The Book Cubby

Congratulations to the Featured Author!

March

Rosie Pova  Author of 3 Childrens Books:  The Message of the Animal King: Poems for Kids to Laugh and Learn;  Ladybug and Caterpillar: The Way To Friendship;  The Animal King's Words of Wisdom

Rosie Pova is a mother of three, living in Dallas, Texas with her family.  Born in Bulgaria in 1975, Rosie moved to North America in 1998.  She started writing in her early adolescent years in Bulgarian and French. Rosie has always had a passion for literature and poetry. She has enjoyed challenging her creativity, taking on different projects, but since becoming a mom a few years ago she has turned her focus on writing and illustrating children’s picture books.  Through her work, Rosie hopes to enrich children’s lives, bringing both value and entertainment with her stories. 

February

Barbara J. Smith   Author of A Surprise For Grandmother Rabbit

Barbara is an editor who has always dabbled in writing and decided to finally put her skills to a test.   Barbara has written a children's book called, A Surprise for Grandmother Rabbit, published by Tate Publishing. As Skipper (the rabbit) knows, it's nice to share!

January

Melissa Foster   Author of Megan's Way

Melissa Foster is an author and the Founder of The Women's Nest, an online social and support community for women. She writes an on-going column in Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa and her husband have six children and live in Maryland along with their three dogs, and two cats.

Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.

Melissa's Motto: "Enjoy each and every day. No one else will do it for you."

The Women's Nest

Reader Comments

December

Angela Hall   Author of Priscilla Pennybrook & Hughey Oliver

Angela was born in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, she is an up incoming newly signed childrens book author.  The first 2 books in the "Priscilla Pennybrook" series and "Hughey Oliver" are completed and available online and our web store.  She discovered her love for writing at a very early age while still in grade school.    Angela lives in Mount Sterling Kentucky with her husband, Andrew and 2 year old son, Dalton.  Motherhood has inspired her to full fill her dreams and aspirations of becoming a published author.  She believes a childs imagination is timeless and through her writing hopes to inspire others.   She credits this amazing oppurtunity to those who have been her inspiration through out life.

"If my books entertain even one child, I will be the most successful author on the planet." ~ Angela Hall~

Reviews:

November

Jennifer Swanson  Author of Penny and Rio Mysteries

CONGRATULATIONS TO JENNIFER FOR PLACING 2ND IN THE FWA’S ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARDS PUBLISHED CHILDREN’S BOOK CATEGORY, Penny and Rio are celebrating their Mom’s Choice Award for Excellence in Family Friendly Media, Penny and Rio are celebrating their SECOND Mom’s Choice Award for Excellence in Family Friendly Media & Dove awards the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for all ages to this wonderful book.

Jennifer was born with the love of reading.  At the age of 5, she was already writing and illustrating her own stories.  When she was in second grade, she wrote a play and coerced her friends to help her produce it.  She has been writing ever since.

A 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Jennifer also pursued her other love of science and became a prep school chemistry teacher.  From there, her Navy career took her to Norfolk, VA where she was stationed with her husband, Jon.

Her life changed forever when they adopted Penny, their first dog.  Penny was a wonderful addition to their family and less than a year later, they adopted Rio, her best pal.  Little did Jennifer know that those dogs would become so important to her later in life.  Jennifer kept writing during the next several years as she raised three children, supported her naval officer husband and taught both part and full time.

These days one can find Jennifer ferrying her kids to soccer practice or games, studying hard for her Masters in Education class, relaxing with her husband or most importantly, hard at work on a new mystery for the intrepid Penny and Rio to solve. Jennifer has also recently become a middle school science instructor for John Hopkin University’s Center for Talented Youth.

Reviews:

Penny & Rio: The Mysterious Backyard Meeting is a softcover children’s book featuring two canine friends who are diametric opposites. Penny is curious and adventurous, while her sister Rio likes to sleep most of the day. When Penny discovers that a cat, a groundhog, a squirrel, and an owl are using her backyard as a meeting place, she is determined to learn more about what is going on – while Rio is convinced that sleep is young people who are almost ready to graduate to chapter books, and an important underlying theme – that one should be responsible for one’s current pets and not abandon them to the city pound for a new pet – is also present in the cat’s tale. Highly recommended, especially for young dog lovers.
Midwest Book Review, May 2008

Go on this first adventure with Penny and Rio. This charming story will become a favorite to any child, especially those with pets. With wonderfully illustrated pictures of the duo’s adventure, it is a great book to encourage reading. Children will enjoy following this mystery as the two dogs discover the true reason for the meeting. Dove awards the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for all ages to this wonderful book.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Dove Foundation, March 2009

Penny & Rio – The Locked Doghouse Mystery is very much a book about family values. It is sometimes a real challenge to teach youngsters complex concepts, but Jennifer Swanson certainly seems to have the skills. This second book confirms my theory that this author has a very illustrious career ahead of her. Many people think of children’s books as being easy to write, that is a fallacy, children’s books are notoriously difficult to do well. On a technical note, the book is printed in a nice friendly font, I am guessing Ariel and the point size is ideal for the beginning reader. This is a book that young people will get hours of enjoyment from, and parents will appreciate the educational value.  
Simon Barret, Bloggernews.net,  Sep 2009

October

B. M. Song Author of Liquid Reflections.    

Born Jan 7, 1977 in her hometown of Clarksville, TN, B.M. Song (Brandy-Michelle) is an up and coming newly signed author/poet. She is ecstatic about her first book of prose, "Liquid Reflections: A Stream of Fluid Prose" to come out soon! She has been writing since the age of twelve starting out as a lyricist. After the passing of her grandmother from a long fight with cancer, her poetry became even more defined and profound, which has thus enabled her to further develop herself as the poet and author she is today.

Her main sources of inspiration come from God, Daughter-Her sweet princess, and the love of her life, Eric. Other inspiration comes from life, nature, things unseen, things still hoped for and dreamt about!

"Poetry is as fluid and natural as breathing.. it flows smoothly..never forced... it comes from an unlimited blessed well-spring of ideas, genres, and themes."   -B.M. Song on her book, Liquid Reflections

Her book of poetry "Liquid Reflections" will be released on Oct. 10, 2009

Reviews:

~~"Liquid Reflections is a recommended read for anyone who enjoys or is interested in poetry that works to evoke a rainbow of emotions."

Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Million Dollar Books Reviews give Liquid Reflections by B.M. Song 5 Diamonds <> <> <> <> <>

~~"... a fascinating journey through the mind of an exceptionally intellectual poet with the ability to captivate every human emotion. Her poetry is massively ingenious and written with a brilliant intervention."

Overall this was a magnificent read!"   Reviewer: Leandus Poe, (CEO) Million Dollar book Reviews  

~~"B.M. Song has written a compelling book of poetry, that each reader will connect with emotionally. Her poems are so true to her heart and every day feelings, they pull the reader in to this remarkable journey of compassion, love, pain, and spirituality.

The words captivate you in a way, that you can feel her passion of writing. Her poetry is like reading the story of life and the emotional ride each person will endeavor.

My personal favorite is Visible Destiny. This is truly a magnificent collection of Poetry."     5***** 

September

Marsha Coles  Author of:  Texas Justice, Mystery of Coldstone Manor & Sara and Sally's Big Adventure

Marsha was born an only child to a single mother in the Cherokee Nation Capitol known as Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She first found my passion for writing in grade school which she practiced all the way through high school.

After high school Marsha took a break in her writing to discover what she wanted to do in life not realizing that she had already found it. For a couple of years she did not do any writing, instead she focused all of my free time with my new daughter.

Once she got to an age where she didn’t need constant and total supervision she began working on her first book; Echoes of the Past, a history of the small community that my family has lived in for over a hundred years. Though this book was self published four years later there is still a demand for copies of it.

After the local success of my book she decided to try working on a second one. This book was titled Tribute to our Veterans. Following this one was another called Oklahoma; Before Statehood then my last nonfiction title Elias Boudinot; A Biography. These books were all self published so I decided it was time to try a fiction novel and see if it would truly be good enough to be accepted by a traditional publisher. Now, thanks to Publish America, I have a chance to become a truly published author. 

Reviews: 

~~Marsha Coles tells a spellbinding story of murder, hate, and finding love in this wonderfully active story set in Texas in the 1800's. Texas Justice is full of adventure on every page making this story a must read. From running from tornados to an unearthly visit in a ghost town Texas Justice will have you at the edge of your seat from start to end.   Brenda, Ok

~~Texas Justice is a book filled with adventure, suspense and romance. With each turn of a page, you will find yourself wanting to know more. Marsha Coles' ability to describe scenery will make the reader feel like they are right there with the charactors. From a haunting graveside scene, to the terror of running from a tornado, Coles keeps you wondering what will happen next. With a generous heroine and a galant hero, "Texas Justice" is the perfect book that will take you on a journey that will make the world seem miles away.  Shannon Nicole Wells - author of Wild Hearts

~~"Texas Justice" is a novel of two hundred and forty six pages set in 1892, The Victorian Age, in north-eastern Texas and Southern Oklahoma.

Main characters include Jessica Johnson, married woman accused in the death of her husband Henry and Reade Johnson, Henry’s brother. Also of major importance are Jessica’s cousin, Jane Etta and Reade’s cousin Nighthawk, half Cheyenne son of Reade’s uncle.

I must state initially that I found this book to be fully worthy of a highly positive review. Ms. Coles opens her account with a gripping scenario that has the reader involved from page one. She weaves an interesting and provocative tale of intrigue and counter intrigue set against a background of the old and the coming new in dry lands of Texas. The action is ongoing and seldom is the reader left to languish in an area where little is happening. I was quite impressed with how the story moved forward and flowed from one scenario to the next.

I found this a "hard to put down" novel and, although the romance genre is not my usual choice, I found myself thoroughly involved in the burgeoning love affairs chronicled therein.

This book is one I would heartily recommend as a fine, light read. Marsha Coles is certainly to be congratulated on a fine novel, well planned, well executed and worthy of praise.  Thomas D. "Thom" Cantrall  Reviewer for Littlefoot’s Library