October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Be sure to order your copy of Next Time I'm Gonna Dance now. And, if you can, support events in your area such as Race for the Cure to help raise funds to eradicate this disease.

Unknown Authors Are Like Broccoli

When you’re looking for something new to read, where do you look? Most people check out the new releases in their local bookstore, glance at the NY Times Bestseller List or the bestseller list on Amazon.com. Some look for new releases from their already-known, tried and true, favorite authors. I have my favorites whose new releases I watch for, also—authors like Lisa Scottoline, Sherryl Woods, Elizabeth Berg, and Janet Evanovich.

As readers, have you considered the lesser known authors published with small presses who just might have a gem of a book waiting for you? I never did until I became one of those small press authors. Now I have occasion to read excerpts and novels by my fellow authors whose names may still be unfamiliar to you. Reading material can be an acquired taste.

I never tasted broccoli until I was twenty-two. Seriously. Didn’t know what it was or how it should be prepared. My mother was a meat-and-potatoes kind of cook. Our most exotic vegetable was glazed carrots. I lived for a time with friends who had more eclectic tastes and broader culinary experiences. And I discovered broccoli—and cauliflower, and asparagus, and kiwi, and a whole new menu of foods that I enjoy.

Why not make a resolution to broaden your reading menu in the coming year? Sample a new main course. You don’t have to give up steak and lobster. But add something new to your plate. When you order your next Tami Hoag or Linda Howard , have a side of Lynn Romaine. Check out her romantic eco-suspense, Long Run Home. How about Deborah Hale or Cathryn Fox with a helping of Carol McPhee? Try her romantic suspense novel, A Structured Affair. You might enjoy Kris Radish or Nicholas Sparks topped off with Linda Rettstatt's women's fiction for dessert. Something like Shooting Into the Sun. Have an appetizer of Kimberley Dehn 's romantic comedy, Southern Exposure before diving into your latest Mary Kay Andrews or Jennifer Crusie.

I know some of you are saying, “But I don’t like broccoli.” Well, I’m sure a few folks shook their heads and hesitated at the first presentation of Cherry Garcia ice cream. And it’s now one of the bestsellers for Ben & Jerry’s.

So, go ahead. Dig in. Visit the websites of these authors and check out the links below of just a few e-publishers and small presses. You just might add new flavorites to your reading menu. But, like broccoli or Cherry Garcia, you don’t know until you taste for yourself.

Wings ePress
Champagne Books
Class Act Books
The Wild Rose Press
Turquoise Morning Press

Happy reading!

Linda

New Review of Shooting Into the Sun

Shooting Into the Sun has been reviewed by
NovelTalk. Here's a snippet and the link to the
full review:

"Linda Rettstatt brings together two sisters in this story. It’s a very emotional journey for them both. I thought she did a fantastic job of bringing Rylee’s photography into the story as well. I really didn’t feel meeting a hitchhiker was an ideal way to bring the hero into the book but she skillfully drew me in to the idea. The hero and heroine were perfect for each other."

Reviewed by Dyan Hunter

Click here to read the full review.


Linda

Love Sam - The Cover is In

It's here--the cover art for Love, Sam, coming in November from Champagne Books.








Here's a blurb:

Love, loss, grief--human experiences that cross all boundaries of age, race, or gender. Love, Sam is the story of Trish Garrity, a young woman who has to find a way to go on after the tragic loss of Samantha Preston, her partner of six years. Facing death, Sam writes twelve letters—one to be opened on the first of each of the twelve months following her death—intended to help Trish become more self-accepting and to guide her through grief.

Kudos to artist Trisha FitzGerald--once again.

Linda