#RRBCSpotlightAuthor – Author D.L. Finn

I am very excited to welcome #RRBC Spotlight Author: Jan Sikes!

FLOWERS AND STONE

My series of biographical fiction books begins with Flowers and Stone.

It is a love story filled with passion. When Darlina Flowers meets Luke Stone, sparks fly. But, everyone tells her to beware, that he will only use her and throw her away. Being young, naïve and an incurable romantic, she doesn’t believe them. She knows what she feels is something special. It’s just like the romance books she’s avidly read.

Luke Stone feels the sparks, but what does he have to offer her? With two failed marriages under his belt, he questions his attraction to this young girl at every turn. After all, he’s a burned out, wore out country musician. He’s spent more days and nights in the Texas honkytonks than Darlina’s been alive. Perhaps he needs to offer her protection since she’s hell-bent on being a part of the world with which he’s so familiar.

This book is all about taking chances, pushing the envelope and enduring the consequences.

Here is the back cover blurb:

The epic love story begins here!
A hot Texas summer, dim-lit honky-tonk bars, a young naïve fledgling go-go dancer and a wild rebel Texas musician, set the stage for this story. Nothing could have prepared Darlina Flowers for the reckless Texas rogue musician, Luke Stone, to come stampeding into her life like a team of wild horses. Their love ignited into an ever-burning flame, enduring a cruel twist of fate and injustice.
1970 in Abilene, Texas finds young Darlina Flowers trying to fit into the world she is most attracted to – the nightlife, live music and go-go dancing. Luke Stone, a veteran Texas Musician, believes he’s lost all reason to care about his music career, his health and most especially his heart. A chance meeting with Darlina changes everything. But, is it too little late? Has fate already determined the outcome?

A compelling true story based on the lives of Rick and Jan Sikes.

PURCHASE LINK

Thank you for taking this RRBC SPOTLIGHT AUTHOR tour with me. See you at the next stop!

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Thank you for stopping by! D.L. Finn

I’m pleased to introduce and congratulate #RRBC Spotlight tour author: Gracie Bradford! Her book is on my must read list this year! I hope you will add it to your list, too!

As we usher in February 2018 Black History Month, it is fitting to introduce one of Rave Review Book Club Member “up and coming” children book author, Gracie Bradford.

Her book, June the Prune and Lady Bird – Cancer Stinks tell the story of how the love and attention from June’s beagle sustained her sanity through nine months of searching for an effective treatment for brain cancer in a 10-year old. Can June survive the ordeal?

Gracie is an avid reader. As a part of black history month recognition, Gracie shared websites that list black authors. Look at these:

Bookbud list of bestselling black authors:

https://media.bookbub.com/blog/2017/02/01/award-winning-books-by-african-american-authors/

Amazon best-selling book list of black authors:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-African-American-literature/zgbs/books/9823

A look at children books written by black authors

https://aalbc.com/books/children-list.php

Sadly, Gracie said she does not have a memory of any children picture books written by black authors in the 1950s when she was in pre-school. Although, as a child, Gracie recalls a book entitled “Go Tell It On The Mountain” by James Baldwin. She won a trophy in high school from reciting portions of this book in a literary state competition. At the time, she was unaware of the significance of James Baldwin.

Another favorite book which eventually was made into an award-winning movie was Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Gracie said she has seen the movie at least six times and have read the book three times. She insisted that her grandson read the book at a young age and then he was given a chance to see the movie.

Gracie’s favorite past-time is traveling to see the world. Would you believe Gracie has traveled to all continents except the Antarctic and she plans to take a trip there in 2019? She informed me that she is going to travel to see all the national parks in the USA in 2018. Her final travel goal is to travel to see the original seven wonders of the world. This author is on the go.

Gracie revealed that her favorite author of poetry is Edgar Allen Poe. She developed a love for poetry in high school. By reading poetry, it became so much easier to learn music for playing her tenor saxophone in the marching band because she felt the poetry was another form of music. She recalls the many solo competition and trophies she won because of the influence of Edgar Allen Poe. Although she no longer plays the saxophone, she still has the memories. She said her favorite poem from Poe is Annabel Lee:

https://poestories.com/read/annabellee

One of her favorite quotes from Poe is:

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

From Eleonora.

Expect to see the 3^rd book of the Lady Bird series late 2018 addressing Autism.

You can pick up a copy of Gracie’s current books at:

http://amzn.to/2gfLCEJ