1.  Tell us briefly about your book?

The Orchard of Hope is a middle grade fantasy  (targeted for ages 9 - 12) novel that takes place in a land that under the spell of an evil sorcerer. The spell prevents the people who live there from determining what’s real and what’s not. The spell alters perceptions and deceives people (we learn more about how he’s doing this as the plot unfolds). The book features two main characters. The first main character is a boy named Nicholas who’s figuring out his talents and how to develop them as he trains to become a sorcerer. The other main character is an adventurous and sometimes hot-headed girl named Kelsey who’s in training to be a soldier in the king’s army.

2.  Where did you come up with the idea for your current book?

This book is part of a series called The Kingdom Wars. Each book in the  series is an allegory that centers upon a different life issue. This particular book  deals with the topic of hope and how some people attempt to steal hope from others. I came up with this idea from watching how both adults and children deal with having others attempt to discourage them from achieving their potential.

3.  What inspires you to write?

People. We can be extremely different and yet we all share some common experiences, and I love the fact that there are things that touch all of us. There are some experiences that transcend the artificial barriers that we’ve created to separate people.

4.  Will there be future books in the series?

Yes. This is the second book. The first book is called The Orphanage of Miracles. I’m currently working on the third, which further explores how the sorcerer alters perceptions and creates division between people within the kingdom.

5. If you could spend a day with a famous fictional character, who would it be and why?

Sherlock Holmes. I love watching the new BBC TV series because I feel that it captures the essence of Holmes in a modern setting. I think it would be fascinating to listen to him talk about his cases, observe his wit as well as his quirks, and get a glimpse inside such a keen intellectual mind.

Title: The Orchard of Hope

Author Name: Amy Neftger

Author Bio:

Short Bio: Amy Neftzger published her first fiction book Conversations with the Moon in 2003. Since then she has published books for both children and adults, including All that the Dog Ever Wanted, Bedtime Stories for Dogs, Bedtime Stories for Cats, Leftover shorts, Confessions From a Moving Van, The Orphanage of Miracles, and The Ferryman. She lives in Nashville with her family and pet gargoyle Newton.

Long Bio:Amy Neftzger (born June 23) is an American researcher and author who has published fiction books, non-fiction books, business articles, and peer review research. Her works have reached an international audience.

Amy was born in Illinois and graduated from Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. She received her bachelors degree from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida and her Masters in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She graduated from both Universities with honors.

She has written numerous business and journal articles, but her fiction works have been the most commercially successful. In 2003 she published Conversations with the Moon, which was also translated into Korean and published in South Korea. In 2005 she collaborated with her husband, guitarist Tyra Neftzger on a children's book called "All that the Dog Ever Wanted." The book was designed to introduce children to jazz music at an early age and included a CD sampler of jazz tunes. In 2007 she worked as an editor on a business fable called "The Damned Company." She's also written "Confessions From a Moving Van" and "Leftover Shorts."

In 2013, Amy released her first Young Adult book called "The Orphanage of Miracles." The sequel to this book, "The Orchard of Hope" is scheduled for release in June of 2014, and The Ferryman (adult fiction) is scheduled for release in October, 2014.

Author Links - The link for any or all of the following...

 

http://neftzger.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Neftzger

http://www.twitter.com/Neftzger

http://instagram.com/neftzger

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/82732.Amy_Neftzger

http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Neftzger/e/B004VGUPNG/

Tags/Labels: middle grade, fantasy, gargoyles, children’s literature, magic, sorcerer, miracles, hope, insirpational

Book Genre: Middle grade fiction/ fantasy

Publisher: Fields of Gold Publishing, Inc (Imprint Fog Ink)

Release Date: June 23, 2014

Buy Link(s):http://www.amazon.com/The-Orchard-Hope-Amy-Neftzger/dp/1940894034/r

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-orchard-of-hope-amy-neftzger/1119844179?ean=9781940894034

 

http://www.bookdepository.com/Orchard-Hope-Amy-Neftzger/9781940894034

 
Book Description:

 
“Hope is never gone, but it can be eaten alive. “

A quest to save hope.

A kingdom under a spell.

A wizard in training.

A gargoyle with a sweet tooth.

The sequel to The Orphanage of Miracles is filled

with engaging characters, magic, adventure, and

unusual circumstance.  It’s a story that will

both entertain and inspire the reader.

Kelsey, a strong-willed and high spirited young girl, embarks upon another adventurous quest - this time to save hope, which is being stolen from the orchard.  While the kingdom is still under the spell of the evil sorcerer who distorts reality in order to gain control, the king begins training someone who he believes can ultimately defeat the sorcerer: a young boy named Nicholas. Revisit some of your favorite characters or meet them for the first time in this volume.

Excerpt One (300-500 or so Words):

Hope is never gone. But it can be eaten alive, and that’s exactly what was happening in the orchard. The king had told them about the problem before, but the problem wasn’t going away. In fact, the problem was getting bigger and becoming critical, and the king was certain that Kelsey could help. She was excited about the trip and looking forward to the journey to the orchard, wherever that might be and however long it would take.

It wasn’t as if Kelsey hadn’t enjoyed the past 18 months of training with the king’s army. The battle conditioning had been a wonderful experience for her, but now she was ready for action. Too much time spent in one place had made her restless. When the king first mentioned the quest, Kelsey had jumped up out of her seat with excitement.

“How do we save hope?” Kelsey asked with undisguised eagerness. After an awkward pause she sat down again and waited for an answer. Her fingers gripped the top of the thick walnut table where she was seated in the king’s study. Every wall in this room was covered with bookshelves from floor to ceiling, except for the places where there were windows, which also stretched the height of the room.

“That’s a question to which we do not yet have an answer. It’s a bit of a tricky situation,” the king said as he smiled. He was a tall figure with broad shoulders and flowing red hair. Although he ruled this land and was respected by his opponents in battle, Kelsey often thought about him as something of a father figure. His stature conveyed his strength, but his eyes and his smile hinted at the tenderness that Kelsey always saw in him. Of course, she had known him under different circumstances before she knew he was the king. In fact, he had been traveling in disguise and appeared to be a small mute orphan that Kelsey had attempted to help. Only later did she learn his true identity.

“Why don’t you simply fence the orchard?” asked Nicholas, who was a young boy about the same age as Kelsey. He sat upright in his chair, as if paying attention to a lesson.

“I wish the solution were that easy,” the king replied solemnly, “but we don’t fully understand the extent of the situation. Implanting obstacles, such as a fence, will solve the problem only if it’s a simple one. However, this issue is complicated.”

Excerpt Two (500-800 or so Words):

His hair was white, but he had a very long green beard the color of moss, and he smelled of earth. It wasn’t a dirty smell, as if something were rotting. Instead, it was a rich smell that reminded Nicholas of the forest. It had the scent of both new and old things that intermixed in the present air. The fragrance seemed relevant, but Nicholas couldn't explain why.

“Hello, Sir,” Nicholas said politely.

“How much time do we have?” Moss asked.

“I don’t know,” Nicholas replied, since he wasn’t sure how long his lessons were scheduled to last.

“Then I’ll need to teach you to tell time,” Moss concluded. “Have you ever seen a clock before?”

Megan winked at Nicholas and then slowly drew a circle in the air. Nicholas understood why she had said that genius was circular, but he still wasn’t sure that Moss was a genius. But he was certainly odd.

“I’ve seen a clock, sir,” Nicholas answered.

“Good. Then telling time won’t be quite so foreign to you.”

Moss rapidly made his way across the room to an old clock and brought it back to where Nicholas was standing. The old man set the clock down on the table and told Nicholas to study the hands. Nicholas first glanced at Megan and then at Moss before turning his attention to the walnut clock that stood before him. He watched a small pendulum erratically swaying from side to side as it settled into a regular rhythm. Then he looked at the hands, which were shaped like little gloves with the palms turned outward and fingers held stiffly together.

“How many hands are there?” Moss asked as he tapped a pencil on the back of a chair.

“Two,” Nicholas quickly replied.

“Look again,” Moss insisted as he stopped the tapping motion. Nicholas glanced at Megan, who motioned for him to follow directions.

Nicholas stared at the face of the clock, and as he did, the hands turned to wings. They were long slender wings that stretched out elegantly in a slight curve as they moved slowly around in circles. Then they faded from his sight.

“How many hands are there?” Moss asked again.

“None,” Nicholas replied as he stared at the face of the clock with no hands on it. He blinked forcefully a few times, as if attempting to wake himself up. He was certain there were hands or wings on the clock only a few moments ago. Now there was nothing but a smooth round disk with numbers around the edges. There wasn’t even a notch in the center for attaching the hands.

“Better,” Moss replied thoughtfully. “But look again.”

“He’s trying too hard,” said a very deep resonating voice from somewhere near the floor.

“No, he’s not. He’s doing fine,” Moss replied to the voice without looking away from the clock. The voice, however, had already distracted Nicholas, who looked down near his feet to see a small stone gargoyle staring up at him. The creature was about two feet tall and made of granite, but his movements weren’t rigid as he turned his neck to look up at Nicholas.

“Newton!” Moss said with annoyance in his voice, “You’re distracting him!”

“He needs distracting,” the gargoyle replied as he gracefully leapt up onto the table, using his wings to lift himself through the air. He landed on his feet and sat next to the clock. He flapped his reptilian-like stone wings a few more times and then pulled them in close to his body.

“He does not need distracting,” Moss insisted with emphasis. “We’re in the middle of a lesson here.”

“My name is Nicholas,” Nicholas said politely.

“I’m Newton, the castle’s finest gargoyle,” the creature replied as he extended a claw with long sharp talons. Nicholas grasped it and did his best to provide a firm handshake without cutting himself. Newton then turned to greet Megan with a high five. He was small, but he was also formidable enough to meet Megan’s powerful greeting without being shaken in the least.

“You’re the castle’s only gargoyle,” Moss replied flatly.

“Only and finest. They’re not mutually exclusive categories,” Newton explained with confidence.

“Why haven’t I seen you before?” Nicholas asked.

“I belong to Moss, so I’m really more of a gargoyle in residence when Moss is in the castle.”

“You belong to Moss? Like a pet?”

“Sort of. He brought me to life,” Newton explained. “Technically, I could leave him — but I have a strong sense of loyalty ... although I sometimes feel that it may be misguided.”

“Newton, we’re not here to give Nicholas your life history. Some other time, please,” Moss said. “Now, can we get on with our lesson?”

“Sure,” Newton replied, then he turned to Nicholas. “We’ll do lunch.”

Ironically, it all starts with a popular book about BDSM.

When Angelina Jameson steps into her boss's office, armed with an acid article about Billionaires, BDSM and Blah-blah-blah, she thinks her career will take a boost. But her career suddenly drops to the second place when she finds herself face to face with her nemesis.

Blade Spencer becomes editor-in-chief of Unabridged—a literary magazine where his ex-lover Angelina works. For three years, since she'd fled small town Jamestown without a word or explanation, they haven't heard of one another. When they meet again, the past and all the feelings between them come back to life again and rush upon them with the speed of lightning, making them both realize their love has never died. But can they reconcile with the new circumstances and changes that occurred during the three years they lost? None of them is the same person the other used to know.

Then there is the faceless shadow who hunts them from the dark, driven by obsession and greed...

*This book contains strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anca-Melinda Coliolu, writing as Melinda De Ross, lives in her native Romania with her husband, Ionut-Augustin Coliolu.

She attended Law School and got her degree but worked as a journalist for several newspapers, polishing her writing skills.

It never occurred to her that she wanted a career as an author until she began writing, as therapy to get perspective on a crucial part of her life.

Melinda was a professional target shooter for a decade, winning multiple National Championships. She was breaking records in her teens until health issues forced her to give up the sport.

Out of that heartbreak, Rendezvous with Hymera started taking shape and so began her career as a Romantic Suspense author.

Melinda has always been a fan of writers like Diana Gabaldon, Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown. Currently she weaves romance into tales laced with the paranormal and occult. Her interests in yoga, philosophy and a large range of other disciplines give her work depth and color.

She is also the author of the series Coriola (Mirage Beyond Flames and Dante’s Amulet) and A Touch Of Poetry, a short poems collection.

 

SEWING CAN BE DANGEROUS AND OTHER SMALL THREADS

 

The eleven long short stories in “Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads combine history, mystery, action and/or romance, and range from drug trafficking using Guatemalan hand-woven wallets, to an Antebellum U.S. slave using codes in her quilts as a message system to freedom; from an ex-journalist and her Hopi Indian maid solving a cold case together involving Katchina spirits, to a couple hiding Christian passports in a comforter in Nazi Germany; from a wedding quilt curse dating back to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, to a mystery involving a young seamstress in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; from a 1980’s Romeo and Juliet romance between a rising Wall Street financial ‘star’ and an eclectic fiber artist, to a Haight-Asbury love affair between a professor and a beautiful macramé artist gone horribly askew, just to name a few.