Letter to Zev in The Book of Zev from his author, Marilyn Horowitz

Have you ever wanted to write a letter to a character in a book? What would you say to that character? Would you sympathize with their plight, or set them straight? Our guest today, Marilyn Horowitz, author of The Book of Zev, wrote a letter to one of her main characters, Zev. Zev Bronfman, a strapping 32-year old-virgin, angry atheist, refugee from a religious Jewish life, and former engineer for the U.S. Patent Office in Alexandria, Virginia, drives a cab and sleeps around in New York City. And the trouble he gets himself into and must get out of makes for a wild ride with his co-conspirator Sarah. Sarah Hirshbaum, a beautiful, redheaded, depressed, God-hating kosher chef, seesaws between yoga and too much red wine. Keep reading to see what Horowitz says to Zev. Dear Zev, Thank you for inspiring me to write this book. Thank you for being such a cooperative and helpful character. I was troubled by your crisis of faith and wonder...
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Balancing Life and Writing, a guest post by Paul DeBlassie III, author of The Unholy

Today, I'm happy to welcome Paul DeBlassie, author of The Unholy, to my notebook. He's sharing a bit about the importance of balance in his life. Balancing Life and Writing by Paul DeBlassie III Balancing life and writing is a matter of listening to the energy coming from self, family, and friends so that nothing tips more one way than the other and the creative juices stay flowing rather than being depleted by excessive writing and are therefore constantly in a state of being replenished. I had a music teacher who once told me to practice or play up to the point that I feel bored, that the energy for it has been spent, and then to stop for the day. That’s what I do with writing. I stay with it, hit the page running each day, and go for as long and with as much intensity as I have for the scene that I’m writing. Then, I stop. And, if I don’t...
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Book Blitz: Miracle Man by William R. Leibowitz

Book Excerpt: A tall figure wearing a black-hooded slicker walked quickly through the night carrying a large garbage bag. His pale face was wet with rain. He had picked a deserted part of town. Old warehouse buildings were being gutted so they could be converted into apartments for non-existent buyers. There were no stores, no restaurants and no people. “Who’d wanna live in this shit place?” he muttered to himself. Even the nice neighborhoods of this dismal city had more “For Sale” signs than you could count. He was disgusted with himself and disgusted with her, but they were too young to be burdened. Life was already hard enough. He shook his head incredulously. She had been so damn sexy, funny, full of life. Why the hell couldn’t she leave well enough alone? She should have had some control. He wanted to scream-out down the ugly street, “It’s her fucking fault that I’m in the rain in this crap neighborhood trying to evade the...
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Audiobook Review: The Devil’s Workshop by Alex Grecian

Title: The Devil's Workshop (The Murder Squad #3) Author: Alex Grecian Narrator: John Curless Published: May 20, 2014 by Penguin Audio Genre: Mystery Rating: 2 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Audible London, 1890. Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family. And that isn’t even the worst of it. During the escape, the killers have stumbled upon the location of another notorious murderer, one thought gone for good but now prepared to join forces with them. Jack the Ripper is loose in London once more. I've mentioned before that my ratings are entirely subjective. It's my reaction...
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