The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

Rain, Snow, the Children’s Museum, a trip to the mall, and Back to School filled our week. The kiddos went back on Thursday but Sophia came down with a 24 hour bug that included vomiting, so no school for her on Friday. It was a very busy week. This weekend I am taking down the inside holiday decorations. Stay Caffeinated.

Last Week on the Blog

• Sleep No More By Jayne Ann Krentz (book review)
• Nexus By Ramez Naam (audio review)
• Buried Deep By Melinda Leigh & The Lost Bones By Kendra Elliot (book review)
• Bone Deep By Kendra Elliot & The Wrong Bones By Melinda Leigh (book review)

This Week on the Blog

• Max Abaddon And The Crystal King By Justin Leslie (audio review)
• The Cloisters By Katy Hays (audio review)
• A Chance Inheritance By Carolyn Brown (book review, guest post)
• WOLF By Rebecca Zanetti (book review)
• Dead Things By Stephen Blackmoore (audio review)

New Arrivals at the Caffeinated Cafe

Learn more:

• The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff
• A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
• Deep Tide by Laura Griffin
• The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
• Abandon by Blake Crouch

A special thank you to Simon Audio, Berkeley, Random House Audio

Around The Blogosphere

• 2022 New Release Challenge hosted by the Conventional Bookworms

Caffeinated PR

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Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2023/01/sunday-post-557-busy-start-to-the-new-year.html

House of Pain follows a half-witch who attends a prestigious witchcraft university where she’s a target of one of the rival Houses and fights a dangerous attraction. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

When I sat down to write House of Pain, I wanted to write the darkest story I could. I wanted something gritty, toxic, and filled with characters that are very hard to like. I’m a huge fan of dark academia, but I often want fantasy with it. So, I wanted to mix fantasy with dark academia and magic and then add a sprinkle of high-society drama because who doesn’t love Gossip Girl?

Your characters are intriguing and well-developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Thank you. Honestly, I took a lot of my inspiration for the main characters, Alecto and Blaze, from social media, particularly TikTok. I’ve stumbled across so many real-life stories of women struggling with sexual trauma, men who treat them poorly, and similar stuff, and so Alecto became a combination of it all. Val’s personality and drive, the cutthroat approach to getting things done no matter what, and the hunger for more power was inspired by my grandmother in a way. It’s hard to pinpoint one source of inspiration, really.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I would say that the most important one was toxic family dynamics and family trauma. We are often affected by our surroundings growing up more than we think, and it’s very easy to turn into our parents/grandparents and repeat the cycle of toxic behavior because it feels familiar. In House of Pain, the main cast of characters is all from prominent families that look pretty on the outside but hide dark secrets. I loved writing about how the main characters navigate the expectations they have and what they truly want.

Another theme that was very important for me to explore is the true nature of love. In House of Pain, Alecto is struggling with her place in a world that doesn’t want her, with her sexual trauma, and she finds herself gravitating toward bad men, looking for validation and probably some form of affection. On the other end, we have Blaze, who appears to have all the love and admiration from the outside world, yet he’s as lonely as Alecto. Maybe even more so. I also talked a lot about the nature of love and whether there is one right person for us, a soulmate if you will or if we’re meant to love more than one person in our lifetime. I find the topic of love to be fascinating.

What can readers expect in Precious Villains Book 2?

Precious Villains Book 2, House of Ruin, will be a wild ride. Readers can expect lots of steamy action between Alecto and Blaze, dark family secrets uncovered, high society drama and the themes of vengeance explored.

Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/08/dark-academia-and-magic/

Melody the Unicorn and the Beauty Within follows a plain-haired unicorn who has trouble accepting that she looks different from her friends. What was the inspiration for your story? 

A conversation with my daughters inspired me to write Melody the Unicorn and the Beauty Within. They asked me if they could change their skin and hair color to look like their friends. They were too young at that time to understand about melanin and I looked for a creative way to reassure them. I wanted them to look beyond their skin color and recognize that each one of us is unique. I wanted to find a way to boost their confidence in a way that is not only fun but also easy to understand and relatable.

 The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Noor Alshalabi?

Noor is a very talented artist. She was highly recommended by another author and I was very impressed by her work. She was able to understand my vision for the main character, Melody and she brough her own unique flair which made the illustrations so lovable.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

As a psychiatrist and a mom of young kids, I want to emphasize on the emotions associated with difficulties fitting-in. With Melody the Unicorn and the Beauty Within, I want to encourage children to love themselves and embrace their unique differences with confidence. This book also delivers a message of lifting a friend up who is feeling low.

What is the next book that you are working on?

I am working on my second book in the Melody the Unicorn series. It is a story about anxiety. 

Author Links: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/08/each-one-of-us-is-unique/

Return To Power, by Wanna Choy, is an inspirational story of creating happiness and success in a world where we don’t always fit in. Wanna had to learn to step into her light and create her magic, and her differences make her special. She had to actively work on her confidence to create the life she craved.

Wanna Choy moved to Albany, Oregon from Kowloon, Hong Kong at the age of 6. It was a traumatic experience because she was separated from her paternal grandmother, who had to stay behind. She suffered a culture shock, as she could not speak, read, or write English, nor did she look like any of her classmates. She was shy and she withdrew from participating in class, sat alone at the back of the cafeteria, and struggled with making friends. The empathy and dedication of one teacher created the catalyst of change making Wanna step into her power.

The author is able to capture the feeling of being lost and an outcast quite well in her emotionally resonant memoir. Readers will feel her sadness and look forward to her stepping into her power. Her writing style is very easy to follow and is not peppered with factoids, which I have been starting to see in many memoirs. Instead, Choy conveys her story in a way that is engaging. She provides context to her childhood, neighbors, and her family that ultimately ties into how it all shaped her character and her drive to have inner power. I enjoyed this memoir but I would have appreciated a more consistent flow in the jumps between stories from Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Oregon.

Return to Power is an inspirational memoir that many readers will be able to relate to. I was left wanting to know more because what were given is so fascinating and I would have loved to explored situations further. I recommend this uplifting empowering memoir to anyone who needs some motivation to return to their own power.

Pages: 84 | ASIN: B09JT6ZGWK

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/08/return-to-power/

Love, Kisses and Crazy White Jackets follows the emotional journey of finding your soul mate and, having things turn bad, then having to make a hard decision for your future. Why was this an important book for you to write?

I actually wrote my story as a source of self therapy. One day at work, the high school girl who was in the work study program, who worked a couple hours a day with us, asked what I was writing during my break.  I told her.  She asked if she could read it.  Although it was very personal, I let her read it.  She read the original and told me she loved it.  She had only read the first 10 chapters.  A few more people read it and they all said I should actually write to publish.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about? 

As I wrote, I sent every chapter to Michael, (Mitch) and we talked about each chapter after he read it. He gave me the validation I guess I needed. He gave me a wide explanation of why he felt he acted in that way, not excuses, but for the first time, he said he was able to see himself through my eyes.

What is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were younger?

Michael and I discussed it and we felt I should publish our story. Not because it’s more remarkable and violent than anybody else’s who has gone through it, but because it helped him, the abuser, find himself and understand that he wasn’t the terrible person he always felt he was, but that he should have reached out to those who could help him through his terrible circumstances. This book wasn’t only written one sided, but was written with both sides told, that of the abused and abuser. We wanted to help other young people facing the same situations.

What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?

Sadly, Michael passed away in April of 2017 after reading the published story of us. I was told he carried the book around for the last 7 months of his life. I think his passing holds me back from celebrating the accomplishment of my book because he is no longer here too celebrate it with.

Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/08/the-abused-and-abuser/

Beatific follows two young children who find a kitten all alone and learn about adopting and caring for a cat. What was the inspiration for your story?

I must say that what inspired me to write this story is the fact that I am extremely passionate about reading and writing, and I wanted to support creating this passion for reading and writing in students.  I know that children love animals, a lot, and I figured that they could read these Beatific books—Realistic Fiction– and learn a bit, vicariously, about what is involved in caring for and adopting a pet.    

When my oldest daughter was around 7 years old, she and her friend stumbled upon a stray cat.  The cat fitted the description of the one in this story, and it was a very happy, friendly kitty.  At that time, I did not know much about animals, so I demanded that she and her friend stay away from the stray.  So, bits and pieces of the events that took place in this ‘stray cat’ endeavor were also a part of the inspiration to write this book. 

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

I felt it important to share the monumental piece of finding out if the stray animal has an owner somewhere, because if a pet is lost, it can have anxiety and become very sad just like we can.  We become attached to the animal and it becomes attached to us.   It is also pertinent that children know to involve their parent(s) in the adoption process, and that they know what is involved in caring for a pet and the dedication necessary to endure through this “having a pet as my very own” process.    

How has working as a reading specialist influenced your desire to write a children’s book? 

Oh my goodness, immensely!  I can’t even start to share how many short stories students wrote while I worked with them.  I would stimulate their desire to write by writing along with them and creating an even deeper love for writing in the students.  I was also able to reel in some who had no desire to write, and their stories were sometimes better than those who wanted to write.

I have always had this desire to write.  When I retired, I had more time to focus, so I put to practice what I was teaching, and I finally got around to doing something else that I was quite passionate about. 

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

Quite frankly, I have already written and published a second book, entitled,  Beatific Visits Doctor Mae,   and I am working on the third Beatific book that will be published at some point in 2023.  I will share the title upon publishing.  A memoir is also in the making, and is roughly two-thirds completed.  So I have a lot of work to do, and I am super excited about completing all of it!

Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/08/caring-for-and-adopting-a-pet/