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	<title>Lane Diamond (Author)</title>
	
	<link>http://lanediamond.com</link>
	<description>Publisher &amp; Executive Editor at Evolved Publishing</description>
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		<title>Are You A Writer Looking for Helpful Writing Tips?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/eAjqqRubTpg/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 11:15:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Editor's Desk]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanediamond.com/?p=506</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If so, I may have a few articles that you&#8217;ll find helpful. Just scroll down a bit and look to the middle column of this page, where it says &#8220;CATEGORIES&#8221; and has a dropdown box. In the dropdown, select &#8220;Editor&#8217;s &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/' data-shr_title='Are+You+A+Writer+Looking+for+Helpful+Writing+Tips%3F'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/' data-shr_title='Are+You+A+Writer+Looking+for+Helpful+Writing+Tips%3F'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/are-you-a-writer-looking-for-helpful-writing-tips/' data-shr_title='Are+You+A+Writer+Looking+for+Helpful+Writing+Tips%3F'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;">If so, I may have a few articles that you&#8217;ll find helpful. Just scroll down a bit and look to the middle column of this page, where it says <strong>&#8220;CATEGORIES&#8221;</strong> and has a dropdown box.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">In the dropdown, select <strong>&#8220;Editor&#8217;s Desk.&#8221;</strong> Then just scroll down the list to find articles of interest to you.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">As an alternative, you can simply drop a little farther down the center column, where it says <strong>&#8220;2) WRITE BETTER (ALSO SEARCH &#8220;EDITOR&#8217;S DESK&#8221; CATEGORY).&#8221;</strong> The titles of the articles there will speak for themselves.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I hope you find plenty of helpful material here. Write on!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><div class="shr-publisher-506"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><div class="feedflare">
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		<item>
		<title>It’s Time To Pay More Attention To Me</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/jpv3AdO8lfU/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 23:57:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanediamond.com/?p=505</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, I have been woefully neglectful of this, my blog and website, for the past few months. In the grand scheme of priorities, it somehow found its way to the bottom of the list. I decided late last night &#8211; &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/' data-shr_title='It%27s+Time+To+Pay+More+Attention+To+Me'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/' data-shr_title='It%27s+Time+To+Pay+More+Attention+To+Me'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/05/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-me/' data-shr_title='It%27s+Time+To+Pay+More+Attention+To+Me'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;">Well, I have been woefully neglectful of this, my blog and website, for the past few months. In the grand scheme of priorities, it somehow found its way to the bottom of the list. I decided late last night &#8211; or perhaps I should say early this morning &#8211; that this must change.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">One of things I needed to do first was ramp up my motivation, my drive, my sheer enthusiasm for my own work. So I decided to visit my <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13264723-forgive-me-alex " title="Goodreads page for Forgive Me, Alex" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Goodreads page for <em>Forgive Me, Alex</em></span></a> and read all those reviews. Yep, that got me pretty well fired up.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Life in general has offered a few distractions as of late, and my work at <a href="http://www.Evolved Pub.com" title="Evolved Publishing" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing</span></a> has swallowed up the rest of my time, but I&#8217;ve resolved that it&#8217;s okay to say to folks, on occasion, &#8220;Sorry, I can&#8217;t do that.&#8221; Scheduling work a little further in advance has become not just okay, it&#8217;s become a necessity if ever I&#8217;m to write my own books.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Of course, some pretty great things have happened at Evolved Publishing, including an ever-expanding team of talented individuals, a constantly-growing catalog of fine books, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/EP.StreetTeam/" title="Facebook Street Team" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Facebook Street Team</span></a> that&#8217;s both supportive and great fun, and even that <a href="http://www.EvolvedPub.com" title="terrific new website" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">terrific new website</span></a> we have.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Still, my second novel, <strong><em>The Devil&#8217;s Bane</em></strong>, simply refuses to write itself. The nerve! And this blog? Fuggedaboutit!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Well&#8230; until now. Yep, I&#8217;m back, and I mean to stay back if it kills me. It won&#8217;t, of course.</span></p><div class="shr-publisher-505"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><div class="feedflare">
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		<item>
		<title>March Madness! Author Lane Diamond is giving away signed copies and other prizes!</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/TMQFza3g8O0/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:08:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Forgive Me Alex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Devil's Bane]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanediamond.com/?p=497</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, I&#8217;m a big fan of March Madness for the college basketball season, the arrival of spring (my birthday is the first full day of spring, the 21st), and the optimism that naturally comes from better weather. Plus, I&#8217;ll be &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/' data-shr_title='March+Madness%21+Author+Lane+Diamond+is+giving+away+signed+copies+and+other+prizes%21'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/' data-shr_title='March+Madness%21+Author+Lane+Diamond+is+giving+away+signed+copies+and+other+prizes%21'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/march-madness-author-lane-diamond-is-giving-away-signed-copies-and-other-prizes/' data-shr_title='March+Madness%21+Author+Lane+Diamond+is+giving+away+signed+copies+and+other+prizes%21'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;">Well, I&#8217;m a big fan of March Madness for the college basketball season, the arrival of spring (my birthday is the first full day of spring, the 21st), and the optimism that naturally comes from better weather. Plus, I&#8217;ll be able to hop on my bicycle and start riding again soon!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So I decided to offer up some goodies in honor of all these things.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>What can you win?</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>1)</strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"> Signed Hardcover of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NTNQP8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B006NTNQP8&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em>Forgive Me, Alex</em></span></strong></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B006NTNQP8" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, my debut psychological thriller</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>2)</strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"> Advance Reading Copy (electronic ARC, when it&#8217;s ready) of <a title="The Devil's Bane" href="http://lanediamond.com/novels/the-devils-bane/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em>The Devil&#8217;s Bane</em></span></strong></a>, my upcoming sequel (you can even provide feedback prior to publication if you would like)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>3)</strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"> Have a character named for you in <em>The Devil&#8217;s Bane</em>, described similarly to you, sharing whatever history and traits you care to share, etc. It will be YOU&#8230; almost.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>And there will be TWO WINNERS!</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Participation is easy: just follow the simple instructions in the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Thank you for your participation.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<a class="rafl" id="rc-c17c2458" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c17c2458/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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		<item>
		<title>Are there too many books out there, or never enough?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/qDNo5_s8B04/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[e-Book Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[e-Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forgive Me Alex]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanediamond.com/?p=494</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Reader, we striving, emerging authors need you. Prompted by a recent Facebook post, I just checked one author&#8217;s listings (she happens to be self-published) at Amazon, and she has 3 books out, the highest ranked of which is #972,xxx. &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/' data-shr_title='Are+there+too+many+books+out+there%2C+or+never+enough%3F'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/' data-shr_title='Are+there+too+many+books+out+there%2C+or+never+enough%3F'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2013/02/are-there-too-many-books-out-there-or-never-enough/' data-shr_title='Are+there+too+many+books+out+there%2C+or+never+enough%3F'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;">Dear Reader, we striving, emerging authors need you.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Prompted by a recent Facebook post, I just checked one author&#8217;s listings (she happens to be self-published) at Amazon, and she has 3 books out, the highest ranked of which is #972,xxx. That means she sells about 1 copy every 2-3 months. Her other two books are even worse. So no one is reading her books.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Yet she mentioned in a recent post that her 4th book is coming soon, and she&#8217;s all excited.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I&#8217;m not sure what to make of that. Part of me wants to say, &#8220;For God&#8217;s sake, go back to your day job and stop muddying-up the market for everyone.&#8221; Yet another part of me wants to say, &#8220;Way to stick to it.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Sadly, one has merely to sample her work to understand the first part of the problem: no editing. It is simply rife with bad structure and grammar. And the covers are&#8230; err&#8230; not good. She&#8217;s trying to make her way completely on her own, without professional help, and not making it at all.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Yet, as a fellow author, should this bother me? Does it really muddy-up the market? Will you, Dear Reader, still find what you&#8217;re looking for in the vast sea of reading options? Will my book stand out because of its polished, professional presentation? Will you, Dear Reader, find it difficult to find the gem-like drops (he says not-so-modestly) amidst the ocean of poor work?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Honestly, I&#8217;m back and forth on this, and haven&#8217;t quite decided on the right answer. Some instinct deep inside me, however, believes that if the process becomes too confusing and disappointing for readers, they&#8217;re simply going to revert to their old stand-bys and give up on discovering new authors. This, of course, would be bad news for those of us newbies who are seeking to step into that light.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Yet one surefire method remains for us to find our way out of the abyss: word of mouth. Yes, if someone reads my book, and enjoys it, she&#8217;s likely to mention it to someone else, who might then give it a try. This is a time-tested and effective method of of bringing a new author out of the darkness. The problem with that, of course, is that if the author doesn&#8217;t have a great level of visibility out there in the world, and people are slow to find him in the first place, this process can take years.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Is there a viable alternative (without spending thousands and thousands of dollars on advertising)? Probably not.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So, Dear Reader, you now understand why it is so important to all of us authors that you post a review at Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or iTunes, or Kobo, or Goodreads, etc. You also know why we <strong><em>love</em></strong> you when you say to a friend, &#8220;Hey, have you read this book? It&#8217;s awesome!&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">And, of course, we authors must continue to write. The author I mentioned above has that part of the equation right, if not the others. I&#8217;ve been struggling with that due to time constraints, but am determined to get my sequel out soon. For now, I&#8217;ll just have to hope that more people discover <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NTNQP8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B006NTNQP8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em>Forgive Me, Alex</em></span></strong></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B006NTNQP8" width="1" height="1" border="0" /> and feel compelled to shout from the mountaintop, &#8220;You must read this book!&#8221;.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Then, I must get <strong><em>The Devil&#8217;s Bane</em></strong> out soon.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/LD_FMA_TDB_2pk.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-495" alt="LD_FMA_TDB_2pk" src="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/LD_FMA_TDB_2pk.jpg" width="1275" height="950" /></a></p>
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		<title>Six-Sentence Sunday #4 – Devane’s Reality – A Short Story</title>
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		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:30:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Six-Sentence Sunday]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devane's Reality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lane Diamond Author]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to Six-Sentence Sunday. The idea is to give you a small taste (6 consecutive sentences) of one of my pieces, but a compelling one. You can find previous Six-Sentence Sunday excerpts by searching under the Category by that name. &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/' data-shr_title='Six-Sentence+Sunday+%234+%E2%80%93+Devane%27s+Reality+-+A+Short+Story'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/' data-shr_title='Six-Sentence+Sunday+%234+%E2%80%93+Devane%27s+Reality+-+A+Short+Story'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/six-sentence-sunday-devanes-reality/' data-shr_title='Six-Sentence+Sunday+%234+%E2%80%93+Devane%27s+Reality+-+A+Short+Story'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Welcome to Six-Sentence Sunday.</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">The idea is to give you a small taste (6 consecutive sentences) of one of my pieces, but a compelling one. You can find previous Six-Sentence Sunday excerpts by searching under the Category by that name.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">So, is the excerpt below effective? Only you can tell me that.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #800000">Six-Sentence Excerpt – Devane&#8217;s Reality (A Short Story)</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #800000">My mind roils as I cling to hope and expectation, only to find, one day after the next, disappointment greater than in the day before. Only one creature creeps out of the darkness to haunt my nights. I&#8217;ve known this stalker before—loneliness, my sole companion on this bizarre expedition.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #800000">I now understand that we humans do not suffer solitude well. I long for contact—any contact. I yearn to meet a one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed, elderly gypsy woman who spends every waking minute singing show tunes with a voice like a howler monkey undergoing torture.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000">Available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DIXCOK/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Amazon</span></strong></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B005DIXCOK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important;margin:0px !important" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DIXCOK/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ASIN=B005DIXCOK&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=diamonperspe-20&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822"></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B005DIXCOK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important;margin:0px !important" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><div class="shr-publisher-489"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><div class="feedflare">
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		<title>A Shadow on the Mind, A Blemish on the Soul</title>
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		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-shadow-on-the-mind-a-blemish-on-the-soul/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2012 10:30:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Characters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forgive Me Alex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lane Diamond Author]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitchell Norton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychological Suspense Thriller]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[(Note: I first wrote this several weeks ago as part of a blog hop I participated in. It appears for the first time here.) &#8220;Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?&#8221; That classic line from the 1930&#8242;s &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-shadow-on-the-mind-a-blemish-on-the-soul/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
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<p><span style="color: #999999">(Note: I first wrote this several weeks ago as part of a blog hop I participated in. It appears for the first time here.)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000"><strong>&#8220;Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?&#8221;</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">That classic line from the 1930&#8242;s serialized radio program, <em>The Shadow</em>, functions as something of a theme for much of my writing. This is particularly true of my novel, <strong><em>Forgive Me, Alex</em></strong>. It also guides a fair portion of what I read.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">For me, great literature has always been about great characters, and if I&#8217;m going to dig really deep into a character, the author needs to take me&#8230; well, really deep inside that character. I want to know what&#8217;s in that character&#8217;s mind, his heart, his soul. I want to know what scares him, what makes him nervous, what excites him, what motivates him.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">Now, to be clear, this requires a level of authenticity that will bring the character to life in a realistic way. However, it needn&#8217;t be all puppy dogs and daisies. Let&#8217;s face it: there are some real sickos out there. But what makes them sick?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">If you heard that a neighborhood kid was stealing people&#8217;s pets and first torturing them, then dismembering them, how would you react? Would you say he&#8217;s sick? Would you wonder how anyone could even think to do such a thing? Would you fear letting your dog out? Would you call that kid&#8230; evil? Yes, I used the E-word. So many today seem to want to hide from the possibility that <em>true evil</em> exists, to explain it away as something else, to make it not a cause, but a mere symptom. Why?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">People fascinate me. Specifically, the inner workings of the human brain fascinate me. After all, as human beings, our brains are what separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom. That brain is complex, mystifying, and still largely misunderstood. Indeed, in the medical sciences, the brain is truly the final frontier. For all the extraordinary things they&#8217;ve learned about how the brain works in recent years, they&#8217;ve still barely scratched the surface.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">Human emotions and psychology are particularly difficult to understand. How many times have you scratched your head at another person&#8217;s actions, wondering what in the world they must have been thinking, or feeling? Now, imagine a person who <em>has</em> no feelings. Would he be easier to understand? Perhaps. Would he also scare the bejesus out of you? Probably. As well he should.</span></p>
<p>Let&#8217;s return to that kid above who likes to torture and kill the beloved Fido and Mittens. The mere thought of such acts might bring you to tears, turn your stomach, and make you want to grab a baseball bat and pay that kid a visit. For that kid, however, ripping Mittens limb from limb is merely a&#8230; curiosity. As a psychopath, he doesn’t process emotions the way you and I do. (Please tell me you&#8217;re not curious what it would be like to tear Fido limb from limb.)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">Why doesn&#8217;t he <em>feel</em> in the same way we do? The cause could be physical, environmental, or&#8230; nothing at all. Dare I say it? Some people are just evil.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">It&#8217;s hard to understand, and it draws us in, perhaps out of our own sick curiosity, natural though it may be. Why is the TV show <em>Criminal Minds</em>, which brings us a weekly parade of some of the worst sickos in our midst, so popular? Setting aside the obvious—great cast, solid acting, exceptional writing—might it be because we&#8217;re all, at some level, fascinated by how a human being can do what we ourselves couldn’t even <em>imagine</em> doing, at least not without puking our guts out and collapsing into a weeping mess?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">And might that sicko—that twisted, despicable, unrepentant psychopath—make a great character? Oh yeah, baby! Come on&#8230; tell the truth: you love reading about that kid who&#8217;s sharpening his knife right now, even as he&#8217;s eyeing Fido in the neighbor&#8217;s yard. At least, you love hating reading about that kid. Or is it hate loving?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000">Well&#8230; let me introduce you to Mitchell Norton, <em>the devil</em>. <a href="http://bit.ly/EPbhFMA"><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>http://bit.ly/EPbhFMA</strong></span></a></span></p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~</p><div class="shr-publisher-488"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><div class="feedflare">
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		<title>As I prepare to wrap up the year, I look forward to a more engaged 2013.</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/vmco-9V_G4Y/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:09:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Evolved Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forgive Me Alex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Devil's Bane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Hooper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Editing and Writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lane Diamond Author]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychological Suspense Thriller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thank You]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a very Happy New Year! All in all, I&#8217;d have to say that 2012 has been an exciting year. It&#8217;s certainly been a busy one. Whew! Those of you who follow my blog (Thank &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/' data-shr_title='As+I+prepare+to+wrap+up+the+year%2C+I+look+forward+to+a+more+engaged+2013.'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/' data-shr_title='As+I+prepare+to+wrap+up+the+year%2C+I+look+forward+to+a+more+engaged+2013.'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/12/a-more-engaged-2013/' data-shr_title='As+I+prepare+to+wrap+up+the+year%2C+I+look+forward+to+a+more+engaged+2013.'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;">Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a very Happy New Year!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">All in all, I&#8217;d have to say that 2012 has been an exciting year. It&#8217;s certainly been a busy one. Whew!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Those of you who follow my blog (<em>Thank you!</em>) know all too well that I&#8217;ve given it short shrift in recent months. I&#8217;m not the kind of person who thinks I should be sending you a new blog post every day. <em>Bluch!</em> Who has time to read them? Especially of you&#8217;re like me, and subscribe to about 200 of them. So I try to pick my spots, and provide 3 or 4 decent posts a month. <em>Usually.</em> Yeah, the last few months haven&#8217;t been so good.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">My only real excuse is that I&#8217;ve been working insane hours trying to keep up with an insane editing schedule for all those insane authors at <a href="http://www.EvolvedPub.com" title="Evolved Publishing" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Evolved Publishing</strong></span></a>. (<em>Just kidding! They&#8217;re terrific.</em>) Seriously, though, the pace of things at EP this year far exceeded our expectations, which, I must say, certainly beats the alternative. <img src='http://lanediamond.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif' alt=':-D' class='wp-smiley' /> </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">My business partner <a href="http://www.dtconklin.com/blog/" title="D.T. Conklin" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>D.T. Conklin</strong></span></a> and I had hoped to have 10 good authors and 20 quality books in EP by the end of 2012. Well, we ended up with 14 and 35, respectively. It&#8217;s been a grind, and we experienced a few growing pains &#8212; which, in retrospect, seems perfectly natural &#8212; yet even with those few challenges, it was just plain exciting! And 2013 promises to be a good year, as we continue to build our catalog of quality authors and books.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">2013 will also be exciting for me because we&#8217;re making some changes to our management team, which will free up some time for me not only to do all I must do as a publisher, but to write my own books, too. Man, I can&#8217;t tell you how excited I am to get back into the writing routine! To say it&#8217;s been driving me bonkers that I haven&#8217;t been writing would be one of the year&#8217;s great understatements.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">As part of that, I expect to be more engaged at this here sad excuse for a blog. <img src='http://lanediamond.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' />  I doubt it will happen in January, but by February, I should be well settled into my new routine. If not, I&#8217;m gonna&#8230; I&#8217;m gonna&#8230; well, I&#8217;m gonna go truly bonkers.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Next up is the sequel to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NTNQP8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong><em>Forgive Me, Alex</em></strong></span></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B006NTNQP8" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (BTW, it&#8217;s on sale this week. Save $2.), which I&#8217;m calling <strong><em>The Devil&#8217;s Bane</em></strong>. Some of my favorite characters (and I hope yours) will be making a return appearance: Tony Hooper, Frank Willow, Diana Gregario, Linda Monroe, Ben Komura, and yes&#8230; that despicable Mitchell Norton. <em>Mwoohaha!</em> My hope &#8212; nay, my intention &#8212; is to publish it on May 21st. A lot will have to go right for that to happen, but I am an <em>eternal optimist</em>. (After all, I&#8217;m the guy who assumed my girlfriend quit smoking cigarettes when I started finding cigar butts lying around the house. <img src='http://lanediamond.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif' alt=':P' class='wp-smiley' />  )</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Will it all happen according to plan? I sure hope so. I mean&#8230; err&#8230; ahem&#8230; yes, it will happen!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">In the new year, be happy, be healthy, be safe. Thanks again.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><div class="shr-publisher-487"></div><!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetBottom Automatic --><div class="feedflare">
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		<title>Guest Post by Emlyn Chand, Author of the BIRD BRAIN BOOKS Series</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LaneDiamond/~3/dP1vq24KbVg/</link>
		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:32:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Evolved Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog Hop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emlyn Chand]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Emlyn Chand, award-winning author of FARSIGHTED, TORN TOGETHER, and the BIRD BRAIN BOOKS series. She&#8217;ll be talking about the latter here, for parents and their kids. This guest post is part of &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Emlyn+Chand%2C+Author+of+the+BIRD+BRAIN+BOOKS+Series'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Emlyn+Chand%2C+Author+of+the+BIRD+BRAIN+BOOKS+Series'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-emlyn-chand-author/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Emlyn+Chand%2C+Author+of+the+BIRD+BRAIN+BOOKS+Series'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic -->
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Emlyn-Chand.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-484" title="Emlyn Chand" src="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Emlyn-Chand.jpg" alt="" width="142" height="150" /></a><em>Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Emlyn Chand, award-winning author of FARSIGHTED, TORN TOGETHER, and the BIRD BRAIN BOOKS series. She&#8217;ll be talking about the latter here, for parents and their kids. This guest post is part of a blog hop running at <a title="Evolved Publishing" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing</span></strong></a><span style="color: #000000;"> this week, in which you can not only discover new authors, but win some cool prizes, too.</span></em></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">DON&#8217;T TALK DOWN TO CHILDREN! SMART ENTERTAINMENT EQUALS SMART KIDS.</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Think back to your childhood. What was it like? What did you enjoy doing for fun? I remember playing outside, collecting Pogs and Beanie Babies, watching cartoons, and reading—lots of reading. I loved</span> <strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/02/im-in-love-with-a-vampire-he-has-a-cotton-tail-a-re-review-of-bunnicula-the-book-that-made-me-smart/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Bunnicula</span></a></em></span></strong><span style="color: #000000;">, because it taught me big words and never apologized for that. I couldn’t get enough of <strong><em><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a title="The Babysitter's Club" href="http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/03/a-series-in-re-review-the-baby-sitters-club/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">The</span></a></span></em></strong></span><strong><em><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a title="The Babysitter's Club" href="http://www.emlynchand.com/2012/03/a-series-in-re-review-the-baby-sitters-club/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"> Babysitter’s Club</span></a></span></em></strong><span style="color: #000000;">, which illustrated that girls could be strong and, no, you were never too young to start your own business (and follow in Kristy’s footsteps I did when I opened Novel Publicity at the age of 26. BSC totally deserves some of that credit, thank you very much).</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">These childhood favorites have stuck with me through the years—I even continue to learn from them! But what do kids have nowadays?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Is it just me, or have books and television seriously been dumbed down? Our kids aren’t getting any stupider, are they? I don’t believe so. Of course, this problem isn’t only the curse of the younger generation. These little kiddies have moms who read <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and watch <em>Jersey Shore</em> and <em>The Real Housewives</em> for entertainment. What’s going on?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Am I romanticizing my childhood, or has something seriously changed? Either way, I refuse to follow trend with this stuff and drivel that’s far too widespread for my liking. What’s wrong with a little intellectual entertainment?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Smart books and TV shows equal smart children!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Although I have yet to add the mommy feather to my cap of accomplishments, I’ve been thinking about this issue quite a lot lately.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">It all started when I finally decided to pursue the publication of the children’s book I penned four years ago. My editor loved the story but questioned my decision to use words like <em>mysteriously</em>, <em>investigation</em>, or <em>catastrophe</em>. In the end, we decided to forge forth with the larger vocabulary words and let the chips fall where they may.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">&#8230; And readers noticed in a positive way!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">In fact, one reader said:  “This is a smart book. The storyline is simple (it has to be, to keep things interesting and quick for young kids), but not simplistic. It has excellent higher-level vocabulary (quaint, gazed, zipped, shapely, fluttered, mysteriously, frantic, flitted, nestled-the list goes on and on). As a parent who is forever obsessed with expanding my kid&#8217;s vocabulary (which, at fourteen months, consists mostly of &#8220;doggie,&#8221; &#8220;kitty,&#8221; &#8220;up,&#8221; and &#8220;hi&#8221;-but we&#8217;re getting there) and exposing her to new words, this is essential. I loved that I, an adult, was able to read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007WK9TA8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B007WK9TA8&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Honey the Hero</span></strong></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B007WK9TA8" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> without feeling cheated out of thinking. I kept imagining reading this story with my kids when they&#8217;re older, and pausing to explain what the new words meant, and how they could use them.”</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">And you know what? I’ve not heard a single complaint about the words being too big or challenging. There are plenty of books out there that stick to an easy vocabulary for three- to six-year-olds.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">The Bird Brain Books are different, and if you ask me, they’re different in a good way.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Yes, I want to provide stories that can capture children’s interest, but it’s just as important to grow their minds as it is their imaginations. That’s why I will continue to use “big words,” make references to classic literature, and teach a lesson or two along the way—while always keeping the enjoyment factor number one.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">What are some other “smart kids’ books” you’ve come across, and how have they been received by your little ones?</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;">Don’t forget to stop by the <a title="Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop</span></strong></a>. We’ve got 20 autographed books up for grabs! From thrilling young adult adventures to suspense nail-biters, thought-provoking literary novels, bright and cheery books for children, an uplifting memoir, and hot-and-steamy romance, we’ve got something for everyone on your holiday-shopping list.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">About <em>Davey the Detective</em></span></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DVYA5O/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B008DVYA5O&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&#038;ASIN=B008DVYA5O&#038;Format=_SL160_&#038;ID=AsinImage&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;WS=1&#038;tag=diamonperspe-20" ></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B008DVYA5O" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><span style="color: #000000;">In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DVYA5O/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B008DVYA5O&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Davey the Detective</span></strong></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B008DVYA5O" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, the second of the BIRD BRAIN BOOKS, Davey dubs himself the luckiest crow in the entire world when he finds a wonderful, shiny object. It even has a fantastic name: “paperclip.” Wow!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">One dark and dreary day, Davey’s treasure goes missing, and he is beside himself with grief. Luckily, he knows just how he can find out which of the forest animals is to blame for the theft. Inspired by the torn pages of a Sherlock Holmes story that were used to fashion his nest, Davey calls on the help of Sarah the sparrow to investigate the mystery and, hopefully, retrieve his prize.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Together the two birds begin to collect clues. Their trail leads them straight to Mr. Bushtail, a greedy squirrel who keeps a giant store of objects in a hollowed-out tree trunk. When Mr. Bushtail refuses to cooperate, the two birds have no choice but to break into his tree house in search of the truth.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Justice will prevail and treasure will be found in this intriguing tale of mystery.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">About the Author</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she&#8217;s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity. Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children&#8217;s book series and is beginning to dapple in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit <a href="http://www.EmlynChand.com" title="EmlynChand.com" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">EmlynChand.com</span></strong></a> for more info. Don&#8217;t forget to say &#8220;hi&#8221; to her sun conure Ducky!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a id="rc-c17c2449" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c17c2449/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script></span></p>
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		<title>Guest Post by Kimberly Kinrade, Author of THE THREE LOST KIDS Series</title>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:41:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Evolved Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog Hop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimberly Kinrade]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Kimberly Kinrade, award-winning author of THE FORBIDDEN TRILOGY and THE THREE LOST KIDS series, for a guest post designed for parents and their kids. This is part of a blog hop running &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-kimberly-kinrade-author-of-the-three-lost-kids-series/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<!-- Start Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><div class='shareaholic-like-buttonset' style='float:none;height:30px;'><a class='shareaholic-tweetbutton' data-shr_count='horizontal' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-kimberly-kinrade-author-of-the-three-lost-kids-series/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Kimberly+Kinrade%2C+Author+of+THE+THREE+LOST+KIDS+Series'></a><a class='shareaholic-fblike' data-shr_layout='button_count' data-shr_showfaces='false' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-kimberly-kinrade-author-of-the-three-lost-kids-series/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Kimberly+Kinrade%2C+Author+of+THE+THREE+LOST+KIDS+Series'></a><a class='shareaholic-fbsend' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-kimberly-kinrade-author-of-the-three-lost-kids-series/'></a><a class='shareaholic-googleplusone' data-shr_size='medium' data-shr_count='true' data-shr_href='http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-kimberly-kinrade-author-of-the-three-lost-kids-series/' data-shr_title='Guest+Post+by+Kimberly+Kinrade%2C+Author+of+THE+THREE+LOST+KIDS+Series'></a></div><div style="clear: both; min-height: 1px; height: 3px; width: 100%;"></div><!-- End Shareaholic LikeButtonSetTop Automatic --><p><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kimbkinrade.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-482" title="kimbkinrade" src="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kimbkinrade.jpg" alt="" width="140" height="172" /></a></span><em>Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Kimberly Kinrade, award-winning author of THE FORBIDDEN TRILOGY and THE THREE LOST KIDS series, for a guest post designed for parents and their kids. This is part of a blog hop running at <a title="Evolved Publishing" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing</span></strong></a><span style="color: #000000;"> this week, in which you can not only discover new authors, but win some cool prizes, too.</span></em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">THE MAKING OF A REVOLUTIONARY</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/littering.aspx_.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-481" title="littering.aspx" src="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/littering.aspx_.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="160" /></a>When my oldest daughter was 2 years old and first learned the sad hard truth of the chicken nugget, she formed a revolt. “The Chicken Nuggets Must Live!” she shouted, tiny fist in the air.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">She turned 10 years old this Halloween, and while she still eats the occasional nugget (my children were contemplating a world where nuggets were made of people, butterflies and dinosaurs ^.^), she is still a revolutionary, and the staunchest environmentalist I know.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I have been recycling–and sometimes composting–since she was born. She went to a Waldorf School for her first year, and she loves animals and nature. It’s not surprising, then, that she doesn’t want the Earth to die. What is surprising to me is how consistent she is in the little things.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">She will pick up the grossest, nastiest piece of garbage you can imagine, and walk blocks to find a proper receptacle for it. As a mother, I cringe. And caution. And buy her gloves. As a human, I applaud her. (I do this as her mom too; don’t get me wrong.) She even cleans up lunch trash while other kids play. And she is making a difference. With each piece of garbage she picks up, she is saving something of our Earth for the future.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Lessons from the Young</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So often, we as grown-ups get so burdened by oil spills and toxic waste and ozone layers that we forget to bend down and pick up that paper on the sidewalk. Yes, we need to be conscious of the global impact our collective choices make, but, don’t let those issues become so overwhelming as to paralyze you from the simple day-to-day things we all can do to make life more beautiful.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">When she was 8 years old, after cleaning up some trash in our neighborhood, she came home and drew the picture you see above. On her own. Without any prompting. I was floored, and awed, and proud. In case the quality makes it hard, that’s an &#8220;X&#8221; in the eye of the deer eating trash, because it will die. (The other deer is smiling, by the way, and I’m really—mostly—sure that’s a leg&#8230;.)</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Inspiration</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">My kids inspire me daily—in my writing and in life. They are the reason I took a small break from writing my YA paranormal novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OJR8DM/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B007OJR8DM&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Forbidden Fire</span></strong></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B007OJR8DM" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /> (book #2 in the <em>Forbidden Trilogy</em>) to write three children’s chapter books based on worlds they discovered.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Now, all three of their books are out, and a new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009GUBSX8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B009GUBSX8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">The Three Lost Kids &amp; The Death of the Sugar Fairy</span></strong></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B009GUBSX8" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />, just launched October 2nd, and <em>The Three Lost Kids &amp; The Christmas Curse</em> is following close on its heels, to be released November 26th. (I even managed to finish the <em>Forbidden Trilogy</em> as well!)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;">Don’t forget to stop by the <a title="Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop</span></strong></a>. We’ve got 20 autographed books up for grabs! From thrilling young adult adventures to suspense nail-biters, thought-provoking literary novels, bright and cheery books for children, an uplifting memoir, and hot-and-steamy romance, we’ve got something for everyone on your holiday-shopping list.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">About <em>Lexie World</em></span></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NRP7N4/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B006NRP7N4&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=B006NRP7N4&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=diamonperspe-20" alt="" border="0" /></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B006NRP7N4" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><span style="color: #000000;">The first book in <em>The Three Lost Kids</em> series is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006NRP7N4/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B006NRP7N4&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Lexie World</span></strong></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B006NRP7N4" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" />, all about the environment, and how one little girl and her sisters learn that the little things make a big difference. (No, this world does not include chicken nuggets made from people, or dinosaurs.)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">5-year-old Lexie is tired of getting in trouble for leaving her stuff and trash outside. She doesn’t mean to litter or ruin her shoes, but it’s just <em>so hard</em> to remember sometimes.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">When she, her two big sisters, and their dog TayTay end up finding a portal to Lexie World, Lexie discovers the consequence littering has had. Garbage Goblins have taken over and are destroying the Earth!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">To save Lexie World, the girls (and dog) must travel with their new Unicorn friend through the Waters of Waste and over the Mountain of Lost Clothes to retrieve a piece of the Mirror of Ice in order to remind the Garbage Goblins of their true form and break their curse.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">On this journey, Lexie learns about courage, love and the importance of taking care of her world.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">(Just 99 cents, everywhere eBooks are sold.)</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">I&#8217;m a Mom</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I’m a mom, and I wrote this book, and the subsequent books, for my kids. I also wrote them for <em>your</em> kids. <em>Lexie World</em> includes discussion questions for you and your child to talk about how they can participate in caring for the Earth.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">About the Author</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in her heart. She writes fantasy and paranormal stories for children, young adults and adults and still believes in magic worlds. Check out her YA paranormal Forbidden Trilogy—<em>Forbidden Mind</em>, <em>Forbidden Fire </em>and<em> Forbidden Life</em>—and her children’s fantasy chapter books Three Lost Kids series<em> Lexie World</em>, <em>Bella World</em>, <em>Maddie World</em>, <em>The Three Lost Kids &amp; The Death of the Sugar Fairy</em>, and <em>The Three Lost Kids &amp; The Christmas Curse.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">She is also the co-owner and marketing director of Daring Books Design &amp; Marketing, and Marketing Director for Evolved Publishing. She lives with her three little girls who think they’re ninja princesses with super powers, her two dogs who think they’re humans, and her husband, also known as the sexy Russian Prince, who is the love of her life and writing partner.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">For a list of her books, check out: </span><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kimberlykinrade?tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20"><span style="color: #0000ff;">http://Amazon.com/author/kimberlykinrade</span></a></span></strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Find Kimberly Kinrade</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://kimberlykinrade.com/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Website</span></a>     <a href="http://twitter.com/KimberlyKinrade"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Twitter</span></a>     <a href="http://facebook.com/kimberlykinrade"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Facebook</span></a>     <a href="http://twitter.com/ipiacademy"><span style="color: #0000ff;">IPI Twitter</span></a>     <a href="http://facebook.com/ipiacademy"><span style="color: #0000ff;">IPI Facebook</span></a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="file:///C:/htt/::IPIAcademy.com"><span style="color: #0000ff;">IPI Website</span></a>     <a href="http://threelostkids.com/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Three Lost Kids Website</span></a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://daringbooksdesign.com/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Daring Books Design &amp; Marketing Website</span></a></span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a id="rc-c17c2443" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c17c2443/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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		<title>Guest Post by Angela Scott, Author of DESERT RICE</title>
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		<comments>http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-angela-scott-author-of-desert-rice/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:24:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lane Diamond</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Evolved Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angela Scott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog Hop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest Post]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lanediamond.com/?p=476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Angela Scott, award-winning author of WANTED: DEAD OR UNDEAD, DESERT RICE, and SURVIVOR ROUNDUP, for a guest post I think you&#8217;ll find interesting. This is part of a blog hop running at &#8230; <a href="http://lanediamond.com/2012/11/guest-post-by-angela-scott-author-of-desert-rice/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
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<p><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming author Angela Scott, award-winning author of WANTED: DEAD OR UNDEAD, DESERT RICE, and SURVIVOR ROUNDUP, for a guest post I think you&#8217;ll find interesting. This is part of a blog hop running at <a title="Evolved Publishing" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing</span></strong></a> this week, in which you can not only discover new authors, but win some cool prizes, too.</em></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">How do you balance your religious beliefs but stay true to the story you need to write?</span></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/972033450.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-477" title="972033450" src="http://lanediamond.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/972033450.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="150" /></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I&#8217;m not a religious fanatic, but I do have a moral compass and &#8220;rules&#8221; for myself that I try my best to live by. But here&#8217;s the thing&#8230;I belong to a religious affiliation who have even more rules that I should be living by, and the kinds of stories I find myself writing tend to break a lot of those rules. I&#8217;m a good person, but my characters make a lot of mistakes&#8211;some pretty big ones. These are the stories that come to me, the voices that whisper in my ear. Personally, I think I would be HORRIBLE at writing religious fiction type books, so knowing that, I don&#8217;t even try.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So why does any of this matter? I guess because I worry someone might mistake my stories as my own personal belief system. What I write about rarely matches up to what I believe to be true. Do I believe kids should be having sex at fifteen-years-old? Heck no. Do I believe it&#8217;s okay for kids to drink? Never. The list goes on. </span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008U04YU4/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B008U04YU4&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=B008U04YU4&amp;Format=_SL160_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=diamonperspe-20" alt="" border="0" /></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B008U04YU4" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008U04YU4/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B008U04YU4&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=wp-amazon-diamonperspe-20" rel="nofollow"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Desert Rice</span></strong></a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=diamonperspe-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B008U04YU4" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /> deals with some pretty tough topics. I don&#8217;t go into details, but there is enough there for a reader to paint their own sordid picture. This is a book that I know might offend several people of my church. I guess, even after all this time, I still worry about what people think of me. Sad, I know.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So then why write the stories I do? Why write about zombies or child abuse? Why not just stick to my moral compass and do the right thing? Because rarely do I pick the story or its characters&#8211;they come to me. That sounds crazy, but it&#8217;s true. So I write what I write, and I will let the chips fall where they may. I don&#8217;t think what I write about pushes any major envelopes&#8211;there are MANY books out there with topics and word choices I would NEVER do&#8211;but to be a member of a religion that preaches building up the kingdom God, I&#8217;m pretty sure my books aren&#8217;t doing any of that.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Take Stephanie Meyer for instance (I know, I know. We really don&#8217;t want to talk about her, right?) but her fourth book got some members of her religious group in an uproar. They didn&#8217;t agree with what she wrote. They attacked her and questioned her standing in her church. Besides her writing not being up to par, she didn&#8217;t write anything completely offensive or downright evil, but she suffered some backlash for it, regardless.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">So how can I be who I am, believe what I do, but write books that contradict some of those beliefs? Am I a hypocrite? Maybe. I don&#8217;t know. There are certain lines I have drawn, certain &#8220;things&#8221; and word choices I would never use, but I have made some &#8220;creative choices&#8221; (for lack of a better term) that some in my religious community would say is wrong&#8211;I should be sticking to my standards, so they would say.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">What do I do? How do I walk that fine line? How do I explain myself&#8230;or not?</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em>What do you think? How do you balance it? Do you draw lines in the sand or do you write the story that needs to be written&#8230;no matter what? I&#8217;d love to know.</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Click <a title="HERE" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/authors-q-u/angela-scott/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">HERE</span></strong></a> to learn more about Angela Scott.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;">Don’t forget to stop by the <a title="Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop" href="http://www.evolvedpub.com/press/blog/evolved-publishing-blog-hop/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Evolved Publishing pre-holiday blog hop</span></strong></a>. We’ve got 20 autographed books up for grabs! From thrilling young adult adventures to suspense nail-biters, thought-provoking literary novels, bright and cheery books for children, an uplifting memoir, and hot-and-steamy romance, we’ve got something for everyone on your holiday-shopping list.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><em>About DESERT RICE:</em></strong> Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl, but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy pants. Sam&#8217;s not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it&#8217;s all part of her brother&#8217;s plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from the law. 15-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister, including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them in the first place&#8211;their mother.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own. Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good reason. But when Sam meets &#8220;Jesus&#8221;&#8211;who smells an awful lot like a horse&#8211;in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn&#8217;t remember, and Jacob isn&#8217;t talking.</span></p>
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