The Dummy and Me by Sydell Voeller

Sydell Voeller grew up in Washington State, but has lived in Oregon for over thirty-five years. Throughout her twenty-year writing career, her published novels for teens and adults have reflected her love for the Pacific Northwest’s ocean beaches, inlets and waterways, evergreen forests, and mountains. Sydell resides in Oregon with her husband. They married in 1971 and have two grown sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and three adorable grandchildren.

 

When Sydell isn't writing, she enjoys camping, walking, amateur astronomy, reading, and surfing the web. In 1987 after the publication of her first novel, she was named by the Washington County Mushaw Center, Woman of the Year in Communications. Formerly a registered nurse, Sydell now teaches writing correspondence courses, sponsored by the Long Ridge Writer’s Institute.

                The Dummy and Me.

Fifteen-year-old Deanna Lambert is miserable. She can't find her niche with the popular kids at school and believes she is ugly. Then too, after her mother deserted the family to pursue an acting career in New York City, Deanna's father has grown distant and embittered. Now Deanna is saddled with most all the chores at home—and she and her dad barely communicate.

Yet Deanna's one happy escape is her volunteer work at the nearby Children's Hospital. There the activities director convinces her to get back into her ventriloquism, a creative skill Deanna's grandfather had taught her years earlier.

Deanna and her puppet, Ramblin' Roy, entertain and delight the young hospital patients, but Deanna is worried. What if the kids at her school discover what she's doing? Will they think she's just “a baby” who still plays with dolls?
Deanna takes the risk, but one problem soon leads to another. Can she ever gain true acceptance at school, especially from Jason, the guy whom she has a major crush on? And most of all, can Deanna embrace her gift of ventriloquism, and in so doing, come to terms with her mother's leaving?

The Dummy and Me looks at the fears, hopes and dreams of our heroine Deanna, who struggles with the usual teenage insecurities, as well as drastic changes to her home life.  This is a short and well written read, which deals sensitively with issues such as divorce, childhood illness and a young girl’s lack of self-belief. I found Ms Voeller’s style of writing to be perceptive, with an obvious understanding of the young female mind.

Deanna Lambert’s character is likeable, which is always a bonus for me as a reader. Our brief glimpse into her life is interesting. I certainly found the introduction of a ventriloquist’s dummy to be unique. On the whole, I found The Dummy and Me to be an enjoyable vehicle for the works of Ms Voeller, who has a true knack for delving into the teenage mind.

The Dummy and Me is the perfect short read for fans of the Young Adult genre.

 

Honey Bee Reviews says: an interesting read.

Visit the author's website HERE

Buy the book on Amazon HERE

Excerpt:

Room 302. Six-year-old Misty Ebert. I'd know that voice anywhere. Misty had a hip

disease and was one of the kids who'd been in and out of the hospital a lot. With that had come a

lot of depression.

I rushed inside. "Misty, how are you?" Reaching down, I hugged her. The sight of her

sad blue eyes, bluer than my bouquet, made me glad I was there.

"I'm bored," she answered, dropping her gaze.

I looked down at my flowers, then shoved my hands behind my back. It was time for a

last-minute change in plans.

"Which hand?" I asked.

"That one!" She pointed to my right side and I pulled out the bouquet.

"Oh, for me? All for my very own?"

"Yes, all for you. I'll ask the nurses where I can get a vase for them. But first, tell me

why you're so bored."

"I'm tired of watching TV and working puzzles and coloring and playing video games,"

she complained. "There's nothing fun to do here anymore."

I pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. "Like me to read you a story?"

"Nah, I'm sick of stories."

Desperate, I scanned the room. An empty brown paper bag, the size I took my lunch to

school in, lay on her bedside stand. I flashed it before her eyes.

"Need this for anything?" I asked.

"No, the cleaning lady left it there. She's got lots of them."

As I glanced at her box of broken Crayolas, my thoughts raced. "Here, I'll show you

something," I said, reaching for a blue Crayola. "In just a few minutes, abra cadabra, this brown

paper bag will become someone special."

I scrawled two oversized blue eyes, then a nose, a silly-looking mouth on the flap,

topped with a mop of penciled-in hair.

"Who is it, Deanna? Who is it?"

"A happy clown, named Smiley, who loves to laugh and sing and tell silly stories."

Putting my hand inside the bag, I turned and faced my home-made dummy.

"How-do-you-do, ladies and gentleman, I'd like you to meet my friend Smiley the

Clown." My dummy dipped into an exaggerated bow. "Good day, Smiley the Clown," I continued.

"What's up?"

The dummy stared at the ceiling and answered, "What's up? How should I know! I don't

see anything up there!"

The little girl squealed, clapping her chubby hands with delight.

Author Barbara Morgenroth

Hello Folks and welcome to our weekend with author, Barbara Morgenroth. Barbara will be here at the blog, today and tomorrow, with a two part interview and an exciting peek at her romantic comedy, Nothing Serious, as well as a book review and several excerpts. If you have any questions for Barbara, please place them in the comment box.  

Barbara was born in New York City and but now lives somewhere else.
Starting her career by writing tweens and YA books, she was actually aiming at the small screen. Television seemed like the perfect place for her even if she had no clue how to get there. Through a neighbor, Barbara wound up getting an introduction to a lower honcho at ABC and an audition to write for them. Her hopes were more than dashed, they were disintegrated, evaporated, demolished when ABC couldn't find a place for Barbara on General Hospital. (No Luke and Laura in her future!) To ease the crushing disappointment, Barbara wrote "In Real Life I'm Just Kate" (now titled "Just Kate") about a 17 year old girl who becomes a star on a soap opera. That became an open sesame moment and shortly thereafter Barbara became the last headwriter for NBC's daytime serial, The Doctors.

After television, some nonfiction and romantic comedies, Barbara has returned to her first love, YA, by and large for the most part, but will always give in to temptation if something flirts with her hard enough. She's that kind of girl.

If you would like to check out all of Barbara's books on Amazon, please CLICK HERE .

Hello Barbara. Thank you so much for agreeing to spend the weekend here at Honey Bee Reviews. Writing is such an interesting profession; Can you tell us when and why did you first become interested in writing?

I was always interested in writing, spending my time in high school chemistry writing bad poems like most people do.  I thought I was going to be a photojournalist so majored in photography in college but life does push you in unexpected directions.  I didn’t do the journalism and became an English major instead.  Writing was always something I knew I would do later, after all my life adventures had been experienced.  It happened much earlier than I planned.

What would you say is the best thing about being an author?

Not having a real job. 

Producing a book is much more than simply writing a story. I know that sometimes editing can be a very lengthy job. Can you talk us through your editing process, Barbara? Does a lot of your work get cut by your own hand, or are you quite precise in what you write and use in your final drafts?

I’ve always been pretty close in my first draft to what the final results are but I can get very finicky about the details. 

Well, as they say; the devil is in the detail J

I enjoyed meeting all the female characters in your book, Nothing Serious; how important do you think it is for female readers to identify with the heroines in your books?

I never considered it.  Is that strange?

Not at all, Barbara J. I have to admit to you; I did feel as though I connected with Paige, the heroine in Nothing Serious. I certainly felt her distress at the beginning of the story. I’m not sure I’d have the nerve to follow up on the actions she took though. She’s certainly a brave character and very adventurous J  

Speaking of Nothing Serious; the cover is very eye-catching. How much input do you have in the art work for your stories?

Since I was a photographer I did the photos for my first two novels published by Atheneum.  That was fun.  Now I design my own covers and sometimes purchase the artwork.  I enjoy that level of creativity, the ability to have complete control over the project.  Independent publishing is wonderful and the freedom allows artists to create things they wouldn’t in traditional publishing.

Sounds idealJ Can you tell us what future projects you are currently working on?

Bittersweet Farm 2—Joyful Spirit is in progress now.  Then I have promised all my fans that Bad Apple 4—Parked will be next.  Both are Mature YAs, a genre I love.

Which of your books would you say was the easiest/hardest to write?

A couple of my adult books took about five years.  In Under My Head and Almost Breathing underwent draft after draft, each pass getting more precise.  My vision of the story and characters changed as time went on.  I’m glad I took my time.  If I had a contract in traditional publishing, I would have been forced to publish before the books were really completed.  That’s what’s so great about independent publishing.  You set your own schedule and if you want to change things later, you upload a new version.  It’s the best time in the history of the world to be a writer.

And which of your books is your personal favourite?

I think the standard reply is “The one I’m working on”.  Each book has its own particular golden moments.  Like children, they are different and your love for them is different but just as passionate.  I love Jem in Almost Breathing for her spirit and determination.  I love Ariel in In Under My Head because she’s so much more sensible than I am.  I love Paige in Nothing Serious because she finds a way when one isn’t obvious.  I love Neal in Bad Apple because she’s able to put her past behind her.

Barbara, can you tell the readers which of your characters would you most like to invite to dinner, and why?

I think Paige from Nothing Serious would be a great dinner companion because she has a wonderfully unserious view of life.  She’s funny and bold, vivacious and impulsive but always kind.  I think you would laugh a lot with her at the table.

Yes. I have to agree with you there, Barbara J Paige is a very interesting character. I’m sure she would bring a great deal of fun to any dinner party.  

Tell us; what would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?

I think I should have been a photographer or a horse trainer. 

Thanks for chatting today, Barbara. I look forward to part two of your interview tomorrow.

 

Blurb for Nothing Serious;

Declaring freedom from the Internet and the city, Paige heads for the Catskills. Opening a shop, Nothing Serious, Paige nearly nails her hand to the wall trying to hang her sign, avoids zoning board jail and falls for Jonathan Macklin, the antiques dealer next door. She spots a rare portrait at an auction, and borrows money from Jonathan to buy it. The windfall for the lost masterpiece is used to bail a local character out of jail. When Paige can’t pay Jonathan back, he thinks the worst. She has been treating life, her art and love as nothing serious for so long; can she change in time to be with Jonathan?

 

Enjoy a slice of Nothing Serious;

By the end of the day, Paige had sanded the peeling paint from the letters, primed them and painted them. Using a long piece of wood they had given her for free and she’d had to transport sticking out the passenger side window, she painted that and nailed the letters on.

Ladder. She needed a ladder.

Paige walked down the street and opened Jonathan’s door.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi. I need a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Do you have a ladder?”

“Yes, a short one.”

“May I borrow it for ten minutes?”

Jonathan went into the back room and returned with the ladder.

“Thank you. I’ll bring it right back.” She walked out of the store with it and set it up in front of the shop. Holding the sign, she climbed up the ladder. She needed a drill. Back down the ladder.

Back down the street to open Jonathan’s door. “Sorry to bother you, do you have a power drill?”

“Yes.”

“Well, may I borrow it?”

“Yes. Do you need anything else?”

“Screws.”

He looked at her. “How long?”

She looked at him right back. “As long as you have.” Paige considered herself an extremely good judge of character and if she hadn’t already decided Jonathan Macklin was a rather conservative and unimaginative type, she would have thought there was some innuendo going on. But no, he was not the type. At all.

Too bad, too, really, she thought as he walked into the back of the store. He fit those jeans in a particularly appealing fashion. Most men wear their jeans too loose. They shouldn’t be skin tight to the point of splitting seams, but they should show the curves, if curves were there to be seen. And Jonathan did have praiseworthy architecture with very long legs that didn’t end in something ridiculous like loafers. Loafers and jeans. Nyet. Loafers went with khakis. Shorts were always to be worn with white socks or no socks, not brown dress socks. Weren’t these fashion rules written down somewhere?

Jonathan returned with the drill and she held out her hand for it but he didn’t turn it over. “What are you doing?”

“I’m putting out my shingle. My sign. My announcement to the world that I’m in business. I have become self-employable.”

“Paige, you can’t hold the sign and the drill at the same time.”

“Sure I can. Just watch me.”

Ten minutes later after nearly falling off the ladder, after nearly screwing her hand to the front of the building, she was holding the sign while Jonathan affixed it to the building.

“I owe you,” she said.

“Yes, I think you do.”

“You’re not supposed to say that. You’re supposed to say something like ‘Oh no, think nothing of it, glad to help.’”

“You’re going to write my dialog for me?”

“No, but what do you want? All you did was climb up a ladder.”

“I had the ladder. You didn’t. I had the drill. You didn’t. I had the screws.”

“And now you’re going to put them to me?”

“So nicely put, Ms. Elliot.” He carried the ladder back into the store.

Paige followed him. “Did I offend you? I didn’t mean to. I’m just not...I’m out of practice talking to people.”

“Were you a hermit in the city? Didn’t you have a job?”

“Yes. But it’s different holding an interpersonal conversation. I’m not good at it.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I say the wrong things.”

“Were you in a competition and when the international panel of judges scored you, their opinion was that you say the wrong things?”

“That could be how it happened.”

“Have dinner with me and after dessert, I’ll judge you.”

 

Snap up your copy of Nothing Serious HERE 

 

 

Stained by Ella James

 

                                                             

Stained by Ella James

After a fire destroys seventeen-year-old Julia's home and kills her foster parents, she chases the half-demon responsible across the country and back, determined to avenge her family and discover why a host of celestial baddies want her dead. With Julia is enigmatic hottie Cayne, who has his own score to settle with the half-demon, and who might be just as dangerous as the creature he and Julia hunt.

Are you looking for a fast-paced action and adventure story, with twist and turns, plus the added ingredient of a budding love story between two teens? If this sounds exactly what you need from your next read, then pick up Stained today. Detail and vivid descriptions abound, as Julia enters a deadly world; where no one is what they seem. Dreams and demons, mystery and tragedy are the added spice to this book. I enjoyed Stained immensely, for its swift pace and developing plot. Each chapter added interesting and new twists which pull the reader along and immersed them in Julia’s world.

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Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires Book 1

                       Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires Book 1 by Rachael Caine.

Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don’t stay out after dark. College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

As a fan of vampire books for adults, I was keen to see what author Rachael Caine had to offer younger readers. I wasn’t disappointed. This was a fun read, with interesting characters and a spooky old house I would love to live in. Atmospheric visits to the college library, as well as some spooky individuals in the coffee shop, made this an intriguing read and promising introduction to the rest of the series.

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