Review Day: Dirty Rice

It's Review Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Title: Dirty Rice
Author: Dorothy K. Morris
My Rating: 4 stars

Book Blurb:

DIRTY RICE, a novel set in the early 18th Century in the Low-Country of the early South Carolina Colony, tells of love, passion, adventure and cruelty with totally believable characters. It is the first prequel to the four books of the Mockingbird Hill Series. The early 18th Century saw vast expansion into the New World from England, the European Continent and from Africa, and the establishment of rice plantations in the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia. Set against this background DIRTY RICE sweeps us away to a bygone era of adventure, romance and brutal reality. This is the story of African rice and African people, their knowledge, expertise and their forced labor that made the Carolina Colony the wealthiest colony in colonial America. It takes us from the plush parlors of aristocratic English absentee land owners, who set policy in the Colony to maximize profit, to the swampy shores of Carolina amid the mud and muck of rice fields, where people kidnapped from West Africa because of their knowledge and expertise in the growing of rice, were forced to work to fill the coffers of the landowners with wealth. It is a story of exploitation by some and compassion from others. In this, as in her four previous novels, Morris' emphasis is on the people who lived and were forced to cope with what life sent their way. This saga will continue into the next novel, TALLY'S NOOK.

ANSA: Andy Gavin!

Welcome back to another week of ANSA!  Meet Andy Gavin everyone!!  He is currently on tour all over blogs.  Catch the other stops here.

Andy Gavin is a fantasy author, owner of Mascherato, and founder of Naughty Dog, Inc - a popular video game company who created the Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter franchises.  Andy graduated with a Ph.D. from MIT and worked with Cliff Nielsen and Dave Phillips to create his latest novel Untimed.

Andy's writing began with doodles in a notebook of a SciFi/Fantasy based world.  "I’m a lifelong creator and explorer of worlds. As far back as first grade I remember spending most of the school day in one day dream or another. I had a huge notebook stuffed with drawings, story bits, and concepts for an elaborate Sci-Fi/Fantasy world I cobbled together from bits of Star Wars, Narnia, and Battlestar Galactica. By fourth or fifth grade not only was I losing myself in every fantasy or Sci-Fi novel I could, but I was building Dungeons & Dragons castles and caverns on paper. Then from 1980 on the computer.

ANSA: HilyBee!

Hey guys!  I did a poll on Twitter and Facebook recently asking who you would like to see featured on ANSA.  Well, an overwhelming number of people said me.. for some crazy reason I can't explain.  After debating if I even wanted to write all about myself... I decided it might be fun.  With that said, I am not a cocky, ego driven person who likes talking about herself all the time, so this is very uhm... weird. heh.  But... here goes nothing right?!

HilyBee is my online user name, my real name is Hilary.  "HilyBee" is the nickname I was given in real life by my boyfriend and best friend Zach.  Yes, I like bumblebees, but only the non-stinging kind.  You know, the cute little cartoons that are stinger-less and not going to come after me.

Cazic and Sera - Best Friends!

I work for a shoe company called Tradehome Shoes full time as the assistant manager.  I currently live in Kentucky with Zach and my cat Sera (short for Serendipity).  We did have a dachshund named Cazic (Kaz-ik) but he recently passed away from an immune disease called IMT.  It's a nasty genetic disease that I hope that you/your animals never have to ever go through.  We now have a mini dachshund named Yosuke (Yos-Kay).  I lived in Ohio for the first 18 years of my life, then moved to Kentucky for college and just haven't left.

I have two degrees from Sullivan University in Kentucky.  My first degree is in Baking and Pastry Arts - yes that means exactly what you think.  I am a Pastry Chef in disguise.  My second degree is a B.S. in business management and administration.  I completed both degrees in early 2012.  I absolutely loved going to college at a private, small classroom University.  It really made a huge difference in my learning.

Me in my Chef uniform
"eating" brownie burbon balls

In Sept. of 2011, I began writing Novel d'Tales just for fun.  I absolutely love books, reading and my Kindle.  This blog has taught me so much it's ridiculous.  I have met some of my dearest friends through this blog and read some of the most incredible books.  If you are considering blogging, even if it is just a daily journal blog, I say give it a try.  I never would have started this blog if it weren't for Zach and Sidney.  They have both supported my blogging in many ways.

No, I won't tell you my favorite book genres.  I have too many favorite authors to count or even begin listing.  I've enjoyed writing papers since I was in third grade, and have loved reading since I knew how to.  I am considered a "book blogger" but I call myself an ebook blogger.  I don't necessarily have a major inspiration for writing.. I just write whatever comes to my mind or for certain events.  This blog is not published, but I hope it can be some day!

Review Day: Amber's Destiny!

It's Review Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Title: Amber's Destiny
Author: Eliza B. Hart
Rating: 3.5 stars

Book Blurb:

Who is Amber Raine?
Amber herself doesn’t know, but someone does…

When Amber finds herself in the sleepy village of Canten on the Well with no memory of who she is or how she got there, she believes her biggest challenge will be to uncover her lost past. But, when an act of heroism draws the attention of two rival companies, uncovering her memories becomes the least of her worries as she begins to discover that her new life is anything but ordinary. 

She is left with a choice and as she embarks on her new job she uncovers many surprising truths, not only about herself, but also about her colleagues and their rivals. 

As the task of protecting her clients leads to new and unexpected revelations, she is drawn to the inevitable conclusion; In order to understand her past, she must embrace her destiny.