One Small Victory by Maryann Miller

Hardcover: 293 pages
Publisher: Five Star (ME) (June 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594146993
ISBN-13: 978-1594146992

About the book:

Life can change in just an instant. That's the harsh realitythat Jenny Jasik faces when her son, Michael, is killed in an automobileaccident. She is a single mother with two other children, Scott andAlicia. Ralph, her ex-husband, left her six years ago for a youngerwoman. He moved to Californiaand has all but abandoned them. He doessend child support, which, coupled with the profits from the floristshop Jenny owns, keeps them fed and sheltered in an old frame house.When Jenny sees an item in the newspaper about a special task forceforming at the local police department, she goes to the station anddemands to be part of that team. She stands firm in the face ofobjections from Chief Gonzales. He finally agrees to let her work withthem as a Confidential Informant if she passes a physical fitness testand a psychological screening. He also tells her that if she works withthem it will be in the strictest confidence. She is to tell no one. Nother kids. Not her mother. Not her best friend. No even her dog.As the weeks pass and Jenny gets deeper into the drug scene, hiding whatshe’s doing from everyone becomes harder and harder. How many more liescan she tell to explain why she stays out half the night? Then there’sthe problem of Ralph. Scott has been dumping his frustration on hisfather, and Ralph threatens to start action to get the kids if Jennydoesn't stop whatever it is she’s doing.

Further complications arise when Chico, the dealer Jenny has been buyingfrom, disappears. The DEA agents report that unusual things arehappening at the ranch where the Main Man does his business. There isconcern for the safety of all involved in this sting. Jenny is offered achance to get out, but she stays.

A plan develops to take down the Main Man, and for Jenny, that momentcan't come soon enough. All she has to do is get the details of the bigbuy recorded and the police can arrest the Man. That scene unravelsquickly, and Jenny is forced to shoot a man who is turning a gun on her.This was not part of the plan and definitely not something that Jennywants to tell her children or her ex-husband.Maybe Michael will understand.

How far will a mother go to avenge the death of her son? Jenny Jasik's world ends when her son dies in a car accident. It was bad enough to lose him, but when she finds out that the driver of the car was a drug dealer and was hight at the time of the accident it brings forth emotions no parent should ever have to endure.

Jenny knows that she needs to do something to help make sure her son's death wasn't for nothing, so after witnessing a drug deal occur with a group of high school students, she decides to become a specialist on a drug unit. Unfortunately this begins to affect the rest of her life, including the family that is still here. Flower shop owner to drug unit specialist, Jenny witnesses street life at it rawest. The changes she goes through are necessary for the job, but do they really make her a better person and mother?

There were many aspects that I loved about this book, but I think my favorite part was how the author depicted the emotions of all the people involved. I have been very fortunate not to have lost a close family member (yet) but I can only imagine what it must feel like, especially if it is your child. Maryann does an excellent job of portraying the range of emotions this family has to go through.



About the author:

A diverse writer of columns, feature stores, short fiction, novels,screenplays and stage plays, Maryann Miller has won numerous awards including being a semi-finalist at the Sundance Institute for her screenplay, "A Question of Honor". More recently she placed in the top 15 percent of entries in the Chesterfield Screenwriting Fellowship with the adaptation of her mystery, "Open Season"

Publishing credits include work for regional and national newspapers and magazines: Lady's Circle, Woman's World, Marriage and Family Living, Plano Magazine, The Children's World, Byline, The Texas Catholic Newspaper. She has published nine non-fiction books for teens, including the award-winning Coping With Weapons and Violence : In Your School and on Your Streets released by The Rosen Publishing Group in New York. Shehas a short story in the All About Muse anthology, The Holiday Mixer. Her novel, One Small Victory, was a hardback release from Five Star Publishing in June 2008, and Play it Again, Sam, is a July 2008 release from Uncial Press in e-book formats.

She is currently the Managing Editor and writer for an online community magazine, WinnsboroToday.com, and does book reviews for ForeWord Magazine and two online review sites, BloggerNews.net and Curled Up With a Good Book. She also does freelance editing. Other experience includes extensive work as a PR consultant, a script doctor, and a freelanceeditor. She has been writing all her life and plans to die at her computer.

Until then, Miller stays active in a number of organizations including Sisters In Crime, The Trails Country Centre For The Arts in Winnsboro, Texas, and was a founder of The Greater Dallas Writers' Association.

She makes her home in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas where she happily plays farmer. She has a horse, two goats, three cats, and two dogs. She shares these critters and five acres with her husband and an armadillo that visits frequently. You can visit her website at www.maryannwrites.com

ONE SMALL VICTORY VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on September 2, '08 and end on September 26, '08. You can visit Maryann's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in September to find out more about her and her new book!
As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on September 26!This virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Jaime McDougall

Willow in A Storm: A Memoir by James Peter Taylor

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Scarletta Press; 1 edition (September 28, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 097652015X
ISBN-13: 978-0976520153

Book Synopsis:

In this raw, unflinching memoir, James Peter Taylor, with the help of his wife Kathleen Murphy-Taylor, recounts the events of his unusual life, over forty years of which were spent incarcerated. Mentally and sexually abused by his adoptive father, Jim Taylor receives a life sentence at age 30 when he accidentally kills Kenneth Lindberg, a Minnesota banker and married father of four, during a robbery.

Taylor manages to survive in prison, despite the rampant violence, in part by playing a woman’s role, a gender switch that becomes second nature to him. After decides behind bars, a wiser and more spiritual Taylor is released in the 1990s back to civilian life, bolstered by his marriage to the book’s coauthor and former social worker, Kathy Murphy.

Willow in a Storm demonstrates hope even in the most dismal of circumstances.

James Peter Taylor's memoir, Willow in a Storm, is a testament to courage and what the human mind can endure and overcome. His crimes start out between the ages of 25-30 and his first arrest is due to his inpersonation of an FBI agent, all just to keep a girl out later than her given curfew.

These minor crimes continue, from bigamy to bad checks until he thinks he has come up with the perfect crime : robbing a bank and framing the bank manager. Things go terribly wrong and something that should have been simple turns into murder, leading James to prison for a 40 year sentence at the hands of a politician looking for something to boost his career.

Willow in a Storm gives detailed accounts of James' life, from his formative years which included abuse, to his attempts at getting paroled and finally to his release. The only criticism I have is that the book jumps around and can be confusing in the timeline of events. Overall this is a book that is an eyeopener for those who are unsure what the justice system is truly all about, and what prisoners go through on a daily basis.

About the author:

James Peter Taylor and Kathleen Murphy-Taylor have been married for 11 years. Jim managed to survive over 40 years in prison and was released at age 70, partially blind. Today, over a decade later, he faces further health battles, including dementia. Kathy received her MSW from the University of Michigan. She practiced social work for 32 years for private and public agencies. In her retirement, she devotes herself to caring for Jim. They live in Minneapolis.

Booking Through Thursday

The question:
“Autumn is starting (here in the US, anyway), and kids are heading back to school–does the changing season change your reading habits? Less time? More? Are you just in the mood for different kinds of books than you were over the summer?”

Honestly, my reading habits don't change too much. I ALWAYS try to grab a book whenever I have time, which seems more limited now than ever. With the move and starting work for an awesome company (Pump Up Your Book Promotion) I am dealing with books all day, just not always getting to read them, lol!

As far as types of books, I usually just grab whatever book is nearest to me. I really am not one to pick books by seasons.

Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

A smirk formed on my lips at his use of the F word. Not the sort of conversation I'd imagine would take place in a therapist's office, but then, he had already told me that he didn't have very many patients like me, who had lived through what I had.

Courage in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum