Today He Said Books or Me turns 3! :) What an amazing 3 years it has been. Thanks for each of you who come to see what is going on in my corner of the world! 

 
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Bout of Books!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

 
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Guest Post with Ketley Allison

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from Ketley Allison. Please give a warm welcome!

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I started out writing stories when I was really young, and when I was that age, I only wanted to write about romance. Prince Charming, Princesses, castles and superheroes, true love and soulmates conquering all.

But, as my life was lived, my happily ever afters acquired more twists and turns. It was the unrequited high school crush that started it—realizing that HEAs were a lot harder to gain in life than on paper. As days turned into years, so did I understand real-life situations better. And, as fiction, those situations become amplified and dramatic, with more what if’s inserted than what will be.

This is the driving force behind To Have and to Hold. A love story? Sure. A hero-rescue romance? Yep. But does my main character need a hero, or can she be her own? Do we lose chances at love more than we respect them? Emme and Spencer had true love years ago. They even became engaged. But then, you guessed it, life happened, and they separated. But that was where I could get creative and begin adding fiction. What if Emme was kidnapped? What if Spence was in a position where he had the information to save her? What if he didn’t come in time, meaning Emme had to figure out escape on her own?

I’ve learned the what ifs in stories are the magical parts, and they come from my own life lessons. Starting off with a basic concept, true love, and twisting and morphing that until you can come up with your own unique plot is the driving force behind most authors, and especially me. I’ve garnered experience, but most importantly, I’ve had more time to witness chances. To create character destinies through questions.

In TH&TH, I hope you can jump into this adventure and discover Spence and Emme’s fate, but see if theirs in any way aligns with your own. Because, in essence, I pull from reality and actual people in order to breathe life into my stories.

This newest novel of mine is darker than my previous, but that’s because I’ve been thrown a few curve balls in reality myself. It helps to cope by weaving those moments into my characters and discovering how they handle the harder situations.

Thank you so much for having me,  Valerie! It truly was a pleasure to write this post for you.

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Thanks for the post! :) 

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Rewind

Hi Everyone,

Happy April wrap up! I hope that you had a wonderful month. I am happy to report that I finished 5 books this last month. I won’t link to the reviews directly, but if you head over to the side of my blog you can sort my posts by month. 

Specifically, I read:

3 Books for Review
2 Books I own

What's in the que for you for May?

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Guest Post with Jacqueline Friedland

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today with a guest post from Jacqueline Friedland. Please help me give her a warm welcome to the blog :)

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Finding the Light

            Have you ever had “The Bill Cosby Argument”?  It could equally be called “The Harvey Weinstein Debate” or the “Kevin Spacey Question”.  Imagine the following conversation.

            You:  “I loved Bill Cosby as an actor.  Even though he was accused of such heinous crimes, if you consider his acting ability as a separate part of his persona, he was incredible.”

            Your Friend:  “But you can’t separate it.  Bill Cosby, ‘the actor’, is the same person as Bill Cosby, ‘the alleged sexual predator’.  You can’t ignore the allegations of cruelty and depravity simply because he was capable of beautiful art.”

            This same argument can be applied to American history.  Looking in particular at the American South during the early to mid-1800s, there is a stark dichotomy between the beauty and the atrocities of the era.  One cannot romanticize the opulence of the time period without also acknowledging the barbarous nature of the system that kept such prosperity and abundance afloat.

            These thoughts were the impetus for Trouble the Water.  So many books and movies depict the antebellum South as a wonderland of hoop skirts and plantation parties without getting into the ugliness that was rampant beneath this gilded veneer.  I wanted to write a story that would not ignore the horrid nature of the system in which one set of people was luxuriating while others were suffering so brutally.

            To my surprise, as I began researching and formulating ideas, I did discover a bright light, something which I actually could separate out from the repulsiveness of slavery:  The grace and decency of people who risked everything to fight, to help the innocent escape, to guide others to freedom.  Thus was born my character, Douglas Elling, the tragic hero who loses everything in his effort to help others.

Although the U.S. government outlawed importation of slaves in the early 1800s, kidnappers continued to abduct Africans and bring them to the States with little interference.  Douglas Elling sees this lax enforcement and decides to take matters into his own hands.  He forms the Blackbirder Blockade, a group of courageous men who take to the open water and intercept slave ships.  Unfortunately, the South was a dangerous place for abolitionists, especially those who got too big for their britches.  With a harsh dose of reality, Douglas learns that valor and social conscience can come with a heavy price.  He ends up in a dark and defeated place.

            Trouble the Water begins when Douglas is at his bleakest point and explores the ways in which a fallen hero might claw his way back to a place of optimism and ambition.  Thankfully, Abigail Milton enters his life, and through her own tortured past, she manages to convince him that being true to his ideals is the only way for him to survive.  The journey these two characters take together shows that even in the dreariest times, there can be moments of brilliance and delight.

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Jacqueline Friedland holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from NYU Law School. She practiced as an attorney in New York before returning to school to receive her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New York with her husband, four children, and a tiny dog. TROUBLE THE WATER (SparkPress) is her first novel. Visit her online at o https://jacquelinefriedland.com/  or https://www.facebook.com/jackie.b.friedland.

 
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Waiting on Wednesday

Hi Everyone!

Stopping by to let you know about a book that may be of interest to you! :)
Author: Ransom Riggs
Release Date: October 2nd, 2018 
Summary from Goodreads:
The new trilogy in Riggs' best-selling young-adult saga.

A Map of Days catches up with Jacob Portman returning to his Florida home after helping save "the peculiars" from a monstrous threat. After traveling to 1940 and back, Jacob, love interest Emma, their protector Miss Peregrine and their friends are trying to blend into their new environment in the present day — which means beach visits and doing their best to be normal.

 
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TTT: Books With My Favorite Color On the Cover (or In the Title)

Hi Everyone!

Stopping by with another TTT topic: Books With My Favorite Color On the Cover (or In the Title). Can you guess mine? :) 

 
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