Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jan 22

17

Square Up by Lisa Dailey: Kickoff

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 17, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Guest Authors/ Interviews • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 3 Comments

Square Up by Lisa DaileySquare Up: 50,000 miles in search of a way home by Lisa Dailey

Publisher:  Sidekick Press, (March 30, 2021)
Category: Memoir, Travel, Family Travel, Adventure Travel, Grief
Tour dates: January 17-February 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1734494556
Available in Print and ebook, 272 pages
Square Up

Description Square Up by Lisa Dailey


Have you ever wished you could run away and leave your life behind? Born on the “Day of the Wanderer,” Lisa Dailey has always been filled with wanderlust. Although she and her husband had planned to take their family on a ’round-the-world adventure, she didn’t expect their plans to come together on the heels of grief, after losing seven family members in five years.

Square Up shows us that travel not only helps us understand and appreciate other cultures, but invites us to find compassion and wisdom, heal from our losses, and discover our capacity for forgiveness, as well as joy.

Praise Square Up by Lisa Dailey


“Lisa Dailey weaves an extraordinary and fascinating tale of her journey around the world with her family. But this is far more than a travel story; it’s a merciful, compassionate story of how traveling experiences can offer insight, perspective, and healing. As a therapist, I can say that I’d recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with profound loss or serious anxiety. It is a story of self-compassion, not self-pity, with moments of charm and humor that delight throughout. If you loved Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, you’ll adore this story.”-Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Filling Her Shoes

“Lisa Dailey is a woman after my own heart. She understands that both the discomfort and adventure of travel can change-and heal-us. In Square Up, in the throes of grief after several family deaths, Lisa and her husband, Ray, take their children around the world to places as far-flung as Cambodia, Myanmar, and Ghana. For the rest of her family, the trip is an opportunity to see the world and stretch their worldview (they visit a temple filled with rats and venture into the culinary enterprise of eating tarantulas, after all). And while all of this is riveting, indeed a treat for lovers of travel writing, what really captures the heart in this memoir is the way the narrator finds her way, after nearly being crushed by her recent losses, to peace of mind and self-compassion. Square Up is full of grace and love and gentle warmth-an authentic story of love of self, family, and, of course, travel.”-Cami Ostman, author of Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents

Square Up by Lisa A Dailey is a memoir that will capture the hearts of fans of travel and adventure, but the story is far more spiritual than entertaining. Dailey shares her grief and the pain she experienced after losing family members within five years—her parents and twenty-three-old brother included. The void their loss left in her heart was huge. But then traveling around the world with her family—her husband and two sons—changed everything. They had planned the trip for years and had looked forward to it with excitement. In seven months, this family would travel to thirteen countries and across four continents. What makes it a unique experience?
There is a lot of excitement reading this book as the reader follows the itinerary of the author and her family, but there is far more to that. Lisa A Dailey’s travels across different countries brought her into contact with different cultures and people, and the encounter with new places, with nature, with people, provoked something deeper in her, an inner journey towards healing. Lisa A Dailey understood that the world is filled with life and a lot to celebrate, and each step they took away from home led her further away from her pain. The author writes in a mesmerizing and exciting voice and it is interesting to follow how she explores her emotions. Square Up is observant and the author pays attention to detail, offering tips that travelers can use and recreating wonderful sights that readers would want to visit. It is both entertaining and very informative.”- Ruffina Oserio, Readers’ Favorite

“For someone who hasn’t traveled more than a few miles from she was born (that would be me) this book was a grand adventure around the world. I enjoyed myself immensely as I was able to touch, taste, smell and see each destination and it’s mysteries through the narrators stunning descriptions. As well, the underlying story of how the narrator struggled with her deep sense of grief mixed with anger at all the loss of life she’d witnessed, tugged at my heart strings. This story will allure you with its travel, break you open with it’s pain and send you away feeling stronger and more hopeful than ever before.”- Lorinda Boyer, Author of Straight Enough: A Memoir

Interview With Lisa Dailey

TR: Please tell us something about Square Up that is not in the summary.  (About the book, “character” you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)

LD: Wow, where to begin… In writing the memoir, I had to make sure that the story had an arc and that the scenes and locations I picked to write about were relevant to either the story arc or the character arc. Though I cover a little bit of a lot of places, there were many, many more stops that didn’t make the book. The book ends in Spain, but in reality, we continued on the trip for several more weeks. We made a stop in Switzerland to see my husband’s college roommate and his family in Baden. We continued to Germany to fly home from Ramstein Air Force Base, but first we drove to Hannover to see our exchange student daughter who we had hosted a couple of years before the trip. Both visits were a nice precursor to our return to reality in the U.S.

TR: How long did it take you to write this book from concept to fruition?

LD: I blogged about the entire trip as we were travelling as a way to keep friends and family back home up to date on our location and activities. When I returned home, I thought I could just compile those blog posts into one document, do a little editing, and call it a blog. But I soon realized that the blog posts told the “what” part of the journey, but it was missing the “so what” portion. I then enrolled in a 9-month get your book done program and completed a first draft and then a second. After revisions, sending my work through a critique group twice, and a developmental edit, I published in March 2021, almost exactly 5 years from the date we returned home.

TR: You share a lot about your family and family losses you have gone through in such a short time.  How did your family react when you told them you were writing this, Square Up?

LD: I was most concerned about my husband and kids, but they were all supportive. I suspect they had become used to my writing about our family in a public arena. And one must remember when reading a blog or a memoir that the author is giving you a view of their lives through one window. It is not their entire life. For my family, I definitely didn’t pull back the curtains on their personal lives beyond some of their interactions with me. And the family members that I did write about more were those that had passed but still had a hold on me.

TR: How did your life as a mother influence your writing of Square Up?

LD: Interesting question. The first draft of the book didn’t include my children. I didn’t want to put their lives on paper without them having a say in it. But when I put the first chapters through critique, everyone agreed that something was missing and because the kids were part of the journey, they needed to be part of the story. So, I spoke with the boys and talked about what I was doing and how I would portray them, and they both agreed it would be fine to be included. Ultimately, they are minor supporting characters, but I agree that their presence in the story was necessary.

TR: What inspired you to write?

LD: I’ve always been a voracious reader and writer. For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of writing books. Square Up was not the first book I thought I would write, however. I’d had a novel I’d been playing around with long before the trip. But when I came back from seven months away from my life, I needed a way to process what it all meant and out of that came the memoir.

TR: How much time and effort went into writing Square Up?  Did you do any  research for the book?

LD: I did quite a bit of research on all of the places that I included in the book. I had all my journal and blogging notes on cities and location names, but I had to dig into the history to tell a deeper story (along with proper spellings and distances to make sure I got everything right).

TR: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover?

LD: I spoke at length to a cover designer about the story and left the concept up to her. I was reluctant to put my face on the cover at first, but when she explained how it fit with the personal side of my story, I was all for it. The stupa also plays a big part in the story and the stupa image on the cover is one we took on the trip.

TR: What is next for Lisa Dailey?  Do you have another book in mind or other project?

LD: I have two books I am currently working on. One is a fictional family saga set in present-day eastern Montana. This is the book that I’ve been writing in my head for probably 25 years. Now it is starting to take shape on paper!

The second book is a cookbook all about soup, though I may start blogging about this first before turning into book form. The concept for this one is that I think it used to be special to go out to dinner and now the tables have turned and it’s special to be able to prepare a home cooked meal. Soup is a great gateway into the cooking arena. You can tailor soup to your own taste preferences and if something goes wrong, you can easily fix it.


About Lisa DaileySquare Up by Lisa Dailey


Lisa Dailey is an avid traveler and writer. In her time abroad, she unearthed new ways of looking at her life through her discoveries in remote corners of the world and she continues to enrich her life through travel. She is currently working on a recipe anthology as well as her first work of fiction. A native Montanan,

Lisa now makes her home by the ocean in Bellingham, Washington, but returns to her roots every summer for a healthy dose of mountains and Big Sky.

Lisa is the owner of Silent Sidekick and Sidekick Press where she helps guide authors through their publishing journey.

Author Website: https://lisa-dailey.com/
Travel Blog: https://northwestrambles.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nwrambles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisadailey1724
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisad1724/  & https://www.instagram.com/nwrambles/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nwrambles/

Buy Square Up by Lisa Dailey


Amazon
BarnesandNoble
Indiebound
Powell’s

Giveaway Square Up by Lisa Dailey


This giveaway is for 3 print copies One for each of 3 winners. This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on February 12, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow Square Up by Lisa Dailey


Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 17 Kickoff & Interview

Becky Life as Rog Jan 18 Review

Gud Reader Goodreads Jan 19 Review

Lynn Goodwin Writer Advice Jan 20 Review & Guest Post

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Jan 21 Review

Andy K. Amazon Jan 24 Review

Denise D. Amazon Jan 25 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Jan 26 Review & Excerpt

Jas International Book Promotion Jan 27 Review

Katy Celticlady’s Reviews Jan 28 Guest Review & Excerpt

Am Goodreads Jan 31 Review

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Feb 3 Review & Guest Post

Laura Lee Bound 4 Escape Feb 4 Guest Review

Bee Book Pleasures Feb 7 Review & Interview

Karen T. Goodreads Feb 9 Review

Michael L Amazon Feb 10 Review

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Feb 11 Review

Square Up by Lisa Dailey

Jan 22

3

Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels-Interview

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 3, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Memoir • My Past Giveaways • Non-Fiction  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Finding Sisters by Rebecca DanielsFinding Sisters: How One Adoptee Used DNA Testing and Determination to Uncover Family Secrets and Find Her Birth Family by Rebecca Daniels

Publisher: Sunbury Press (September 14, 2021)
Category: Non Fiction, Memoir, Genetic Genealogy, Adoption, Family Reunion, Extended Families
Tour dates: January-February, 2022
ISBN: 978-1620065587
Available in Print and ebook, 125 pages
Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels

Description Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


Where does she come from?

Who are her genetic parents?

Who is she?

Does she even want to know?

With almost no information of her genetic heritage, adoptee Rebecca Daniels follows limited clues and uses DNA testing, genealogical research, thoughtful letter writing, and a willingness to make awkward phone calls with strangers to finally find her birth parents.

But along the way, she finds much more.

Two half-sisters.

A slew of cousins on both sides.

A family waiting to be discovered.

With the assistance of a distant cousin in Sweden and several other DNA angels on the internet, Daniels finally comes face to face with her birth mother just months before her passing. Join in on this author’s discovery of family and self in ‘Finding Sisters: How One Adoptee Used DNA Testing and Determination to Uncover Family Secrets and Find Her Birth Family.’

Praise Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


“Finding Sisters is an excellent example of what it takes to solve a family mystery. Yet it’s also a captivating story of human relationships in the age of secrecy-revealing DNA databases. As Rebecca Daniels so skillfully illustrates, DNA tests are most effective when combined with conventional genealogical research, thoughtful letter writing, and a willingness to get on the phone for some awkward conversations with complete strangers. Like many of us, the author wasn’t even sure she wanted to attempt this search. Then—in making contact with newfound relatives—she experienced both acceptance and rejection. By sharing her thoughts and insights throughout this journey, Rebecca makes the story refreshingly honest and personal. Like no other DNA success story, Finding Sisters uses footnotes and family tree diagrams to show exactly how the search unfolds. This makes the book a clever hybrid of a memoir and a case study.”-Richard Hill, Author of “Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA”

“I would, hands down, recommend Finding Sisters to anyone who is contemplating going on this journey of discovery. Rebecca Daniels lays out quite beautifully what one can expect from a logistical standpoint, while acknowledging that the emotional ride might be different for everyone. I particularly liked at the end how she wrote about not having any huge “aha” releases. I find that to be true of therapy as well. There are breakthroughs and insights, and then we usually move slowly toward change. I think this book does great justice to the idea that it is the journey and not necessarily the destination. I think sometimes we think we are going to find the piece that makes everything else make sense, but that kind of shifting ground is reserved for the movies and near-death experiences. I think Finding Sisters reflects this reality well when it comes to change.”–Jay Sefton, Licensed Mental Health Counselor

“In Finding Sisters, Rebecca Daniels becomes a detective taking the reader on an intriguing hero’s journey to solve the mystery of her roots. The rollercoaster of complex emotions is evident as she navigates her way through today’s popular DNA ancestry websites connecting surnames, diving down rabbit holes, hitting dead-ends and making break-through discoveries. Along the journey, Daniels receives significant virtual guidance from newly found distant relative Thomas, forming an enigmatic relationship that will prove both beautiful and haunting. The adopted person’s journey is an important one to understand, and Daniels serves us well by bravely sharing her story.”–Brian Stanton, actor/writer of the film @ghostkingdom and solo play “BLANK,” both pieces about adoption, search and reunion

“In Rebecca Daniels’ memoir Finding Sisters, she takes us on her personal journey for answers surrounding her adoption, birth family, and ancestral heritage and introduces us to genealogy research and the increasingly popular genealogy websites that make familial matches from DNA databases. Of all the encounters and relationships, she chronicles during her search, I found the most interesting and endearing to be the one formed with a genealogy expert she befriended online after entering into the intriguing world of DNA discovery. This book is not just ideal for those interested in genealogy research and ancestry websites, but also those wanting to uncover more of what makes them who they are. And isn’t that all of us to some degree?”–Maia Williamson, author of Where the Tree Frogs Took Me

Interview With Rebecca Daniels

TR: Please tell us something about ‘Finding Sisters’ that is not in the summary.  (About the book, character or person you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)

RD: The book summary mentions that my search for genetic relatives happened “with the assistance of a distant cousin in Sweden,” and it’s that distant cousin, Thomas, who actually made the entire story possible and eventually became one of the most interesting characters in my journey. Without his encouragement, expertise, and tutelage, I’m not sure I would have been able to make the discoveries I did over the course of my four-year search process. He’s really a very critical character in the story of my genetic genealogy journey.

TR: You used a couple different online platforms to search for your blood relatives.  Can you tell us a bit about the process and if you found one better than the other?

RD: When I started my search, I didn’t realize that the various online platforms for DNA testing didn’t share their data, so to be successful I eventually put my DNA samples into two different databases (Family Tree DNA and Ancestry). I found critical family members in each of the different databases. Family Tree was particularly good with the detailed DNA information, and Ancestry was valuable because in addition to the DNA matching offered, it also offers an extensive collection of research documents related to more traditional genealogy information, such as census information, birth, death, and marriage records, etc. Frankly, I don’t think most people can have a truly successful search without using more than one platform for research and DNA matching.

TR: How much time and effort went into your research for ‘Finding Sisters’?

RD: Hard to quantify this with any specificity, but I was completely obsessed with the search in my spare time (was still working full time for the first two years after submitting my first DNA sample) for between two and a half to three years.

TR: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover?

RD: My publisher hired a cover designer who asked me for any ideas I had for the cover. Initially, I made two suggestions. The first was some kind of artistic interpretation of a traditional family tree using some of the photos of family members I was discovering as my search progressed. The second idea was to use the DNA double helix or chromosome charts as an impressionistic background for the lettering of the book title. The designer created drafts for me to choose from using both ideas, and everyone I showed them to chose the tree image as the more engaging and interesting image. The designer is the one who suggested the use of an actual tree (instead of a more traditional family tree-style chart format), using a photo she had taken, with a few images of my new relatives floating in the branches. The faces on the cover include my birth mother as a teenager (upper left, likely taken the year before she had me), my paternal grandmother (right), and a deceased maternal half-sister that several new relatives believed I strongly resembled (lower left).

TR: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

RD: My favorite scene in the book is in chapter four where I meet my birth mother in person. It was part of an intense and wonderful three day visit, and writing about that visit helped me to clariy and relive the experience in my memory. My other favorite scenes are the in-person meetings with each of my new half-sisters.

TR: Which actress would you like to see play yourself, if a movie were to be made from ‘Finding Sisters’?

RD: I think Laura Linney would be a good choice to play me in the movie of Finding Sisters. She often plays characters who are strong and self-assured but not overbearing and is able to reveal their vulnerabilities without being overly emotional, both qualities good friends have told me I exhibit.

TR: How long did it take you to write ‘Finding Sisters’ from concept to fruition?

RD: During my genealogy search, I kept all my correspondence and research notes during that four-year period (2014-2018), which became excellent source material for the book once I decided to write it. I first started writing the chapters and sharing them with my women writers group in spring of 2018, made the proposal to Sunbury (the small press that published my WWII book, Keeping the Lights on for Ike) and signed the contract with them for Finding Sisters in early 2020. Then COVID threw a wrench into everything, and we didn’t actually start the editing process until the spring of 2021, with the book and cover design work unfolding during the summer months. The book finally came out in September of 2021.

TR: What writers have you drawn inspiration from?

RD: I have been strongly influenced by writers who tell engaging stories about normal people in unusual circumstances: Rick Atkinson (The Liberation Trilogy; he was also very influential for me when writing Keeping the Lights on for Ike), Kate Moore (Radium Girls), and Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking).

TR: What are you currently working on?

RD: I’m currently working on a memoir about my late-in-life second marriage and sudden widowhood; its working title is ‘Adventures with the Bartender: Finding and Losing the Love of my Life in Six Short Years’.

TR: Why do you write non-fiction?

RD: Though I love reading fiction as entertainment, I find it much more engaging as a writer to explore the remarkable circumstances experienced by regular people. I love the research process of trying to dig into their motivations, actions, and emotions (and my own when working with memoir). I suspect some of this allure comes from having been trained as an actor and director and always being fascinated with how and why characters (both major and minor ones) do the things they do.


About Rebecca DanielsFinding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


Rebecca Daniels (MFA, PhD) taught performance, writing, and speaking in liberal arts universities for over 25 years, including St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, from 1992-2015. She was the founding producing director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR, and directed with many professional Portland theatre companies in the 1980s.

She is the author of the groundbreaking Women Stage Directors Speak: Exploring the Effects of Gender on Their Work (McFarland, 1996, 2000) and has been published in multiple professional theatre journals. After her retirement from teaching, she began her association with Sunbury Press with Keeping the Lights on for Ike: Daily Life of a Utilities Engineer at AFHQ in Europe During WWII; or, What to Say in Letters Home When You’re Not Allowed to Write about the War (Sunbury Press, 2019), a book based on her father’s letters home from Europe during WWII.

She had always known she was adopted, but it was only as retirement approached, and with a friend’s encouragement, that she began the search for her genetic heritage through DNA testing. Finding Sisters explores how DNA testing, combined with traditional genealogical research, helped her find her genetic parents, two half-sisters, and other relatives in spite of being given up for a closed adoption at birth.

She is currently working on a new memoir about her late-in-life second marriage and sudden widowhood titled Adventures with the Bartender: Finding and Losing the Love of my Life in Six Short Years.

Website: https://rebecca-daniels.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.daniels.9

Buy Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


Amazon
Sunbury

Giveaway Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


This giveaway is for 1 print copy and 1 pdf copy. Print is open to the U.S. only  and pdf is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on February 26, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels


Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 3 Kickoff & Interview

Amy Locks, Hooks and Books Jan 4 Review

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Jan 5 Guest Post

Gud Reader Goodreads Jan 7 Review

Jas International Book Promotion Jan 10 Review

Bev Amazon Jan 11 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Jan 12 Review & Guest Post

Dee G. Amazon & Goodreads Jan 13 Review

Laura Lee Celticlady’s Reviews Jan 14 Guest Review & Excerpt

Am Goodreads Jan 18 Review

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Jan 19 Review

Annie M The Write Review Jan 20 Review & Interview

Gracie S. Goodreads Jan 25 Review

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 27 Review

Sal Bound 4 Escape Jan 28 Guest Review

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Feb 1 Review & Guest Post

Denise Amazon & Goodreads Feb 8 Review

Danielle Urban Book Reviews Feb 10 Review & Excerpt

Bookgirl Goodreads Feb 15 Review

Lynelle Inspire to Read Feb 21Review & Excerpt

Linda Lu Goodreads Feb 22 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Feb 24 Review &Interview

Sage N. Goodreads Feb 25 Review

Finding Sisters by Rebecca Daniels

Nov 21

30

Blooming by Carrington Smith: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 30, 2021
Posted in Book Tours • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , | 5 Comments

Blooming by Carrington SmithBlooming: Finding Gifts in the Sh*t of Life by Carrington Smith

Thanks to Olivia McCoy of Smith Publicity, Inc., I am giving away one print copy of ‘Blooming: Finding Gifts in the Sh*t of Life’ by Carrington Smith.

Description Blooming by Carrington Smith


Carrington Smith spent a lifetime trying to be someone else—to fit in, to be loved, to keep the peace, and to make others happy. Until finally, Carrington discovered that her own path to happiness wasn’t based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past.

Candid and raw, Blooming takes you on a treasure hunt to discover the gifts in the shit. Shit is quite literally fertilizer. It is in the messes, failures, trauma, and difficulties of life that we discover what we need to bloom into our greatness.

From trauma to triumph, through the depths of sexual assault, religious mind-fuckery, family rejection, body dysmorphia, mid-life metamorphosis, physical scarring, and death into happiness, forgiveness, empathy, purpose, belonging, and joy, Blooming is a poignant, powerful account of finding your way through the shit.

Praise Blooming by Carrington Smith


“Blooming is the perfect book for anyone looking to get better at finding the light, love, and lessons in the most challenging moments of life.”
—David Meltzer, Co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing, bestselling author, and top business coach

“Blooming grabs you from the first page and never lets you go. It annihilates the traditional limitations of what a memoir can be. Bold, candid, and raw, Blooming will have you laughing and crying all at once. In her sparkling debut, Carrington will touch your soul, shift your mindset, celebrate your shit, and establish herself as a narrator for our time.”–Deb Gabor, Brand Strategist and two-time bestselling author

About Carrington SmithBlooming by Carrington Smith


Carrington Smith is a single mom, attorney, business owner, and executive search professional. Despite being born with a silver spoon in her mouth, life gave her a hard kick in the tail. She has survived sexual assault, two divorces, piles of debt, abuse, religious mind games, the death of loved ones, and the loss of close friends.

In her debut memoir, Carrington combines wit and wisdom to share her journey through the shit, with a positive attitude and a shift of mindset, into a life bursting with joy, opportunity, and purpose. A graduate of UT Austin and Tulane Law School, Carrington resides in Austin, Texas, with her two teenage boys.

Website: https://www.carrington-smith.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarringtonATX

Buy Blooming by Carrington Smith


Amazon
Barnes&Noble
IndieBound

Giveaway Blooming by Carrington Smith


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on December 17, 2021 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

« Previous Page — Next Page »