Roy Dimond – update on a new novel

Roy Dimond has be featured previously on Reading Recommendations here and here. He’s back now to tell us about a new novel.

I, Bully
by Roy Dimond
Published by Motivational Press

I, Bully addresses the serious issue of cyber bullying. What makes this story unique is that it is told from the perspective of both the bully and the victim.
 The two main characters, the victim, Hannah, and the bully, Eric, learn from each other in ways they could never have imagined.
 Hannah is a typical young girl in grade 8. She’s completely focused on friends and feels her family doesn’t understand. Hannah also feels invisible and her perception is that her older sister gets all the attention. It’s a good, middle-class family, but struggling. 
Eric is also in grade 8, but his family is dysfunctional. Dad drinks and mom is barely keeping it together. Eric is filled with rage and takes it out on everyone.
 Eventually, spirit quests and restorative justice help build relationships that lead to enlightenment and reconciliation.
 Roy Dimond’s exciting new novel I, Bully will empower and touch all who read it.

Where to purchase Roy’s book:
Amazon Canada
Amazon US
Motivational Press

Antony Millen

Antony Millen

What is your latest release and what genre is it? The Chain – Young Adult dystopian

Quick description: The year is 2043. Empowered by the anti-encryption program, ICALL, and the world-wide wireless Blanket, the Global Domain reigns over all colocation centres with its Connectivist ideology, enforcing mandatory online activity for every eartizen and disabling attempts to secure privacy. The Domain’s slogans are: “Secrecy Threatens Security” and “Privacy Prevents Prosperity and Peace.”

From his death-bed in New Zealand, Fenton Ouvert commissions his sons, Topia and Lukan, to locate a flash drive containing the files of Jeremy Winterton, files stolen thirty years earlier from international surveillance agencies. A former investigative journalist, Ouvert hid the flash drive at the end of a chain of clue-bearers around the world. Contacted by the resistance movement known as Arachne, Ouvert believes the drive contains original plans for the ICALL program and thus, hope for a free world.

Travelling the globe, the Ouvert boys locate the links, but what will their journey reveal about their father and the effects of the Global Domain’s dominance? And what will their quest mean for the world when they reach the end of the chain?

Brief biography:
Antony Millen lives and writes in New Zealand, but is originally from Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Since 2013, he has published three novels and seen short stories featured in literary journals and competitions. He blogs regularly at antonymillen.com.

Links to buy Antony’s book:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada

Antony’s promo links:
Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter

What are you working on now?
I’m nearing the end of a draft for my fourth novel. It is also intended for young adults, but will not be as complex as The Chain. A simpler story about friendships, co-dependency, dreams and re-assessing our heroes.

Antony’s reading recommendation:
The North Water by Ian McGuire, longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker prize. A faster-paced Moby Dick in a sort of thrilling historical fiction way.

David A. Poulsen – a new teen/adult novel … and an unusual launch

I’ve known David Poulsen for more years than either of us would care to admit! I was his sales rep when he published his humorous adult novel, Don’t Fence Me In, with Red Deer College Press during the Dennis Johnson days … We both miraculously survived that time – life in the book biz was always sketchy for both authors and sales reps whenever DJ was involved … and David has since gone on to successfully write and publish many more books, both for adults and teens, as well as continue his career as a Professional Rodeo Announcer. He has been a guest on Reading Recommendations several times and is back now to tell us about his new novel and a special event organized to launch it.

And Then The Sky Exploded
by David A. Poulsen
Published by Dundurn Press
Genre: Teen/Adult novel

When Christian learns his great-grandfather helped build the A-bombs dropped on Japan, he wants to make amends … somehow.

While attending the funeral of his great-grandfather, ninth-grader Christian Larkin learns that the man he loved and respected was a member of the Manhattan Project, the team that designed and created the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during the Second World War.

On a school trip to Japan, Chris meets eighty-one-year-old Yuko, who was eleven when the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima, horribly injuring her. Christian is determined to do something to make up for what his great-grandfather did. But after all this time, what can one teenager really do? His friends tell him it’s a stupid idea, that there’s nothing he can do. And maybe they’re right.

But maybe, just maybe … they’re wrong.

Where to Purchase:
Dundurn Press

From David:
Anybody can have a book launch in Toronto or Calgary but it’s not every day that Ponteix, Saskatchewan hosts a national book launch. I’m so excited that that is exactly what is happening in this cool town of 700 people. We’ll be launching my newest teen/young adult novel tomorrow evening (the 24th) in the high school gymnasium with a beef on a bun dinner at 5:30 pm and the reading/signing to follow.at 6:30 The community had gotten behind School Principal Chad Striker who has taken the lead in putting this together and even folks from neighbouring communities are planning to come–which is the way they do things in Saskatchewan (you may have heard of the Saskatchewan Roughriders)…so if even a tiny bit of that kind of community spirit is in play tomorrow night, it will be a wonderful evening. So if any of my Saskatchewan friends are near enough to pop by or even if you’ve never met me but would like to experience a book launch, rural Saskatchewan-style, stop by the Ponteix School tomorrow. Should be a very cool evening.

And … here’s what happened!

The National Book Launch of And Then the Sky Exploded in Ponteix, Saskatchewan on Monday night was not just a hugely successful literary event–it was one of the best “writer-days” of my life. Yes, we sold a whack of books but more importantly, I was overwhelmed by the friendship, the kindness and the generosity of the people of Ponteix and neighbouring communities. The tireless effort of Principal Chad Striker, the School Council and so many others in putting on the supper and launch/book signing is something I won’t ever forget. Ponteix, you will always have a special place in my heart. Now my tour of schools in amazing Saskatchewan continues.

Danika Stone – update on a new novel

Danika Stone has been featured previously on Reading Recommendations and is back again now to tell us about a new YA novel that has just been published.

All the Feels
by Danika Stone
Genre: YA Romance
Published by Macmillan, June 2016

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life…and her last tangible connection to her deceased father. Thus, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can’t. Deal.

Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv launches an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a call that ignites the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life, and her disapproving mother’s new boyfriend. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to get away from it all… and figure out what (and who!) she really wants.

Where to purchase copies:
Amazon

Betty Jane Hegerat – update on a new novel

Betty Jane Hegerat is a fine author as well as a very good friend who I’ve had the great pleasure to represent and promote since we first met in 2009. I have featured her work previously on Reading Recommendations in April 2014 and Jan. 2016. I also wrote a special post about Betty Jane when she was named the 2015 Recipient of the WGA Golden Pen Award on my main blog. She’s back now with the announcement of publication of her new novel!

Odd One Out
by Betty Jane Hegerat
Published by Oolichan Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction

“There’s a person here, Roof. You need to come home.”

“Here where? In the house? You let a stranger in the house?”

“Well she’s just a girl. Or like a young woman or whatever.”

My phone was fading again. It does that. Mom got it as a cheap add-on to her own cell.

Or: Maybe the stranger had her hands around Josie’s throat?

Every single lesson we’d been taught about what to do when we were home alone–and our mom and dad take their child-rearing way more seriously than any normal parents–was racing through my head. 911 flashed in big red numbers. “Josie!” I shouted. “Can you hear me? Should I call the police?”

“No! You idiot!” No problem with the volume now. I held the phone a few inches from my ear. Then Josie’s voice dropped to a whisper. “This isn’t dangerous, Roof, only kind of… weird. Just come home, ‘kay?”

Rufus Peters has never felt exceptional in any way. How could he, with a twin sister who outshines him at everything they do? His two problems are finding a way to wiggle out of a student exchange to Quebec, and liberating Boreas, his skateboard, from the principal?s contraband cupboard. After Amelia knocks on their door, life in the Peters family goes from plain old “Just Cheese Please” to Nick’s Pizza’s “Grand Slam and More.” Roof makes it his mission to solve The Mystery of the Mexican Stranger.

Where to purchase copies:
Oolichan Books

Karen Bass – an update

Karen Bass was previously featured on Reading Recommendations in June, 2015, and is back now with a new book for teens.

The Hill
by Karen Bass
Published by Pajama Press

Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. When Jared insists on hiking up the highest hill in search of cell phone reception, Kyle hesitates; his Cree grandmother has always forbidden him to go near it. There’s no stopping Jared, though, so Kyle reluctantly follows. After a night spent on the hilltop—with no cell service—the teens discover something odd: the plane has disappeared. Nothing in the forest surrounding them seems right. In fact, things seem very wrong. And worst of all, something is hunting them.

Karen Bass, the multi-award-winning author of Graffiti Knight and Uncertain Soldier, brings her signature action packed style to a chilling new subject: the Cree Wîhtiko legend. Inspired by the real story of a remote plane crash and by the legends of her Cree friends and neighbours, Karen brings eerie life—or perhaps something other than life—to the northern Alberta landscape in The Hill.

Where Karen’s book may be purchased:
From Independent Bookstores in Canada
McNally Robinson
Chapters/Indigo
Amazon.ca
Pre-order at Amazon.com

Lorna Schultz Nicholson – update on a new book

Lorna Schultz Nicholson was featured previously on Reading Recommendations in April, 2015, and is back now to tell us about a new novel in the One-to-One series for teens.

Born With
by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Published by Clockwise Press

There’s a Goodreads Giveaway until April 13 for 6 copies of this book – Canadian members only. You may enter here.

Meet Erika and Gianni: One is a fifteen-year-old girl who loves to dance and sing and make people laugh. She tells people that she was born with an extra gene, but her sister has to buy hers at the mall (ha, ha!!).

Being in three dance numbers in the school production of Grease is a big job, but with the help of her Best Buddy, Gianni, Erika knows her can be a star.

The other is a Grade 11 boy with a secret. Like his Best Buddy, Erika, who was born with Down Syndrome, Gianni loves to sing and dance. He also knows that he was born different from the other boys in his school — but is he that different from Blake, the cool, attractive male lead in the school play? Or is he just imagining that the sparks between them are mutual? And will the rough gang of guys at school also pick up on who he really is?

Told in the alternating voices of Erika and Gianni, Born With is the story of two teens who help each other to find their own versions of success and acceptance.

Each One-to-One novel tells the story of a different pair of teens participating in the Best Buddies program at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Follow the lives of this group of friends who come together with different expectations and problems, seeing the world from their own unique perspectives and facing it head on together.

Where to purchase Lorna’s book:
Amazon Canada
Amazon US
Chapters/Indigo
Goodreads

Katrina Mountfort

Katrina Mountfort

What is your latest release and what genre is it? Forbidden Alliance is YA speculative fiction. It’s the second book in the Blueprint Trilogy, and since your readers may not have heard of the trilogy, I’ll introduce the first novel, Future Perfect.

Quick description: The Blueprint Trilogy tells of a dystopian future in which UK citizens live comfortable lives in Citidomes where looks are everything, the standard of beauty is tall, thin and androgynous, but personal relationships are forbidden. When a young man and woman become attracted to each other and question their society, they discover a new life outside the Citidomes but struggle to escape their past.

Brief biography:
Katrina dreamed of being a novelist from childhood but didn’t start writing until she was forty, when the death of a close friend made her realise that she couldn’t put off her dreams forever. Katrina lives in Saffron Walden, England, where she works from home as a freelance medical writer. She spends her free time walking her two black Labradors, listening to music and travelling as often as possible.

Links to buy Katrina’s book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
KOBO
The paperback is also available directly from the publisher, Elsewhen Press.

Katrina’s promo links:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

What are you working on now?
I’ve always been fascinated by the importance of nurture versus nature and am currently working on the story of a native American girl with miracle healing powers, raised by strangers who knew nothing of her abilities.

Katrina’s reading recommendation:
The best book I’ve read this year is House of York by Terry Tyler, a contemporary family drama with parallels to events in the era of the Wars of the Roses. I’ve read several of this author’s other novels and would recommend them all.

B.R. Myers

B.R. Myers

What is your latest release and what genre is it? Girl on the Run is a YA contemporary coming of age novel.

Quick description: Haunted by her father’s death, seventeen-year-old, track and field star, Jesse Collins turns her back on an athletic scholarship and small town whispers to spend the summer as a camp counselor—only she didn’t plan on a cabin full of delinquents, or an unlikely source to inspire her to run again.

Brief biography:
B.R. Myers spent most of her teen years behind the covers of Stephen King, Lois Duncan, and Ray Bradbury. She collects vintage jewelry, appreciates a design in her cappuccino, and believes bacon makes everything better. When she’s not putting her characters in awkward situations she works as a registered nurse. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with her husband and their two children.

Links to buy B.R. Myers’s book:
Chapters/Indigo
Amazon Canada
Amazon US
Barnes & Noble

B.R. Myers’s promo links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Wattpad
Goodreads

What are you working on now?
I’m excited to be launching a new YA paranormal mystery. Night Shift, the first book in the trilogy, will be available early next year. I also have the sequel to Asp of Ascention coming out. Diadem of Death, the second book in the Nefertari Hughes Mystery Series, is due for publication July 2016. It’s available for pre-order now.

B.R. Myers’s reading recommendation:
I was able to read an advance copy of Natalie Corbett Sampson’s It Should Have Been a Good Day (February 2016).

Told through the voices of four distinct students, the book showcases how the events of a regular day at school lead to an unpredictable tragedy, proving everyone has their own reality, and no one is who they really seem to be.

Tackling a difficult subject, Sampson excels at dissecting the struggles of today’s teens with a writing style that is raw, but genuine and straight forward. With an authentic tone grounded in gritty realism, the novel shies away from morbid voyeurism and instead invites the reader to consider the negative consequences of being labeled in our society, and whether any of us has the right to judge each other.

David A. Poulsen – update on the re-release of a novel

David A. Poulsen has been featured on Reading Recommendations several times now: first in Feb. 2014 with a new novel; second in Oct. 2014 with an update on a new novel; third in Oct. 2015 when he recommended a new book by Ted Barris in Authors Recommending Authors. Now David is back to tell us the great news that one of his earlier-written novels that had gone out of print is being re-released by Dundurn Press. But we’ve also just received the terrific news that David was named Douglas Lake Cowboy of the Year! Congratulations, David!

Numbers
by David A. Poulsen
Published by: Dundurn Press
Genre: YA Fiction

Just when Andy starts to feel like he finally belongs, can he stand up to the person he trusted the most?

Fifteen-year-old Andy Crockett wouldn’t call himself the luckiest kid on Earth. His brother got all the looks and all the smarts. And at school, he doesn’t fit with any of the groups — the goths, the athletes, or the brains. Even those misfits, The Six, aren’t exactly welcoming him.

But with a new school year starting, Andy thinks his luck may be changing. Parkerville isn’t the coolest school, but at least Mr. Retzlaff, his tenth-grade social studies teacher, is cool. His class is actually good from day one. Covering World War II, Hitler, and the Holocaust, Mr. R. urges students to question everything they see and hear. It’s the one class Andy wants to ace, if only to make Mr. R. proud. But before long, he starts to realize that Mr. R.’s version of history doesn’t quite match everyone else’s, and that succeeding in this class may cost more than he’s willing to pay.

David A. Poulsen has been a broadcaster, teacher, football coach, and actor who spends eighty to one hundred days each year as a visiting author in schools across Canada. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Old Man, which was short-listed for the Forest of Reading White Pine award, and Numbers which won the Sakura Medal in Japan. He lives in the foothills west of Claresholm, Alberta.

Dundurn Press lists where Numbers is available to be purchased in both print and eBook.
David also reports: It’s available at Barnes and Noble throughout the US and, of course, good bookstores across Canada–Chapters, McNally-Robinson and your independent booksellers. It’s available in book and ebook formats and can be found online–Chapters, Amazon etc.