Carrie Hartman - The Mischievous Mom at the Art Gallery

The Mischievous Mom at the Art Gallery

illustrated by Carrie Hartman

Finally — a picture book for the Starbucks-armed, BlackBerry-checking, gym-going working mother. The high-octane duo of Rebecca Eckler and Erica Ehm have cooked up The Mischievous Mom at the Art Gallery, featuring a thoroughly modern mother who makes a point of including her two children in her always hectic life.

At five o’clock, when Mom gets home, everything changes for Jessie and Josh. Their mother is mischievous, curious, adventurous, and free-spirited. In The Mischievous Mom at the Art Gallery, Mom takes her children to a swanky art gallery party. Although Jessie and Josh thinkstanding around looking at art on a wall is B-O-R-I-N-G, they quickly learn otherwise. Nothing is ever really boring when Mom is around – especially when a “Do Not Enter – VIPs only!” sign beckons. Behind that door is a world of adventure just waiting to be discovered. Featuring bright and energetic artwork, The Mischievous Mom is for modern parents and their children — and for anyone who knows that not being afraid to think outside of the box can lead to the most memorable experiences of all!

BIOGRAPHY
Carrie Hartman graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design with her degree in Illustration. Her illustration work includes: editorial, children’s books and book illustration, character development, advertising, posters, greeting cards, comic books, stationary, animation projects and murals.

Carrie has received several illustration awards from the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators, Portfolios.com, the Association of Educational Publishers award for the best illustrated children’s book for the educational industry and recognition from the Educational Press Association.

Carrie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Children’s Literature Network.

Carrie lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. She has 1 amazing husband, 3 incredible children and 2 pretentious pets.

UPCOMING EVENT
Red Balloon Bookstore
891 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN
May 29th 10:30am
Reading, Discussion, Signing

WEBSITE
www.carriehartman.com

BLOG
http://carriehartman.blogspot.com

Jannifer Hoffman - Blood Crystal

Blood Crystal

by

Jannifer Hoffman

When a priceless crystal is stolen and five international agents killed, rookie agent Dani Lovato is sent undercover into the clandestine world of precious gems to retrieve it.

Stephen Douglas returns from Afghanistan, a wounded war hero, to find the life he left behind in shambles. Depressed and hitting rock bottom in an LA jail he’s offered the chance to be released with a clear record. All he has to do is show up at a warehouse and pick up the sheriff’s daughter who is stranded and in harm’s way. What sounds like a simple venture, turns into an escapade that becomes the ride of his life.

Thrown together, not trusting each other, Stephen and Dani embark on a cross-country mission to return the Blood Crystal from the bowels of LA to its rightful owner in Washington DC. Along the way they discover there is a thin line between the good guys and the bad guys and staying alive becomes more challenging with each perilous turn. Sparks fly between them in more ways than one as Dani accidentally learns the startling secret of the Blood Crystal.

BIOGRAPHY
Born and raised on a North Dakota farm, Jannifer started writing at the age of twelve, creating novels in her head while walking home from a one-room schoolhouse. A lifetime avid reader, she began serious writing in 1974 after reading The Flame and The Flower and Sweet Savage Love.

After completing two historical romances, Ceremony of Deception and Silver Shadows, she decided to try her hand at contemporary romance. It took a year to complete Secrets of the Heart . The sequel, Secret Sacrifices, took nearly two years.

In 1999, Jannifer joined Romance Writers of America and MFW (Midwest Fiction Writers). This spring she also became a member of the WisRWA (WISCONSIN Romance Writers of America) chapter.

She spends summers on Sturgeon Lake, (up north) Minnesota, and winters in Yuma, Arizona (southwest).

Hobbies, besides writing of course, include sewing for craft shows and her little corner in a boutique in Moose Lake, and painting animals and flowers on rocks.

WEBSITE
www.janniferhoffman.com

Joel Arnold - Bait & Other Stories

Bait & Other Stories

By Joel Arnold

Welcome to the deep north woods. Here you'll meet:

A father whose intense longing for his dead son leads to disturbing consequences.

A group of college students tubing down a river through a burned forest who encounter terrifying creatures.

A man seeking redemption for a sinful past through the skill of a tattoo artist.

A Cambodian-American teen who will fit in with the locals at any cost.

A woman who finds a bizarre solace in a rare pearl.

These, plus a dozen other stories from the febrile imagination of Joel Arnold, will keep you up long into the night with horror, suspense, and mystery. Includes the award winning stories Mississippi Pearl and Some Things Don't Wash Off.

Available exclusively on Kindle.

Bait & Other Stories
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K16OHO

For free audio versions of some of the stories included in this collection, you can check them out here:

http://pseudopod.org/2007/08/31/pseudopod-053-the-apple-tree-man/

http://pseudopod.org/2007/05/25/pseudopod-039-some-things-dont-wash-off/

http://pseudopod.org/2009/03/20/pseudopod-134-bait/


BIOGRAPHY
Joel Arnold resides in Savage, MN, with his wife and two children. His writing has appeared in over five-dozen publications, ranging from Weird Tales to American Road Magazine, Cat Fancy to the Resort to Murder Anthology (which features mysteries by 13 Minnesota authors, including William Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart and David Housewright).


Six of his stories have received honorable mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror series, and he recently won Oceanview Publishing’s first annual short story contest. Many of his horror stories have been presented in podcast form at Pseudopod.org. His collection of sci-fi/horror -- Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse -- was released in 2009 by Sam’s Dot Publishing and has garnered glowing reviews. In 2010, Joel received a Minnesota Artists Initiative Grant which funds time, travel and research for a novel centered in and around Yellowstone National Park. 2010 also marks Joel’s 5th year as a judge for the annual MISFIT’S Writing Contest, which runs in tandem with Minnesota’s largest annual speculative fiction convention, CONvergence. He is currently at work on his next novel.

BLOG
http://joelarnold.livejournal.com/

AUTHOR’S DEN
http://www.authorsden.com/joelarnold


OTHER BOOKS PUBLISHED

Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse

Print edition
Kindle edition
Fetal Position & Other Stories
Kindle edition

Colin Sokolowski - The Accidental Adult

The Accidental Adult

Essays and advice for the reluctantly
responsible and marginally mature


by Colin Sokolowski

You didn’t plan on this happening, but it did.

Your two-door coupe morphed into a sliding-door minivan. Bar hopping turned into movie nights on the couch. You used to write Viewer Mail to David Letterman. Now you write letters to the editor. And golf? It’s not funny to suck anymore.

Welcome to life as an Accidental Adult.

If life's the ultimate road trip, it's time to stop listening to the GPS of responsible adulthood. Instead, follow the lead of reluctant grown-up Colin Sokolowski, who proves growing up doesn't necessarily mean selling out. With a little guidance and a sure-fire sanity system for coping with life among the assimilated adults, you can survive the inevitable trek to middle age as an accidental adult and have some fun along the way.

Part how-to advice and part how-not-to narrative, The Accidental Adult leads you along an alternate path through adulthood. With it, you'll realize that just because you're older doesn't mean you have to be lamer.

BIOGRAPHY
Who is The Accidental Adult?

COLIN SOKOLOWSKI is the guy friends call to answer music trivia questions, not for help hanging sheetrock. He also can’t tell the difference between a Chianti or a Cabernet and he really doesn’t care. When he’s playing the part of a grownup, Colin is a communications professional in the field of education and has written a variety of articles for Twin Cities media. He and his wife live in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, where he gives scooter rides to their three children.

Colin is a professional writer; however, his proudest literary accomplishment was when the Star Tribune chose his letter to the editor--defending Van Halen's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction--as its "Letter of the Day."

BOOK LAUNCH DATE
June 18, 2010

PRE-ORDER
www.accidentaladult.com

WEBSITE
www.accidentaladult.com

BLOG
www.accidentaladult.com/blog

FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/accidentaladult

Publisher
Adams Media, Inc.

PhDs, Pornography, and Premeditated Murder

PhDs, Pornography, and Premeditated Murder

By J L Wilson

Professor Jane Renard's estranged husband was murdered in front of a thousand Z.Z. Top fans at the Minnesota State Fair -- while Jane sat in the crowd. Marcus Sloan, a security guard, is her alibi and is soon her ally when she’s briefly suspected of murder.

That's not her only problem. Jane has a ‘secret’ life as an erotic author and she’s up for a job promotion at college. If they find out about her novels, she's sunk. Plus her best friend is being threatened by a vengeful ex, Jane’s getting disturbing fan mail to her alter ego and a guy keeps calling and talking dirty on the phone.

Jane’s biggest problem, though, is her inexperience with men. Marcus might be the man to help her add some interesting firsthand facts to her novels. Maybe she can also discover if happily ever after only happens in books.

BIOGRAPHY
J L Wilson is a Minnesota author of 15 books who writes ‘mysteries with a touch of romance … and romance with a touch of gray.’ She also writes time travel books and has a paranormal-political thriller series that’s set on another planet. She came up with the idea for "PhDs" while sitting in the grandstand at the Minnesota State Fair during a concert and realizing that yes, you could probably murder someone there and not be seen ...

She can be found on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace

http://tinyurl.com/ak8hl8

WEBSITE

www.jayellwilson.com