Author Q&A with Graham McDonald of "Song Catcher" and a Giveaway!

Today we have an author Q&A and a giveaway! Read on for more details!

Giveaway and more information is over at Closed the Cover. Click here!
Win a Paperback copy of "Song Catcher!"

Synopsis - Grace Howard, a Lakota woman from the Pine Ridge reservation, makes it to the brink of
stardom as a rock singer when drug addiction destroys everything. The catalyst to get clean
comes with the birth of her physically deformed son, Jamie. Twelve years later, she is singing
in a North Dakota bar to help pay for his ongoing medical treatment when a power surge
through her microphone triggers a vision and she hears the music that will change her life
forever.

Jamie, a budding poet, simultaneously has a strange dream and begins to produce lyrics of a
standard beyond his years. The supernatural experiences of mother and son ignite a special
songwriting partnership and they begin to craft an album that melds the songs of a Lakota
ancestor and other cultural music with modern rock – a combination that eventually rockets
to the top of the charts. Long estranged from her people, Grace is compelled to make peace
with her past as her music gains popularity. She returns to Pine Ridge and learns of the
desecration of her musician-ancestor’s spiritual resting place by the construction of a golf
course. Enraged, she decides to use the music’s popularity to try to stop the development,
setting in motion a series of events that will test the strength of her soul and put the lives of
everyone she holds dear on the line.

A heartfelt exploration of the resurrection of cultural and personal spirit, Song Catcher examines the
clash between European and indigenous cultures with bracing honesty. A haunting, compelling story
full of the synchronicities of life and powers we can neither see nor touch, it is as heartbreaking as it
is transformative.



Biography – Graham McDonald 
At the age of 15, Graham McDonald left school to begin what he calls his “real education”,
traveling widely and working in varying occupations. He continued this lifestyle till he was in
his 50’s, when he began writing. Drawing on experiences he had as a gold prospector in
Western Australia, he decided to write a trilogy of mystery novels about native peoples’ loss
of country and how that affects culture.
Graham currently lives with his wife, Coral, in a small town on the southern coast of Western
Australia. He spends his time away from writing putting the finishing touches to a house they
have built and occasionally escaping in their vintage VW kombi to camp out in the
wilderness regions of his country.

 What draws you to your genre?

Mostly it is the mystical elements of native spirituality but, in terms of genre, I have difficulty in clearly defining mine. It could be considered Historical Fiction or Mystery. Maybe there should be a category entitled ‘Mystorical’.

 Have you written any other novels in collaboration with other writers?  Why did you do decide to collaborate and did that affect your sales?

No and I never will. It is my belief that a novel is the work of a single imagination, although a good editor is essential for the pruning process.

Do you work to an outline or plot or just see where an idea takes you?

I am in the last category. Although I have had a definite theme to follow, my stories grow from a single incident or a character. I love the mystery of not knowing exactly where the story’s going although within half a dozen chapters I usually begin to see a path ahead.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? What do you think of “trailers” for books?

I have always had the ability to think creatively but it is my improvement in the craft of writing that has paradoxically aided me in my creative evolution. It has enabled me to better organize my thoughts, to move more quickly through the fog of many ideas that can descend upon a storyline.

In regard to trailers, I feel that anything that can get your book in front of readers is a good thing, apart from walking through Times Square dressed only in a sandwich board advertising it, but then again...

Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s?

At the risk of contradicting myself - no is the answer on both counts. It just isn’t for me.  I’ve had a hard enough time just answering these questions.

Q&A with Author/Tv Critic/Pulitzer Prize Winner/General Funny Man - Howard Rosenberg Plus a Giveaway!!!

I volunteered to do an author Q&A for our friend Ashley over at Closed the Cover. Howard Rosenberg is the author in question and as you can tell from his responses to my questions, he's a funny guy. Also be sure to look for more author info, details about his book "Up Yours!" and a GIVEAWAY at the end of the interview.

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1. Your current novel “Up Yours!” is not your first book, but it is your first work of fiction. What differences are there in your writing process when you are fiction or nonfiction?

Apples and oranges. In journalism—tighter, tighter, tighter! In writing fiction, I approach each scene with a much more descriptive eye, then lower it back to earth if it’s overwritten. No one commands me to “Cut 6 inches, Rosenberg.” And writing fiction is, well, so lovely because one mostly doesn’t have to worry about facts. If they don’t work or don’t exist—Voila!—change the little suckers or make them up. Of course, historical fiction is an exception (c’mon, I was a history major). And even a mystery as lighthearted as “Up Yours!” requires a certain level of factual plausibility to be credible.

More fundamentally, a non-fiction piece is factual by definition: straight reporting, interpretation based on a set of facts or clearly labeled opinion relating to facts. As a columnist, however, there were instances when I deployed fanciful writing as satire, at times making up entire dialogues for the purpose of ridicule. My intent was clear, however. At least I hope it was.

2. You were a TV critic at the Los Angeles Times for several years. Since you’ve got experience as a writer and a TV critic, are there any shows on TV right now that you think are particularly well written? 

It all begins with writing, which is almost always the soul of performance art. Even the most talented cast can’t rise above bad or even pedestrian writing. Stage or screen, makes no difference. It’s subjective, of course, but in my view the best-written comedy on TV is ABC’s “Modern Family.” The writing is sohhhhhh fluid and flat-out funny. Yet it wouldn’t work without that stratospheric cast; it’s collaboration. Also in comedy, NBC’s lightly watched but exquisitely twisted “Community” is sometimes brilliant. Love it. And HBO’s “Veep” is superb, politics-skewering satire—very, very smart and a stake right through the heart of hypocrisy. Nor does it hurt that its star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is arguably the best comedic actress on the planet. In drama, meanwhile, I’m enthralled by HBO’s new crime series “True Detective,” dark, brooding, deeply mysterious and densely written. And oh yes, at times ugly. Nothing easy or simplistic here, but well worth the discomfort. Yet I’m also addicted to the escapist and grandly flawed “Downton Abbey” on PBS—despite its clumsy script conveniences and gaping plot holes. So go figure.

3. You won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Can you tell us more about that experience?

First, some perspective. I was TV critic for the Los Angeles Times for 25 years. That means I did not receive a Pulitzer 24 of 25 years. So no big head.

I learned of my Pulitzer when phoned by an editor as I interviewed a very classy actress named Jane Alexander in a Hollywood restaurant. I returned to the table and continued the interview, pulse racing, yet saying nothing about the reason for the call. I mean, how could I bring up something like that without sounding like an egoist jerk?

The 10 columns that earned me the Pulitzer included one that ripped ABC News for its hanging-judge-and-jury coverage of L.A. pre-school teachers accused of abusing their little charges in every grotesque way imaginable. Although most of the media piled on, they turned out to be innocent. But my favorite was a piece contrasting TV depictions of death with the death of my father as I experienced it in Kansas City, Mo. It moved me as I wrote it, and still moves me in memory.

 Winning the Pulitzer (in 1985) yielded relatively modest benefits. My teenage daughter still disliked me intensely for reasons that I never understood. And L.A. gridlock did not part for me, sadly, as the Red Sea did for Moses.

The award did earn me a prestigious New York agent (we’ve long since divorced), increased national stature, more financial opportunities, lots of unfriendly scrutiny (this slug won a Pulitzer?) and a probable first line for my obit (Pulitzer Prize-winning Howard Rosenberg kicked the bucket…).

4. You’re an adjunct professor at USC’s school of Cinematic Arts. Has that influenced your writing?

Not at all, unless I’m worse through osmosis. All right, that’s harsh. But reading student papers has taught me that something is terribly amiss in our schools when it comes to imparting basic writing skills. You know, the simple stuff like grammar and “i before e…” Most of my students (I also teach in the journalism school) are very bright, and a few are very, very good writers. Yet each semester I also get a few who have not learned that periods are probably most effective when inserted at the ends of sentences. These are students—often seniors—who can’t craft a cogent line, could not write a laundry list that you and I could understand. How did they get this far? It’s just boggling.

5. The main character in “Up Yours!” suddenly finds himself being a sleuth. Did you have to do any research for that aspect of the book?

No sleuthing research required beyond re-watching every “Thin Man” movie with William Powell and Myrna Loy—which was a joy—and continuing my self-indulgent habit of reading mysteries galore. Quite simply, I tried to envision my wife, Carol, and me facing the sleuthing challenges I gave married amateurs Ted and Liv Milo. But I cheated. I made Ted and Liv smarter. Also braver.

6. What other writing goals do you have?

Mystery fiction continues to head my list. Next time around, Ted and Liv will be off to detective school with mixed—and naturally homicidal—results. I’ve nearly rewritten “The Elvis Murders,” a hound dog of a novel that required a research trip to Memphis during the worshipful annual Elvisathon there; it has to be seen to be believed. And I’m now plotting a revisionist mystery inspired by the beloved but vastly over-praised Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” that will earn me the enmity of Frank Capra fans everywhere. Please, no hate mail.  

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So Howard cracks me up. I feel like we would get along even if the only thing we have in common is the fact that we are underwhelmed by "It's a Wonderful Life." I wonder how he feels about "The Sound of Music?" I regret not asking him about "Justified" and Elmore Leonard. Drat! Maybe I'll get to talk to him again when he puts out his next book.

Book Synopsis
Ted Milo, until recently the Charles Dickens of obit writers, is dislodged from his
carefree new life by a bizarre collision of homicides and hemorrhoids in the fancy
Los Angeles suburb of Friendly Lake. Actually…not so friendly, Ted and his wife, Liv,
soon discover.
Ted has ditched his long newspaper career to embrace the nouveau riche life he’d
always ridiculed after inheriting a fortune from a distant relative. He is floating
blissfully, contemplating the fruits of wealth, little on his fiftyish mind beyond
bladder control, when a visit to a physician turns him into a sleuth with cold-blooded
murders to solve.
 “You’re doing this why, because the Navy SEALS aren’t hiring?” chides Liv when
learning she’s now married to Sam Spade. “And your dream of playing center field
for the Dodgers—dashed?”
Every gumshoe requires a “tomato,” though, and Liv is Ted’s when bodies hit the
slab in this twisty mystery that exposes the warty underside of seemingly tranquil
suburbia.

Author Bio
Howard Rosenberg earned a Pulitzer Prize and numerous other honors during 25
years as TV critic for the Los Angeles Times. He teaches news ethics, critical writing
and a TV symposium at the University of Southern California and resides in a far-off
Los Angeles suburb with his wife, two cats and a bird, all of whom tend to ignore
him.
His favorite pastime is slam dunking and working out with the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his dreams.


And HERE is the link to the giveaway!

Book Review: "Gibbin House" by Carola Perla and Giveaway!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Gibbin House is kind of like a house for misfit toys. Stately Gibbin House is located outside of London, and during World War II it became a place of refuge. The refugees were mostly intellectuals, artists and political dissidents fleeing from the Nazis. (Though most of them were fleeing a little late in the war, not in the beginning). Many men and women came and went during the war, but in 1949 when our story begins there are only 4 residents left.

Professor Alfred is the head of house. He was the one who helped the steady stream of people I'm and out during the war. The house is owned by his friend. He keep the peace around the house and between the somewhat odd assortment of residents.I'm trying to think of the right word for Emil, one of the house residence. The best I can come up with is that he's a bit of a scallywag. He fled Berlin, and is a bit of a man about town working for a newspaper as a reviewer/interviewer. He sleeps late, drinks a bit too much and doesn't seem to care much about others feelings. Jan is a teacher of natural history at a boys school. (Do not call him a botanist-it upsets him...even though he basically a botanist.)  He is socially awkward, has a tendency to ramble on about his subjects of choice, and has a weird reddish quality on his face. Theo is our last resident and most important. He sits in the house's  study by himself translating obscure texts for a local college. He didn't flee the continent for political reasons but he isn't super forthcoming for his real reasons for his flight. When he isn't translating he's working on his novel. These men are all pretty set in their ways and rotate kind of in their own little orbits, being near each other but not interacting more than they have to. Then one day a new planet gets introduced into their solar system. (Did I take that metaphor too far? It's an apt metaphor, just accept it.)

One day Alfred brings home Anka. Anka is about 20 and has recently come from Vienna where she lived with her mother. They lived (and her mother still does) in an attic above some of their family members who have "generously" taken them in. One of them includes August, Anka's lecherous uncle who "accidentally" barges in on Anka and her mother in the washroom all the time. After an ugly incident in the attic Anka is sent to Gibbin House, because Alfred and her mother are friends from the pre-war days. Anka is greeted with a mix of curiosity, indifference, and a little bit of skepticism. Theo especially is worried about what her presence will mean, mostly I think he is worried that she was going to come in and be flirty and demanding and upset the weird balance that the house has struck. He shouldn't have worried. Alfred takes Anka around London and tries to make her feel like London is her home, Jan helps her in the garden and she slowly starts to settle in. Anka also has a unique attribute that makes getting to know her new housemates a little more difficult. (Which took me a long time to figure out, so I'm not going to tell you what it is!)

All of the house members have secrets, and Alfred and Theo have a painful personal history that sets them at odds. Secrets begin to come out about heartbreak, war, betrayal, and lies. What does it mean for the delicate balance that has been struck between these sad men and their quiet new housemate? The book is told from the perspectives with Anka and Theo, and then there are small sections of Theo's (autobiographical, hint hint) novel throughout as well.

I liked this book. It was a book set in Europe in the 40s/50s that wasn't all about the horrors of war, but people just trying to go about their lives. It seems like those books are kind of rare! I liked that when the book was told from Anka or Theo's perspective it had one font, but when their were pieces of Theo's novel it had a subtly different font to help you keep them straight. (It sounds like a silly thing to like, but I just finished another book with flashbacks and flashforwards and I was thoroughly confused. Lots of rereading and no one has time for that!) At first I thought Anka was going to be a little high maintenance/needy for my taste but the more that I learned about her and her story the more understanding of her character I became. I also liked how the characters all related to each other and how it changed throughout the story as well. 3.5 out of 5 stars from this gal.


Author Bio
Carola Perla was born in 1977 in Timisoara, Romania, to parents of Peruvian and
German-Romanian heritage. She spent her early childhood in Lima and Munich,
before moving with her family to the United States.
She holds degrees in German Literature and Art History from Florida State
University. Since 2001 she has been a resident of Miami Beach, where she
co-founded an international public relations firm and worked as a freelance
journalist. Her recent projects include the launch of the Atelier 1022 Art Gallery in
Wynwood. Gibbin House is her first novel.



Book Synopsis
During the Second World War, a Hampstead villa named Gibbin House was a refuge
for artists and intellectuals fleeing the continent. But nearly five years later, this
former beacon of hope has become a prison for the four men who remain exiled
there. The mysterious arrival from Vienna of Anka Pietraru - a young woman unable
to voice the unbearable secret of a mother's sacrifice - will test the men's
perceptions of love and loss. And as Anka unearths old grievances within Gibbin
House, its residents will be forced to decide if they have the strength to begin living
again or if it is simply too late.

Book Details
Author: Carola Perla
Format: eBook and Paperback
Publication Date: September 21, 2011
Publisher: Self-Published
ISBN: 1461074487
ISBN13: 9781461074489

Giveaway Info
The giveaway for Gibbin House by Carola Perla is incredible! There will be a total of
three winners; one grand prize winner and two additional winners.
The Grand Prize Winner will receive:
1. A signed copy of Gibbin House
2. 'Vienna Romance' stationary by ATELIER 1022 Company
3. Limited edition reproduction Stereocard of Trafalgar Square, London - this
Edwardian Era 3-D photograph, dated 1901, served as the novel's cover art
4. Viewing lorgnette
5. Collector's edition prologue 'letter'
Two additional winners will receive:
A signed copy of Gibbin House

Isn't that an awesome giveaway? I want all of that. Go HERE to enter!