Book Excerpts discussion

Authors I hope you find this group useful to promote yourselves.
Readers, I hope you find a wealth of new books to enjoy!
Anne.~
http://www.annewhitfield.com

Thank you for starting this wonderful new group, Anne!

Thank you, Anne. This is an amazing idea!

Great idea. Thanks for inviting me.

This is pretty cool! Thanks for the invite:-)

Yes, I thank you as well!

This is a great site, Anne...thank you for the invite, Joyce!

:)

Thanks for inviting me. This is a great idea, Anne!

Diane
http://www.dianewylie.com

Great idea. thanks Ali, I would probably never have come across this.

I don't see a section for Thriller, Horror, or Children's fiction. I'm kind of not in any other section. Can I make my own? Is this how it works? help.

Renee wrote: "I don't see a section for Thriller, Horror, or Children's fiction. I'm kind of not in any other section. Can I make my own? Is this how it works? help."

Hi Renee,
I think people are making up their own categories to fit their books.

Okay, I thought so. My only excuse for my slow brain is that it's late and I'm really tired. Thanks Joyce. I feel much better now.

Thanks for the invite, Anne. This is a great idea!

Renee, it looks like you were able to add your own 'section' (folder) - but, try as I might, I don't seem to be able to. That is why my excerpt is sitting in the General section. When I try to assign a folder I see only choices that do NOT fit (and I see no method for adding). When I invent a new 'Topic' it comes out in the General section..

Hi everyone. Thanks for inviting me to this group Anne. I've actually just posted an excerpt from my new book (not yet published - due to be published this month) on my profile page. Also, if you visit my website there is an excerpt from 'A Time to Tell'. I also have a link there to my squidoo page with a further excerpt there.
http://www.mariasavva.com

The settings may require a moderator to do it. I'm not sure. It had a folder for my work, so I didn't have to create one, it did let me edit my folder though. Odd.

Anne, I am trying to put my 'topic' where it belongs (ideally with a 'Philosophy' folder name) - but my efforts to create a new folder always place it at the top... Can you help with this?

By the way I like your work.. I noticed a Yorkshire setting. That is my 'ancestral home'.. Perhaps you emigrated to Oz? I was in Oz 2 months ago and loved it.. I can see why a person would want to live there. Beautiful country, good wine and friendly people...

Hi Peter,
I added anew folder for you.
My parents emigrated to Australia from Yorkshire with my brother and sisters, I was born here. So I'm a child of two countries as I've lived in both.
Thanks!
Anne.~

It's great to be here. There's some incredible work posted here already. Thanks Anne!

Hi, I'm excerpting my latest novel, "Web of Tyranny."

Available on Amazon.com, published by BookSurge in September 2008.
***
For the first few seconds of every day, before reality hit, she felt her body floating in a cloudy tangle as she came up from her dreams. Beautiful dreams of sunny days filled with music, ice cream and lots of laughter. She could still remember a time when her days had been like that; she’d been much younger then, granted the indulgences of early childhood. Those moments usually happened in the warm, cozy rooms at Grandma’s house, when she’d had a feeling that everything would work out somehow.

But she was not at Grandma’s today, and as she tossed aside the heavy tangle of sheets and blankets, she knew she wouldn’t be going to Grandma’s again any time soon. Father had other plans for her. Her summer days would be full of farm chores, beginning in the early hours of the day and ending only when the last box of fruit had been emptied and the last peach had been cut and placed on the trays. In the shed, with its overhang that shielded from the hot summer sun, the smell of ripening fruit made her gag, but she had to stifle the urge. Otherwise, she could end up with a far worse punishment than cutting fruit all day.

Margaret shuddered as she recalled some of those punishments.

At least when she worked in the shed, she was surrounded by the friendly faces of aunts and cousins. Living within five miles of each other, the Graham relatives, especially the women, rallied around one another during harvest season. As she worked, she pretended to be a fly on the wall, listening to the adult’s conversations; they hardly noticed her and when they talked in those hushed tones, her ears perked up.

That was how she learned about Aunt Noreen’s heart condition and Aunt Molly’s foster child, the one who was expecting…When Aunt Molly’s voice fell into that whispery tone, Margaret knew that secrets were being revealed. Lola’s pregnancy and the dilemma about what would become of Lola’s baby after the birth.

Of all the aunts, Aunt Molly could tell a simple story and make it fascinating. Every day of her life sounded like melodrama. Even her physical ailments seemed like something out of a storybook. No matter what else was happening with her though, Aunt Molly always had a friendly word for the younger members of the family. She and Uncle Chester had only one child of their own; Charles was an oddly quiet boy who seemed misplaced in that family.

Before Aunt Molly had started taking in foster children, Margaret recalled summer nights when she had been allowed a sleepover at her house. In the tiny little cottage next to the meandering canal, Aunt Molly made up a bed for Margaret in the sleeping porch. While she lay there, Margaret would study the walls of the tiny room, her eyes following the pattern of the knotty pine; wide awake, she reflected on Aunt Molly’s warning words as she tucked her in. She’d spoken of the evils in the world and how Margaret had to be very careful to stay away from the field workers who roamed their farms during the summer. Because the men who worked the fields had evil intentions where young girls were concerned.
***

More about my work at http://www.laurelrainsnowcreations.com

Thanks Anne. I should have figured out that only the moderator would be empowered to create new folders - and there was 'non fiction' as an option for me..

You deserve a big round of applause from all of us in this group for launching this discussion. (Maybe I should send you a bottle of Canadian wine.... nah that would be "sending coals to Newcastle"...)

Hi Anne,
This is a great idea and a fun way to read a bit about everyone's book. Well done!

Here is an excerpt from the opening chapter of my book, NIGHT OF FLAMES: A Novel of World War Two . . .

PART ONE

Poland
1939

CHAPTER 1

Anna Kopernik slept on this hot, muggy night but it was a restless sleep troubled by strange dreams. The sheets were clammy and her thin cotton nightgown clung to her back. A paltry breeze drifted in through the open window with little effect. The still, humid air on this September morning hung over Warsaw like a massive wet blanket.
It was five o’clock and Anna drifted back and forth between consciousness and sleep, the dream flitting in and out of her mind like an annoying gnat. The telephone rang. Then it stopped. She wanted to answer it but couldn’t find it. It rang again but it wasn’t a telephone, it was something else . . . a bell, perhaps, or a horn. Anna kicked at the sticky, twisted sheet and rolled onto her back. She was almost awake but still just below the surface. The noise returned, louder now, a harsh clanging boring into her head. She kicked the sheet completely off, struggling to understand. What was it? A horn…or…a siren.
Anna’s eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. The shrill sound blasted into her brain, penetrating through the fog of sleep like an icy wind. She blinked and looked around the dark room, trying to focus on shadowy images as the sound wailed on and on.
She ran to the window. It was still dark but the night sky held a hint of gray. An early morning mist shrouded the street lamps casting a gloomy, almost spooky glow along the deserted sidewalk below. The grating noise of the air-raid siren raised the hair on the back of her neck and suddenly she was shivering. Anna crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the dull, charcoal sky. Then she heard another sound.
It came from the west, a deep angry drone like a swarm of giant bees, growing louder by the second. Anna tried to move but her feet didn’t respond. Immobilized, riveted in place, she stared out the open window as the pounding vibration of a hundred propellers enveloped her. The thunderous roar of the bombers drowned out the air raid sirens and the entire building seemed to sway in rhythm with the oscillations.
Anna snapped out of the spell and instinctively reached out to pull the window closed. A flash of light blinded her and an ear-shattering blast threw her backwards amidst a shower of glass and falling plaster. She fell heavily against a small wooden night table and collapsed on the floor.

Douglas W. Jacobson

Thanks for starting this new group.
Lorhainne Eckhart

What a super idea! Thanks for starting this group.

Hugs,
Monique
(http://www.moniquedevere.co.uk)

Lorraine (like your pen-name to real name conjuring..). Enjoyed the read.. Good stuff!

I see we share the same publisher. Can I contact you 'privately' to ask you how you view the publisher one year after publication (my book is a 'baby' - only published June 30..)?

I've been looking for a group like this, Anne. I'm glad I found it.

Dear Anne,

Thanks so much for group and the invite. I have been meaning to write to you to thank you for all the help you've given me, especially from the historical crit group. I learned so much for you guys and I am pleased to announce that my first novella was launched by Eternal Press on the 7th of July. Thanks so much. I will be posting an excerpt under the sci-fi section, but a special hug to all at the historical crit group from me

Brigitta (Sahara Berns)

Peter wrote: "Lorraine (like your pen-name to real name conjuring..). Enjoyed the read.. Good stuff!

I see we share the same publisher. Can I contact you 'privately' to ask you how you view the publisher one ..."

A-ha! So you caught that segue...from "Lorraine" to "Laurel-Rain"! There's more, too. My birth name was Frost—hence, the flip to "Snow."

If you'd like to e-mail, I'm at chezraine@yahoo.com.

I'm glad so many of you are finding the group useful.
Spread the news about it!
Anne.~

Sahara wrote: "Dear Anne,

Thanks so much for group and the invite. I have been meaning to write to you to thank you for all the help you've given me, especially from the historical crit group. I learned so much ..."

Hi Brigitta.

How are you?
Congrats on the nevella publication!
Anne.~

Dear Anne,

Thanks for inviting me to this group. I'll definitely spread the news!

xx Francesca
www.francescaprescott.com

Thanks for creating this group Anne. I look forward to reading everyone's work as well as sharing my own.

Thanks for starting the group, Anne!

Thanks Anne, this is wonderful.
Here is an excerpt from my new book, Under Man's Spell, a Novel that was inspired by true events in my country of Origin; Tanzania.

Three guys ran forward and attacked her together. Abe swung her knife and got at least two of them, but that did not stop them. They pushed her into the house and almost stepped on her as they entered the house. She got up quickly and ran to where the baby was crying. She grabbed the baby and clung to her. They tried to pull the baby from her but they couldn't. More men went in and dragged her and the baby out. When people got a glance of the baby some ran away, but many of the others started throwing stones at both Abe and the baby. They kept throwing the stones at them until they were motionless. They then took firewood and pushed them back into the house before setting it on fire.........

http://www.jkmutabooks.com

Thanks for inviting me, Anne! I just joined and am feeling my way around here.

Hi Anne,

Would you please put up a folder for Mainstream Fiction or Literary Fiction.

Thanks!

Alex

I'm a little late to the game, but this is cool. :)

Thank you!

Heather Ingemar
http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/