. Unlike most romance novels where they hate each other at the beginning but there’s an obvious undercurrent of sexual tension and you have to wait until the very last pages of the story for them to proclaim their love; Shannon and Seth proclaim their love almost immediately which would lead you to think the story is pretty much over. But actually the story is just beginning. I have to be really careful here or I’m going to give away some of the surprises. Let’s just say their love is tested….many times. There is danger, betrayal, and a plot twist that will leave you breathless with anticipation. Oh, and let’s not forget, lots of steamy, make your toes curl, love scenes.

It’s available on amazon.com where you can take a “look inside the book” to see a preview. There are also reviews posted, most of them 5 stars! You can also find it on Barnes&Noble.com, Booksamillion.com and other bookstore websites across the globe. The book has been shipped to exotic lands like New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. It’s also available in ebook form, Kindle and Nook.

So get out your bon-bons and pour yourself a tall glass of wine, snuggle up in your favorite chair and escape to Her Sanctuary.

Thank you Jennifer for giving me the opportunity to guest blog and tell people about my book (my baby).

I am a member of goodreads.com, where I have an author’s page. Please feel free to look me up and become a fan. All are welcome. You can also check out what I’m currently working on.

I also have a blog site.

Let’s not forget facebook. I also have a fan page where you can become a fan and receive updates of my coming events and book news or you could follow me on twitter.

I also entered a contest on novelnovice.com and was one of the winning entries. You can read the winning entry, “Meeting of the Minds”, on my profile page at goodreads.com.

Thank you Phyllis, I am really looking forward to reading this one. I've really been on a romance book kick lately....

I think it's great that your book has been shipped around the world. That is really too cool. I hope it keeps going around and around!!

Thank you again for sharing with us today. Your rambling wasn't bad at all, but I could see how that would lend itself greatly to writing a book!