Author Archives: Joanne Guidoccio

New Release – Bad Boy by Winona Kent

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to announce Winona Kent’s new release…

Blurb

Fresh from a thirty-four-day, eighteen-city tour of England, professional musician and amateur sleuth Jason Davey accepts an invitation from a fan, Marcus Merritt, to meet at Level 72 of The Shard, in London, to sign one of his band’s programs. Marcus hands him the booklet, then leaps to his death from the open viewing platform. Thus begins a week-long quest, during which Jason is tasked with retrieving a stolen collection of scores by England’s most famous composer, Sir Edward Elgar.

Marcus shared Elgar’s love of eccentric puzzles and games, and the challenging clues he’s assembled for Jason seem to mirror the fourteen themes in Elgar’s renowned Enigma Variations. Jason’s journey takes him to Derbyshire and then back to London, and a four-hour walking tour of Soho’s lost music venues where, in Denmark Street, he faces a life-threatening battle with two adversaries: a treacherous Russian gangster who is also hunting for the stolen collection, and Marcus’s sister–who holds the key to a decades-old mystery involving a notorious London crime lord’s missing daughter.

Winona describes Bad Boy as “well-scrambled” as, generically, it falls somewhere between a soft boiled and hardboiled mystery, and is served with an added dash of noir.

Buy Links

Amazon CA | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Author Bio and Links

Winona Kent was born in London, England but grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and a Diploma in Writing for Film and TV from Vancouver Film School. She’s the author of twelve books, including Ten Stories That Worried My Mother (an anthology of short stories) and her five current Jason Davey mysteries. She’s the national Vice-Chair and BC/YT Representative for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime-Canada West. She lives in New Westminster, BC.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Happy Release Day!

Use Positive Language and Gestures

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

It’s not always what happens that determines your mood, but how you express what happens that counts. For instance, when an optimist experiences a bout of success she might say, “That’s just as I had anticipated; I studied hard and my diligence paid off,” while a pessimist might say, “Wow, was I lucky to get such a good grade on that test,” not giving herself any credit and literally snatching her own defeat from the hands of victory.

If an optimist encounters a do-it-yourself project she can’t figure out, she’s likely to say something like, “Either the instructions I’m following are unclear, or this project is going to require a bit more effort than I thought… or maybe I’m just having a rough moment here.” In other words, an optimist uses positive self-talk to keep the struggle outside herself (“the instructions”), specific (“more effort”), and temporary (“a rough moment”), while the pessimist would likely get down on herself and interpret the same struggle as internal, widespread, and everlasting.

Go ahead and follow in the optimist’s footsteps by speaking to yourself in a more positive way regardless of whether you succeed or fail, and you’ll gradually become more optimistic.

Physical body language is also important. Your smile actually influences your mood in a positive way. When you feel down, your brain tells your face that you’re sad, and your facial muscles respond by putting on a frown, which in turn conveys a message back to your brain that says, “Yep, we’re feeling unhappy.” On the average day (when nothing extreme is happening) you can flip the switch on this internal reaction by adjusting your facial muscles into a smile so they don’t correspond to what you’re feeling. This is a clever way of sending a different message back to your brain: “Hey, life is still pretty good and I’m doing OK.” And you’ll actually begin to feel a little better, gradually.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s

A Monarch’s Journey Inspires My Own

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author and editor Amy R. Kaufman. Today, Amy shares her creative journey and new release, The Monarch’s Message.

Here’s Amy!

I founded Stories magazine when I was 30, after making a devastating error in life. This creative venture was a way to carry on. Believing I was not ready to write seriously, I chose to edit. I drafted my concept for a national short story magazine on a piece of green paper. In reaction to trends in literature, I was seeking universal, timeless short stories. The magazine, produced in my typesetting shop in Boston, ran for 12 years.

Forty years later, during the pandemic, I began to write a story about the monarch butterfly as a gift for my niece. It was less intimidating than “serious” literature, so I assumed the children’s book would soon be finished. There was so much to learn that it took three years to complete. I realized how arrogant I had been to think I could meet the literary standards I had set for others.

It would have been impossible for an illustrator to draw the monarch with forests, deserts, and volcanoes in the background. During a thrift-store hunting trip, I discovered a 1983 photography magazine with a magnificent image of monarchs. I was able to reach the photographer, George D. Lepp, recently named a Canon Legend for his lifetime achievement, and purchased the right to publish several of his images. From thousands of portfolios, I selected 20 images depicting phases of the monarch’s life, from birth to an overwintering colony blanketed with clustering butterflies.

Everyone is inspired by the monarch; it seems to carry a message. With my book “The Monarch’s Message” I was entering a crowded field. To distinguish my concept, I made several decisions. First, the story is not merely plotted; its power derives from natural phenomena as they unfold. Second, as far as possible, the point of view is confined to the butterfly’s observations. Third, each paragraph reveals the character’s dedication to a purpose and her resilience to obstacles in changing terrain. I became more aware of my own resilience after this study, and I hope readers of all ages will experience the same awakening.

“The Monarch’s Message,” a photographic storybook, focuses on the capabilities of a monarch who embarks on the migration alone. Acclaimed photographers–notably George D. Lepp, a Canon Legend–offer spectacular views of stopping places along the trail. The story depicts natural phenomena rarely seen by human eyes. Sensory impressions create the feeling of flying with the butterfly as she navigates mountain ranges and deserts. Each environment reveals an aspect of her resilience.

Author Bio and Links

Amy R. Kaufman is an author and developmental book editor in Portland, Oregon. Stories, her Boston-based magazine for the short story, received several honors during its twelve-year run.

Writings World Literature | Amazon

The book is available to teachers and librarians through Follett Content Solutions.

Ms. Kaufman has created a photographic storybook for young and young-at-heart readers who are fascinated by monarch butterflies. Proud to proclaim myself a member of this group, I enjoyed reading this inspirational tale about Lita, a young butterfly, who sets off on an extraordinary journey from her home in North America to the Transvolcanic Range near Mexico City.

A gifted storyteller, Ms. Kaufman has a wonderful eye for detail and a gift for creating a strong sense of place. I could easily imagine myself traveling with Lita as she navigated mountain ranges and deserts. Her unwavering optimism and perseverance in the face of challenges is truly inspiring. One of my favorite quotes: “Even in the desert there was nectar for butterflies. Lita drank from yellow flowers and dropped pollen into each one. For a long way there was no sign of water, only cactus on each side…She knew her home could not be in that gray wasteland.”

Kudos to the photographers who shared their breathtaking images. These images, captured in vivid detail, depict the monarch’s transformation from a tiny egg to a majestic butterfly and its awe-inspiring journey across the continent.

Blurb Blitz: Where the Stars Cross

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Dottie Sines. Today, Dottie shares her debut novel, Where the Stars Cross.

Blurb

In the depths of the Great Depression, Ellie suffers another crash—that of her marriage. She’s left struggling to restore her shattered life, feeling as damaged as the stained-glass panels she refurbishes for Chicago’s historic structures. While visiting her aunt in Marietta, Ohio, a charming river town, Ellie encounters towboat captain Wyatt and feels a searing attraction to him. But thanks to past and subsequent wounds, her attempts at opening herself to love seem futile. Her hope for love and her determination to find the place she belongs are further complicated by her tendency to make impulsive decisions. In her journey, Ellie draws on an unrealized level of courage and learns she must identify her brightest passions in charting her course.

Excerpt

Climbing from her automobile, Ellie ambled around to the sidewalk, where she tipped herself onto her toes to stretch her legs and flung out her arms with a moan, promptly smacking a hand into what felt like a human. She pivoted.

“Oh, my goodness, I’m so…” The “sorry” came a heartbeat or two later, followed by, “Are you all right?” even though there was no way this man wasn’t okay.

Tall and sturdy enough to survive much more than a little whack in the chest, his faded blue-and-white pinstriped shirt, tan leather vest, and well-worn trousers did nothing to detract from the toned lines of his body. A sampling of gray wove through the hair peeking out from beneath his newsboy cap. Slightly wavy, sandy blond hair, which on anyone else would need a good trimming but suited him fine. He hadn’t shaved in a day or two.

“Lengthy drive, I take it?” His mouth curved into a half smile, crinkling the corners of soft, hazel eyes. “Nothing like a good punch to work out the kinks, huh, Slugger?”

Ellie drew in her lips. A laugh didn’t seem appropriate right now. “Really, I am very sorry,” Ellie said. “You are all right, aren’t you?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” he said with a nod and a languid blink of those captivating eyes. “Ma’am,” he said with a tip of his cap before he and his comrades continued toward the river.

Ellie’s feet felt their way to the door of the five-and-dime. Wowee, did that bloke look better from the front or the back? Biting her bottom lip, she reached for the door handle.

Author Bio and Links

Dottie scratched out her first fiction as a little kid transfixed by the books she read all those lazy summer days on the front porch swing. Two of her short stories have been published in The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park’s literary journal, Hemingway Shorts, having placed among the top ten entries in its annual short story contests.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Dottie Sines on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Believe in Yourself

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Whenever I need a boost, I reread Write Smart, Write Happy by award-winning author Cheryl St. John. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:

Remember to celebrate the goals you achieve; don’t dwell on what didn’t work. Never compare yourself to anyone, because you’re special just the way you are. You have the ability to dream a dream no one else can. You’re going to write the books only you can write.

Continue to learn. Be aware, curious, and open-minded. Be a reader. Most of us came to be writers because of our love of reading. When we get busy with deadlines, it’s easy to let that first love slip away. Renew that love. Fill the well. Remind yourself why you love stories, why you want to write.

And above everything else: Believe in yourself. Draw on and draw out the writer inside. You’re the only writer like you—the only person who can write your unique individual stories. You’re the only person who can make your dream come true. You have the tools and the desire. Hold onto the unshakeable truth that you can do this and you will move forward.

Source: Write Smart, Write Happy by Cheryl St. John, p. 261

Blurb Blitz: Choice by Dora Farkas

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Dora Farkas. Today, Dora shares her new release, Choice.

Blurb

Val is a young Mexican-American quantum physicist and single mother struggling with an anxiety disorder and financial challenges. Her world is turned upside down when her ex-husband files for full custody of their three-year-old daughter to take her across the country where he was offered a job. The story unfolds as she decides either to stay put in Boston and meet job related deadlines or go on a holiday and visit her parents in Mexico.

Encouraged by her father, Val flies to Mexico with Maya, her service dog, and Daisy, her daughter, and she discovers a world of magic that will change her outlook on life forever. She also reconnects with her childhood friend, Mercedes, who gives her a glimmer of hope. Things, however, are not what they seem to be. As all areas of her life begin to fall apart, Val must explore the power of her intuition and make different choices to change the course of her and her daughter’s futures.

Excerpt

While growing up, Mom and I had a special tradition: every Friday afternoon, she showed me how to cook and bake her family’s recipes, some of them as old as 400 years. As soon as I could stand, she pulled up a stool for me, and I watched her prepare dishes from her native town in Oaxaca, Mexico, which had been passed down from mother to daughter for many generations.

Although she had to create a new home when she and Dad moved from Oaxaca to a suburb of Boston before I was born, she made sure that I would be well-prepared to pass on our family’s recipes to my children. My memories from elementary school are filled with rolling churros in cinnamon sugar, measuring out ingredients for our family’s secret mole recipe, and taking turns with Mom mixing sweet corn dough for tamales.

When I was in middle school, she stood right next to me as I simmered the sweetened milk for capirotada, the bread pudding my family ate every Easter, and nodded in approval as the deep aroma of cinnamon sticks, brown sugar, and cloves filled the air. The older I became, the more Mom expected from me in the kitchen, but there was one thing that never changed throughout the years: whenever we cooked and baked together, time stood still.

Author Bio and Links

Although Dora was born in Budapest, Hungary, she lived in Mexico for five years during her early childhood. Her connection to the Mexican language, history, and cooking inspired the cultural setting for her debut novel, “Choice.”

After getting her doctorate from MIT, she published her first book, “The Smart Way to Your Ph.D.” which paved the way for a six-figure consulting business while she was a stay-at-home mom with two daughters. She has given workshops about writing at MIT, Tufts, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, Ohio State University, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of Calgary, and the University of British Columbia.

Author Website | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Dora on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Just Get It Down

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her latest release, 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, novelist Jami Attenberg, shares her advice and that of over 50 other writers.

Here’s an inspiring essay from Celeste Ng:

I am a perfectionist by nature so the drafting stage is hard for me. It is really hard to just move forward and put something down on paper because part of my brain is always screaming, “But it’s not quite right! Erase it! Erase it NOW!

But I’ve also learned that it is very rare to get something completely right on the first try—and it’s approximately nine million times easier to revise something from “not great” into “actually kind of decent.” So for me, the key is getting something down, and even when it’s imperfect—which is always—it usually points me in the direction I need to dig in.

Over the years, I’ve collected a bunch of analogies for the writing process that helps me override that type-A instinct in my brain, at least temporarily. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about the first draft being the “down draft” (just get it down), and the second draft being the “up draft” (when you fix it up).

And then there’s a sign I have over my writing desk which I glance up at as needed. It just says ‘WORRY ABOUT THAT LATER.”

Book Blast: A Curvy Girl’s Haven

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Kristabel Reed. Today, Kristabel shares her new release, A Curvy Girl’s Haven.

Blurb

Dr. Arabella Stanton is back in Havenbrook, California, seeking a break from her work with Doctors Without Borders. Exhausted and haunted by memories of the refugee camps, she finds solace in the familiar yet changed landscape of her grandmother’s old town. She plans to rest, recuperate, and plan out her next steps—until a persistent knock at her door changes everything.

Garret de la Rosa, a Navy SEAL with his own shadows from missions past, is back in Havenbrook to recover and find some peace. When a mutual friend brings Arabella to his door, he’s bleeding from an injury, and neither expects the connection that sparks between them.

As Arabella and Garret navigate their growing attraction, they also face their personal demons and the reality that their lives are on different paths. Amidst the tranquil beauty of Havenbrook, they find themselves questioning their futures and what they truly want.

Excerpt

Why subject herself to disappointment? No matter how attractive she found him, he was only being grateful. The fact she was ready for a new chapter in her life did not mean Garret would be any part of that new chapter.

“It was nice to see you. If you have any problems”—she made a small gesture to his side—“let me know.”

Arabella offered another smile and nod, and turned to leave.

“Doctor!” Garret called again. “I’m experiencing a problem.”

Frowning, she turned back around, already in doctor mode. “Oh, does it hurt? Is the pain more intense—”

“This beautiful woman,” he interrupted, “refused to go out with me. Twice! I need your advice. Is there anything I can do to convince her that lunch is harmless enough?”

Shocked, she wanted to give a sharp retort about leaving the woman alone if she said no. And then Arabella realized Garret was talking about her. She blinked and laughed, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Depends on where you want to have lunch.”

After all, if she had lunch with him, he’d stop trying to thank her. Because he’d already have thanked her. And they could both move on. Or something. That was logical reasoning, wasn’t it?

Author Bio and Links

I’m an East Coaster with an insatiable love for pizza and movies. This love has also produced a chubby girl who thought it would be fun to write a few romances for the fuller ladies. And after a long break from writing, I decided to explore the small, California community of Havenbrook; where curvier ladies find hot guys who fall madly in love! After all, curvier girls need love too.

Website | Twitter | Amazon Buy Link | Email

Giveaway

Kristabel Reed will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Kristabel on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

On Time Running Out

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

On Fridays, I receive Hope Clark’s newsletter, Funds for Writers. Here’s a thought-provoking essay from a recent email:

Ah! how could I possibly quit the world before bringing forth all that I felt it was my vocation to produce? ~Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770–March 26, 1827)

I’ve always loved Beethoven. After 5 years of lessons as a child, he is one I remember most. All that musical brilliance given to someone ironically destined to lose the ear to hear it. But nobody denied that he didn’t spend every minute of the time he had creating the best he could, as often as could, to leave behind a legacy of genius.

You do not know today what you can amount to in ten years, twenty, or more. All you can do is give it your best today, then better tomorrow, then the next. Stopping and saying that it’ll never happen only serves to prove you right. It can’t happen without you diligently chipping away at improving.

Most of the time success happens when you don’t expect it, because you’re too busy getting better at what you do. When you constantly hunt for it, you waste energy that best could be used to hone your craft. Beethoven saw his life as a limited commodity, and his duty to make the most of it. He did.

Sign up to receive Hope Clark’s newsletter here.