Monday, May 25, 2009

The Night Watchman Blog Tour

Ray Quinn is a tough, quick-witted homicide detective in love with his partner, Trisha Willis. She gives Ray something to live for--something to hope in. Until a barrage of bullets leaves Trisha murdered and Ray crippled.

Struggling with his new physical disability and severe depression, Quinn turns to whiskey, scorn, and a job as a night watchman to numb the pain. But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in an apparent murder-suicide, the pastor's sister approaches Quinn for help.

Reluctantly, Quinn takes the case and is plunged into the perilous Orlando. Soon he discovers that, not only was the pastor murdered, but the case may be linked to his and Trisha's ambush. Torn between seeking revenge or responsibility, Quinn is thrust into the case of his life.

Author Mark Mynheir gives readers his most profound police thriller to date with The Night Watchman [first book in The Night Watchman Private Detective Agency Series]. Readers of all ages will devour this gripping murder mystery that bristles with tension and intrigue. In a taut cop-style all his own, Mynheir delivers an inside look at the thoughts, feelings, fears, and challenges police officers experience while investigating violent crimes and the lost souls who commit them.

Mynheir's descriptions of characters, scenes, and dialogue are delightful to read. It makes the reader really be "at the scene". Masterful and I can't wait to get more books in this series. This is one of the few books that I have read cover to cover with hardly any breaks.

Author Bio:
A detective with the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Palm Bay Police Department, Mark Mynheir investigates violent crimes and writes riveting Christian fiction. A U.S. Marine with a passion for martial arts and firearms training, Mark has worked on narcotics units, SWAT teams, and myraid high-risk situations. His four novels offer a realisic glimpse into the gritty world of law enforcement and the rarely seen raw emotions behind the badge. Mark lives in Florida with his wife and three children.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781590529355&ref=externallink_mlt_thenightwatchman_sec_0414_01

Friday, May 8, 2009

Put Your Dream To The Test / John C. Maxwell

In this newest leadership book from John C. Maxwell, leads the reader through a well-considered plan for the reader sto see the necessary steps to successful transitions.

If you're familiar with Maxwell's other leadership series or books, this will probably not be new to you but for the beginner asking the questions how to see your vision, develop a plan, and execute for success, this will be a great starting point, giving you an ah ha moment when you complete your reading.

He points out that many people can get an idea, and perhaps the vision of what it looks like, but never realize what it feels like to achieve. There are certainly points of challenges. Maxwell demonstrates how to quench your fears, and how to provide a service while filling in a needed gap in society.

The ten questions asked and answered are:
  • Is my dream really my dream?
  • Do I clearly see my dream?
  • Am I depending on factors within my control to achieve my dream?
  • Does my dream compel me to follow it?
  • Do I have a strategy to reach my dream?
  • Have I included the people I need to realize my dream?
  • Am I willing to pay the price for y dream?
  • Am I moving closer to my dream?
  • Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction
  • Does my dream benefit others?
This is clearly a list of questions every entrepreneur or leader needs to ask from time-to-time. If you don't have the answers or need to develop a plan, then this is a book to help you achieve your dream success now.


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Monday, May 4, 2009

Dear Mom / Mama's Got a Fake I.D. Blog Tour

Every mom knows how communicating with a teenage girl cn be difficult, even impossible at times. One-word answers. defensive conversations. Daily arguments. How typical for teens to put up with barriers. All the while, moms truly long to know what their daughters really think.

Best-selling author Melody Carlson, whose books for women, teens, and children have sold more than three million copies, bridges this chasm with trusted insight. She speaks frankly in the voice of the teen daughters she's written for and she tells it like it is: struggles with identify, guys, friendship, and even parents--it's all here. The straight-talk to moms covers such things as "I need you, but you can't make me admit it," "I'm not as confident as I appear," and "I have friends. I need a mother."

Instead of focusing on outward behaviors, Dear Mom looks at a young woman's heart and reveals to moms:
  • how to talk to teens so they hear,
  • how to connect despite the differences of perspective or years and experiences,
  • and how to strengthen the bond every mom and daughter ultimately wants.
The lively chapters in Dear Mom can be dipped into topically or used as a read-through tool by moms and daughters alike to understand what motivates or deflates, troubles or inspires--and just in time for Mother's Day and all the Mother's Days ahead.

Author's Bio:
Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than three million copies. Beloved for her Diary of a Teenage Girl and Notes from a Spinning Planet series, she's also the author of the women's novels Finding Alice (in production now for a Lifetime-IV movie), Crystal Lies, On This Day, These Boots Weren't Made for Walking, and A Mile in My Flip-Flops. A mother of tow grown sons, Melody lives in central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. She's a full-time writer and an avid gardner, biker, skier, and hiker.

Dear Mom: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074914&ref=externallink_wbm_dearmom_sec_0330%20_01

Mama's Got A Fake I.D.

Formula for identity loss:
  1. Take one multifaceted, intriguing human being
  2. Bless her with a child
  3. Mix with today's cultural assumptions
  4. Add the demands of motherhood
  5. Presto! all identity escept Mom disappers
For every woman wondering what hapened to the unique combination of gifts and abilities she was knwon for beforekids came long. Caryn Dahistrand Rivedeneira has good news: in Mama;s Got a Fake I.D. Rivendeneira helps moms reclaim their full identity as creative beings, gifted professionals and volunteers, loving friends, children of God--and mothers.

This inspiring and practical guide shows women how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express who they really are, and follow God's lead in sharing their true self with others. After all, motherhood doesn't have to mean losing one's identityu. Instead, being a mom makes it possible for a woman to discover a more complete identity as the person God made her to be.

Author Bio:
The former managing editor of Marriage Partnership and Christian Parenting Today, Caryn Dahistrand Rivedeneira has been a trusted voice writing and spreaking to women for more than a decade. Today she is the managing editor of GiftedForLeadership.com on line ommunity for Christian women in leadership. Rivadeneira works from home in the Chicago suburbs, where she lives with her husband and their three children.

Mama’s Got a Fake I.D.: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074938&ref=externallink_wbm_mamasgotafakeid_sec_0330%20_01

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Mormon Mirage

The Mormon Mirage by Latayne C. Scott is not just a book, it is most decisively a mini encyclopedia of Mormon history and insights. When LaTayne asked me to review this new edition of her massive work I thought, "why not." The depth to which she has gone in finding historical documents is amazing. And for me, a former Mormon it was a look back into a life that I too left with "sadness".

Latayne was once an ardent proponent of Mormonism. But a meticulous examination of Latter-day Saint (LDS) doctrines and practices convinced her that she and countless others had believed a lie. In the first edition of The Mormon Mirage, she shared her remarkable journey out of Mormonism as she uncovered shocking inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the faith she had loved and lived.

Thirty years later, Mormonism and Mormon scholarship have evolved with the times. In this third, revised and updated edition of her well-known book, Latayne keeps pace with the changes and advances in Mormonism, and reveals formidable new challenges to LDS claims and teachngs.

The first major change to strike me were terms such as Internet Mormons and Chapel Mormons. It is noted that those who get information from the Internet have a different approach and understanding of the Mormon faith than those who only have an understanding from the weekly chapel services.
  • There is a wonderful chronology of events from the era of Joseph Smith to the present
  • Historical statements from the general authorities stating that they were sorry for some of the statements made regarding previous "prophesy" which were now being changed
  • Exhaustive searches by archeologists and historians for artifacts or confirmation for anything in the Book of Mormon which would confirm that the people, places, and events actually took place
  • Subtle changes such as the Native American Indian previously was to change to a white(r) skin tone if they remained true to the teachings but was changed to a pure race
  • During the recent past the scrolls which were supposed to confirm doctrine, have been shown by experts to not have anything in agreement
  • Why did large numbers of Japanese members suddenly leave, including leadership?
But above all and besides all, the fact remains that the Jesus that died on Calvary and was resurrected said that the Kingdom of God was established on the earth, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If this is truth as written in the Bible, then the Book of Mormon and its doctrine is questioned since it states that the Kingdom that Jesus brought to the earth was taken away for over 1,700 years and was re-established under Joseph Smith.

There are just too many notable events to list them all. This is a book not to be taken lightly, nor is it a book that bashes a religion but gives insights based on Mormon doctrine and changes throughout its history. For me, it was fascinating to find answers to things I had heard as a child but to actually read it as history was wonderful.

Author's Bio:
Latayne C. Scott was a happy and faithful Mormon for ten years, attending Brigham Young University on a writing scholarship and working as a staff member for two of BYU's weekly magazines. She is the author of thirteen published books, including The Mormon Mirge, Why We Left Mormonism, and After Mormonism, What? Her recently published first fiction work, Latter-day Cipher is a hit on Amazon.com She has also published rticles and poems in secular magazines and in major Christian magaizines, and is the recipient of Pepperdine University's "Distinguished Christian Service Award" for her writing. Latayne is a representational thinker and a full-time writer, living in New Mexico with her husband of thirty-five years, and has two married children. Her Web sites are www.latayne.com and www.representationalresources.com

http://www.amazon.com/Mormon-Mirage-Former-Member-Church/dp/0310291534/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241212621&sr=1-1