The Book Bin

Casey and Kyle Online Book Tour February 2012

Join Will Robertson, author of the comic Casey and Kyle: I’m Saving Up for a Big Brother!!! as he virtually tours the blogosphere in February 2012 on his first tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Will Roberston

WILL ROBERTSON enjoys playing music and working on his serve in Tennis. His favorite beverage is an Iced Tea with no lemon. He loves Tacos and Panini Sandwiches and is fond of road trips. He is an avid mini golfer and an aggressive bumper car driver. He lives with his wife and two children in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. His house is yellow.

He started drawing comics on a road trip when he was twelve. Fueled by Bloom County, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts, he began creating characters that would carry his own comic strip all the way through college. Along the way, his work was feature in The Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) and The News Register (McMinnville, OR) as well as being published nationally in a compilation of the best 100 Editorial cartoons by students across the US.

In late 2007, Will began to draw a series of cartoons based on his two boys. Those early drawings became the strip Casey and Kyle, which debuted online at comicsherpa.com (a new comic showcase developed by Universal Press Syndicate and gocomics.com) on February 6, 2008.

A year after its debut, Will published his first book of Casey and Kyle comics and began to shop his work to print as a self-syndicated feature. His work now appears in several publications, where it is read by nearly 200,000 readers.

When he is not drawing cartoons, he spends his days working with other self-published authors to bring their work to print, he illustrates books, hugs his wife and takes his kids to the park.

You can visit him online at www.caseyandkylecomics.com.

About Casey and Kyle: I’m Saving Up for a Big Brother!!!

Casey and Kyle is a strip about the fun and chaos of kids. It’s about the things you remember about your own childhood and (for anyone with kids) the way your own kids really are.

It goes deeper than your average kid strip and builds on the dynamic that exists between an older and younger sibling: The way the oldest always gets to be the hero; the younger the bad guy. It features a cacophony of neighborhood kids, each one making his own indelible stamp on the other characters.

Casey and Kyle appears online and in print where it is enjoyed by nearly 200,000 readers each month. Each book includes nearly 300 cartoons.

What Reviewers Are Saying

“Two Time Editor’s Pick” –comicsherpa.com Your Guide to Undiscovered Comics

Casey and Kyle Tour Schedule

Monday, February 6
Review at Book Bird Dog

Wednesday, February 8
Review at Children’s and Teens Book Connection

Friday, February 10
Review at 4 The Love of Books

Monday, February 13
Review at The Hot Author Report

Wednesday, February 15
Interview at The Examiner

Friday, February 17
Interview at BlogCritics

Monday, February 20
Spotlight at The Plot

Tuesday, February 21
Character Interview at The Plot

Thursday, February 23
Podcast Interview at A Book and a Chat

Friday, February 24
Review at The Library of Clean Reads

Monday, February 27
Spotlight at Celtic Lady’s Book Reviews

Tuesday, February 28
Guest Post at Everyday Adventure

Will Robertson’s CASEY AND KYLE ONLINE BOOK TOUR 2012 will officially begin February 6th and end February 29th. Thank you for your support!

The Canker Death Online Book Tour February 2012

Join James Bottino, author of the fantasy and science fiction novel The Canker Death as he virtually tours the blogosphere in February 2012 on his first tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About James Bottino

James R. Bottino’s life-long interests mix esoteric and disparate fields of study. By day, his foremost influences have been the study of literature and the art of writing. Following these pursuits led him to read anything he could in these areas and to complete every under-graduate and graduate course available to him in the field of creative writing. Following this line, he taught high school English throughout the 1990’s, focusing on the teaching of writing.

By night, when no one was looking, he studied computer systems / networks, computer languages, and operating systems, learning anything he could in these areas, first as a hobby, and, finally, as a career. This mixture of literature and technology served as the inspiration for the The Canker Death’s protagonist, Petor.

James currently lives in a suburb of Chicago, with his wife, daughter, two Australian cattle dogs and far, far too many books and abstruse computers.

You can visit his website at TheCankerDeath.com

About The Canker Death

When the reclusive, cynical systems administrator, Petor Fidelistro, discovers that one of his own servers has been cracked late one night, he makes it his personal business to track down the perpetrator. What his search uncovers thrusts him, unaware, into a mad shifting between worlds, time and alien minds.

Fighting to keep his grip on reality, and forcing him to cope with his past, Petor finds himself uncontrollably transitioning between sentient minds that range from semi-conscious to dominant, from beings whose bodies and identities he can control, to those who control him so fully as to be unaware of his presence.

As the story unfolds, Petor gathers clues in a twisting mystery that sends him shifting between the mourning child Nanzicwital; the golem giant Faskin; the lascivious, female ambassador Desidia; and Nokinis, an insane prisoner with whom Petor battles for mastery of his own memories. As he struggles to make sense of what is happening to him, Petor finds himself embroiled in the tumultuous upheaval of a ubiquitous society that transcends life, itself.

What Reviewers Are Saying

5.0 out of 5 stars Cliffhanger after cliffhanger! I couldn’t put it down!, September 3, 2011

This review is from: The Canker Death (Kindle Edition)

The Canker Death by James R. Bottino is a mystery, a spiritual awakening, a suspenseful and funny book with complex characters and worlds. This book reminds me a bit of Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber series and also reminds me that good ideas are still out there amidst the plethora of over-worked, tired concepts prevalent in our world today.

How did the author slip in symbolism and deep themes all the while entertaining us with the “full monty” of sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll and stuff that explodes? I’m not sure, but by the time I’d finished The Canker Death, it made me laugh, cry, hang on by the seat of my pants, and shout “SEQUEL!!!” (although the book does stand well on its own.)

Also, while reading, I found the Vitruvian Man map full of symbols, character names and concepts to be a provocative and neat little extra feature. I highly recommend this original tome!

- Amazon Reviewer RIBH

The Canker Death Tour Schedule

Monday, February 6
Interview at Book Marketing Buzz

Tuesday, February 7
Guest Post at As the Pages Turn

Wednesday, February 8
Interview at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, February 9
Guest Post at The Book Connection

Friday, February 10
Interview at Paperback Writer

Monday, February 13
Guest Post at Literarily Speaking

Tuesday, February 14
Guest Post at The Story Behind the Book

Thursday, February 16
Spotlight at The Plot

Friday, February 17
Character Interview at The Plot

Monday, February 20
Interview at Beyond the Books

Tuesday, February 21
Interview at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, February 22
Spotlight at Celtic Lady’s Book Reviews

Thursday, February 23
Review at Martha’s Bookshelf

Friday, February 24
Guest Post at Everyday Adventure

Monday, February 27
Spotlight at Blurbs N’ Bytes

Wednesday, February 29
Guest Post at InkyBlots

March Coming Soon!

James Bottino’s THE CANKER DEATH ONLINE BOOK TOUR 2012 will officially begin February 6th and end March 23rd. Thank you for your support!

In the Spotlight: Making It in Hollywood: What To Do & How To Do It

Have you ever wondered what it takes to make it in Hollywood?

Bryan Hdialgo and Gail O'Donnell have teamed together to bring you Making It in Hollywood: What to Do & How to Do It.  More than 100 of today's top actors, screenwriters, directors and producers have granted the writing team interviews to help others know their way around the biz - or the show biz that is. 

Learn the secrets of how to become a succesful actor, screenwriter, director or producer from the people who've made it - and are continuing to make it.  Hidalgo and O'Donnell interviewed the pros including Oscar and Emmy winners who reveal how they started, how they got where they are today, and how you can get there, too.  Disover where to start, what training to pursue, when to get an agent, how to be your  best at auditions, and more!

Richard Marks, Vice President of Business Affairs at NBC Universal Television calls Making It In Hollywood "a truly inspirational compilation of interviews, with answers, encouragement and guidance straight from the horse's mouth.  If you are at all interested in entering this business, you owe it to yourself to read this book..."

You can pick up your copy at Amazon here.

MAKING IT IN HOLLYWOOD: WHAT TO DO & HOW TO DO IT, by Bryan Hidalgo & Gail O'Donnell, CreateSpace, 624 pp., $26.95.

Book Excerpt: The Katyn Order

In an excerpt from his new book,  The Katyn Order (McBooks Press May 2011), Douglas Jacobson gives us the nitty gritty view of the Resistance fighters who rise up against their Nazi occupiers. The Katyn Order is an actual historical document – an order – signed by Josef Stalin and every member of the Soviet Politburo in 1940 authorizing the execution of more than twenty thousand Polish army officers, doctors, teachers, and civic leaders. The executions were carried out in secret by the Soviet NKVD in four locations in Russia, including the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. The Soviet Union denied this atrocity for more than fifty years until 1992 when the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, made the Katyn Order public.

* * *

Natalia bent down to see out the window as they crept slowly into the station, passing a line of grim-faced German SS troopers who stood on the platform clutching sub-machine guns. When the train finally shuddered to a halt with a blast of venting steam, Natalia jumped to the platform, blinking her eyes against the sting of smoke and ashes. As she pulled out the step to assist the departing passengers, she heard a clatter of hobnail boots pounding down the wooden platform. A guttural voice barked in German, “Raus! Raus! Everyone out!”

As the SS officer approached her, Natalia adjusted her blue railway conductor’s cap and shouted to be heard over the noise, “This train is continuing on to—”

The officer jabbed his nightstick into her ribs. “Everyone off! Schnell! Mach schnell!”  Then he marched on ahead, banging against every window, waving his hand, “Raus! Raus!”

Instantly it was chaos: bewildered people stumbling off the train and scurrying along the platform, dragging luggage and children behind them, SS troopers shouting, dogs barking, the air thick with smoke and haze. Natalia backed up against the brick wall of the station and watched for a moment, keeping her eye on the SS officer, who was trotting further up the train, banging on windows, jerking people out of the cars and onto the platform. She removed her conductor’s cap, stuffed it into the black bag clipped to her belt and stepped into the flow of departing passengers.

* * *

Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the “2007 Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Library association. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland’s contribution during WW2, has published articles on Belgium’s WW2 escape organization, the Comet Line and other European resistance organizations. Doug’s second historical novel, The Katyn Order, which will be released in May, 2011, focuses on one of history’s most notorious war crimes, the Katyn massacre.

You can visit his website at www.douglaswjacobson.com.

 

Book Spotlight: Against All Odds by John Milton Langdon

Title: Against All Odds
Author: John Milton Langdon
Genre: Historical Fiction
Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises (February 1, 2006
Language: English
ISBN-1598861476
ISBN-13: 978-1598861471

Stepback in time – it’s the Victorian era, when Great Britain is at the forefront of industrial development. Based loosely on fact, author John Milton Langdon weaves a tale of romance and adventure on the high seas. “Against All Odds” describes the early years of an average man. Although he is born into humble circumstances, he shows how a combination of perserverance and intelligence, aided by a little good fortune, can help any child overcome the disadvantages of lowly birth status and a poor education. If you long for a sense of wonderment in life read this first volume of a set of four, and discover how Jason Smiley Stewart transforms from callow village boy to a ship’s officer in Volume 1 of Jason Smiley Stewart – My Life Story.

BOOK EXCERPT:

I was envious and very disappointed to be excluded from the group, but there was no need for us both to go and he was a much more experienced small boat sailor than I was. Consequently, when he went down to organise the boat, I took over his watch on the bridge with the best grace I could muster. The ship was lying with the bows into a gentle southerly breeze and the island was almost due north of us beyond the stern.

The jolly boat was cast off and Evans ordered his crew to hoist the small lugsail to take advantage of the breeze that was blowing. Evans waved cheerfully and sailed away towards the island on the long run that would take him to the western and lower end of the island. The Captain took a last look around the horizon and went below to his cabin. I watched the jolly boat for a few moments and clearly the whole party were enjoying themselves. Like a Sunday school outing I thought as I resumed my duties as officer of the watch and checked that the ship had not drifted off position.

Fifteen minutes later, when the boat with Evan’s party in it were about half way to the island, the Captain came hurrying back to the bridge. Nothing had changed that I could detect. The sky remained a cloudless blue and the breeze was slightly lighter if anything, but that was all. But clearly Captain Stewart was worried. He had seen or felt something while he was in his cabin, that I hadn’t detected and from the expression on his face, the instincts of a very experienced sailor were giving him considerable concern.

He picked up a telescope and started to scan the horizon. He looked seaward and then slowly but progressively examined the visible horizon, carefully studying the shore line and the tops of the surrounding hills. He said nothing and may not have known what he was looking for, but he suddenly stopped moving and studied a particular area almost directly in line with the island for several moments.

He suddenly snapped the telescope shut, reached above his head for the lanyard controlling the ship’s whistle and blew five short blasts, the danger warning, followed quickly by another five blasts and then another five. He rang the engine room telegraph to standby and ordered me to signal the boat.

“Jason! Quickly! Hoist flags ‘U’ over ‘K’ over ‘X’.

Even as I rushed to the flag locker, a tiny part of my mind registered the fact that the Captain had addressed me as Jason instead of his customary Mr. Smiley. I was thankful that my many hours of practice under the Bosun’s watchful gaze were being rewarded, as I had all three flags, bent on, hoisted and flying within a few moments of receiving Captain Stewart’s terse order.

As I carried out the instruction, I remembered that ‘U’ means ‘you are standing into danger’, ‘K’ means ‘you should stop your vessel instantly’ and ‘X’ means ‘you should stop carrying out your intentions and watch for my signals’. The Captain had sent a very comprehensive message with the minimum of wasted effort but the wind was now very light and, as it was blowing almost directly from the ship towards Evans, I did not think he would be able to see them. Captain Stewart called the engine room on the voice pipe in the corner of the bridge near the telegraph and the half of the conversation I heard was

“Chief?”

“Call the Chief Engineer immediately.”

“Chief?” Captain here. There is a storm approaching. Raise steam as quickly as you can. How long before I can use the engine?”

“I see. That may not be soon enough. You will have to do better!”

There was a significant pause as the Captain listened to the Chief and he then said, “I see. If the storm that’s coming causes the anchor to drag, you may not have an engine to worry about this afternoon.”
The Captain obviously thought the wind direction was preventing Evans from seeing the flag signal as he blew another series of danger warnings on the steam whistle just as the First Mate arrived on the bridge followed closely by the second officer.

Captain Stewart gestured towards the north and said “There’s a bad storm coming and Evans is right in its path”.

Captain Stewart turned to the second mate and ordered, “Go round the ship and make sure all portholes and hatches are closed. Tell the crew there is a severe dust storm coming and all off watch crew are to go to their mess rooms to wait further orders”.

In company with the Captain and Mr. Richards, the First Mate, I used a telescope and looked in the direction the Captain had pointed and could see low, dark, rolling clouds rushing out of the mountains towards us. It came even closer as we watched and the sea between the mainland and the island began to smoke and boil from the fury of the approaching wind. Suddenly the main land behind the island became a blur and then disappeared. Between the island and the ‘Earl Canning’, our boat with Evans and the surveyors on board sailed serenely on. They were clearly unaware of the approaching danger, possibly because they were close enough to the island for its bulk to block out most of the mainland and the approaching storm beyond. They had obviously heard the siren and knew something was amiss, as we saw in our telescopes Evans pass the tiller to one of his crew and stand in the stern of the jolly boat looking back at us with the small telescope that he always carried with him. We could see the dust being blown like smoke horizontally from the top of the island as the storm approached it but we were incapable of indicating where the danger to Evans and his party was coming from. Apart from the helmsman, everyone was looking back towards us.

The Bosun arrived on the bridge. He had also heard the steam whistle blowing and knew from experience that he would be required in an emergency.

He reported directly to the Captain who said, “Ah Bosun, just the man. There is a storm coming. Set an anchor watch. Two of your most experienced hands. I need to know immediately if the anchor starts to drag. Put some men at intervals along the deck so that there is no delay passing information to me from your men on the forecastle”.

The Captain again blew on the whistle to attract attention to the storm and as he did so a freak gust of wind blew our signal flags out to port. Evans saw the hoist, spun round and saw the approaching danger himself, and the lugsail started to drop. But his action was far too late, as the sail was not half down before the boat listed steeply in a sudden violent blast of wind. Both boat and occupants disappeared from our horrified view into an impenetrable blanket of dust.

We watched with fascinated horror as a thick brown cloud of dust, only rising a few hundred feet into the air, roiled and boiled rapidly across the sea towards us. Amazingly there was a serene blue sky above it and turbulent white capped sea at its base. The noise from the wind was deafening and seemed louder than the hurricane winds I had experienced a few years before.

My thoughts and prayers were with my friend Evans who was fighting three enemies at once. The sea, the wind and the dust. – – – -

– Excerpted from Against All Odds by John Milton Langdon