Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Sep 21

14

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg- Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on September 14, 2021
Posted in Book Tours • Guest Reviews  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew GoldbergGrenade Bouquets (Runaway Train, Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Publisher:  Wise Wolf Books (August 5, 2021)
Series: Runaway Train, Book 2
Category: Young Adult, Runaways, Outcasts, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Depression, Mental Illness
Tour dates: August31-September 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1953944078
Available in Print and ebook, 286 pages
Grenade Bouquets

Description Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


I had stars in my eyes and I couldn’t see around them…

The year is 1995 and my parents have finally allowed me to take the summer to tour in a VW van across the country with my boyfriend Evan and our band. Yes, my dream to be a singer became reality. Even with Clarissa, Evan’s jealous ex-girlfriend, as the lead singer, it’s my presence on stage that led us to a major record deal. There are moments you’ll always remember in life, but I can’t imagine anything more cool than hearing your song on the radio for the first time.

But being a Rockstar isn’t as easy as it sounds. Using alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms, nothing but tension surrounded me, hurting my still blossoming relationship, and continued grieving over my sister’s death.

A love letter to the nineties and a journey of a girl becoming a woman, Grenade Bouquets charts the rollercoaster ride of a band primed to explode on the scene, as long as they keep from actually exploding.

Review Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Guest Review by Mark S.

With no one but her hero, Kurt Cobain to guide her, Nico sets out on a cross country tour with her band, the Grenade Bouquets, seeking fame, fortune and good pizza.

Nico is seventeen, a strange and tumultuous time for a young woman. Added to that, she recently lost her sister and hasn’t really dealt with the magnitude of that loss. But when the band that she is a part of decides to go on tour, Nico can’t say no. Especially since her new boyfriend, Evan is in the band as well. Driving around the country in a beat up VW, Nico learns about the perils of fame, the difficulties of adult relationships and just how much her willpower can take. 

Every beat of ‘Grenade Bouquets’ is magical. Lee Matthew Goldberg perfectly encapsulates the essence of the 90’s, from the music, to the fashion and the lack of parental supervision. Nico is a strong, interesting character and I really appreciated how often she is willing to stand up for herself, especially against the lead singer of the band, a mean girl named Clarissa.

Although Nico’s hero is Kurt Cobain, I think that she is determined not to end up the same way that he did. But that determination is tested when the Grenade Bouquets begin to see some attention from record labels, and things like partying all night and drugs begin to come into the picture.

This book could be thought of as a coming-of-age story with a twist– the toll that fame can take on a mind that is still developing. More than anything, I came out of this book with the impression that it was a great look at the inner thoughts of a teenage girl during a particularly strange time in America. Five lyrical stars for this one!

About Lee Matthew GoldbergGrenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of seven novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR, currently in development as a film off his original script, and the YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, Hypertext, If My Book, Past Ten, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others.

His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

Website: http://www.leematthewgoldberg.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeMatthewG
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leemgol
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leematthewgoldberg/

Buy Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


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Giveaway Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


This giveaway is for 3 print or eBook copies, 1 each per winner. Print is open to the U.S. only, eBook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on September 25, 2021,midnight pacific time.

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Teddy Rose Book Reviews Aug 31 Kickoff & Interview

Jas International Book Promotion Sept 1 Review

Katy Celticlady’s Reviews Sept 3 Guest Review

Linda Lu Goodreads Sept 8 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Sept 9 Review

Sal Bound 4 Escape Sept 10 Guest Review

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Sept 13 Guest Review

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Mindy A Room Without Books is Empty Sept 23 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Sept 24 Review

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Aug 21

31

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg- Tour Kickoff, Interview

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 31, 2021
Posted in Book Tours • Guest Authors/ Interviews • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew GoldbergGrenade Bouquets (Runaway Train, Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Publisher:  Wise Wolf Books (August 5, 2021)
Series: Runaway Train, Book 2
Category: Young Adult, Runaways, Outcasts, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Depression, Mental Illness
Tour dates: August31-September 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1953944078
Available in Print and ebook, 286 pages
Grenade Bouquets

Description Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


I had stars in my eyes and I couldn’t see around them…

The year is 1995 and my parents have finally allowed me to take the summer to tour in a VW van across the country with my boyfriend Evan and our band. Yes, my dream to be a singer became reality. Even with Clarissa, Evan’s jealous ex-girlfriend, as the lead singer, it’s my presence on stage that led us to a major record deal. There are moments you’ll always remember in life, but I can’t imagine anything more cool than hearing your song on the radio for the first time.

But being a Rockstar isn’t as easy as it sounds. Using alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms, nothing but tension surrounded me, hurting my still blossoming relationship, and continued grieving over my sister’s death.

A love letter to the nineties and a journey of a girl becoming a woman, Grenade Bouquets charts the rollercoaster ride of a band primed to explode on the scene, as long as they keep from actually exploding.

Praise Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


“An engaging ’90s pastiche with an earnest heart beating at its center.”- Kirkus Reviews

“Runaway Train is a high-energy testimonial to the redemptive power of a road trip with an awesome soundtrack. Lee Matthew Goldberg balances the urgency of youth with a whiff of anticipatory nostalgia for the music and misadventures of late adolescence. Attuned to way distinctions between music genres and teen idols can feel like impermeable walls worth defending, and then crumble as a teen like Nico Sullivan finds her own voice.”- Jenn Stroud Rossman, author of The Place You’re Supposed to Laugh

“Raw. Riveting. Runaway Train stays true to its title as it explores the deep pain of a teenager desperately trying to find peace in a world full of pain. Lee Matthew Goldberg is a master at bestowing sympathy and strength on deeply flawed characters. Realistic and shocking, hopeful and satisfying, Runaway Train will keep readers turning the page.”- USA Today Bestselling Author Rebecca Forster 

“It’s an incredibly challenging task for an author to utilize a darkly comedic tone without coming across as disingenuous–but Goldberg executes it here with expert precision. Brimming over with the visceral atmosphere of the early 90s grunge era, RUNAWAY TRAIN is a must-read for those willing to buckle up for the ride.”-Peter Malone Elliott (Director of Operations, Book Pipeline)

Interview With Lee Matthew Goldberg

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

LMG: Grenade Bouquets is a sequel to my novel ‘Runaway Train’ that continues to follow Nico on her journey to being a rock star. The book charts her rise and fall as the band gains traction and then ultimately implodes. I wanted it to read really fast, so it mimics what the characters are experiencing. They’re being swept up in becoming a band-of-the-moment and flying high, not realizing they’re about to crash. For Nico, she’s also still reeling from the loss of her sister, so she seeks to fill that emptiness with fame and fortune, which never works out.

TR: I always enjoy looking at the names that authors choose to give their characters. Where do you derive the names of your characters?  Are they based on real people you knew or now know in real life? How do you create names for your characters?

LMG: I love naming my characters. I never use real names from people I know. Actually, it’s hard finding names that aren’t of people I know. I usually use a baby name database for supporting characters. For the main characters, the names just come to me. Somehow it has to fit. For Nico Sullivan, she’s a bit of a badass, so her original name Nicole was too “pedestrian”, as she would say. She’s the kind of person who would name herself.

TR: When did you first have a desire to write?  How did this desire manifest itself?

LMG: I’ve always been a writer even since I was a little kid. In third grade we had to write a journal entry every day and I remember asking my teacher if I could write a story instead, since I was eight and it’s not like my life was that different day-to-day to write about. She said yes and I spent the year writing around a hundred pages about a dog and cat who get stranded at a spooky hotel. I was hooked from then on.

TR: What words do you use over and over that drive your editor crazy?

LMG: An editor has never said this directly, but I’m guilty of using “but” a lot. Also “just”, so I always do an edit where I go through and delete as many “justs” and “buts” as possible. Same with “that”. I also overuse descriptions for eyes. Again, no one has ever mentioned. It’s just something I’ve noticed.

TR: Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

LMG: Huge challenge. It took about two years and change to land my lit agent and then about the same to get my first book deal with my debut Slow Down. A few big presses were interested but felt the character was too unlikeable (a term I hate in literature). We found a publisher that wanted it for that very reason—he liked his unlikability. And my career was born.

TR: What are you currently working on?

LMG: I’m writing the third book in the Runaway Train series ‘VANISH ME’. I’m mostly a thriller writer, YA has been a break from that, but the third book will have more thriller vibes. It takes place in the ‘90s like the other books and also in the present time as Nico vanishes and her daughter, Love uses the entries in her mom’s diary as clues to find her. And I’m developing the books as a TV show. Right now, the pilot is done and we’re finishing a pitch deck to go to producers. Fingers crossed!


About Lee Matthew GoldbergGrenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of seven novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR, currently in development as a film off his original script, and the YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, Hypertext, If My Book, Past Ten, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others.

His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City.

Website: http://www.leematthewgoldberg.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeeMatthewG
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leemgol
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leematthewgoldberg/

Buy Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


Amazon
Barnes&Noble
IndieBound

Giveaway Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg


This giveaway is for 3 print or eBook copies, 1 each per winner. Print is open to the U.S. only, eBook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on September 25, 2021,midnight pacific time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Mark S.Teddy Rose Book Reviews  Aug 31 Kickoff & Interview

Jas International Book Promotion Sept 1 Review

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Sept 2 Review & Guest Post

Katy Celticlady’s Reviews Sept 3 Guest Review

Linda Lu Goodreads Sept 8 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Sept 9 Review

Sal Bound 4 Escape Sept 10 Guest Review

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Sept 13 Guest Review

Mark S.Teddy Rose Book Reviews Sept 14 Review

Becky Life As a Rog Sept 15 Review & Excerpt

Gud Reader (Leslie) StoreyBook Reviews Sept 16 Guest Review & Guest Post

Am Goodreads Sept 17 Review

Gracie (Anastasia )Living in a Bookworld Sept 20 Guest Review & Excerpt

Just Another Reader Sept 21 Review

Stacy’s Books Sept 22 Review

Mindy A Room Without Books is Empty Sept 23 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Sept 24 Review

Grenade Bouquets by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Nov 17

14

Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 14, 2017
Posted in Book Tours  | Tagged With: , , , , | 1 Comment

Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.


Publisher: White Flowers Press (Oct 28, 2014)
Category: Self-Help, Mental Illness, Grief, Psychology
Tour dates: Oct/Nov, 2017
ISBN: 978-0982117620
ASIN: B00S46SGFI
Available in Print & ebook, 232 pages
Making Peace With Suicide

Insightful, compelling, and compassionate, Making Peace with Suicide: A Book of Hope, Understanding, and Comfort takes a good hard look at the world-wide phenomena of suicide. This book is designed for anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide and felt that sucker punch of grief; for anyone who is in pain, walking unsteadily, and considering suicide as an option; and for anyone who works with, guides, or counsels those feeling suicidal and/or suffering the profound grief from a suicidal loss.

Making Peace with Suicide includes stories of courage, vulnerability, and steadfastness from both the survivors of suicidal loss as well as the unique perspective of the formerly suicidal. It offers shared wisdom and coping strategies from those who have walked before you. It explores the factors leading to suicide and the reasons why some do and some don’t leave suicide notes.

Making Peace with Suicide sheds light on the phenomena of suicide vis-à-vis our teens, the military, new mothers, as an end-of-life choice, and asks if addiction is a form of slow suicide. It provides a seven-step healing process and opens the door to consider suicide and the soul, the heart lesson of suicide, and the energies of suicide.

If suicidality has impacted your life, Making Peace with Suicide is a must-read. You will be guided through the unknown territory, given insights to allow understanding, stories to help you heal, and ways to make peace with a heart wide-open. Making Peace with Suicide is good medicine for the body, mind, and soul.

My Thoughts Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.


When I was about 9 years old my father took me to a new amusement park with his friend, Mr. A. and his son, Ward.  It was then that I got to know Mr. A. and became quite fond of him.  A few months later, he committed suicide.  I don’t think anyone really knew why.  I remember being really sad.  The adults had trouble coping with it so I don’t think they knew how to help the kids.  I felt especially bad for Ward.

Then fast forward to around 2010.  I was still a full time social worker in mental health.  One of the people I was working with moved and I had to hand her case over to a different social worker in that city.  I did occasionally check in and after a couple months, I was told she committed suicide.  It was soon after that, I quite social work full time and only stayed on to consult and teach workshops on occasion.

I wish I had the book ‘Making Peace With Suicide’ back then.  I think it would have helped me even more that the counseling I went through.  Adele Ryan McDowell brings a fresh perspective to the subject without bringing a lot of religion into it, as so many people tend to do.  I know many find comfort in religion and I think that is great.  I am not a very religious person and look for answers anywhere I can find them.  Through the humanities, history, and literature, etc.

If you are like me in that regard, or even if you are religious, I think that this book can help you cope if you have a friend or loved one that has committed suicide or even attempted it.  Ms. McDowell shows much compassion and insight through her many years of experience.  She writes for regular people, not just for professionals in her field.  Unlike some dry clinical books, she brings humanity into the subject. This book is powerful! I highly recommend ‘Making Peace With Suicide’!

5/5

I received the ebook for my honest opinion.

About Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.


Described by one of her smaller clients as “The Feelings Doctor,” Award winning author, Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist with 35+ years’ experience who likes looking at life through the big view-finder.

Dr. McDowell has worked with suicide, domestic violence, and sexual assault crisis hotlines; survivors of Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, the Joplin Tornado, and the Newtown shooting; and clients struggling with addiction as well as those moving through profound life changes such as loss and health challenges. Her work focuses on helping clients find hope, balance, and peace in the face of crisis, trauma, abuse, and grief.

Dr. McDowell is the author of Balancing Act: Reflections, Meditations, and Coping Strategies for Today’s Fast-Paced Whirl. The suicide of a fellow psychologist led to the creation of her second book, Making Peace with Suicide: A Book of Hope, Understanding, and Comfort.

Adele — a Texan by birth and pioneering spirit — lives in Connecticut where you will often find her driving along the highways and byways, singing loudly in her car.

Adele is a frequent blogger on suicide and loss for the Huffington Post Canada. She has won two awards for ‘Making Peace with Suicide’:
-IPPY (Gold) in the Psychology category (Independent Publisher Book Awards)
-Living Now Award (Bronze), Books for Better Living from IBPA (Independent Book Publishing Association)

Websites: www.AdeleRyanMcDowell.com
www.MakingPeacewithSuicide.com
www.AdeleandthePenguin.com
www.channeledgrace.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adeleryan.mcdowell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Adeleheals?lang=en

Buy Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.


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Giveaway Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.


This giveaway is for the choice of print or ebook however, print is available to the U.S. Only and ebook is open worldwide.  This giveaway ends on November 30, 2017 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Follow Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D. Tour


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Making Peace with Suicide by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.

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