 | I MADE THE SHORTLIST! I'm using all caps because I'm shouting & dancing around my kitchen right now. After a huge discussion and friendly debate among the judges, the team has decided on the final eight Canadian writers who will partake in the Blank Spaces Anthology. What happens now? The final eight stories are being published within a short story collection, titled: "The Things We Leave Behind Anthology". The book will be published in April 2022 and is available for preorder on the Blank Spaces website. See the link below: |
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Fierce at Heart (Kincaids of Pine Harbour #2) is a Contemporary Small-Town Romance novel by Zoe York. Publisher: ZoYo Press | Release Date: January 26, 2021 You can read more about the book at the following places, or order your copy at: Goodreads | Amazon CA | AppleBooks | KOBO | Barnes & Noble
The Party by Robyn Harding is a psychological thriller, full of domestic suspense. You can read more about the book at the following places, or order your copy at: Goodreads | Amazon CA | KOBO | Chapters-Indigo  Description: In this stunning and provocative domestic drama about a sweet sixteen birthday party that goes horribly awry, a wealthy family in San Francisco finds their picture-perfect life unraveling, their darkest secrets revealed, and their friends turned to enemies. One invitation. A lifetime of regrets. Sweet sixteen. It’s an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah—a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong? But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim’s flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders’ marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah, is exposed. Harkening to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, The Party takes us behind the façade of the picture-perfect family, exposing the lies, betrayals, and moral lapses that neighbors don’t see—and the secrets that children and parents keep from themselves and each other.
My Thoughts: THE PARTY by Robyn Harding reminded me of when I had teenagers roaming through my house. We had rules! Did they break them? Not often, but they did once in a while. Parents think they have control over their kids when they say, “Sure, you can have some friends over, but no boys, no drugs and no alcohol.” They are teenagers, so of course, they are going to do at least one of those things (if not all three things). This novel dives into a sweet sixteen birthday party that goes wrong for one wealthy family in San Francisco. A few dark secrets emerge, revealing ugly aftermath of friends becoming enemies… and I’m not just talking about teenaged girls. Rich people are always good for hiding lies, betraying people they supposedly love, and tons of moral judgment falling between the cracks. This is one family who probably wishes the party never happened. This novel is a fast read, predictable but fun to read. I’m easily reminded how this story could have happened to anyone (including me). This is the perfect book to lose yourself in other people’s problems and forget about your own for a few hours. My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (because I love reading psychological thrillers that have tense domestic drama between parents and their kids, books about messy marriages and double-crossing gossipy teenagers, and books with meddling characters showing off their bad behaviour everywhere they go. You just never know who is telling the truth or who is spewing the easy lies). The Gatherer by Colleen Winter is the first book in a sci-fi thriller trilogy, published in November 2019 by Kensington Books (Rebel Base Imprint). To find out more information about the book, or to order your own copy, see: Goodreads | Amazon CA | KOBO | Kindle  Description: It Was Meant To Save Humanity. Not Destroy It. Storm Freeman gave the world a miracle. She designed The Gatherer to draw electromagnetic energy from the air and disperse free and infinite electricity to rural and underprivileged communities. Her invention helped people but devalued power industries. Some revered Storm as a deity. Others saw her as an eco-terrorist. Then the miracle became a curse. The Gatherer unleashed a plague that damaged the human electrical system, bringing pain, suffering—and eventual death—to anyone continually exposed to the technology. Stricken herself, Storm goes into exile, desperate to find a cure—and destroy her invention. But there are people in the government and in the corporation that funded The Gatherer who refuse to publicly acknowledge the connection between the device and the spreading plague. And they will stop at nothing to find Storm and use her genius for military applications.
BONUS ARTICLE can be found at the International Thriller Writers website called The Thrill Begins: The Debut Author Spotlight for an interview with Colleen Winter conducted by Lori Twining (that’s me). My Thoughts: This debut novel, THE GATHERER by Colleen Winter is a near-future sci-fi thriller centering on Storm Freeman, a scientist who creates an invention that brings infinite free electricity to the public in a more environmentally friendly way. The big problem is that the government gets involved and starts to mass-produce the invention and deliver it into the world without sufficient testing. People start becoming sick, including the scientist who invented it. Maria Kowalski, an AWOL soldier having her own hidden agenda, also gets involved and provides a great contrast to the scientist. Is she working with the scientist or against her? At times, it is hard to tell. What I do know, is that I want to play Kowalski in the movie version of this novel (even though, I’m not really an actress, but I could be for the right part). This novel is an amazing sci-fi story so plausible and realistic that it is easy to think it could be something that could be happening right now. Honestly, this book seems perfectly timed with all the unexpected coronavirus infecting our planet. Plus, it goes hand-in-hand with all the feelings of uncertainty, the worry, and the wonder of how it can be stopped, if at all? THE GATHERER is an excellent read for people who love science, who love the environment, and who love reading about kick-ass female protagonists (because this book has two). The writing in this novel is top-notch and has quite a literary feel to it, so much, that I will classify it as brilliant upmarket fiction. I’m excited to get my hands on the next two books in this trilogy. Get writing, Colleen Winter… I’m waiting. Impatiently. My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (because I love reading thrillers that have kickass women protagonists, books that make me constantly question technology and science and keep me wondering if this is even a possibility in real life, and books that make me constantly think about the environment and the fact that a single virus could wipe out an entire planet in a blink). |
Lori TwiningI love reading everything... books, magazines, blog posts and even manuals. I believe if you want to improve your writing skills, you MUST be a voracious reader. Archives
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