Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield - Lynn Garthwaite

Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield

by Lynn Garthwaite

Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield is the third book in a series of early chapter adventures.  In this story the Explorers uncover a mysterious box hidden in the roots of an old tree where it's been hidden for over a hundred years. This chapter book for early readers, ages 6 to 10, returns with Dirkle, his little brother Quid Smat, along with Toonie Oobles, Fiddy Bublob, and the inventor of the roto-scooter and the Lumleyline, the creative genius, Bean Lumley. Travel with them in Bean's latest invention-a special submarine. Illustrated throughout with bonus pages for readers to form their own Explorer's Club.

BIOGRAPHY

Lynn Garthwaite was raised in the idyllic suburb of Bloomington, MN. An avid reader, Lynn began writing her own stories while still in elementary school and pictured herself as a professional writer from a very young age. After college she attended several screenwriting workshops and began writing screenplays in earnest. Several years and seven screenplays later, she put that ambition on the back burner to pursue other interests. When the urge to write hit again, she found that her passion had changed to children's literature, and the "Dirkle Smat Adventure Books" were born.

Lynn's other interests include family (a husband, two grown sons and a daughter-in-law), law enforcement (she's a retired police reserve officer in Bloomington) and gardening. She volunteers in the public schools, at church, and dabbles in local politics. She enjoys being the visiting author at elementary schools and structures her presentation to match the age group of the audience. The best part of author visits, she claims, is the question and answer session. "Kids ask the BEST questions!"

Lynn serves on the Literary Council for the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center.  She has also been named the Writing Examiner on Minneapolis Examiner.com. Read her articles for advice to aspiring writers.

UPCOMING SIGNING/SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

• March 24, 2012  Bloomington Writer's Festival and Book Fair (http://www.bloomingtonartcenter.com/)  She will be moderating a panel on the topic of children's book publishing.

WEBSITE
http://www.lynngarthwaite.com/blog

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble


OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS

• Dirkle Smat Inside Mount Flatbottom
• Dirkle Smat and the Flying Statue

PUBLISHER
James A. Rock Publishing

Eileen Halvorson - The Color of Light

The Color of Light

by Eileen Halvorson

James A. Rock & Co., Publishers – Aonian Press Imprint

ISBN-10: 1-59663-687-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-59663-687-3



The Color of Light envelops the reader into a dreamlike yet real world where words can taste like lemon drops and a black veil transforms into a dead body hanging from a tree. For the main character, Sarah Vines, truth is not black and white. The plot follows her search for family, romance, dreams, and the truth, which reveals a maze of secrets in this fictional paranormal suspense.

Sarah Vines has synesthesia, a condition that creates the marriage of unrelated sensations. It’s different for each person who has it, but for Sarah, sound can be heard, felt, and seen in a wide range of colors. Shrill sounds, like a beeper, create blinding red lightning bolts that flash in front of her. Odors can be amazing, evoking shapes or textures. Spearmint is sticky, yet yielding and lopsided, like a ball of dough. Words are best of all. They come as tastes usually, with seeping flavors and pigments she can touch.

But then there are the things that Sarah cannot explain by her condition. Just thinking of her missing brother evokes a torrential rain, a God-sized pitcher of frigid water pouring over her, just like the cloudburst on the day he disappeared. The visions are even worse—the black veil that shifts ever so slightly in the air and transforms into a chiffon dress fluttering in the wind...and a woman hanging from a tree.

Hidden in her family's abandoned farm buildings are decisions you can't take back and want to bury as deep as the soil allows. Sarah's merged senses, dream-like visions, and uncanny intuition guide her search for the truth, opening a Pandora's Box of secrets. The truth, a spectrum of light, guides Sarah to follow her dreams and pursue the path of forgiveness.

BIOGRAPHY
Eileen Halvorson was born in 1957 and grew up on a small farm in Glenwood, Minnesota. After earning a BS in English, speech and theater, she taught English, speech, and acting and then obtained an MBA. Pursing her ongoing love of learning, she also completed writing courses through The Loft Literary Center, The Playwrights' Center, Hamline University, and the University of Minnesota. Halvorson has been an assistant editor and authored articles in addition to writing and directing plays.

She lives in west central Minnesota on Lake Minnewaska, the setting for The Color of Light and inspiration for the book’s cover, which was designed
by Halvorson. Her own experiences and dreams inspired this story, including learning how to dream in color, instead of black and white.

WEBSITE
www.pagodamoon.com

PURCHASE
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
James A. Rock & Co., Publishers