April 26, 2011

Nice Review at Stories for Children Magazine

Reviews are starting to come in for What Is That Thing? And I received a very nice one at Stories for Children Magazine. Ms. Irene Roth reviewed the book and had this to say:


Overall Thoughts:This is a heart-warming story of how a young child can accept a new member of the family. The illustrations are hilarious and witty. It will keep a child spellbound and captive.

I recommend the book to any child who has younger siblings or is about to accept the arrival of a new sibling. They will be able to laugh and also accept the little being into their lives, and even be very happy and enriched by the new little baby sister or brother.

One of the hard parts about being a writer is that many times, you work in a vacuum. You never really know how your work will be received. How great it is when someone else sees the value in it.

To see the full review, please click on the link below.

http://storiesforchildrenmagazine.org/WhatIsThatThing.aspx

April 13, 2011

VBT-Featuring Nancy Famolari

Today I an pleased to be presenting Nancy Famolari, who will be talking about her latest novel – Winner's Circle.

Nancy, what is this book about?
Summer's father is dead; his only asset, a fabulous trotter. Two men want to help her. She refuses Ned, blaming him for her father's death. Davis, a famous racehorse driver, wins her heart but deserts her after she suffers a serious accident on the track. Max, her rival, will do anything to get the horse for his stable. Summer's dream is to race her horse in the Hambletonian Oaks. Will she get there and will she, finally, find love?

Nancy, please tell us a little about yourself:

I live in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania in the summer and on a small farm near Ocala, Florida in the winter. My favorite hobby is trail riding. My horse, Ambrosa de la Pluma is a registered Paso Fino. The breed came to the new world from Spain. Paso Finos have a unique four beat gait that is very smooth. They can go for hours on the trail. They are smart and friendly and make wonderful companions. I feel lucky to live in two areas with lots trail riding.

What inspired you to write this story? 

Winner's Circle takes place in the fast paced world of harness racing. For fourteen years, my husband and I had a small Standardbred breeding farm in New Jersey. We raised and raced these marvelous horses. Harness racing is very exciting. There are many heart warming stories about an owner or trainer believing in their horse and against the odds getting the horse to win a big race. The desire to win drives the plot in Winner's Circle. There are also people who take advantage of both horses and people for personal gain, not caring the least about how the horse is affected. I believed these elements would make a good novel.

Do you have a favorite character?

Summer Langston is my favorite character. She's a very determined lady who cares about her horse, Meadow, and overcomes severe personal and professional obstacles to get her horse to the winner's circle. In the process, she learns something about herself and how to give and receive love. I like the fact that she's gutsy and doesn't give up easily.

Tell us a little about your writing schedule: 

I try to write everyday for two hours. Obviously this isn't easy with farm chores and other activities. During Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) I can almost always keep to the schedule because the incentive is to have a novel at the end of the month. I find the first draft fun and relatively easy to do. Editing is the part that gives me trouble. It takes much longer to edit well than to write a first draft.
What are your future writing plans?
I write a series of mystery novels based on life in the Endless Mountains. Murder in Montbleu and The Lake House are available from Amazon. I'm editing the third book, Death at the Writer's Conference. It will be available later this year.

Nancy’s book, Winner’s Circle is available at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Winners-Circle-Nancy-Famolari/dp/1460951476/

To find out more about Nancy, please visit her at:
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/nancyfamolai/

Blogs: Nancy Famolari's Place (http://nancygfamolari.blogspot.com//)

Nancy Famolari's Author Spotlight (http://nancyfamolari.blogspot.com//)

Thanks for stopping by Nancy and giving us a chance to get to know you and your book. Best of luck with your book!