James Patterson’s “Cross Country”

Anyone out there a James Patterson fan?  I love his books featuring Alex Cross, although I’m not quite so big on the Women’s Murder Club series.  I just finished “Cross Country” and absolutely loved it!  In this one, Dr. Cross follows a killer to Africa, and Patterson gets the opportunity to expose just what is behind the violence that plagues this nation.  If you don’t pay attention when the world news comes on, you’ll definitely have your eyes opened by this book.  It is truly horrifying!  While Patterson doesn’t dwell on the violence and gore, he tells just enough to let you know that it’s truly awful in some parts of Africa.

We’ve heard about genocide and corrupt governments, but this book shows how violence and depravity spawn more violence and depravity.  It reminds me of the stories told about how people when they become desperate will turn to cannibalism rather than starve to death.  No there’s not any cannibalism in this book, but the principle is the same.  In dire straits, people do what they need to do to survive.  However, there are some good, decent people in Africa who help Alex track the killer he is hunting.

So, although this is not a non-fiction book, there are a lot of factual passages that will tell you some things you may not want to face.  And the message is that while we cannot cure the ills of the entire world, we can seek out the good and try to magnify it.

101 Things You Should Know Before Getting a Dog

My new book is published!  If you read this blog regularly, you know that I also publish a blog at doggies.com.  Growing out of research I did for that site, I put together a book of tips all prospective dog guardians should read before bringing home a new puppy or even a grown dog.  Everything from the fact that they pee on or chew up all of your possessions to the fact that some day you will have to put them down.

The book features 116 pages and over 100 full-color photographs, and is available only online.  It makes a great gift for any dog people you know.

As a Chaos in Canton, OH blog reader, you can purchase this book at a $1.50 discount by using the discount code 844BD7MG at this website.

If you’re not into dogs, you might like my other book, a mystery entitled Caribbean Destiny, about a man who disappears on his honeymoon aboard a cruise ship.  You can purchase this novel here.

After you read either of them, please let me know your opinion!

Happy reading!

Hoping to be like Janet Oke

I’m so excited!  My first fiction book has now been published.  After admiring Janet Oke’s work for so long, I have finally taken the final steps to becoming a published author!  Although my style isn’t anything like Ms. Oke’s, I’m sure you’ll enjoy my novel, Caribbean Destiny.  Check it out!

Please preview my new book of dog advice

My first non-fiction book is just about ready to be published, and I’d love to have your feedback before it goes to press. Based on the research I do every day for doggies.com, I have written a little instruction book for prospective dog guardians called “101 Things You Should Know Before Getting a Dog”.

You can download and preview the first chapter of the book here.  I’d really like some honest opinions – do you love it?  Hate it?  Think it might sell?  After reading the 1st chapter, there is space on that same web page for you to rate the book and tell me what you thought.

Thanks in advance for your help!

My First Novel is Officially Published

I’m so excited!  Here’s the press release – read all about it!

Freelance writer Beth Philley of Canton, Ohio has just published her first novel, entitled Caribbean Destiny.  Part mystery, part romance, this debut work explores love, loss, and how the events of childhood revisit us later in life.  Caribbean Destiny is the first in what the author hopes will be a long-running series featuring true crime writer Molly Logan, who also calls Canton home.

In Caribbean Destiny, Molly suffers the loss of a child she has raised for five years when her lover moves out, taking the child.   Having already paid for a Caribbean cruise, Molly decides to travel alone rather than staying at home to mourn the break-up.

It’s not long after Molly boards the ship that she becomes entangled in a mystery involving newlyweds Cooper and Katie Quinn.  Although no one saw Cooper board the ship, Katie swears he did board and then subsequently disappeared.  The ship’s security chief is not sure whether Katie is crazy or whether there is foul play involved.  Grudgingly working with Molly, the chief and his staff start an investigation into the case.

As Molly finds herself falling in love with the chief’s assistant, they go to work researching Cooper Quinn and find details about his mysterious life that he had not shared with Katie.

The author is currently working on an e-book called 101 Things You Should Know Before Getting a Dog:  A Little Instruction Book for Prospective Dog Guardians, which will soon be available on doggies.com.  In addition, she is writing the second book in the Molly Logan series and a non-fiction book on parenting.  She has been a freelancer since 2005, primarily providing ghost-writing services for others.  However, she does write under her own name as the blogger at doggies.com.  She shares her home with four dogs, two cats, and three kids, and blogs about her experiences at 4dogs2cats3kids.wordpress.com.

A free preview of Caribbean Destiny is available at https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1056676, and the full-length book can be purchased at https://www.createspace.com/3380369.  Ms. Philley is available via the contact information above for interviews, book signings, and public readings of her work.

Janet Oke books as Hallmark Movies and Orphan Trains

Finished the last two movies in the boxed set last night.  They were excellent!  Continuing on with the story, and trying not to give too much away, Missy ends up moving back home, finding a home near Marty & Clark’s.  She adopts Belinda, a young girl who arrives on an orphan train.

Now, I have to stop at this point to ask if you have ever heard of an orphan train.  I learned of these at a class I took on foster parenting.  In the 19th century, they had more orphans in the large cities along the East Coast than they could deal with, so they put the children on a train and shipped them west.  The train would stop at various frontier cities, the kids would be taken off of the train, usually into a church, where interested townspeople would look them over and choose one (or not).  The town’s legal authority, usually the sheriff (who by the way, had NO training or experience with child welfare) would sign the child over to the adult, giving the adult total power over the child.  The kids who weren’t picked were put back on the train to go to the next stop and try again.  HOW BARBARIC!!!

Anyways, back off of my soapbox, Missy and Belinda don’t exactly hit it off at first, but they do work it out.  Meanwhile, Missy meets the town sheriff, who is the new love interest in her life.  Belinda ends up deciding she wants to be a doctor.  She struggles with everyone’s attitude (in that time period) that women should be barefoot and pregnant.

I don’t want to give away too much because I want you to watch them for yourself, and I highly recommend you do so!

Hallmark Movies based on Janet Oke’s books

Last night, we started watching the first six of the Janet Oke movies I told you about a few weeks ago.  We got through the first four before we gave up and went to bed.  What a great series!  Although they are just a little bit “preachy”, they are, for the most part, touching stories that tell about the life of pioneers who settled the west.

The Love Comes Softly series starts with Marty and Clark, who moved west with their spouses, but both of them become widowed due to life in the tough environment.  They get married simply out of convenience, but end up developing feelings for each other.  Clark’s daughter, Missy, marries Willie after he helps her save the family farm when Clark injures himself.  Willie and Missy move even further west to start a cattle ranch, and run into tragedies of their own.

Today was a busy one, but I hope to get to see the last two in the boxed set tomorrow.  I can’t imagine they will be anything but excellent.  There was enough action in the movies to make them interesting even to my three very active boys, and enough tenderness to keep me riveted throughout.  I highly recommend them!

Hallmark Movies

Have you seen the movies the Hallmark Channel made from Janet Oke’s “Love Came Softly” novels?  OMGosh, are they good!  The books have actually been around for quite awhile, with the series having been written from 1979  – 1989.

Janet Oke has been hailed as second only to Laura Ingalls Wilder in popularity for early Western pioneer themed novels.  In this series, she covers 3 generations of a family as they move westward.  The movie we saw last night was actually the last in the series.  The 2nd-to-last one will be shown this Thursday on the Hallmark Channel.

We immediately purchased the boxed set of the first six movies – it was just that good!

I think I will have to put the novels on my reading list, as well.  It’s always nice  (for me anyways) to read the original even if I’ve already seen the movies.

So, if you get a chance, check out the movies on Hallmark.  You can see these books, as well as others by the same author, on Ms. Oke’s website.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I am!