All posts tagged: Florida

Mckenzie Cassidy talks about his debut coming-of-age, Here Lies a Father, a fabulous 1970s playlist featuring songs about dads, the hero’s journey, upstate NY as a character, the catharsis of writing about family secrets, more

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By Leslie Lindsay A coming-of-age tale featuring a young man dealing with the death of his father, the secrets he attempted to hide, truth, reconstruction, and more WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS ALWAYS WITH A BOOK Leslie Lindsay & Mckenzie Cassidy in Conversation Writer, professor, Floridian, and Dad, Mckenzie Cassidy delves into dark secrets and a sorted past to discover who–and what–shapes us in his debut coming-of-age, loosely based on a true story. About HERE LIES A FATHER: This an astute and poignant debut from McKenzie Cassidy (Akashic Books, Jan 2021), about fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, and the universal odyssey of family secrets, lies, and revelations. Ian Daly is fifteen when his wayward father dies; they are a bit estranged, he and his mother having recently returned to New York state after a stint in Florida. The parents are separated and leaning toward divorce. Ian has an older sister, Catherine, who is at college. HERE LIES A FATHER opens at the man’s funeral and backtracks through the somber, dysfunctional realms of his life, peeling back layers while juxtaposing …

Deliciously dark and creepy domestic thriller now in paperback–Samantha Downing talks about MY LOVELY WIFE, her publishing journey, and her next thriller, HE STARTED IT

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By Leslie Lindsay  5 juicy stars to this tautly paced, all-encompassing deliciously dark domestic suspense, MY LOVELY WIFE (Berkley, March 26 2019) will capture and ensnare and have you looking twice at your neighbors.  ~PUB DAY PREVIEW|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ NOW IN PAPERBACK!! with new dark cover INSTANT USA TODAY and NATIONAL BESTSELLER! #1 Library Reads, IndieNext, and Amazon Best of the Month in Thriller! “A dark and irresistible debut.”—People Truly stunning, jaw-dropping, and so engrossing, you simply cannot look away. That’s what debut author, Samantha Downing, is so skilled at in her debut–this is a debut, people!–and you absolutely have to read it. Here’s the thing: it’s dark. It’s twisted, but on the surface, it’s oh-so-saccharine. Married for 15 years, Millicent and her unnamed husband, the protagonist/narrator have found themselves in a slightly boring marriage. They have two kids, a boy and a girl who are on the cusp of adolescence. It’s a nice life in a comfortable suburban area of Florida where everyone goes to work and then home for a pre-planned dinner. There’s soccer and tennis …

Feminism, Down’s syndrome, how setting is character, and so much more in KEEPING LUCY, a heart wrenching read from T. Greenwood

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By Leslie Lindsay  How far will one mother go to protect her child? That’s the overarching question in KEEPING LUCY about a little girl with Down’s syndrome and one horrific institution, set in the early 1970s.  PopSugar’s 30 Must-Read Books of 2019  Good Housekeeping’s 25 Best New Books for Summer 2019 Better Homes & Gardens 13 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer I’ve been a fan of T. Greenwood for some years now and was absolutely thrilled to receive a copy of her forthcoming book, KEEPING LUCY (St. Martin’s Press, August 6 2019). It’s 1969 and Ginny Richardson has just given birth to her second child, a daughter. But there are murmurs in the delivery room, concerned glances. The child has Down’s syndrome; the doctor says it’s best for the baby (who Ginny names Lucy) to ‘go away,’ to a home for the ‘feeble-minded.’ Ginny is married to a rising-star attorney, Abbot (Ab); his family is quite well-to-do and a bit formidable–they say it’s the best thing for the child, for Ginny, for the family. …

Erika Swyler talks about her stunning, introspective novel about fathers and daughters, space, time, the oddity–but intelligence–of Florida, plus her favorite planet in A LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS

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By Leslie Lindsay  Shivers of wonder, a coming-of-age tale of science-fiction, that is at once introspective and speculative, LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS will transform and mesmerize. From the bestselling author of THE BOOK OF SPECULATION (2015), I was intrigued to dive into Erika Swyler’s second book, LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS (May 7 2019). Delightfully imaginative, and not quite like anything I’ve read before, this is the story of Nedda Pappas, her love of science, space, her father, and so much more. Set in dual-time periods, 1986 and some not-so-distant future, LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS is a literary slant on science fiction. Nedda is 11 years old in 1986, when the Challenger erupts and her beloved astronaut hero, Judy Resick becomes carbon, atoms, dust…she can barely go on. What happened to those astronauts? Are they still ‘out there,’ have they become light and energy and warmth? Nedda loves her father, a laid-off NASA scientist fiercely. But her father is struggling with his own demons, a secret he and Nedda’s mother chose to keep from Nedda. Nedda has a best friend, …