Music Spotlight: Shannon Pelcher Debuts 'Tightrope'

Shannon Pelcher Releases Debut

EP

Today’s musicians are wise enough to channel

the talent of music Gods that lay before them,

and let the music that they create shine with

inspiration from these legends. Shannon

Pelcher welcomes the voices of the past,

letting them gently echo in her past--but don’t

be fooled. Pelcher roots herself in the present

day, growing a style that is all her own.

The recipe of Pelcher’s debut EP consists of elements from many musical eras, cooked into the

modern day singer/songwriter’s storytelling traditions. Her voice blends the strong smoothness

of Billie Holiday with inflections of today’s fierce females, wearing a present day edge with soul.

The guitar arrangements volley between chipper and bluesy, complimented by colorful piano

lines and tasteful horn arrangements. Strong drum beats and bass walks serve as percussion

that’s present, but not intrusive. The solo project is supported by a rotating supporting cast of

New York and Philadelphia’s finest musicians.

Spanning decades, the album has a genuine interpretation of an era that she never lived.

Pelcher keeps open a direct, personal like to her past, channeling her great grandmother. Grace

Gillespie, or "May Grace," was a vaudeville performer, creating a name for herself in an aweinspiring

era of high caliber talent, and raising five children. Sadly, she died at an early age,

leaving Pelcher on the hunt for her history.

“By incorporating some of the jazz elements that were present in her performance, I keep her

story with me, even if I'm not sure of the ending” says Pelcher.

Her single, “Tightrope,” is based on Collum McCann’s "Let The Great World Spin" a 9/11

allegory using Phillip Petit’s tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. It’s smooth melody, touch

of horns, and pensive lyrics confront the consequence of risk, and how much harsher those

consequences are when we don’t fully commit ourselves to what’s ahead.

To find out more, log onto www.shannonpelcher.com or contact kate@theoutletmusic.com

(Provided by Modern vintage recordings.)

Listen Now here!

TGIF (21)

TGIF at GReads- This Feature is for Fridays to re-cap the week's post & to answer a question from GReads.


Question: Best I've Read So Far: We're half way through the year (crazy how time flies!), which top 3 books are the best you've read so far this year?


I have read quite a few awesome books so far this year. I'll start with my new obsession, Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout. I absolutely loved this book and can't believe I waited so long to read it. 

Next will be Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, I don't know how she does it but even when I was upset at what was happening I couldn't put the darn book down. 



For the last choice I will go with Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel. She is my favorite author and did not disappoint me one bit with this new book, which comes out next month. I think this was my favorite out of her more recent books.

What you may have missed on my blog this week:

Features:

• Teaser Tuesday (2)
• Waiting on Wednesday (28)

Reviews:

• Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry [Blog Tour]

Giveaways:

• Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (AUTOGRAPHED) [ENDS 7/8/12]

Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry Blog Tour [Review]

Welcome to the Knee Deep blog tour. I’m very happy to be a part of this tour today.  This is the third book I have read by Jolene B. Perry and I’m very impressed by this author and excited about her writing. If you haven’t read anything by her I recommend any of her books, especially Knee Deep, which I am featuring today with a review. Knee Deep was awesome and I hope you all will check it out. Here is a big warm welcome to Knee Deep and the awesome author who wrote it, Jolene B. Perry!

Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry

★★★★☆

Ronnie had been in love with Shawn since they were children. Ronnie thought she had her life figured out. She thought she would be with Shawn forever and once he had moved back, their love was stronger than ever. When they began school for their senior year, Shawn changed. 

Shawn had gotten angry over trivial things and grabbed Ronnie a little too hard, which had left a bruise on her arm.  That began the slew of excuses she made for his behavior. Things between her and Shawn were trained, but ever since she had received the role for the Romeo and Juliet play, she had gotten closer to her longtime friend Luke.

I was really excited to read this book after reading Night Sky and The Next Door Boys. This book was worth every bit of my excitement and the author has not disappointed me yet. I enjoyed the story so much I had to read it in one sitting.

I honestly didn’t even read the book synopsis before I read the book. I don’t like to have stuff given away so when I got the review request from Tribute books, I just accepted it because I have loved everything I have read by the author so far. When I began reading I thought I knew where the story was going but it didn’t end up being what I thought, and I may have known that if I had read the back. I’m glad that it wasn’t what I expected and where the author did go with the story is a tough subject to write about. There are not many Young Adult authors that write realistic fiction about children/ teens going through life altering situations. I think it is great when they can do it and also make you want to keep reading, because heavier subjects can discourage some readers. The only authors I have read books by that do this well are, Lurlene McDaniel and Laurie Halse Anderson.

The author always does a wonderful job at capturing me in the story, making it impossible for me to stop reading until the book is finished. Her writing always flows so well that it is easy to just ride the words wherever they go. I look forward to getting my hands on anything else the author publishes next.

I received this book for review from Tribute Books.

Find Tribute Books:

| Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog Tours |

Buy Now!

| Smashwords | Google | PDF | Barnes & Noble |

Jolene Perry's Bio:

Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of Night Sky and The Next Door Boys.

Fine Jolene:

| Website | Knee Deep Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

Waiting on Wednesday (28)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Poison Tree by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Expected Release Date:  July 10, 2012


The rich stew of the author's creations—SingleEarth, vampires, shapeshifters, Tristes, the Bruja Guilds—are at full boil here in the story of two 20-ish young women trying to out run their very different pasts, and figure out where they fit in and who they might become. Each has landed in a more "normal" place, and each wonders if, like a tattoo that can't be covered up, they can ever really fit into "normal." (Goodreads)

Pre-Order Now:

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda  


Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.
Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity? (Goodreads)

*TEASER* “Then Ashley June lets loose a horrific scream of desire into the air. Within seconds, we’re all yowling and mewling.

-The Hunt, Page 100

TGIF (20)

TGIF at GReads- This Feature is for Fridays to re-cap the week's post & to answer a question from GReads.


Question: Authors Are Our Celebrities: Have you ever contacted an author you admired? How did that experience go?  If not, which author would you love to have a chat with?

Other than meeting a couple of authors I love at book signings and such I haven't tried contacting an author that I admire. I would really love to talk to Lurlene McDaniel, she has inspired me in so many ways and she is my all time favorite author. I have never tried to contact her because I wouldn't know how to get in contact with her and not through some fan mail thing or something and then there is also the fact of how scary it would be to contact her. Book signings are easier because they are there for anyone that is around to go meet them, but contacting an author is more personal. I guess what I am trying to say is it is a bit terrifying. Maybe now that I am blogging I will gain enough courage to try to contact her.


What You May have missed on my blog this week:


Features:

• Top Ten Tuesday (27)
• Teaser Tuesday (1)
• Waiting on Wednesday (27)

Reviews:

• Fair Game by Patricia Briggs and Autographed Moon Called Giveaway

Giveaways:

• Autographed copy of Moon Called by Patricia Briggs [Ends 7/8/12]

Waiting on Wednesday (27)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Raft by S.A. Bodeen
Expected Release Date: August 21, 2012


Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.

And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way. (Goodreads)

Pre-Order Now:

This book sounds interesting and I have heard good things about it.

What are you Waiting for!?

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry


Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.

Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.

Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both. (Goodreads)

*TEASER* “Because I was trying to go to sleep.” I try to keep annoyance in my voice, but as he touches me, lying so close, I’m smiling.

Top Ten Tuesday (27)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created  at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list  that one of their bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer.

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

1. Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry
2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
3. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
4. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
5. A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton
6. Everlasting by Elizabeth Chandler
7. Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara
8. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
9. Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout
10. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs Review, Book Signing and Giveaway

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

★★★★★

Anna was mated to Charles Cornick, a werewolf who also took the responsibility of being his father Bran’s enforcer. His father was the Marrok, which was the leader of the North American pack of werewolves. Since the werewolves came out to the public, they had to be kept in check with stricter rules than before. This meant Charles was doing a lot more killing, which was tearing him apart. Anna worried about him and even stood up to the Marrok, which was always a risky thing to do. Bran decided to send Anna, who was an Omega werewolf and had the power to calm other werewolves, making her valuable to Boston, to help the FBI with a case. Charles was going with her, and it was supposed to be an easy case to show that werewolves were helpful and let Charles be in a situation that was helping instead of enforcing more werewolves.  However, they soon found out the case wasn’t what it had seemed, and trouble for Anna and Charles escalated quickly.

Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors, and she did not disappoint me one bit. I loved how the characters had grown from the previous books in the series, especially Anna. She had been through a lot and was timid and scared. In this book, she was a lot more confident and outspoken, and I loved it. She seemed to have a fierceness to her in this book. I felt like she broke out of her shell, and it was really nice to see.

The author always does a fantastic job at creating a wonderful fantasy world that I love to get lost in. She created strong, vivid characters that stick with me well after I finish the book. I always highly recommend her books. They are exciting and fresh from the vampire/werewolf craze that has been going on since Twilight came out. She wrote the Mercy Thompson series before the Twilight series came out, and they are not anything alike.

Patricia Briggs Signing

I was lucky enough to meet Patricia Briggs in March. I had planned to write up a post about it, but my life got busy with college and moving, so I’m going to talk a bit about it here before I give away a Signed copy of the first book in the Mercy Thompson series, Moon Called.

When I found out that Patricia Briggs was coming to Books-A-Million in South Portland, Maine, I was ecstatic. There are not many best-selling authors that come to Maine for a book signing. If you picture a crazy fan girl, that is probably what I looked like. I had this huge grin on my face, and I was literally jumping up and down and had to immediately call my friend Katie, who has also helped me do some features on my blog. Let's just say there was a lot of yelling and squealing going on. The signing could not come soon enough.

The actual reading and signing was amazing. She was one of the nicest authors I have met. She read from Fair Game, which I reviewed above. After she answered a ton of our questions, she assured us that there will be many more books in both series' (SQUEEEEE). After that, she signed books. I waited until everyone else went, because I sort of had a ton of books with me. She signed twenty books for me, which was so nice of her. One of them was for this giveaway, and three of them I sent to my blogger friend Michele from A Belle’s Tales. Patricia Briggs was quite impressed that I brought that many books with me. I was hoping I would be able to get them all signed because many of the Borders people that I used to work with were working at Books-A-Million also, so I had an in.

After she signed my huge stack of books, she hung out with my friend and me and just talked to us. We discussed books that she loves to read and my to-be-read list got longer. I always seem to put an author like Patricia Briggs on a pedestal, and then, it surprises me when I hear the author talk about books by other authors that they love. It is always like, "Wow they read other people’s stuff." In reality, authors are a lot like you and me and enjoy a lot of the same stuff - they just happen to write some awesome books.

(Front: Me,Patricia Briggs, Katie Back: Shanna, Steph, Drew)

I want to end talking about the book signing by giving a HUGE shout-out to Patricia Briggs, thanking her for coming to South Portland, Maine, to do a signing. I loved meeting her and talking with her. I would love to meet her again - please come back to Maine!

Giveaway:

(part of Shanna's tattoo showing the book with Moon Called on it)

I am giving away an Autographed mass market paperback copy of Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. This is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series. Everyone who hasn’t read this needs to enter; it is a fantastic book and series, and you won’t regret it if you win. If you don’t win, BUY IT (there still won’t be regrets)! If you still are not convinced then here is even more proof that this series is awesome.  My friend/ big sister has Moon Called tattooed on her arm! Convinced yet?  To win, use the Rafflecopter form below. I only ask that you are a follower of my blog to win - everything else is optional. Good luck everyone! I’m really excited to be giving away this book.

(Shanna Showing Patricia Briggs her book title on the tattoo)

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs


Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself--she's a shape-shifter.(Goodreads)

TGIF (19)

TGIF at GReads- This Feature is for Fridays to re-cap the week's post & to answer a question from GReads.


Question: Most Valuable Book: From your personal collection of books, which ones hold the most value to you - is it signed by the author? or maybe it's your favorite story of all time? Share it with us.

My first most valuable book is Six Months to Live by Lurlene McDaniel because it was the first book I read by her and made me love her books. This was the first book I stayed up past my bedtime to read because I couldn't put it down.


I also value all of my hard cover Harry Potter books that I have collected since I began reading the series. I used to have soft covers of the first few that I read and then I kept the nice ones safe. Now I just have the hardcovers.


The last books that are very valuable to me are my Patricia Briggs books. I absolutely love the Mercy Thompson series, as I'm sure a lot of you have noticed by now. I just got all of the books that I own by her autographed, so they are even more valuable to me now.

What You may have missed on my blog this week:

Features:

• Top Ten Tuesday (26)
• Waiting on Wednesday (26)

Other Awesome Stuff:

• [Author Spotlight] Gregory Allen

[Author Spotlight] Gregory Allen

Today I would like to introduce the author Gregory Allen. He found my blog and saw that I live in Maine and contacted me, asking me to feature him since he is coming to Maine this month. I was happy to help support an author who has been in Maine and even uses Maine in his book, Patchwork of ME. I noticed that ME is capitalized for the title and I wonder if it is also because ME is the abbreviation for the state of Maine. I just thought I would throw that out there, for a title with possible double meaning, very creative.

If you live in Maine be sure to check Gregory Allen out this months. The dates can be found near the end of this post.

I would like to give a big welcome to Gregory Allen! Thank you for being on my blog today.

About Gregory Allen:

Many authors turn to Maine when choosing the setting for their books, but for Gregory Allen it was about returning to a place he held fond memories as a young performer. In 1989, Gregory Allen was a New York actor who spent a summer at the Carousel Music Theater in Boothbay Harbor. Twenty three years later, he is an award-winning author whose new novel PATCHWORK OF ME returns to that same town with a fictionalized mystery as an important part of his story.

“They say to write what you know, but I don’t always play by the rules,” Gregory says. “My novel is told in the first person narrative of a woman who grew up in the foster care system and through therapy uncovers some memories of her early childhood. So she travels across country from Arizona to Maine to patch her life back together.” Gregory’s book was published by ASD Publishing in April and has already won the 2012 International Book Award for Fiction in the Women’s Lit category & the 2012 NY Book Festival Award for General Fiction. Like the character in his novel, he is taking a road trip back to Maine to bring the book to the area for June 23- 25 where he will be signing copies and talking about his career.

“I loved Maine the first time I came here all those years ago,” he says. “I’ve returned on vacations and when I started writing this book two years ago – something felt right about leading my protagonist back to this wonderful state.” After his summer in Maine, he went on to work on television shows, regional theaters an even toured the country as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. He wrote several musicals over the years and then five years ago began to concentrate on writing books. He has been featured in national magazines, NY/NJ PBS stations, and several radio shows.

Gregory stays very busy as an author writing in multiple genres and has a strong background in children’s theater. This spring, his children’s book on autism awareness also won an award. “My godson has autism and I wrote a book from his perspective that I entered in a contest along with 400 other authors this past fall,” Gregory shares. “The public across the country was able to vote online and the book won the People’s Choice Grand Prize Award by the MeeGenius Publishing Company.” MeeGenius published the book on their digital platform in March and Gregory took his prize money and turned the book into a print book so families would have a choice when purchasing the book. He has since been touring schools in New Jersey where he lives, talking about CHICKEN BOY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF A SUPER HERO WITH AUTISM and autism awareness to children of all ages.

“I love to bring awareness to diverse situations through my storytelling and I’m so glad to be able to share both books with the people of Maine on my road-trip weekend,” he says.

Find Gregory:

| Website | Facebook | Goodreads | ASD Publishing |

He will be at the following locations in Maine with copies of both books.

Sat, June 23 Bath Book Shop 11 am-1 pm Bath, ME

Sun, June 24 Tugboat Inn 12-1:30 pm Boothbay Harbor, ME

Mon, June 25 Freeport Community Library 7-8:30 pm Freeport, ME

About the two books:

PATCHWORK OF ME 

A product of the foster care system, Sara Butler spends her early thirties hiding from her past while striving for a normal life with her small group of quirky friends in Arizona. Seeking treatment for an invisible rash and abnormal dreams, her therapist helps her unlock a heinous past that she is unsure she wants to open. To patch her life back together, she realizes she must travel across country to Maine to confront that past in order to plan for a future.

CHICKEN BOY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF A SUPER HERO WITH AUTISM 

"I have a superhero inside my head. I call him Chicken Boy" proclaims our hero. What others may see as odd "quirks", a child living with autism explains as all a part of his being a superhero. Told in the first person perspective, Chicken Boy offers a small glimpse into the mind of one child who wants others to understand they shouldn't fear someone simply because that person is a little different.